The U.S.S.R. Under Stalin

Stalin’s policy priorities were not building a ‘worker’s paradise’ or a classless society, but protecting Russia from war and invasion. In 1928, Stalin launched the first of two ambitious five-year plans to modernize and industrialize the Soviet economy. These programs brought rapid progress – but also significant death and suffering. Stalin’s decision to nationalize agricultural production dispossessed millions of peasants, forcing them from their land to labor on gigantic state-run collective farms. Grain was sold abroad to finance Soviet industrial projects, leading to food shortages and disastrous famines in the mid-1930s. Soviet Russia was dragged into the 20th century, transforming from a backward agrarian empire into a modern industrial superpower – but this came at extraordinary human cost.

Almost everyone knows what a monster Adolf Hitler was, but most people do not know that one of the great ally leader of World War II, Joseph Stalin, had committed even greater atrocities than Hitler. Joseph Stalin was a ruthless and yet diligent dictator of the Soviet Union, whose rise to power influenced a multitude of major events in his country’s history. Due to Stalin’s impactful reign, he made the Soviet Union become a global superpower, underwent difficult hardships such as the Great Famine in the Soviet Union, and after his death, caused the Soviet Union to go through a process known as de-Stalinization.

Stalin thought that Russia was far behind the rest of the western world. He devised a 5 year plan to get Russia up to speed with the rest of the world. This is similar to how Napoleon built the windmill. Stalin also created a centralized agriculture

The people were in a state of famine, the political government was weak, and the economy was in shambles with inflation as high as can be. As Stalin rose in power, this would all change in both positive and negative aspects. One of Josef Stalin’s first methods of rebuilding broken Russia was through what he named to be the Five-Year economic Plans. Through these plans, Stalin would induct a Command, or a Socialist, Economy. This Command Economy would involve a society in which the government would make all economical decisions, controlling nearly all aspects of societal life. As seen in Document One, Stalin believed that implementing a “Socialist economy” would prevent from Russia “[lagging] behind the advanced countries by fifty to a hundred years.” It would bring them up to pace with the surrounding capitalist economies, keeping Russia as a world power. The Five-Year Plans also included the increase of quota in both industrial and agricultural positions. If quota were increased, industrial increase would soon follow. Seen in Document Eight, “the fulfillment of the first and second Five-Year Plans strengthened the U.S.S.R.’s economic position.” The Five-Year Plan would cause for Russia to rise to become a modern industrial society, as well as

He starts off by calling socialism independence and something that has liberated the Russian people. Stalin like Hitler uses the nation’s nationalistic feelings to secure their allegiance to his totalitarian government. His main concern is to keep his government from crumbling. He believes that the only way to keep communism from deteriorating is to build up Russia’s socialist economy. He acknowledges that Russia is behind the western countries by a good fifty years and emphasizes how important it is that these industrial mangers make fast advancements. He ends with some chilling words. He says, “Either we do it or they crush us.” At first it seems he has no idea how prophetic his words truly are because his buildup in industry is going to play a crucial part in how Russia is able to remain unoccupied by Germany. On the other hand, it is the Age of Anxiety and therefore Stalin may have given this address now because he could already see in 1931, that another war with Germany was inevitable. Stalin’s motivation was to keep Russia a soviet independent country in order so he can continue to be the Soviet Union’s dictator. He uses the people’s nationalism to fuel an economic and industrial revolution that will save the Soviet’s in World War

“We promised the Europeans freedom. It would be worse than dishonorable not to see they have it.” General George S. Patton believed this and was right to a certain degree. America didn’t declare war on the Soviets but they did play a major role in the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Americans didn’t fire a shot on Russian soil but they pressured them into doing acts that the Russian economy wasn’t capable of doing. Although the Soviet Union was a super power after World War 2, their power was cut short because of the involvement in the space race and arms race.

During World War II women in the Soviet Union played a major role in helping the

Stalin originally had admirable goals for the USSR, and his reasons for industrializing it showed this. Russia was behind the times compared to everyone else, and Stalin wanted to modernize them in order to better the life of Russians. He had several goals for the result of industrialization: to make Russia more independant, to raise the standard of living, to make communism popular, and to make Russia a strong and dominant country. Russia had been devastated by WW1 and the Civil War, leaving its economy

For decades, the United States and Russia, formerly The Soviet Union, have held tensions with each other over different political stances and military actions and intelligence. Starting from the late years of World War II - when the Soviet Union had aggressively spread communism throughout Eastern Europe - up to a couple years ago when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in Ukraine out of nowhere; their relationship has been a rollercoaster of a ride for these two countries. Even though the United States and Russia are no longer in a Cold War, there has been and continues to be tension between the two countries as exemplified by many events of conflict including the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Russian military’s current presence in Syria.

Shortly after World War II, the world’s two most powerful nations, the United States and the Soviet Union, emerged as arch-adversaries and in doing so, they created a rivalry that casted a shadow over international affairs for decades known as the Cold War. The Soviet Union saw the United States as a ruthless, imperialist power whose goal was to destroy communism and encourage the growth of a capitalist world. In contrast, America saw the Soviets as a ruthless, imperialist, and totalitarian power whose goal was to destroy democracy and encourage a Communist revolution through expansion. Therefore, the United States’ actions toward the Soviet Union was justifiable after World War II. American diplomat George Kennan said how the Soviets were

In the year of 1944, 70,000 more prisoners arrived at Ravensbrück. Because the Nazis took advantage of slave labor, many slave labor subcamps were expanded onto Ravensbrück. “The women of Ravensbrück worked... mostly in agricultural and industrial fields” (Fold3). Weapons, aircraft parts, and other things were made by women in these subcamps.

Almost all narratives of Allied victory in World War II account economic output as a decisive factor. Overy concedes to this point as well, citing Soviet evacuation of civilians and industry as salvation for the Eastern front. (Overy, 181) As the Germans flooded into the Soviet Union in 1941 entire populations and industries fled to the east, destined for the Urals, the Volga region, and Eastern Siberia. Along with saving Soviet industry by relocation, the Soviets also destroyed what they could not move including food and manufacturing plants. Destruction denied the invading Germans valuable resources that could’ve assisted the Axis war machine. The relocation of industry in the Soviet Union forced hard conditions on civilians who endured scarce rations and appalling working conditions. (Overy, 187) However, despite the odds, Soviet war production actually increased after the relocation of its industry. Overy attributes this economic success to central planning and control of the economy as well as simple models that allowed for easy mass production. The Soviet Union operated under a command economy that was completely controlled by the government and were more easily able to direct the economy for wartime production. Centralized organizations such as the Manpower Committee allocated valuable resources to labor, reserving skilled men for the war industry. Additionally, the Soviet Union simplified tank and aircraft models to allow quick production. For example, Overy writes

The Second World War saw an unlikely alliance between the Western Democracies of Britain and the United States and the Communist dictatorship of the Soviet Union. The war against Nazi Germany, and its massive military and technological might, necessitated this alliance; but the vast social, government, and political differences between the two side eventually led to decades of hostility and "Cold War." For much of this time there has been division among historians over what, and who, was responsible for the rise of the Cold War, and in the aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse in the 1990's, this argument has intensified. On one side are the "traditionalists," who view the Soviet Union, and particularly their tyrannical leader Josef Stalin, as being primarily responsible for the onset of more than 50 years of Cold War. The other side is made up of "revisionists," who claim they have taken a more objective look at the facts and come to the conclusion that it was the United States, and particularly its actions concerning the development and use of the atomic bomb, that alarmed the Soviet Union and brought about the Cold War. The question at hand is whether Josef Stalin was responsible for the Cold War, and while many feel that little compromise can be reached on this issue, there is an argument to be made that the Cold War was the responsibility of both Josef Stalin and the Western Democracies.

Joseph Stalin was the leader of the soviet union during the time of WWII under his reign the u.s.s.r. thrived as a industrial and military superpower during the late 1920’s Stalin put into motion his 5 year plan to turn the peasant country of the u.s.s.r. into a strong industrious country. Those who did not cooperate were swiftly executed.

These are just some conditions he wishes to change but, we must not forget that Stalin believes in the working class (proletarians) to take over the government and help advance the country. But in the midst of all this he doesn’t forget to mention the capitalist countries fast rise in technological advances. Stalin stated, “And so we find