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Mitchell McFarland
Mr. Christie
World History
29 November 2013
Annotated Bibliography
10.7.2 Trace Stalin’s rise to power in the Soviet Union and the connection between economic
policies, political policies, the absence of a free press, and systematic violations of
human rights (e.g., the Terror Famine in Ukraine).
Source:
BBC. "Stalin's Takeover of Power." BBC News. Ed. BBC. 2013. Web. 27 Nov. 2013
Annotation:
BBC addresses why Joseph Stalin became leader of Russia instead of Leon Trotsky in two
paragraphs. These two paragraphs do a great job of discussing this subject without
becoming obnoxiously long and boring. The webpage explains how Trotsky and Stalin were
both in a power struggle until Stalin brilliantly and maniacally maneuvered his way into the
main leadership role through cunning and “political trickery”. Through this article, which
was designed for students, one can quickly get a glimpse of Joseph Stalin’s evil and twisted
personality. This is a great resource explaining Stalin’s final steps in his rise to power.
Source:
BBC. "Joseph Stalin (1879 - 1953)." BBC News. 2013. Web. 27 Nov. 2013
Annotation:
The BBC provides this short article that would be perfect for an introduction to anybody who
has never heard of or researched Joseph Stalin's life. The article addresses Stalin’s entire life,
from the time he was born, to how he ascended to power, and finally to his death. It does a
great job in the telling of his life while providing insight into his dark legacy as a dictator and
mass murderer. This article would be perfect for any 10th grade World History class due to its
relatively short length and interesting subject matter.
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Source:
Martin, Christian, and Kaiser, Tamara. "Mini BIO - Joseph Stalin." YouTube. 16 Oct. 2012. Web. 26
Nov. 2013
Annotation:
In this four minute video, produced by Christian Martin and Tamara Kaiser of biography.com, Joseph
Stalin’s life is discussed. It starts with his birth, explaining how he was born and raised extremely
poor, and moves on to his rise to power, really focusing on his ability to manipulate his fellow
Comrades, and finally to his death. This video uses many narrators, including Tom Brokaw, and
includes videos and pictures of Stalin and Russia to enhance the narration. This resource would serve
as a good visual aid to anyone who would like to learn a basic introduction to Joseph Stalin’s life and
rise to power.
Source:
Martin, Marlaina. "Ukrainian famine, 1932-1933." Rutgers.edu. 2013. Web. 27 Nov. 2013
Annotation:
Marlaina Martin explains the Terror Famine in Ukraine during the early 1930’s in her research paper. It is
quite short and goes over the broader events that led up to and during the genocide, as well as the result
of the genocide, which was caused by Joseph Stalin. In addition to explaining the famine she also goes
into brief detail on how the events in 1932 and 1933 have since been covered up due to political parties
and the press. This resource is a perfect starting point for anyone who wants to learn about Joseph
Stalin’s many abuses of human rights during his reign of terror in Russia, without having to read too
much. For this reason this article would be a great addition to any high school course on Joseph Stalin.
Source:
Allsop, Scott. “Collectivization in the USSR.” YouTube. 13 Jan. 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2013
Annotation:
Scott Allsop provides this four minute video explaining one of Stalin’s economic policies called
collectivization. Joseph Stalin did this to get rid of a lot of small rural peasants and farms so he could
increase the number of collectivized farms which were owned by the state. In doing this he thought
he could improve Russia’s economy. He knew he would cause severe famine but he did it anyway.
The rest of the video explains the results and opposition to Joseph Stalin’s evil political policy. This
video can actually serve as more than an introduction to the subject of Stalin’s political policies as it
goes into a great amount of detail in a short time.
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Source:
"Joseph Stalin - The Secret Police." The Biography Channel website. 2013. Web. Nov. 29 2013
Annotation:
This two minute video produced by the Biography Channel explains the absence of the free press and
Joseph Stalin’s political policy called the Purges. The objective of the purges was to ensure Stalin’s total
control of Russia. Due to the purges the press could not print what it wanted. It had to print news that
gave the people a favorable view of Stalin or else they would most likely be killed by Stalin’s people.
This video would be of great interest to anyone who wants to be introduced to some of Joseph Stalin’s
political policies and the absence of a free press in Russia at the same time. In addition, it would serve
well to educate people of all ages due to its interesting information and short length.
Source:
Russia Today. "Russia remembers Stalin's purges." YouTube. 13 June 2007. Web. 29 Nov. 2013
Annotation:
What was originally a segment on Russian news explains the legacy of Stalin and his purges of enemies
to the state. It is about four minutes long and explains how anyone, regardless of who they were; if
they were known to have ideas opposed to Stalin they were labeled an enemy of the state. The video
then goes on to explain how some Russians credit Stalin with making Russia a superpower but the
overriding legacy of Stalin is one of fear and hatred. Easy to understand, and packed full of interesting
information, this video would work well to educate anyone who wants to learn even more about
Joseph Stalin and his political policies.
Source:
Russia Today. "Shadow of Stalin: 130 years of Hatred and Worship." YouTube. 21 Dec. 2009. Web. 29
Nov. 2013
Annotation:
This seven minute video, provided by Russia Today, explores Joseph Stalin’s complex legacy and
explores the person that Stalin was. It gives insight into why Stalin might have acted the evil way he did
as leader of Russia due to his terrible childhood and his bleak circumstances throughout his life. On the
other hand it shows how some Russians see him as a great leader because of his actions in making
Russia a world superpower. It goes into brief detail about his life as well as some of his more
questionable actions like the purges. The video leaves the viewer with no concrete answers as to what
Stalin’s legacy should be but does give the viewer enough information to decide on his own. This video
would do well for anybody wanting to take a closer look at Stalin’s many and complex motives for his
actions.
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Source:
Daily Mail Reporter. "Brain illness made Stalin a more paranoid and ruthless dictator... according to his
OWN doctor." Daily Mail Online. 22 Apr. 2011. Web. 29 Nov. 2013
Annotation:
This article published by the Daily Mail explains how much of Stalin’s actions during the end of his life
might have been severely influenced by a brain disease caused by the fat build up in the arteries of his
brain. The article is based on information provided by Stalin’s personal doctor at the time who suspects
he was not in his right mind later in his life. The doctor goes on to explain how Stalin’s own moral
compass may have been affected by the disease which would make sense due to his increased paranoia
at the end of his life. This article would be great for anybody who wonders what made Stalin so evil and
wants to find out what caused Stalin to go down as one of the most evil men in history.
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