Stalin's USSR

Context of Stalin

Context of Stalin

• appointed Commissar of Nationalities after the Bolshevik revolution

• wasn’t liked by Lenin personally and didn’t have support from the army

• prepared to be ruthless

Context of Trotsky

• appointed Commissar of War after the Bolshevik revolution

• Lenin’s choice as a successor and was popular with the army

• intelligent and a great speaker

How did Stalin use Trickery to Win Power?

• Stalin told Trotsky the wrong date for Lenin’s funeral

• damaged Trotsky’s reputation

• Stalin made a speech at the funeral making him seem like he was Lenin’s heir

How did the Organisation of the CPSU Help Stalin Win Power?

• appointed General Secretary in 1922

• Stalin was able to appoint local party leaders - created a network of party leaders who were loyal to him

• on a vote to expel Kamenev, 90% of the votes supported Stalin

How did ideologies help Stalin win power?

• STALIN : supported NEP and appeared to be complimentary of Lenin

• TROTSKY : wanted to abandon NEP and appeared to be criticising Lenin’s rule ; wanted a “permanent revolution” around the world

Gulags

• labour camps for criminals or anyone suspected of opposing Stalin

• prisoners were set to work to do things that benefited the USSR e.g. built the 500km White Sea-Baltic Canal

Censorship and Culture in Stalin’s USSR

• books, articles, ect. were had to be submitted to committees before they were published

• artists were forced to make work that glorified the achievements of Soviet workers and peasants

Education in Stalin’s USSR

• history was re-written to suit Stalin and taught in schools

• old Communists were purged and their photos were pasted out of textbooks

• outside of school children joined political youth groups which trained them in socialism

Life for Women in Stalin’s USSR

• liberal ideas were abandoned

• restrictions placed on abortion

• women able to join jobs in all fields

• divorce made harder

Religion in Stalin’s USSR

• attacks on religion

• smashed churches and burned religious paintings

• members of religious groups were arrested and sent to Gulags

• bishops were arrested

Living Standards and Housing in Stalin’s USSR

• living standards rose in the mid 1930s

• shortages in food and other goods

• big differences in wages

• in Moscow 6% of households had more than one room

Leisure in Stalin’s USSR

• sports and fitness was encouraged

• every worker was entitled to take a holiday

• trade unions and collective farms provided general entertainment e.g. clubs, sports facilities and film showings

Why was Collectivisation introduced?

• soviet agriculture was behind

• wasn’t enough food for workers in towns

• NEP wasn’t working - in 1928 , 20 mil tones of grain short

• kulaks opposed communism

Successes of Collectivisation

• grain eventually increases to 97mil tones in 1937

• 90% of peasants lived on one of the 250,000 kolkhoz (collective farm) by 1939

• the use of machines on farms meant more peasants could go work in factories

• eventually more food was produced to feed workers in towns

• grain was sold abroad for a profit

Failures of Collectivisation

• grain production dropped between 1930-1933

• widespread famine in 1932-1933

• Russian grain production was 80mil tones in 1913 but 75mil tones in 1935

• some peasants chose to destroy their crops and kill their animals rather than joining collective farms

Who was purged in the Great Purge (1933-1938)

• old Bolshevik leaders

• Communist party officials - 1mil of the 3mil Communist party members were killed

• army and navy officials

• ordinary soviet citizens - anyone who didn’t submit to Stalin’s rule

• scientists, engineers, experts - anyone who Stalin didn’t trust or understand

• mangers of industries who didn’t meet their targets

• any one creative who might have ideas that Stalin didn’t like

Stalin’s 1936 Constitution

• promised free elections, freedom of speech. rights to care in old age & sickness, housing and education

• candidates in elections could only come from Communist party

Show Trials

• in 1936, Stalin attacked the “old Bolsheviks”

• court cases were broadcasted

• 16th August 1936 - Zinvier & Kamenev were found guilty and executed

• 35 old Bolsheviks were killed between 1936-1938

Purpose of the 5 Year Plans

• to increase military strength - Stalin believed the west would invade the USSR

• to rival capitalist countries - ‘Socialism in one country’

• to increase food supplies

• to achieve Communism - in 1928 only 1/5 were industrial workers but most of the population had to be to reach the communist ideal

• to increase his reputation as a leader and make the USSR “great”

GOSPLAN

• GOSPLAN set overall targets for an industry

• each region was told its targets

• the region set targets for each mine, factory ect.

• the manager of each place set targets for each foreman

• the foremen set targets for each shift or individual worker

Successes of the 5 Year Plans

• 1939 - 3rd highest industrial out-put in the world

• 4500 new factories plants, mines and power stations commissioned

Failures of the 5 Year Plans

• life was very strict under Stalin’s rule - internal passports prevented free movement of workers inside the USSR

Economic Impact of WW2

• 100,000 collective farms destroyed

• 65km of railway destroyed

• 40,000 hospitals destroyed

Social Impact of WW2

• nov-feb only 125g of bread each day

• 6mil houses destroyed

• cannibalism

• 19mil+ civilian deaths

• 1.5mil+ military personnel died

• 100,000 died from starvation each month

Political Impact of WW2

• less food for civilians, food rationed

• civilians had to work harder

• Stalin thought some in western Europe had pro-Nazi sympathies

Consequences of Modernisation on Women

• from 1930 the gov concentrated on drafting more women into the industry

• gov set up thousands of new day-care centres so mothers could work

• by 1937 women made up 40% of industrial workers (compared to 28% in 1927)