In order to reinforce his power, Stalin did the following;
Purges, 1934
With the hope of destroying anyone who was capable of independent thinking which meant that everybody had to think exactly how Stalin thought. Started in 1928 where engineers in the important Donbass mining region were accused of sabotage with little evidence. It completely began in 1934 when the leader of Leningrad Communist Party, Kirov was murdered. Stalin used this as an excuse to purge his opponents, even though many believed that Stalin himself did the murder.
In “Show trials”, loyal Bolsheviks such as Kamenev, Bukharin and Zinoviev confessed to being traitors. 500,000 party members were arrested on charges of anti-Soviet activities and either executed or sent to gulags (labour camps). Trotskey was also murdered by Stalins agents.
Around 25,000 officers were removed including the Supreme Commander of the Red Army. Many ordinary people like teachers, miners and engineers also disappeared. Days of torture would make people admit to anything.
1937, 18 million transported to labour camps and 10 million died. Stalin weakened USSR in this process by removing able minded people.
The New Constitution, 1936
Supposedly brought free speech and elections to the Russian people. However only communist party candidates were allowed to stand in elections, and only approved newspapers and magazines were published.
What else?
History was rewritten so that Lenin and Stalin were the only heroes in the revolution. School children were expected to join the Young Pioneers and the education system was geared towards Stalinist Propaganda as opposed to free-thinking. Pictures, music, statues were made towards Stalin. He was respected by everyone as a dictator to the people. He was also respected within the party.
Economy
Stalin intended to modernise USSR. The industry was concentrated in just a few cities and the workers were unskilled and poorly educated. Many regions were in the same backward state as they had been a hundred years earlier.
5 Year Plan
Stalin ended the NEP. The GOSPLAN started drawing up the Five-Year Plans. They set ambitious targets for production of heavy industries such as coal, iron, oil and electricity. It was designed in a way in which every worker knew what he/she had to achieve.
First Plan (1933)
The first five year plan:
Still behind targets.
Cities were built in remote areas rich in natural resources such as Siberia. Workers were taken out to these new industrial centres. Hydroelectric power was now utilized for electricity. Russian “experts” also went to Muslim republics such as Kazakhstan and created industry from scratch.
Second Plan (1937)
Heavy industry was still the main priority however mining for other minerals such as lead, tin and zinc intensified. Transport and communications were boosted and new canals and railways built such as the Moscow underground railway. Production of tractors and machinery also increased in an attempt to boost industry.
Success or failure?
Success:
• By 1937 USSR was a modern state and it was why they were saved from defeat when Hitler invaded in 1941
• Was useful as propaganda to reinforce Stalin’s leadership
• Unemployment was almost non-existent
• In 1940, USSR had more doctors per head than Britain
• Education became free and compulsory
Failure:
• Workers had strict targets which they were fined if not met
• Alexei Stakhanov who mined 102 tons of coal in one shift
• More women drafted in for second plan (made up 40% of industrial workers)
• Strict Factory discipline with sever punishments
• Being late or absent was punished by sacking and losing your house/flat
• Secret police had introduced internal passports which prevented free movement of workers inside the USSR
• Many workers on great engineering projects such as dams and canals were prisoners sentenced to hard labour
• Workers who had accidents or made mistakes in their work were found guilty of sabotage
• 100,000 workers died in the construction of the Belomor Canal
• Concentration on heavy goods meant there were few consumer goods
• Overcrowding as most lived in flats with only two rooms
• Wages fell between 1928 and 1937
• Many Muslim leaders were imprisoned or deported. Mosques were closed and pilgrimages to Mecca were forbidden as they thought Islam was holding back industrialisation.
Collectivisation
Before:
Aimed at agriculture. Population of the industrial centres were growing rapidly however the country was short of grain to feed the workers. Stalin also had plans to raise money for industrialisation by selling exports of surplus food abroad.
Most farms following the NEP were small and owned by Kulaks. These farms were too small to make efficient use of modern such as tractors and fertilisers. Also, many peasants had enough to eat and therefore didn’t see much point in increasing production to feed the towns. Kulaks had to be destroyed as they were against communism. Also cash crops (e.g. Grain) had to be grown.
During:
Stalin’s first order in 1929 asked farmers to pool their land and equipment and to work under the collective farm committee which was under the control of the communist party.
Punishments were given for “enemies of the collective farms” such as the Kulaks . 90% of the produce had to go the state with 10% to feed the collective. Motor tractor stations were also set up to provide mechanism.
Kulaks were eliminated by:
• Soviet propaganda against them
• Kulaks arrested and sent to labour camps
In response, Kulaks burnt their crops and slaughtered their animals to avoid them being collected.
Impact:
Success:
• 99% of Russia was collectivised
• Agriculture was modernised with the use of new methods, tractors, fertilisers
• New attitudes (trying to produce as much as possible) and large-scale
• 17 million peasants left the countryside to work in the town
• Communists completely controlled
Failure:
• Tonnes of Grain increased but cattle, sheep and goat were reduced
• Between 1932 and 1933, many died in the famine
• Kulaks were eliminated
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