What Methods Did Stalin
Use to Maintain Power?
Bothina Elkazzaz
Ayanna Edwards
Akiera Davis
Overview...
We will analyze 3 methods used by Stalin.
• Cult of Personality
• Propaganda
• Generalissimo
They were all used by Stalin to essentially
improve his public Image.
Cult of Personality
● What is it?
o
A cult of personality occurs when a leader uses
propaganda to create a heroic image.
● It’s not really a bad thing!
o
It is used often by many leaders however Stalin took
it to extremes.
Cult of Personality
Example: Our government
often uses propaganda to
make Obama appear
heroic and to give the
country hope. BUT we do
not force the public to
worship him or ban
religion.
Cult of Personality
● How Stalin took it too far…
o
o
o
o
If you were not completely devoted to Stalin you were killed
Books & Music he didn’t like were banned
No Religion could be practiced
No Free Press
 People did not see the bad things happening under Stalin’s rule,
so they thought he was a saint!
o He renamed the city Tsaritsyn after himself. In 1925 it became
Stalingrad.
Overall, Stalin made it impossible to see
anything he did not want you to see.
Cult of Personality
This picture was used to
make Stalin appear as a sort
of paternal figure.
The girl in the picture was
later sent to a labor camp by
Stalin himself.
Thank you, Stalin. Thank you because I am joyful. Thank you because I am well. No matter how old I become, I shall never forget how we
received Stalin two days ago. centuries will pass, and the generations still to come will regard us as the happiest of mortals, as the most
fortunate of men, because we lived in the century of centuries, because we were privileged to see Stalin, our inspired leader. Yes, and we
regard ourselves as the happiest of mortals because we are the contemporaries of a man who never had an equal in world history.
The men of all ages will call on thy name, which is strong, beautiful, wise and marvelous. Thy name is engraven on every factory, every
machine, every place on the earth, and in the hearts of all men.
Every time I have found myself in his presence I have been subjugated by his strength, his charm, his grandeur. I have experienced a
great desire to sing, to cry out, to shout with joy and happiness. And now see me--me!--on the same platform where the Great Stalin stood
a year ago. In what country, in what part of the world could such a thing happen.
I write books. I am an author. All thanks to thee, O great educator, Stalin. I love a young woman with a renewed love and shall perpetuate
myself in my children--all thanks to thee, great educator, Stalin. I shall be eternally happy and joyous, all thanks to thee, great educator,
Stalin. Everything belongs to thee, chief of our great country. And when the woman I love presents me with a child the first word it shall
utter will be : Stalin.
O great Stalin, O leader of the peoples,
Thou who broughtest man to birth.
Thou who fructifies the earth,
Thou who restorest to centuries,
Thou who makest bloom the spring,
Thou who makest vibrate the musical chords...
Thou, splendour of my spring, O thou,
Sun reflected by millions of hearts.
Written by Russian Author AO Avdienko
This shows how the general public worshipped
Stalin as a sort of Pagan God.
Cult of Personality
So… How did Stalin use the COP to
maintain power?
The COP worked in many ways. Because of
Stalin’s complete control of all outside sources,
nobody saw Stalin’s bad side, they only saw
the hero he portrayed in his propaganda. They
could not practice religion, so who better to
worship than the man who blessed them all?
If they did know how Stalin truly was, they still
worshipped him for fear of being exiled.
Propaganda
Stalin Used many methods to control the people. He used fear on the people
that they learned not to say what they meant or what was actually on their
minds, but to only speak about certain things.
The Soviet propaganda was later found everywhere. There were a lot of
posters throughout the towns and villages. Most movies had a propaganda
message in them. Also, all plays and other artworks had to be produced using
the Socialist Realism Style. Propaganda was a powerful weapon used by
Stalin.
Propaganda
Stalin used propaganda to build himself up in the
eyes of the public and improve his image. He had
cities named in his honor, and Soviet history books
were rewritten to show him in a more favorable light.
Stories in the history books showed that he played a
prominent role in the revolution of the Soviet Union
and gave him an almost mythological standing in
other aspects of his life. Stalin controlled the Soviet
media and made sure any artwork, literature or music
about him was complimentary. He also had his name
added to the Soviet national anthem.
Propaganda
Because Stalin was able to put a stop to all
opposing info sources, you mainly only saw the
propaganda that he put out. This allowed him to
portray himself in a positive light and others
negatively.
Russia’s Citizens are either ignorant to the truth
or afraid to take a stand.
Generalissimo
• Generalissimus of the Soviet Union -
military rank created on June 27, 1945,
following the tradition of the Imperial
Russian Army. It was granted to Joseph
Stalin following World War II. Highest
Military Rank.
• Stalin was a commander during the Civil
War in 1919/20's. He had an extensive
military carreer dating from pre-ww2.
Generalissimo
●
He never left Russia, as so, he had a very good knowledge of the country and therefore was
always put at work at a public level. Organising the party pre-Revolution and after, military
commander in the field during the civil war (unlike Trotsky, who was a bureacrat fighting from his
office), etc.
●
All these claims of Stalin being an incompetent military leader and that he only took control of the
military for his own power mongering are a set of lies.
Essentially, The government could use Stalin’s
Generalissmo title to make him seem like even
more of a hero. (Ties into cult of personality
somewhat)