The Soviet Union under Stalin

Background to Stalin
• Born in 1879 – father was a cobbler and mother was a peasant
• Real name: Joseph Djugashvili
• Got his name, Stalin when he was in prison – Stalin: man of steel
• Stalin’s Five Year Plans were government targets for huge increases in
production to be achieved in 5 years
• There were 3 Five Year Plans : 1928, 1932 and 1938
• Each plan covered agriculture and industry
• Stalin’s main concern : To develop USSR’s industry
• So his FYPs called for a programme of rapid “industrialisation”
• Main idea : to turn an agricultural country into an industrialized country

The First Five-Year Plan

• Emphasized heavy industries – coal, oil, iron and steel, electricity – to lay the
foundations for future industrial growth.
• 1,500 new industrial plants were built.
• Magnitogorsk – largest steel factory in USSR in the 1930s - This was the type
of industry Stalin wanted to create.
• Steel used for building tractors, railways and other industrial products
• Unbelievable targets were set but remarkable results were achieved.
• Collectivisation - Farming methods were changed – improved farming
methods meant that fewer people were required to work on the lands; the
excess could then work in the factories
• Efficient farming methods imply surplus crops for export – will help to pay for
new factories.

The Second Five-Year Plan

• Heavy industries remained top priority
• Communications, especially railways, became important to link cities and
industrial centres.
• Rapid industrialization and modernization of agriculture must go hand-in-hand
with ‘communications’
• Goods must be transported quickly and cheaply from one place to another
• USSR was a huge country
• Lines of communication were vital
• Thus, an important part of the FYP was the building of roads, canals and
railways
• To link mines with factories; factories with centres of population
• Also easier to transport food from countryside to towns

The Third Five-Year Plan

• Only lasted 3 years as Russia entered 2nd World War in 1941.
• More emphasized were placed on developing armaments – tanks, planes,
weapons.

Why Stalin replaced NEP with series of 5 years plan?

1. Weak industrial development in Russia
• Lenin had signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Germans, losing many
lands in the process. Russia thus lost many industries, leading to lack of
industrial development in Russia.
• With the 5 years plan, Stalin would be able to introduce increased industrial
activities in Russia, leading to economic development.

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 2. Move towards Planned economy
• The NEP allowed profit making and less control from the state.
• The Kulaks and the Nepmen had also become too powerful and they had to
be controlled.
• Communism, however, emphasised on the state determining not only what
should be produced, but also how, when and where it would be produced.
• With the 5 year plan, Stalin would be able to bring about changes to the
economy with more state planning through the Gosplan.

Collectivisation
• A programme introduced by Stalin to increase agricultural production
for two purposes:
• To support his industrialisation programme by reducing the
numbers required in the agricultural sector through modern farming
methods so that excess labour can be re-deployed to the industrial sector
• Efficient farming methods imply surplus crops for export – will
help to pay for new factories.

How it worked
• Small farms were merged into large farms (kolkhoz) owned by peasants
• Govt supplied the new farms with seed, tools and modern machinery
• In return, the 90% of products were sold to the state at low prices
• Greater use of machinery helped reduced the labour needed on farms
• Excess labour redeployed to various industries

Opposition
• Opposition by kulaks
• Collective farms deprived kulaks of their lands
• They would rather destroy animals and crops than hand them over to the
Bolsheviks
• Only 3% of the agricultural land was collectivised by 1928 because of the
kulaks’ objections :{

Stalin’s response
• Stalin was furious – demonstrated his ruthlessness
• Stalin considered the kulaks an obstacle to the success of his plans
• Millions were killed, deported to labour camps “Gulags” or allowed to starve to
death
• This was kept secret from the rest of the world
• Most farms were collectivised by 1936

Why was collectivisation unsuccessful in the early stages? – Short Term Effects
1. One reason was the opposition of the kulaks
• Kulaks were making a lot of profits
• They thus destroyed the animals and crops rather than hand them
over to the Bolsheviks.
• This meant that only 3% of the agricultural land was collectivized by
1928
• The collectivization programme was thus not successful.

2. Insufficient new machines in the collectives

• Despites the efforts at modernizing farming,
there were not enough machines for the collectives

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 • This meant that most farms did not have
enough machines, leading to the need for manual labour.
• Thus not many peasants could be moved
over to work in the industries, leading to slow industrial development/

3 Many peasants did not know how to use the machines

• Even for the peasants who had adequate
machines, they were not able to use the machines properly.
• The peasants lacked the ‘know-how’ to use
the machines well.
• As a result, the many machines were not
used and eventually got rusty and needed repair; machines which were used
also were frequently under repair due to improper usage and maintenance.
• All these meant that there was a lack of
economic success, leading to failure of the collectivization programme.

4 People were worse off

• The 5 years plan emphasized on heavy
industries.
• This meant that there was a lack of
consumer goods in the Soviet Union.
• E.g. clothing was in short supply –
unsuitable clothes and poor housing/heating made for very miserable winters.
• The pay was also low.
• This meant that the standard of living
dropped to worse than before the revolutions on 1917.

5. Workers were treated harshly

• Punished if work targets not met
• Meant losing the jobs, and housing and food ration cards too
• There were rewards for those who exceeded targets – higher pay,
extra food, special holidays e.g. Alexie Stakhanov - Stakhanovite
• Their targets used as an excuse to increase other workers’ targets
• No proper tools and equipment
• Most unable to meet targets, let alone exceed them
• This made the people unhappy and resent the government.

Long Term Effects:

1. Aided in introduction of modern farming methods in Russia

• Collectivisation made it easier to introduce modern farming methods
• Use of tractors and combined harvesters
• These eventually helped to make farming more efficient

2. Aided in industrial development in Russia

• One effect : Fewer people required to work on farms
• Freed up people to move into cities to work in factories
• e.g. coal and electricity production increased 5 times between 1928 and
1940.
• This meant that Russia was able to develop its industries, leading to industrial
development.
• By the end of 1930s, the Soviet Union had become the second industrial
power in the world after the USA.

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 3 Made USSR a more powerful country
• Iron and steel factories – made weapons, tanks and aeroplanes
• A strong industry was a key factor for USSR’s defeat of Germany in
WWII
• This led to USSR becoming a strong power, leading to it becoming
one of the two super powers together with USA.

4. Provided jobs for the people

• In Britain, France and USA, from 1929, there was massive
unemployment due to the Great Depression.
• In the Soviet Union, however, the 5 years plan led to building of roads,
canals, railways, factories and mines.
• This meant that many people were required, leading to increase in
employment.
• The unemployment rate in the USSR thus was drastically reduced.

How did Stalin control the USSR?

1. Purges against anti-communists
• Get rid of enemies of the state who were working against communism
• Many were arrested and executed or sent to work in labour camps in
isolated parts of USSR
• Even party members who did not agree with Stalin’s ideas were
affected
• About 1 million were executed and over 10 million sent to labour
camps
• This meant that the enemies of communism were either got rid of or
forced to remain silent due to fear, leading to Stalin’s effective control of
the USSR.

2. Purges against the Communist Party – Show Trials

• Show trials – against former party leaders etc – arrested and forced to
confess of crimes that they did not commit, found guilty and shot
• These show trials were filmed and shown to others as a deterrent
• E.g. show trial against those who were convicted of conspiring with
Trotsky
• All confessed and were executed
• This meant that even within the communist party, the members were
very careful not to offend Stalin, leading to increased power for Stalin.

EFFECTS OF STALIN’S PURGES

A Stalin became more powerful than before
• No one dared to challenge him
• Even when the USSR was initially badly defeated by the Germans in
WWII, there was never any possibility that he would be replaced
• On the reverse side, his reputation was further damaged; hated by the
people

B Severely damaged USSR by removing many of its ablest people

• Esp the purge of the Red Army

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 • 1937-38 : over half the Red Army officers and all admirals in the Navy
were purged
• USSR was much weaker in early WWII because of this
• Industrial expansion affected by purge of scientists and engineers
• This meant that the Soviet Union became militarily and intellectually
weaker.

C Biggest effect – the misery and suffering by millions of Russians

• Both relatives and the victims themselves
• Many simply disappeared and were never heard of again e.g. labour
camps
• This made the people hate the government and yet kept quiet for fear
of ill treatment by the government.

3. Propaganda
• The cult of Stalin: pictures and statues of Stalin everywhere
• Stalin was portrayed as the leader and saviour of Russia
• Newspapers, posters and films were controlled by the state
• They gave the impression that Stalin was a great hero whom all
should love and obey.
• This meant that though the purges made Stalin unpopular, the people
were convinced that Stalin was a great leader who could move the
country forward to success.

4. Education and Culture

• Stalin introduced education to eliminate illiteracy
• He tried to control the minds of younger Russians through education
• Teachers were forced to teach children to be loyal to communists
ideas
• Children were taught the communist version of history
• Only one fair and effective way of running the country – the
communist way.
• This meant that the people were influenced by the ideas and thoughts
of communism, leading to increased support for Stalin.

Conclusion
• Stalin was a dictator
• Many of his policies were cruel and inhumane but he believed they were
necessary to ensure Russia’s survival in a hostile world
• How different was Communist Russia from Tsarist Russia, especially where
the people were concerned?
• Change in the form of government
• Different economic focus
• Individual freedom restricted
• Reign of terror
• Standard of living did not improve for many
• Stalin did improve the status of the Soviet Union
• To some extent, his policies were successful; he did turn the USSR into a
powerful industrialised nation