's initial economic impact on the country was indeed significant. He introduced a number of 5-year-plans that improved the steel and coal industry, resulting in the creation of more jobs. Industrialisation was a necessity in the USSR, and Stalin managed to transform a mostly backward and illiterate society into a major power in just a few years. The workers of that time would have viewed Stalin as a significant figure due to his plans and actions to modernise Russia, which meant more job opportunities and increased self-sufficiency for the nation. This support was crucial, as many farmers across Russia disagreed with Stalin's ideas, and he relied heavily on the support of workers. According to Alexander Nove, if the goal was to modernise and industrialise Russia, then Stalinism had a significant impact on the country's economy. years. However, it is important to acknowledge the human cost of this rapid industrialisation, as millions of people were forced to work in dangerous conditions and many lost their lives due to accidents or exhaustion. Additionally, the focus on heavy industry meant that consumer goods were neglected, leading to shortages and a lower standard of living for many Soviet citizens. Therefore, while Stalin's industrialisation policies did bring about significant economic growth, it came at a great cost to the people of the Soviet Union. Trotsky criticized the leadership of the Comintern, stating that he was "under the treacherous blows of the Stalinist bureaucracy" after being outmaneuvered by Stalin. Although they presented themselves as mortal enemies, their power struggle made their rivalry clear. In his testament, Lenin expressed that "Stalin is too rude, and this fault is intolerable...appointing another man who is more patient, more loyal, more polite and considerate to his comrades." Before coming to power, there was a general distaste and lack of trust towards Stalin, making the political party an uncomfortable place during his rise. An alliance between Zinoviev, Kamenev, and Stalin was formed to prevent Trotsky from coming to power, but neither Zinoviev nor Kamenev were impressed with Stalin's leadership. Kamenev described Stalin as "a small-town politician - a good administrator with no ideas or ambitions of his own." This suggests that Stalin never had any real support from other politicians, and the only support he had came from the public, who were mostly poorly educated and intimidated by Trotsky. After Trotsky was defeated and had his position as leader of the Red Army taken away, Stalin no longer needed his alliance with Zinoviev and Kamenev, and he turned on them, accusing them of being traitors to the party.
By 1928, Stalin had ousted Trotsky and the rest of the Left opposition. In four years, Stalin had single handedly taken major steps away from Lenin’s collective leadership and free inter party debate and replaced them with his autocratic dictatorship. Stalin began to secure predominant power over the communist party and the state by destroying passive opposition from the peasantry and former Lenin supporters. He won growing support from the working class who were impressed with the initial five-year plan. As it promised increased industrialization, which would lead to socialism in one country within their lifetime.
I think there are a number of main factors to consider when investigating this issue. The first thing to consider is the fact that Trotsky and Stalin come from completely different backgrounds. Trotsky was from a prosperous Jewish farming family whereas Stalin was from s peasant stock in Georgia. This meant he understood the peasants. situation, as he had been there himself and the peasant made up a lot of the population, therefore he was quite popular already.
Stalin continued even once he was successful in accomplishing those goals, as he did not stop hurting people, but if anything it gave him more power to hurt people even more. But, at the end of the day, although Lenin ruled for only a very short time, he did raise the standard of living, though there maintained a large amount of hardship. Stalin, however, transformed the USSR from a peasantry to an industrialized nation in less than a decade, he did it on the backs of his millions of victims, who died because of his harsh policies and many purges. Lenin made a series of policies throughout the beginning of the Revolution and through his short time in public office that came to be collectively known as ‘Leninism’. There were many things that influenced Leninism, such as Karl Marx.
Over time however, Lenin was able to see the flaws of this policy and had the maturity to admit that he may have made a mistake. From this the New Economic Policy was born, and conditions in Russia improved immensely. However, Stalin did not have such a capacity to see error, and reverted to pure communism, undoing all of the good work that Lenin had finally managed to achieve. Before Lenin can be seen as the leader of Russia under the Bolshevik party, we must see Lenin as an opportunist.
Stalin used his pre-existing roles within the party to manipulate events and those around him to benefit himself in the power struggle. By being misjudged by individuals such as Trotsky and prominent Rightists such as Tomsky, he used being underestimated to his own advantage and slowly turned the arty into one filled with his supporters and causing many to resign or be expelled. It is clear that through the combination of factors mentioned above that Stalin would not have been able to have such a strong rise to power like he did and that ultimately members of the government's misguided views of him would play into his
Stalin saw a need to sure up the allegiance to him by all who were under him. Therefore, he needed to fight out against those who opposed him. So for the rest of 1924, the Politburo continued to argue about the future of the Soviet economy. The fiercest argument was between Stalin and Trotsky over Trotsky's theory of permanent Revolution.
In order to conclude the extent to which the Great Terror strengthened or weakened the USSR the question is essentially whether totalitarianism strengthened or weakened the Soviet Union? Perhaps under the circumstances of the 1930s in the approach to war a dictatorship may have benefited the country in some way through strong leadership, the unifying effect of reintroducing Russian nationalism and increased party obedience.
Stalin’s hunger for power and paranoia impacted the Soviet society severely, having devastating effects on the Communist Party, leaving it weak and shattering the framework of the party, the people of Russia, by stunting the growth of technology and progress through the purges of many educated civilians, as well as affecting The Red Army, a powerful military depleted of it’s force. The impact of the purges, ‘show trials’ and the Terror on Soviet society were rigorously negative. By purging all his challengers and opponents, Stalin created a blanket of fear over the whole society, and therefore, was able to stay in power, creating an empire that he could find more dependable.
Around the early 1920’s, Stalin took power and became leader of Russia. As a result Russians either became fond of Stalin’s policies or absolutely despised them. Stalin’s five-year plans lured many into focusing on the thriving economy rather than the fact that the five year plan hurt the military. The experience of many lives lost, forced labor camps, little supply of food, influenced the Russians negative opinion about Stalin. Having different classes in society, many Russians had different points of views. For the Peasants, times were rough mainly because of the famine, so they were not in favor of Stalin and his policies; where as the upper classes had a more optimistic view of everything that was occurring. Stalin’s policies affected the Russian people and the Soviet Union positively and also had a negative affect causing famine for the Russian people.
Stalin’s leadership of the Soviet Union can be best described as a period of terror and censorship. In other words, he was very strict, considering the fact that he created the totalitarian government. In order to create this type of government, Stalin used fear and propaganda. He took part in The Great Purge, which was a campaign of terror that was supposed to eliminate anyone who threatened Stalin’s power. He also relied on secret police, who would arrest and execute any traitors. The online blog, “The Reasons For the Failure of The Russian Revolution”, brings up information on how Stalin planned to rule as dictator of Russia. It has been noted, “This ‘reshaping’ had three main aspects: the elimination of all dissent; the liquidation of all forms of democracy and of working class organisation; the slashing of the living standards of the working class and the physical annihilation of millions of peasants” (Text 5). This quote explains how Stalin wanted to industrialize Russia, which includes the deaths of several peasants of Russia. The Russians did not just die from The Great Purge, but also from Stalin’s Five-Year Plan. The Five-Year Plan was an attempt to industrialize the Soviet Union. It was also a plan for increasing the output of steel, coal, oil, and electricity. He had control over economic resources, including farms and
boosted the USSR’s economy. Therefore Stalin had created a country which seemed corrupt at the time, but later on it improved by the hard work Stalin had forced upon them.
Joseph Stalin, Georgian by birth but a Russian nationalist by conviction, claimed power after the death of Lenin. He favored establishing socialism in one country, instead of socialism worldwide. He eliminated all rivals and became the dictator of the Soviet Union. His First Five-Year Plan, which replaced Lenin’s New Economic Policy and maintained by Gosplan, the central state-planning agency, provided rapid economic development by emphasizing heavy industry and maximizing centralization of the entire national economy. Its goal was to transform the Soviet Union into a leading industrial power and proposed increased productivity in all areas of the economy. It placed emphasis on heavy industry, such as steel and machinery, instead of agriculture
After the death of Lenin, his chief lieutenant Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin fought for control of the country. Stalin was able to win out over Trotsky and gain control of the Russian government. He felt that Lenin and Trotsky’s socialistic ideas were flawed in that they were to wait for other countries to revolt and become socialistic as well. Staling believed that a single country could make socialism .
...s, he maintained a strong rule over Russia being able to implement his policies. His industrialization plan led to profound improvement in industrial output. Stalin equipped Russia with nuclear power, being beneficial economically.
After Lenin gains control he creates his “NEW Economic Policy”, his goal with this would be to industrialize and modernize Russia as quickly as possible. He is successful in doing things such as, electrification of Russia, because of nationalization or the process of private own industries being taken over by the state. After Lenin dies in 1925 and after the exile of Trotsky, the person that Lenin wanted to take over the communist party, he will be exiled due to the communist party thinking Trotsky was a traitor. Another person (who was the one who convinced the communist party that Lenin’s successor was a “traitor”) by the name of Josef Stalin will become the leader of the communist party and Russia. Then in 1929, Stalin will introduce his “First Five-year plan”. Stalin wanted Russia to compete with the most industrialized countries in the world at this time. His goal was to modernize Russia so he uses the policy of urbanization (moving people from the rural farm areas to the city). He does not do this by asking them to move, Stalin will force over 31 million peasants to the cities while leaving some peasants on farms to continue producing crops. Then Stalin will focus on industrialization.