How did Stalin use force to make the soviet union a totalitarian state?

Answer 1

First of all, Stalin was highly right-wing. Stalin outmanuevered "internationalist" Trotsky in 1929 (who was later to be assassinated in Mexico). One of Stalin's most important acts was the Five-Year Plans; this was government organized economics which were based on Trotsky's plan on economic planning. It's aim was to make self-sufficiency, and self preservation. This came at a cost however; because heavy industry was concentrated on instead of consumer goods, consumers still didn't benefit form the 5 year plans. Stalin then enabled Collectivization. All this added to a huge amount of economic growth which certainly aided the USSR prior to WWII.

2ndly, the purges. The assasination of Serge Kirov in 1934 was the excuse to start purging. He began killing off the "Old Bolsheviks" led by Bukharin, "Trotskyites", and the military (50% of officers above rank of captain killed; this was a backlash in WWII b/c there were no experienced officers).

Stalin's high point came at WWII; he managed to push them out with millions of Red Army soldiers, and made the farthest Russian presence in Europe EVER. (Only Catherine the Great had made the largest Russian empire before this; though these were buffer states). Though starting the Cold War with the detonation of the Atomic Bomb, he still made the USSR strong.

Answer 2

Before Lenin's death, Stalin began establishing centralized power by appointing his friends and allies into positions of power. When he was the leader of the Soviet Union, he went on to use strategically Propaganda and the secret police to establish a totalitarian state that quickly did away with opposition.

Answer 3

It was largely built during the period of War Communism following the Russian Revolution at the end of WW1 by Lenin. After Lenin's death in 1924 Stalin just took over what already existed, then he gradually began a series of purges and show trials to eliminate and terrorize any potential rivals.

Answer 4

he gives people terror