How Far Do You Agree That Stalins Paranoia Was the Main Cause of the Great Terror?
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- Category: History: Russian
- Date Submitted: 05/03/2011 11:43 AM
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There were many factors that caused the Great Terror. Stalins paranoia was one, but there were also others. Some historians argue that the Great Terror was indeed caused by Stalin’s paranoia. Other people say that it was the economy, the Congress of Victors, or Kirovs murder that caused the Terror of the 1930’s. these however, could have been sparks that fused the Great Terror, but the main contributor was Stalin’s paranoia.
By the end of 1934, Stalin launched a wave of political terror that claimed a million lives and resulted in 12 million people being sent to forced-labour camps. Stalin had a variety of reasons for pursing such an extreme policy. events inside the Communist party persuaded him that many of his so-called comrades could no longer be trusted and Stalin’s paranoia was fed by his secretive police system finally renamed the NKVD. Stalins paranoia was therefore the main source for the Great Terror because as Stalin felt unable to trust many within his own party, he acted to remove those he saw as potential threats. Although Stalin had never been directly challenged or opposed, he still believed he had many enemies. He had much insecurity: He distrusted his former rivals and didn’t believe that they were truly converted to his version of socialism. He was also fearful of old communists, who had been members of the party since before the Civil War- they knew about Lenins view that he didn’t deserve to be leader of Russia. And in addition, Stalin also feared the Red Army and secret police had too much power. His lack of control of these bodies led him to fear assaasination attempts. These various anxieties made Stalin extremely paranoid that he was being countered and thus could be the answer to the Great Terror in which he killed any potential threats within the political leadership of Russia. He wanted to ensure that he could leave only whom could be trusted so as to eliminate his paranoia and reassert buoyancy to Stalin.
However, some could argue...
By the end of 1934, Stalin launched a wave of political terror that claimed a million lives and resulted in 12 million people being sent to forced-labour camps. Stalin had a variety of reasons for pursing such an extreme policy. events inside the Communist party persuaded him that many of his so-called comrades could no longer be trusted and Stalin’s paranoia was fed by his secretive police system finally renamed the NKVD. Stalins paranoia was therefore the main source for the Great Terror because as Stalin felt unable to trust many within his own party, he acted to remove those he saw as potential threats. Although Stalin had never been directly challenged or opposed, he still believed he had many enemies. He had much insecurity: He distrusted his former rivals and didn’t believe that they were truly converted to his version of socialism. He was also fearful of old communists, who had been members of the party since before the Civil War- they knew about Lenins view that he didn’t deserve to be leader of Russia. And in addition, Stalin also feared the Red Army and secret police had too much power. His lack of control of these bodies led him to fear assaasination attempts. These various anxieties made Stalin extremely paranoid that he was being countered and thus could be the answer to the Great Terror in which he killed any potential threats within the political leadership of Russia. He wanted to ensure that he could leave only whom could be trusted so as to eliminate his paranoia and reassert buoyancy to Stalin.
However, some could argue...