Stalin Vs Hitler

World War II saw many different countries and leaders battle between each other. Adolf Hitler had taken many lives with his campaign of world domination. Hitler almost brought to the world to its knees. There seemed to be no one to compare Hitler's violence and hate, until people started to look at his neighbor to the east. The difference between Stalin and Hitler is that Stalin gets credit for being on the allies' side of the war. In reality, both dictators were one in the same when it came to ruling their countries with a violent iron fist. Everybody talks about Hitler and his background but nobody talks about Stalin's life and his time as a dictator. Hitler's beginning is a simple one. Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria on April 20, 1889. As a poor student, Hitler never completed high school. Later in his early life, Hitler applied to Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna but was refused for not having any talent. This is one moment leading to his antisemitic thoughts of the Jewish people (Hitler, Adolf). World War I began and Hitler volunteered his life in the Bavarian army. He proved himself to be a strong, dedicated solider but would never achieve any higher ranks than private. Germany was defeated in 1918 but Hitler continued to stay in the army as an education officer (Hitler, Adolf). Hitler has now joined the nationalist German Workers' party.

The party would later be named the National Socialist German Workers' party or known as the Nazi Party. Hitler soon after becomes Fuhrer in 1921 of the Nazi party. Hitler commenced his rise to power. Hitler became an important role in Bavarian politics by helping high ranking officials. In 1923 Hitler lead a revolution in Munich against the Weimar Republic (Hitler, Adolf). He tried to proclaim himself chancellor but with no military support, the Putsch collapsed. Hitler was sentenced five years in prison and began his autobiography Mein Kompf. Which described his plan of how he would run Germany and his plans with the Jews. With his release in 1924, he began to rebuild his party (Hitler, Adolf). In 1929, Germany suffered a Great Depression. Hitler was able to explain Germanys problems were caused by a Jewish-Communist plot. Many Germans believed in this theory. Hitler received millions of votes with the promise of a strong economy, jobs and national glory (Hitler, Adolf). Hitler seized power of Germany and asserted himself as dictator. Hitler began to have any people opposed of the Nazi party hauled off to concentration camps and anyone who had second thoughts of the party was shut down. The Nazi party became the only political party in Germany.

Hitler was hell bent on building an empire. He began sending troops to the Rhineland, annexing Austrians and Czechs from the Sudetenland (Hitler, Adolf). He also sent aid to Francisco Franco's fight in Spain's civil war. No national leader would fight against Hitler in fear of war. World War II began after Hitler invaded Poland in 1939. He introduced the Blitzkrieg which was the use of tanks, mobile infantry and air dominance to encircle the enemy (World War II). Holland, Belgium, Denmark and France soon became a part of Hitler's empire. The Battle of Britain began in the summer of 1940. Hitler started to starve the British but this tactic did not work. He wanted to invade but the risk was too high to cross the English Channel and due to this the invasion was postponed permanently (World War II). Hitler then looked at the east and began to attack the USSR. He had initial success taking over territory all the way to Moscow. Everything changed for Hitler's attack on the Russia when the soviets defeated Nazi's at Stalingrad (World War II). Having been defeated at the battle of Stalingrad and not being able to invade Britain were signs of the end of Hitler's reign of terror. Starting another World War was one of many Hitler's horrible actions, but nothing can be compared to starting the Holocaust. The Holocaust claimed about six million lives (Introduction). Hitler not only took away Jews rights as citizens but treated them like slaves. His goal was to completely wipe out all of the Jewish. About one third of all Jews on Earth were killed. His methods went from torture to straight up murder. This was a mass murder that should not have happened. Unlike Hitler, Stalin never had any concentration camps, but his methods to gain power were just as horrible as Hitlers. Stalin was born on Dec. 21, 1879 in Gori which is presently a Republic of Georgia (Stalin, Joseph). Stalin began his political career in the Social-Democratic party in 1899 as a propagandist.

He was sent to prison and exiled to Siberia several times but escaped every time. Russia was a czarist government but that was soon to end. Stalin after his many escapes from exile joins the Bolshevik faction. Vladimir Lenin promoted Stalin in 1912 by putting him into the Bolsheviks Central Committee (Stalin, Joseph). Stalin also became a member of the politburo which was compromised of major decision makers in the Communist party (Hingley). On Lenin's death bed, he wanted to kick Stalin from his secretary generalship. After Lenin's death, a battle between Stalin and Trotsky and Kamenev began. Whoever wins this battle will be the future of the Soviet Union. When Stalin turned fifty, he was established as Lenin's successor and became the sole leader of the Soviet Union (Stalin, Joseph). By the mid-1930s, Stalin's Great Terror started. He launched deportations to labor camps, purges and arrests. Many people from his party, military and industry leaders began to disappear (Stalin, Joseph). With World War II on the rise, Stalin made a pact with Hitler to attack Poland and later took Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania (Hingley). Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 1941 and the pact between Stalin and Hitler was terminated. Germany took much of Russia, until they met a powerful counter attack in Stalingrad. A victory at Stalingrad meant Hitler could no longer attack Stalin again and the Soviet Union began a bloody offensive assault on Germany. With Germany surrendered in 1945, Stalin decided to keep the countries he liberated and ruled the east with an iron fist. After war was over Stalin was on the verge of another purge.

His last years made him paranoid and was going to send many doctors in Moscow of Jewish back round to death over false medical assassinations (Stalin, Joseph). It wouldn't be until his death in 1953 that would stop this bloodbath from happening. Hitler and Stalin were both horrible people between their rises to power and their reign as leaders. Hitler caused another world war and began the Holocaust but what most people don't understand is that Stalin was worse than Hitler. Hitler was stopped and killed himself before more damage could be done. Stalin is responsible for a cold war that lasted for about 45 years that threatened nuclear warfare. Stalin is also responsible the death of 20 million people with his purges (Hingley). Stalin's actions never get talked about because of how he industrialized Russia and aided in World War II but in reality, he was a tyrant that killed millions of people to get to power and made sure no one opposed him.

Works Cited

Hingley, Ronald Francis. Joseph Stalin. Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 15 Oct. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Stalin#ref13388.

Hitler, Adolf. Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, 2017, p. 1p. 1. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=funk&AN=HI073400&site=ehost-live.

Introduction to the Holocaust. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Holocaust Encyclopedia. encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/introduction-to-the-holocaust. Accessed 14 November 2018. Stalin, Joseph. Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, 2017, p. 1p. 1. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=funk&AN=ST174700&site=ehost-live.

World War II. Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, 2017, p. 1p. 1. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=funk&AN=WO072800&site=ehost-live.

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