In 1927 Stalin became the country’s most powerful and most feared leader. During Stalin’s rule, he introduced a series of policies, which, by the time of his death in 1953, made the Soviet Union the world’s second most powerful nation after the United States. His rule was called totalitarianism. Using force, propaganda, and terror, Stalin created much of the Soviet system, as it existed until 1991. One of Stalin’s greatest achievements was the rapid industrial development. Stalin believed the capitalist powers in the world would try to crush the Soviet Union. In order to prevent such events, Stalin began a series of five year plans to industrialize and to build up the country’s defenses. The Soviet economy became a centrally planned economy. The communist party became the only political party in the Soviet society. In 1945, Stalin’s armies occupied large parts of Eastern Europe and began to establish communist governments there. Much of the Soviet system emerged from Stalin’s policies of industrialization, political control, centralized power, and defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. Stalin died on March 5, 1953. Due to his death, many Soviet people were sad to lose such a powerful leader. Under Stalin’s rule, the Soviet Union had become a world and a great industrial power. Stalin, however, used too much force in his policies. Too many people were executed. Too much was sacrificed and wasted. It goes to show that change can sometimes come at a great and sometimes unwanted cost.
In 1953 Khrushchev, backed by the communist party and the military, became the country’s new leader. He established himself as a new kind of Soviet leader and offered those, who suffered, a better life. In a secret speech in February 1956, Krushchev condemned Stalin for his war cruelty and crimes. Krushchev quickly began De-Stalinization of the Soviet Union. Thousands of prisoners were released from prison labor camps and many victims were rehabilitated. Views were allowed to be expressed and restrictions on movement were removed. Krushchev had Stalin’s body removed from a tomb and was placed in a simple grave. Krushchev introduced new measures to improve the living conditions of the Soviet Union. Even though heavy industries would be stressed under the five-year plans, agriculture was given more importance. The goal of this policy was to increase the production of food and consumer goods. Krushchev saw some weaknesses of the Stalinist system and tried to make some changes in it. In spite of the new policies, the Soviet system did not change. Khrushchev was removed from power in 1964 for failing to improve the economy’s performance. He died in 1971 and was placed in a simple grave.
In October 1964, Brezhnev, supported by other communist leaders, replaced Krushchev as a leader of the communist party. Brezhnev ended many of Khrushchev’s policies to expand the freedoms of the ordinary Soviet citizen and to allow criticism of the Soviet system. This move by Brezhnev was called Re-Stalinization. In the years of Brezhnev’s rule, economic growth began to slow down. Growth rates in the Soviet industry started to fall. There were many problems in agriculture. Living conditions were also below normal. Few policies were introduced to improve the soviet economy’s performance. The Soviet system remained unchanged during Brezhnev’s rule. The communist party continued as the most powerful political organization. The economy continued to be centrally planned.
Andropov in 1982 became the leader of the communist party. There was some improvement in economic growth was made under him. The real economic problem that faced Andropov was how to modernize the economy and improve production but he did not live long enough to change the way the country was ruled. He died in February 9, 1984. Four days later, Chernenko was elected to replace Andropov. He only lived for another year and died in March 1985.
The history of the Soviet Union is a unique one. The country was ruled from one leader to the next. Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Andropov, and Chernenko were all great leaders that sacrificed something out of the citizens to make the Soviet system better and better. Because of the leaders, the Soviet system is what it is today.
