History Essays

Chapter 2 Stalins Soviet Union

3 Reasons why Stalin introduced Purges

Increased opposition
to his policies
Rivalries from
party members
Support
Collectivisation and
Five-Year Plans


3 Reasons why Stalin introduced Collectivisation

Transfrom USSR into
an advanced country
to compete with
other countries
Create a strong
and efficient
agricultural sector
Control Land


3 Strategies to achieve Economic Development

Five-Year Plans Collectivisation Purges

*Kulaks = Rich Peasants

3 Reasons why Stalin introduced Purges

Increased opposition to his polices
People were questioning his leadership, his methods and policies.
There were even opened criticisms to his policies.
For example, the rapid Collectivisation and Industrialisation moved too fast,
causing a lot of unhappiness and therefore opposition to his policies occurs.
People began to withdraw their support and thereby Stalin felt insecure and he
introduced the purges to eliminate all dissent.

Rivalries from party members.
Kirov was a dangerous and popular rival.
He critisised Stalins harsh policy
His speech was warmly applauded which showed that people agreed with him.
In 1934, Kirov got the highest votes in the Central Committeee and Stalin the
lowest.
Stalin used the Assassination of Kirov as an excuse to launch a massive purge.
Therefore, the purge consolidated Stalins hold over Russia.

Support Collectivisation and Five-Year Plans
Stalin felt that his policies were needed to make Russia strong.
The constant opposition to his policies was restricting him to make Russia
strong
Hence, to fasten the pace of his policies, he had to get rid of all opposition.



3 Reasons why Stalin introduced Collectivisation

Transform the USSR into an advanced country
to compete with other countries
USSR was around 75 years behind in Technologies
Stalin wanted to catch up and surpass them within Ten years.
To do so, he had to Increase agricultural output so that
USSR could produce enough food to support an Expanding Urban Workforce.
Soviet agriculture was Backward and Methods of Farming were Inefficient and
Outdated.
Therefore, Stalin introduced Collectivisation to Increase Output through State
Control.

Create a Strong and Efficient agricultural sector that could support
Industrialisation.
This meant that Agriculture must produce not only sufficient grains to feed the
whole of USSR but also with surplus.
With Collectivisation, Stalin would have full control over food production and
thereby excess crops could be sold as exports to raise money.
This money could then be used for buying New Machineries for factories and
heavy industries.
With efficient farming, More workers could be transferred from the countryside
to work in the urban areas
Therefore, Stalin introduced Collectivisation.




Control Land
Collectivisation meant that farmers work in collectives and they no longer
owned the land.
Thereby, it transferred the ownership of the land to Stalin and the state now
owned the land.
Stalin was awared that the Kulaks were not supportive of him or Communism
Therefore, Collectivisation would allow him to take land away from them and
create a truly classless USSR.
Hence, Stalin introduced Collectivisation because he wanted to control land and
the economy.



















3 Strategies to achieve Economic Development

Five-Year Plans
Targets were set for every aspect of the economy.
The focus was on Industry and Manufacturing, especially coal, iron and steel
production.
The Five-Year Plans ensured that economic development was a priority.
It provided direction for the people and ensured that development took place in
an organised manner.
The plans, reviewed and renewed every few years, were crucial to the
progress of USSR.

Collectivisation
The State took over private farms and set up large state-run Collectives.
Stalin wanted to Increase agricultural yields by nationalising all land
He thereby forced all peasants to work in the Collectives where the State would
provide modern farming tools.
The more farms, labour and machines would mean more yields.
Collectivisation would also give the state control over food sources
The Food would then be used for priority areas such as to support the
workforce in industries.






Purges
Stalin wanted his policies to be Implemented so that USSR can catch up with
the West in 10 years.
That is, no opposition.
Therefore, he introduced purges to eliminate political rivals, opponents and
Russians who either criticised or refused to cooperate with Collectivisation
and Five-Year Plans.
For example, the Kulaks who oppposed Stalins Collectivisation will have to be
killed.
Or else, they will delay Stalins plan to develop the USSR.