Who Is Joseph Stalin Justified

Governments justify the oppression of their people by telling citizens their action is for the better of the citizens and the nation and shielding them from the truth of their actions. In 1931, totalitarian leader of the Soviet Union, Josef Stalin gave the speech, “The Need for Progress”, to inspire Russian nationalism, and warn the people that if they did not industrialize Russia would be taken over. He strikes motivation for nationalism and industrialization by asking his people, “But now that we have overthrown capitalism and power is in our hands, in the hands of the people, we have a fatherland, and we will uphold its independence. Do you want our socialist fatherland to be beaten and to lose its independence?” (Stalin). During Stalin’s rule around 6 million people died of starvation, because their lives took a …show more content…
They believed all the cruel, hard labor they were doing would benefit Russia in the end. For these reasons the people of Russia put their trust in Stalin and felt all the action he took was justified for the good of the nation. The same kind of oppression and justification is used by fascist dictator, Adolf Hitler. In Nazi Germany, women experienced, “an extremely repressive attitude towards women, excluding them from all leading positions within the party and prohibiting them from becoming judges or public prosecutors... what Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945) described in 1934 as ‘the task of being beautiful and bringing children into the world.' “ (Miskelly & Noce 99). Women lost their freedoms so their sole responsibility could be to raise children that would one day become a part of the German army. Citizens accepted this because they trusted one day, because of a stronger and larger army, Germany would be a great power. In both scenarios, those oppressed accept the government’s decision for the benefit of themself and their