Lilian Nguyen
Block 4
IB World History
Final FRQs
Compare and contrast the domestic policies of two rulers of single party states, each chosen from a different region.
The beginning of the 20th century provided the rise of powerful leaders of single party states. Leaders such as Stalin and Mao ruled over Russia and China and effectively made their rule known not only to other countries, but its own people as well. Although both Stalin and Mao utilized self-promoting propaganda, Mao endorsed a policy of social reform whereas Stalin did not.
Both Stalin and Mao utilized self-promoting propaganda to generate populist enthusiasm in both Russia and China. To begin, both Stalin and Mao had a cult of personality. For example, according to Pavel Litvinov, the Russian people believed he was an absolutely perfect individual and he always had Russia’s people in his mind and according to Michael Lynch, Mao . This shows that both leaders were seen as godlike figures that were going to fix all the problems in the state. In addition, both leaders encouraged glorification of themselves. The Chinese people all owned little red books that included Mao’s quotes and paintings that promoted Stalin were present all over Russia. In addition, both leaders utilized songs to indoctrinate the idea of their rule to all people through their lyrics. For example, Stalin allowed songs such as The Party is Always Right by Louis Fuernberg and Thank you, Great Leader by L.Oshanin in 1948 to circulate in Russia, and Mao allowed songs such as Our Great Leader Mao Tse-Tung and Long Live Chairman Mao by an unknown Chinese artist. This shows that both Stalin and Mao had control over the media and its circulation and used multiple forms of media to put them in the best light to the people. Both leaders usage of their cult of personality helped masked their domestic cruelties and effectively kept public support behind them even when their policies were deemed to be too harsh.
The Essay on Cult Of Stalin Source People Propaganda
In this essay I will be looking at sources A through I and determining for each source whether or not it agrees with the statement: "Throughout his rule of the USSR, Stalin retained the support of the Russian people" I will answer using the sources and my own knowledge. Source A totally agrees with the statement. It is written in the year Stalin died, by the American journalist Walter Duranty. He ...
Next, Stalin and Mao both utilized reform programs in their single party states, but some of their political, economic, and social reforms differed. Initially, although both Stalin and Mao purged any dissenters with political reforms, Stalin had a focused campaign of military ad intellectual purges whereas Mao extended his executions and simply eliminated anyone that challenged his power. Stalin enforced public show trials from 1928-1934 that was designed to intimidate anyone that tried to oppose Stalin politically while Mao executed counterrevolutionaries such as Feng Jicai or essentially anyone suspected of disloyalty to the communist party in addition to any political threats. This demonstrates that Stalin only saw threats only in individuals that could challenge him politically and Mao was paranoid that anyone in China could take away his power and did not keep his watch on an individual group of people in China. Because of this difference, Stalin and Mao adjusted their social reforms accordingly, making their domestic policies differ. Additionally, although both leaders undertook industrial reform programs, Mao chose an alternative to Stalin’s heavy industry model. Stalin enforced three five year plans in 1928, 1933, and 1938 that focused on heavy industries that caused more machinery to be produced and a hold on consumer production whereas Mao enforced a five year plan in 1953 that aimed to end Chinese dependence on agriculture and the Great Leap Forward of 1958 that focused more on agriculture and not heavy industry.
The Essay on How Successful Were Stalin’s Economic Policies in the 1930s?
It is debatable as to whether these policies can be viewed as successful, for example; the conditions of the Soviet industrial workers were marginally lower than in 1928. Yet whatever hardships the workers faced, the fact that Russia was ultimately capable, in an economic sense, of defeating Nazi Germany in a successful military struggle shows that some of the economic implications enforced during ...
This shows that in terms of economic reforms, Stalin focused more on industry to compensate for war whereas Mao sought to better China in terms of self-dependency, thus making their domestic policies differ. Next, while Mao endorsed an official policy of social reform, Stalin did not. Stalin’s social reforms came as a byproduct of his economic and political reforms which included women’s working rights in 1917 while Mao created the cultural revolution from 1966-1969 that encouraged the young people of China to publically persecute adults to help Mao single out counterrevolutionaries. This fact demonstrates that Mao had an emphasis on social reform in his domestic policies whereas Stalin only focused on economic and political reform in his domestic policies.
In conclusion, both leaders built themselves up through propaganda to mask their reform programs that failed and cost their states millions of lives. Both leaders also eliminated their rivals and dissenters and undertook rapid industrialization programs. In terms of domestic policies, however, Stalin was more focused on making the country self-sufficient through his economic and political reforms while Mao was more dedicated to endorse support of the communist regime with his domestic policies.
