In 1941, Stalin was proclaimed the Premier of the Soviet Union in the same year that the country was attacked. He managed to gain power and retain it through the use of fear and bodily harm. Stalin also controlled the media throughout the Soviet Union and did so effectively having acquired the skills when he managed the Bolshevik newspaper called Pravda (Plante 45-46). Though Stalin used intimidation and propaganda to push his agenda, these two cannot be said to be the only reasons as to how Stalin won control among Communist party members who were unwilling to liberate themselves from the cause of their despair. Stalin was influential, calculative and had domineering semblance. What is clear however, is that Stalin was able to exercise terror
