Transcript Lenin & Stalin

Lenin & Stalin
Presentation created by Robert Martinez
Primary Content Source: Prentice Hall World History
Images as cited.
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Lenin’s first years as leader of Russia had been
occupied in putting down civil war. Once the
communist victory and his personal power
secure, he turned to the enormous problem of
rebuilding a state and an economy that had
been shattered by World War I, two revolutions,
and years of civil war.
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In 1922, the Communists produced
a constitution that seemed
democratic and socialist. It set up
an elected legislature, later called
the Supreme Soviet, and gave all
citizens over 18 the right to vote. All
political power, resources, and
means of production would belong
to workers and peasants. The new
government united much of the old
Russian empire in the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics, or
Soviet Union.
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The Soviet Union was a multinational state made up of European
and Asian peoples. In theory, all the member republics shared
certain equal rights. Reality, however, differed greatly from theory
in the Soviet Union. The Communist party, not the people, reigned
supreme. Like the Russian czars, the party used the army and
secret police to enforce its will. Russia, which was the largest
republic, dominated the other republics.
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On the economic front,
Lenin retreated from his
policy of “war
communism,” which had
brought the economy to
near collapse. Under
party control, factory and
mine output had fallen.
Peasants stopped
producing gain, knowing
it would only be seized
by the government.
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In 1921, Lenin adopted the New Economic Policy. It
allowed some capitalist ventures. Although the state
kept control of banks, foreign trade, and large
industries, small businesses were allowed to reopen
for private profit. The government also stopped
squeezing peasants for grain. Under the NEP, peasants
held on to small plots of land and freely sold their
surplus crops.
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Lenin’s compromise with capitalism helped the Soviet
economy recover and ended armed resistance to the
new government. By 1928, food and industrial
production climbed back to prewar levels. The
standard of living improved, too. But Lenin always saw
the NEP as just a temporary retreat from communism.
His successor would soon put the Soviet Union back
on the road to “pure” communism.
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Lenin’s sudden death in 1924 set off a power
struggle among Communist leaders. The chief
contenders were Trotsky and Joseph Stalin.
Trotsky was a brilliant Marxist thinker, a skillful
speaker, and an architect of the Bolshevik
Revolution.
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Stalin, by
contrast, was
neither a scholar
nor an orator. He
was, however, a
shrewd political
operator and
behind-thescenes organizer.
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Stalin was born Joseph
Djugashvili to a poor family
in Georgia, a region in the
Caucasus Mountains. As a
boy, he studied for the
priesthood. But his growing
interest in revolution
brought him under the
seminary’s harsh discipline.
Once, he was confined to a
punishment cell for reading
a novel about the French
Revolution.
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By 1900, Djugashvili had joined the
Bolshevik underground and had taken the name Stalin,
meaning “man of steel.” He organized robberies to get
money for the party and spent time in prison and in
Siberian exile. He played a far less important role in the
revolution and the civil war than did Trotsky. But in the
1920s, he became general secretary of the party. He
used that position to build a loyal group of Communist
officials who owed their jobs to him.
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As early as 1922, Lenin had expressed grave doubts
about Stalin’s ambitious nature: “Comrade Stalin…has
concentrated an enormous power in his hands, and I
am not sure that he always knows how to use that
power with sufficient caution.” To Lenin, Stalin was
“too rude.” Lenin urged the party to choose a
successor “more tolerant, more loyal, more polite, and
more considerate to comrades.”
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At Lenin’s death, Trotsky and Stalin jockeyed for
position. They differed on most issues, including the
future of communism. Trotsky, a firm Marxist, urged
support for a worldwide revolution against capitalism.
Stalin took a more cautious view. Efforts to foster
Marxist revolutions in Europe after World War I had
failed. Instead, he wanted to concentrate on building
socialism at home first.
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With political cunning, Stalin put his own
supporters into top jobs and isolated Trotsky
within the party. Stripped of party membership,
Trotsky fled the country in 1929. Still, he
continued to criticize Stalin. In 1940, Trotsky
was murdered in Mexico by a Stalinist agent.
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Once in power, Stalin set out to make the
Soviet Union into a modern industrial power. In
the past, said Stalin, Russia had suffered
defeats because of its economic
backwardness. In 1928, he proposed the first of
several “five-year plans” aimed at building
heavy industry, improving transportation, and
increasing farm output.
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To achieve this growth, he brought all economic
activity under government control. The Soviet Union
developed a command economy, in which government
officials made all basic economic decisions. Under
Stalin, the government owned all businesses and
allocated financial and other resources. By contrast, in
a capitalist economy, the free market controls most
economic decisions. Businesses are privately owned
and operated by individuals for profits.
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Stalin’s five-year plans set high production goals,
especially for heavy industry and transportation. The
government pushed workers and managers to meet
these goals by giving bonuses to those who
succeeded, and by punishing those who did not.
Between 1928 and 1939, large factories, hydroelectric
power stations, and huge industrial complexes rose
across the Soviet Union. Oil, coal, and steel production
grew. Mining expanded, and new railroads were built.
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Despite the impressive progress in some areas, Soviet
workers had little to show for their sacrifices. Some
former peasants did improve their lives, becoming
skilled factory workers or managers. Overall, standards
of living remained poor. Wages were low, and
consumer goods were scarce. Also, central planning
was often inefficient, causing shortages in several
areas and surpluses in others.
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Many managers, concerned only with meeting
production quotas, turned out large quantities of lowquality goods. During and after the Stalin era, the
Soviet Union continued to do well in heavy industry,
such as the production of farm machinery. However, its
planned economy failed to match that of the capitalist
world in making consumer goods such as clothing,
cars, and refrigerators.
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Stalin also brought agriculture under
government control. Under the NEP, peasants
had held on to small plots of land. But Stalin
saw that system as being inefficient and a
threat to state power. He forced peasants to
give up their private plots and live on either
state-owned farms or collectives, large farms
owned and operated by peasants as a group.
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Peasants were permitted to keep their houses
and personal belongings, but all farm animals
and implements were to be turned over to the
collective. The state set all prices and
controlled access to farm supplies.
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On collectives, the
government planned to
provide tractors,
fertilizers, and better seed,
and to teach peasants
modern farm methods.
The government needed
increased grain output to
feed workers in the cities.
Surplus grain would also
be sold abroad to earn
money to invest in
industry.
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Peasants resisted collectivization by
killing farm animals, destroying tools,
and burning crops. The government
responded with brutal force.
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Stalin sought to
destroy the kulaks,
or wealthy peasants.
The government
confiscated kulaks’
land and sent them
to labor camps.
Thousands were
killed or died from
overwork.
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Collectivization took a horrendous toll. Angry
peasants often grew just enough to feed
themselves. In response, the government
seized all the grain, leaving the peasants to
starve. This ruthless policy, combined with
poor harvests, led to a terrible famine. Between
five and eight million people died in Ukraine
alone.
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Although collectivization
increased Stalin’s control, it
did not improve farm output.
During the 1930s, grain
production inched upward,
but meat, vegetables, and
fruits remained in short
supply. Feeding the
population would remain a
major problem in the Soviet
Union.
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Even though Stalin’s power was absolute, he harbored
obsessive fears that rival party leaders were plotting
against him. In 1934, he launched the Great Purge. In
this reign of terror, Stalin and his secret police cracked
down especially on Old Bolsheviks. His net soon
widened to target army heroes, industrial managers,
writers, and ordinary citizens. They were charged with
a wide range of crimes, from counterrevolutionary
plots to failure to meet production quotas.
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Between 1936 and 1938, Stalin staged a series of
spectacular public “show trials” in Moscow. Former
Communist leaders confessed to all kinds of crimes
after officials tortured them or threatened their families
or friends. Many purged party members were never
tried but were sent to force-labor camps in Siberia and
elsewhere. Others were executed. Secret police files
reveal that at least four million people were purged
during the Stalin years.
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The purges increased Stalin’s power. Old
revolutionaries were replaced by young party
members who owed absolute loyalty to him. All
Soviet citizens were now well aware of the
consequences of disloyalty.
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However, Stalin also paid a price. The victims
of the purges included most of the nation’s
military officers. This loss of military
leadership would weigh heavily on Stalin in
1941, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union.
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Between 1917 and 1939, the Soviet Union pursued two
very different goals in foreign policy. As Communists,
both Lenin and Stalin wanted to bring about the
worldwide revolution that Marx had predicted. But as
Russians, they wanted to guarantee their nation’s
security by winning the support of other countries. The
result of pursuing two different goals was a
contradictory and generally unsuccessful foreign
policy.
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Lenin formed the Communist International, or
Comintern. It aided revolutionary groups
around the world and urged colonial peoples to
rise up against imperialist powers. Yet the
Soviet Union also sought to join the League of
Nations and to improve relations with western
governments.
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The Comintern’s propaganda against
capitalism made western powers highly
suspicious of the Soviet Union. In the United
States, fear of Bolshevik plots led to the “Red
Scare” in the early 1920s. Britain broke off
relations with the Soviet Union when evidence
revealed Soviet schemes to turn a 1926 strike
into a revolution.
Even so, the Soviet Union slowly won
recognition from western powers and
increased trade with capitalist countries. It also
joined the League of Nations. However,
mistrust still poisoned relations, especially
after the Great Purge.
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Historians often compare the Russian,
French, and American revolutions. The
American Revolution was in many ways
the least radical of the three. American
leaders did not order mass executions or
seize property.
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French revolutionaries executed
thousands and nationalized the lands of
the Church and the aristocracy.
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In Russia, Stalin seized even the lands of
the peasant masses. His policies caused
millions of deaths.
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All three revolutions
had a worldwide
impact. The
Declaration of
Independence and the
United States
Constitution served as
models of democratic
government. The
French Revolution
inspired revolts
across Europe.
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The Soviet Union would
support revolts in many
lands and become a model
for other communist
governments. Yet today,
Russia and most of its allies
have abandoned the goals of
Lenin and Stalin. Democratic
nations continue to build on
the principles preached
during the American and
French revolutions.
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