“Collectivisation accomplished its main aims. In the first place, the regime could now commander food from the peasants at incredibly low prices… Then it acquired the additional working force for industrialisation… mechanisation, especially after tractors began to be produced in quantity, released millions of rural youth for industries in the cities.”
Russia and the USSR – Fiehn – Pg. 104
The money raised from exporting surplus grain was used to help finance Stalin’s ambitious plan for Russia, industrialisation. Stalin wanted to introduce industrialisation so rapidly because he felt that Russia was already 50 to 100 years behind the west and in order to close this gap he introduced the five year plans. Stalin believed that to develop industry and run the economy, there should be state planning. The state would determine what would be produced, when, where and how. To organize this sort of planning the five year plans were adopted. Gosplan, the state planning agency, carried out the detailed planning of the economy. Gosplan set huge production targets that were practically unreachable.
The features of the plans in the 1930’s were the spectacular building projects, that Russia used as show pieces of the Soviet achievement. Some of these projects were Dnieper dam, the Moscow-Volga canal and the Moscow metro (an underground train system with lavish stations built on a grand scale).
Russia did come about many benefits form the five year plans. Many new industrial areas were formed in the East such as the Urals. This in turn caused an increase in production and therefore an improve economy. By the end of the 1930’s the conditions for workers greatly increased. They were paid higher wages and their living conditions increased. Production also increased as the number of workers in Russia approximately doubled between 1922 and 1935, from about 11 million to 22 million people. Workers who worked very hard were rewarded with award and honours. These people became known as Stackonovites. These were the top quality workers who helped Russia to meet their high production targets. To help encourage more workers to work as hard as the Stackonovites, the government gave the Stackonovites high publicity and rewards for there hard work. Although they got rewards, they were very unpopular with the other workers, and were often treated badly by the fellow workers.
Stalin hoped that industrialisation would help Russia to be able to compete with other leading countries such as the USA. He also hoped that Russia would be recognised as a world super power. Because of Stalin’s policy of collectivisation and his five year plans, Russia’s agricultural and industrial outputs were increasing. The huge increase in production, gave Russia the raw materials that it needed to become a super power. When the great depression occurred, other countries were suffering while Russia’s economy was at a very high level. The rapid industrialisation helped Russia to compete in the war, as it now had many factories, which were turned into weapon production factories during the war.
“By 1941 the main aim of Stalin’s policy of rapid industrialisation had been achieved. The USSR… was one of the world’s great industrial powers.”
Russia and the USSR – Fiehn – Pg. 94
Though, the five year plans was not all success. There were some failures of the five year plans, which had horrible effects on Russia and its people:
Living conditions were very bad for most of the workers. Large families were expected to live in tiny apartments that did not have any modern objects. The working conditions were also very bad. A description of a Moscow apartment house:
“Badly built, with doors and windows of unseasoned wood which would not shut properly, unpapered and thinly whitewashed walls, these two rooms were home”
Russia and the USSR – Fiehn – Pg. 122
In the factories there was a strict code of labour discipline. Absenteeism was punished by fines, loss of ration cards or even dismissal. By 1940, being absent had become a crime and a prison sentence was given to people carrying out second offenses. The situation got so bad, that workers had to carry labour books, which recorded their jobs and bad comments about them. An unfavorable record could cause a worker to lose their food ration or possibly lead to imprisonment. These punishments made life very hard for the workers. Then in 1929, it got worse for the workers as the government introduced the uninterrupted week. This meant that the factories would be working everyday of the week and 20% of the workers having their day off, on any given day. This made the lives for families very hard as some husbands and wives found it very hard to spend time with each other as they had to work.
In order for Russia to be able to industrialize rapidly, Stalin needed to have a large number of workers to work on his many projects. Therefore, in the 1930’s the secret police setup a special department to deal with the labour camps (gulags). For laborers the government used prisoners, called zeks. These zeks were forced to work on major project for long hours in the day and in horrible conditions. Most of the people died working on the projects. The zeks were promised that after the project was completed, they would be released, but very few were ever released. Most were sent to the next site location. Therefore, most of the development of the five year plans was carried out by slave labour. The slave labour was fundamental in the completion of the five year plans.
Though, even though production targets were reached, the planning done by the government was not very effective. Most industries were either over-used or under-used. This meant that sometimes factories would be so over-worked that the final products would be of very poor quality. Also, sometimes factories would not be working for maybe weeks because they did not have the required materials to work. Though, the government’s only concern was to meet the targets of the five year plans, even if it meant that poor quality products would be made. This is how the government met the targets and this is why the central planning of the government was not very effective.
Another problem in the factories was that the worker’s now had to use new machinery and usually mistakes were made and machines were mistakenly broken by the unskilled workers. The workers were unskilled because most of them used to be peasants that knew nothing about modern technology. The workers who broke machinery were punished very badly. They were accused of purposely sabotaging the machinery and they were put on trial. These trials created fear in the workers minds and this possibly had worse effects in the factories. If mistakes were made then the workers started to cover them up and hide them. Then when it came time to produce output figures, most factory managers would produce incorrect figures as they were not able to meet the required targets.
By 1928, Stalin had his friends in the Politburo and so he was effectively the leader of the USSR, which was a one party state. Stalin was a dictator. Along with his economic policies of Collectivisation and the Five Year Plans, he was personally responsible for the murder of about 12 million Soviet citizens. The mass murder caused by Stalin is known as the ‘Stalinist Purges’. The meaning of ‘purge’ is to get rid of hostile elements from a system.
The purges can be broken down into three main periods:
The first period was between 1928 and 1934. During to this period up to 6 million kulaks were purged or eliminated. This is because they opposed Stalin’s economic policies of collectivisation and industrialization. Stalin wanted the whole class labeled kulaks to be eliminated. Also, some industrial workers who were accused of sabotaging machinery were put on trial. Another target of the purges was factory managers that did not meet the production targets given by the five year plans. By the end of this period, there were over 3 million Russians in prison camps.
The second period was between 1934 and 1937. By this time, there were two views of Stalin. Some thought that he would stop the purges by 1933. Others wanted to get rid of him all together and replace him with Sergie Kirov. Then in 1934, Kirov was assassinated on Stalin’s orders after the 17th party congress. Stalin then used this murder as an excuse to get rid of all of the people that he thought was against him. By 1935, all of the 5,000 delegates who attended the 17th party congress were dead. Then in Leningrad, 100,000 people were arrested and accused of plotting with Trotsky (lived in Mexico) against Stalin and were accused of murdering Kirov. Stalin then accused leading communists under Lenin, such as Zinoviev, of being ‘Trotskyites’. This meant that they were supporters of Trotsky that were plotting against the Soviet state. They were then put on trials and tortured and blackmailed into confessing to crimes that they did not commit. They were then shot. Even Trotsky, who lived in Mexico, was murdered by Stalin’s agents. By 1937 up to 6 million innocent Soviet citizens were in the Gulags (labour camps), as a cause of the purges.
“Around 500,000 party members were arrested on charges of anti-Soviet activities and either executed or sent to labour camps (gulags).”
GCSE Modern World History – Ben Walsh – Pg.134
The third period was between 1937 and 1941. By 1937, the purges had plunged the population of the Soviet Union into a state of terror. Everyone feared to be arrested by the NKVD (secret police), tortured, being executed or being put into Gulags (labour camps). Nobody was safe from Stalin. Even the head of the secret police was murdered. In 1938 Stalin turned his attention towards the military and a mass purge was made on the military. 90% of the Red Army’s generals were executed and about 25,000 officers were arrested or murdered. Even Tukhachevsky was executes. He was Russia’s most famous general and was the hero of the civil war. This left the Red Army very weak as most of the generals and high-ranking officers had been executed.
“After the trials, Stalin turned his attention to the army, particularly the officers. Approximately 25,000 officers were removed – around one in five – including the Supreme Commander of the Red Army”
GCSE Modern World History – Ben Walsh – Pg.134
By 1937 around 18 million people had been sent to labour camps, of which about 10 million died. The USSR was very weak because Stalin removed so many influential people. The purges made to the army were nearly deadly to Russia, as Hitler invaded the USSR in 1941. One reason why the army was so weak was because all experienced officers had been removed leaving the army inexperienced and weak. Stalin also caused for people to stop thinking for themselves, as everyone now knew that to live they had to think exactly as Stalin did.
“In the population as a whole, the long-term impact of living with terror and distrust haunted the USSR for a generation.”
GCSE Modern World History – Ben Walsh – Pg.134
Though the purges did have many bad effects on Russia, the purges did also benefit Russia and it people in many ways. Stalin used the purges as an opportunity to get rid of all the people that opposed him and to show the people of Russia that he is the supreme leader of the USSR. Nobody dared to speak out against Stalin anymore. Once it was shown that his position as leader was definite, Stalin then closely controlled the Russian people to mold Russia into an Industrial state. Slacking off and absenteeism were very rare and this helped for the production figures of the factories to greatly increase. Stalin played a major role in transforming Russia from a backwards peasant oriented country into a world super power.
Stalin used the purges as an opportunity to acquire a source of labour to carry out the vast development of the Five Year Plans. Million of innocent Russians were put in labour camps (Gulags) and then they were used as slave labour. Most of the large projects completed in the USSR, such as Magnitagorsk, Belmor Canal, etc, were built by slave labour. The development that took place could not have been done by any other method, other than slave labour. Therefore, the purges did provide slave labour which benefited Russia as a country but did not benefit the Russian people.
Though, the purges did cause for there being a lot of problems for Russia and the Russian people. One main problem was that millions of innocent Russians were murdered by the government. Meaning, that many individuals that could have helped Russia, were eliminated. Such as factory managers, engineers, doctors, teachers, leading party members, kulaks and army generals. All of these people were accused of crimes that they did not commit and blackmailed into confessing that they committed the crimes. Between 1936 and 1950, around 12 million innocent Russians were killed in the labour camps. This led to there being a state of fear in Russia. Anybody that was suspected of opposing Stalin was eliminated. No-one was safe from the secret police. People were often taken away by the NKVD and never seen again. There was always the fear of being denounced and therefore nobody ever spoke out badly against Stalin. Denunciation created a state of distrust between every Russian, even ones own family.
“Today, Stalin’s rule is looked back on as a time of great terror and oppression”
GCSE Modern World History – Ben Walsh – Pg.135
On the issue of Religion, Stalin felt that all religion should be banned in Russia. While he was in power all religious believers suffered. Stalin closed down many churches and cathedrals, or he transformed them into something else.
“Nearly 40,000 Christian churches and 25,000 mosques were closed down.”
Stalin and the Soviet Union – Brooman – Pg.18
There was persecution of Jews, Muslims, Orthodox Christians and other minority groups. Church leaders were arrested and put into prison. Very few escaped imprisonment but those who did were forbidden to practice religion or organize any religious activities. Stalin wanted to weaken the religious faith in Russia and to do this; he set up a League of Militant Atheists in 1924. Its job was to persuade people to go against religion. By 1933 it had around five and a half million members. Any religious icons or objects were burnt. The league also set up anti-religious propaganda campaigns.
Stalin wanted the Russian’s religion to be the worship of Stalin. Stalin was glorified as almost god-like. This was called the ‘cult of Stalin’. It was a massive propaganda scheme that pushed the cult of Stalin into every possible place. There were parades, films, statues, paintings, books, etc. that proclaimed the good fortune of the Soviet people of having Stalin there to guide them in the right direction. It was huge schemes to make all of the Russian people believe that Stalin was a great leader and they were lucky to have a man as great as Stalin. Authors, poets, painters and sculptors had to create pieces glorifying Stalin. In the end all of the Russian people worshiped Stalin and therefore his position as leader was impervious.
An example of a poem printed in the Pravda, glorifying Stalin:
“O great Stalin, O leader of the peoples,
Thou who broughtest man to birth…
Thou who makest bloom the spring,
Thou who makest vibrate the musical chords…
Thou, splendor of my spring, O thou,
Sun reflected by millions of hearts”
Russia and the USSR – Fiehn – Pg. 117
Stalin did not allow writers or artists to release their works without first being submitted to committees, which would ensure that the piece followed the official party guidelines. This is because Stalin thought of writers and artists to be dangerous to him. Therefore, all books or paintings had to glorify Stalin or the massive achievements of Russia during the reign of Stalin. If writers or artists ever produced anything that showed Stalin or the Communist party as being bad, they could be sent to labour camps. This led to most writers and artists to either stop working or commit suicide. This meant Russia lost many talented individuals.
“The 1930’s saw a drastic reduction in creative freedom… Creativity had to serve the immediate needs of the government.”
Stalin’s Russia – M. Whittock
Education under Stalin was strictly controlled. During the 1920’s, examinations and forms of discipline were abolished, which created uneducated pupils. In 1932, Stalin reintroduced examinations and a form of very strict discipline. School uniforms were also reintroduced along with report cards. The government decided what was taught at schools and history was a very important subject in schools. Though, Stalin rewrote the history course to more suit him. The new text books made Stalin have a more important role in the revolution and made the old communists disappear, such as Trotsky. Stalin’s aim for education can be summed up in rule one of education:
It is the duty of each school child to acquire knowledge persistently so as to become an educated and cultured citizen and to be one of the greatest possible services to his country.
Stalin and the Soviet Union – Brooman – Pg.19
As a result of this new education scheme introduced by Stalin, illiteracy nearly disappeared:
“By 1939, pf people aged 9 to 49, 94% in towns and 86% in the countryside could read and write.”
Stalin and the Soviet Union – Brooman – Pg.18
In conclusion, Stalin’s impact on Russia was huge and extremely important. He may have continued what Lenin had started, yet it was Stalin who changed Russia forever. He turned Russia into a world super power and a modern industrial nation. Also, he did this effectively and very rapidly and in only thirty years. When Stalin took over after Lenin’s death, Russia was about to crumble. Stalin rebuilt it using his very harsh yet effective policies of collectivisation and industrialisation. Unlike Lenin, Stalin’s reign over Russia showed more development and this was essential for Russia to become what it is today. Though, it is true that Stalin did follow the foundations that Lenin built. Under his rule, there were great advances in health and education. Living standards started to rise as well. It was Stalin’s great strength and power over Russia that helped the USSR to win the Second World War. Though his policies did cause a lot of terror and million died, it was unavoidable if Russia was to advance as a country in such a small period of time. Even though the people suffered greatly during Stalin’s reign, they still remained loyal to him and Stalin’s position as leader was always in control, showing his power and strength. Stalin led Russia into a new age of power, which had been previously started by Lenin.