Access Type
Open Access Thesis
Date of Award
January 2017
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Department
History
First Advisor
Aaron B. Retish
Abstract
“The Great Terror: Violence, Ideology, and the Building of Stalin’s Soviet Empire” is a study of the confluence of terror and ideology in the Soviet Union during the 1930s. I argue that an intersection of Soviet ideology and geopolitical circumstances caused the Great Terror. The Stalinist variant of Soviet ideology evolved from Leninism and Marxism. It consisted of both a vision of an ideal socialist society and explicit practices and policies designed to realize the vision. It was the geopolitical circumstances, both foreign and domestic, that activated this ideology, compelling Stalin and his inner circle to initiate and employ practices and policies that became increasingly radicalized and militarized throughout the 1930s.
Recommended Citation
Polano, Michael David, "The Great Terror: Violence, Ideology, And The Building Of Stalin's Soviet Empire" (2017). Wayne State University Theses. 583.
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_theses/583