answers2 on quora

There’s an interesting comment that Alexander III, the last successful Russian Czar, made about his situation. He said “I’m Czar of all the Russias, I have absolute power. Unless people don’t want to do what I tell them to.” You have to see Stalin’s power in these terms. People obviously DID want to do what he told them to do. Now, you have to bear in mind, that Russia is a big, cold, rough country, open to invasion from all sides, and always has been. Survival is more difficult in Russia than it is in France or the U.S. Throughout history, centralized power was necessary to ensure that most Russians could survive. The Russians in Moscow got a lot of ideas from the Mongol Golden Horde, and the Mongols were totally ruthless in their dealings, and maintained a huge empire. Generally, successful Russian leaders have been very ruthless. Peter the Great, one of Russia's greatest heroes, exterminated 20% of the entire Russian population in slave labor programs to build St. Petersburg, and modernize Russia. Ivan the Terrible executed almost half of his civil servants in order to control corruption. To Russians, violence is acceptable, as long as it ensures that the majority of the population can survive. And, the fact is, Stalin was a very bright, very hard working, and a very clever guy. At just five foot three, and with one arm rendered useless by the beatings his alcoholic father had given him, he had to be extremely resourceful just to survive. He knew people, he knew how to manipulate people, and, he knew about real life. His judgement allowed the Soviets to defeat the Nazis. Soviet war materials production was just as high in WWII as was that of the United States, despite the fact that half the country was occupied by the Nazis! It was Stalin's capacity for work and organization that made this all possible. It was Josef Stalin who turned the USSR into a great world superpower. He killed anyone who got in his way, but, the rest of the Russian population were able to survive, because of him. So, while Stalin certainly did maintain a huge, ruthless and powerful security apparatus to control the USSR, he couldn't possibly have survived in power unless the majority of the Russian people had supported him. And, they did. Because he kept most of them alive!