Stalinist Era in the Ussr

After centuries of harsh rule under Czars, the Russian population had become fed up with being oppressed, and was well overdue for a revolution. Due to an ambitious dream of an idealistic leader, the Russian government began undergoing a great change, thus activating the "Noble Experiment". This experiment, headed by Lenin, planted the seed of socialism in the people of Russia. The enthusiasm and zeal of the "true believers" of socialism helped the idea to grow into a revolution, and soon, a completely socialistic Russia. Lenin's success was preached around the world, and socialism began gaining many "fellow travelers".

But the socialistic Russia under Lenin was short lived, and when Lenin died, Stalin was appointed to head to USSR. It soon became clear that Russia under Stalin's rule was becoming a totalitarian state--a complete betrayal of the socialistic ideals that had been revolutionary for the country. Through Stalin's relentless use of propaganda and the media, a "cult of personality" arose in Russia. Gone were the majority of zealous citizens that had wholly supported communism; gone was the overall exuberant attitude that had staged a revolution merely decades before.

Once Stalin began his totalitarian rule, the betrayals were endless. A mounting paranoia inside Stalin was the cause for many more deceptions against his people, his country, and many other countries. During World War II, Britain and France asked the Soviet Union to join forces with them in stopping Hitler. Stalin blatantly refused by beginning negotiations with Hitler, and signing the "Non-aggression Pact of 1939", which publicly stated that neither Russia nor Germany would attack each other for a ten year span. Stalin's betrayals were not limited to outside countries, but included his closest comrades as well. Stalin's paranoia caused him to get rid of many of his confidantes, as clearly depicted in Koestler's Darkness at Noon, in which "the No. 1" locks away his familiar, Rubashov. The USSR under Stalin's rule was formidable, terrorizing, and full of betrayals. A cult of personality had arisen in communist Russia, with Stalin at its head.