Stalin's Rule

Stalin’s Economic Policy

Aimed at popular support and total control over economy and society.

1st Five Year Plan (1928-32)

Stalin’s “Great Turn”; focused on heavy industry and building factories.

2nd Five Year Plan (1933-37)

Expanded infrastructure: trains, trucks, tractors; continued industrial growth.

3rd Five Year Plan (1938-41)

Prepared USSR for WWII through military-industrial buildup.

4th & 5th Five Year Plans

Post-war plans to solidify USSR’s status as an industrial leader.

Collectivization

Forced consolidation of farms (Kolkhoz/Sovkhoz), controlled by quotas and state targets.

Gosplan

Soviet agency that set production quotas and economic targets for all sectors.

Vesenkha

Managed state industry and economic plans under Stalin's rule.

NKVD’s Role in Economy

Enforced economic quotas and punished underperformance through repression.

Stakhanovites & Shock Brigades

Reward programs to encourage over-fulfilling production quotas.

1932 Holodomor (Ukraine)

Man-made famine caused by collectivization policies; millions of Ukrainians died.

Social Policy under Stalin

Focused on control through oppression, indoctrination, and propaganda.

Minority Repression

Ukrainians, Germans, and Muslims faced cultural suppression and persecution.

Youth Organizations

Little Octobrists, Young Pioneers, Komsomol indoctrinated children into Soviet ideology.

Glavlit

Soviet agency controlling press and literature censorship.

Cult of Personality (Stalin)

Propaganda glorified Stalin as the USSR’s infallible leader.

Socialist Realism

Artistic style used to promote state ideals and glorify Soviet achievements.

Church Policy

Eastern Orthodox Church repressed, but revived during WWII to boost morale.

Education Reforms

Emphasized indoctrination and increased literacy, with focus on math/science for industry.

Women & the Great Retreat

Shifted back to traditional family roles after initial Bolshevik gender reforms.

Dekulakization (1929-32)

Campaign to eliminate wealthy peasants (kulaks) through deportation and execution.

GULAG System

Network of forced labor camps used for punishment and economic output.

OGPU (till 1934)

Soviet secret police before merging into NKVD; suppressed opposition.

NKVD (post-1934)

Secret police under Stalin, enforced terror, collectivization, and purges.

Assassination of Kirov (1934)

Triggered Stalin’s repressions, leading to the Great Terror.

1936 Soviet Constitution

Presented as democratic, but actually solidified Stalin’s control.

Great Terror (1936-38)

Stalin’s mass purges using show trials, imprisonment, and executions.

Show Trials

Trial of the Sixteen, Trial of the Twenty-One targeted Trotskyites, intelligentsia, Kirov supporters.

Yezhovshchina (1937-38)

Period of extreme repression under NKVD chief Nikolai Yezhov.

Foreign Policy (1932-41)

Sought alliances and positioned USSR as global power pre-WWII.

1932 Non-Aggression Pacts

USSR signed treaties with France, Italy, Portugal, and others.

1934 League of Nations

USSR joined League, signaling desire for international recognition.

1935 Alliances

Defensive treaties with France and Czechoslovakia against fascist threat.

1936 Spanish Civil War

Stalin supported Republicans, exporting Soviet influence abroad.

1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact

Non-aggression pact with Hitler; USSR invaded Poland alongside Germany.

1941 Great Patriotic War

USSR fought Nazi Germany under State Defense Committee leadership.

1943-49 Cold War

USSR emerged as superpower, initiating early Cold War policies.

Stalin’s Rule Overview

Aimed at total control but faced limits: vast territory, local resistance, and reliance on Leninist legacy.