The October Revolution and the Great Purge
Stalinist Russia did not begin with Joseph Stalin, but rather Lenin and the October Revolution, in which Vladimir Lenin led a well-executed coup and took over the government of Russia. This Revolution, an example of state violence, gave the Communist party and Lenin power over Russia. Similarly, the pigs of the Manor Farm rebelled against Mr. Jones and the humans and drove them out because they didn't have enough food, one of the reasons Lenin led his rebellion, hence the "bread" part of "Peace, Land, Bread." Suddenly, Lenin and communism had control of Russia in the same way that the pigs and animalism had control of the Farm. But, the biggest example of state terrorism in Stalinist Russia is the Great Purge. The Great Purge was a large-scale purge of government officials, the Communist Party, and the repression of peasants. It also involved wide-spread police surveillance, imprisonment, and executions. He purged the intellectual class and many rival government officials in order to remove any person who could potentially stand up to his wrongdoings, This is all-too similar to when Napoleon questionably executed many animals for their violations of animal law and conspiracy against Napoleon, including the execution of the other pigs, which resemble the Russian intellectual class.
"Death is the solution to all problems. no man - no problem"
-joseph stalin
Joseph Stalin essentially did what he said he would do in the above quote, when he believed there was a potential threat to his rule, he eliminated it. He and Vladimir Lenin were notorious for their state terrorism and police spies, always paranoid that someone or something was out to get them, They had many people killed or imprisoned just to protect themselves. In Animal Farm, Napoleon used his dogs to kill or frighten animals who had a different ideology than himself or animals who realized all of the wrongs he was committing. Both harnessed fear and violence to maintain their rule as well as achieve it in the first place.