Stalin's Power in the Soviet Union The above were all important reasons why Stalin was able to maintain power in the Soviet Union. In the 1930s Stalin consolidated his position as the "supreme dictator" of the Soviet Union and maintained this position using many different methods, the two main ones being the control of the people by terror and the control and manipulation of their ideas. Stalin's economic policies were also hugely successful, if he had not had these successes he would not have been able to maintain power. When Stalin emerged as leader in 1928, the USSR was a backward country with no industry. Stalin, however, managed to transform the country into a modern, powerful and industrial nation and did so in several ways. Stalin wanted to protect the country from foreign invasion and protect it from other dictators by creating a strong industry. He did this through three main methods: five-year plans, collectivization, and building masterpieces of Soviet achievements. The Five Year Plans on the whole were very successful and although unrealistic targets were sometimes not achieved, amazing results were achieved, for example in the first Five Year Plan between 1928 and 1932, when coal and iron production doubled. In 1927, 35 million tons of coal were produced, but by 1932 this figure had risen to 64 million tons, and under the plan electrical power had tripled with the construction of 1,500 new industrial plans. For Stalin these plans were a symbol of what socialist planning could achieve and set production targets that industries had to achieve and if these targets were not achieved the price would be paid in human lives, the so-called "saboteurs". .. half of the paper ... many people who were around at that time had died and those who could still remember were too afraid to speak out. In conclusion, all of the above were equally important reasons why Stalin was able to maintain the leadership of the Soviet Union. He was able to manipulate people's thoughts and ideas through propaganda and personality cults that encouraged people to think of him as a messianic figure. With the additional help of his secret police he managed to wipe out all his opponents. The introduction of purges and show trials justified his actions as it was believed to protect the state from attacks and crises, thus making it safer for the people. However, if he had not been able to industrialize the Soviet Union in the dramatic way that he did, he would hardly have been in control all this time.