The Soviet Union under Stalin
“He was the instigator of forced industrialization and collectivization, taking his country down a dead-end path to modernity from which its heirs are still trying to recover.”
-Norman M. Naimark, American historian
The failures of Joseph Stalin's principles of leadership led the Soviet Union to an extremely sharp economic and political crisis. This caused Stalinist opposition to become more prevalent throughout the country, leading to the necessity of employing terroristic methods and enforcing a strong cult of personality to silence such opposition.