Question

“This is why the Soviet power is a new form of state organization, different in principle from the old bourgeois-democratic and parliamentary form, a new type of state, adapted not to the task of exploiting and oppressing the labouring masses, but to the task of completely emancipating them from all oppression and exploitation to the task facing the dictatorship of the proletariat.”
—Joseph Stalin, Foundations of Leninism, 1939
22. Was Stalin successful in achieving the kind of state he described in this passage? Use specific examples to support your conclusion.

Answer 1

Answer:

No, Stalin was not successful in achieving the goals described in the passage.

Explanation:

Stalin policies in the Soviet Union were successful in bringing the transformation of the country from an agricultural state, to an industrial powerhouse. However, in doing so, Stalin did not give more power to the Soviet people, let alone emancipate them from oppression.

In fact, the opposite is true, during his rule, Stalin concentrated more power in the hands of the Soviet State, and used this power to oppress the people in many ways. One example of this were the gulags: forced-labor concentration camps located in Siberia where Stalin sent people who he thought were enemies of the states, from journalists, to intellectuals, to artists, to businessmen, to even common farmers.