Life Under Stalin

Question 1

How did Stalin consolidate power from 1923-1925?

Answer 1

1. 1923: Lenin called for Stalin to be replaced. Trotsky called him ‘the party’s most eminent mediocrity’
2. 1924: Lenin’s death. Stalin attended funeral as chief mourner. Trotsky did not attend at all
3. 1924: Stalin, Kamenev and Zinoviev formed the triumvirate that dominated the Politburo. They cut off Trotsky and Bukharin
4. 1925: Trotsky sacked as War commissar, Stalin introduced his idea of Socialism in One Country

Question 2

How did Stalin consolidate power from 1926-1929?

Answer 2

1. 1926: Stalin turned against Kamenev and Zinoviev and allied himself with Bukharin
2. 1927: Kamenev, Zinoviev and Trotsky are all expelled from the Communist Party
3. 1928: Trotsky exiled to Siberia and Stalin began attacking Bukharin
4. 1929: Trotsky expelled from USSR and Bukharin expelled from Communist Party

Question 3

Why did Stalin want to modernise agriculture?

Answer 3

1. Having fewer, larger farms would make it easier to introduce new technology like tractors and fertiliser which would increase food production
2. Most farms were still very small and used old traditional methods: strip farming with wooden ploughs
3. In 1928-1929 another food crisis hit. The 1928 harvest was 2 million tons short of the grain needed to feed the workers. Bread and meat had to be rationed in cities and industrial cities were growing rapidly
4. The mechanisation of agriculture would release farm labourers to work in industry
5. Stalin also wanted to raise money for industrialisation by selling excess food abroad

Question 4

Why did Stalin want to modernise industry?

Answer 4

1. To make Russia less dependent on the West for industrial goods
2. To have a strong industry capable of producing armaments so that Russia could defend itself from attack
3. Stalin feared an attack from the West especially given Britain, France and the US’s help to the Whites in the Civil War
4. Industrialisation would guarantee the survival of the Communist revolution by creating more members of the proletariat
5. In the 1920s Soviet production of coal and steel lagged behind that of France
6. To provide the machinery especially tractors, needed to mechanise farming and produce more food

Question 5

What were the two ways in which Stalin modernised Russia?

Answer 5

1. In industry he introduced much greater state control through a series of Five Year Plans which were targets for key industries which had to be met within five years
2. In agriculture small farms were merged into much larger ones where farmers would work together and share everything, including tools, animals and produce, in order to maximise efficiency and productivity - collectivisation

Question 6

What were two overall reason for modernising industry and agriculture?

Answer 6

1. To transform the country from a backward society into a modern one
2. By creating and sharing wealth Stalin hoped to create a strong state based on communist principles, where the state controlled economic activity

Question 7

Describe collectivisation

Answer 7

• They forced farmer to combine their lands and cattle and farm them together, in large farms called kolkhoz, usually made up of around 80 peasant families
• The government provided tractors from Motor Tractor station and tractors and drivers from the MTS went round the kolkhoz to o the ploughing
• 90% of the kolkhoz’s produced would be sold to the government and the profits shared among the kolkhoz workers
• The remaining 10% was used to feed the kolkhoz

Question 8

Why did Stalin introduce Kolkhoz?

Answer 8

1. Made it easier to use modern technology such as tractors and fertilisers, and so more food could be grown by fewer people so releasing more peasants to work in the growing industries
2. Industrial population fed
3. Easier to collect grain and taxes from larger farms
4. Socialist as the farmers would be cooperating and sharing, rather than capitalistically selling their own food for a profit

Question 9

What did the peasants think of collectivisation?

Answer 9

They disliked it and they preferred to continue farming their own plots of land and not be bossed around by farm managers

Question 10

Who particularly disliked collectivisation?

Answer 10

Kulaks who were the rich peasants that owned larger farms and Stalin blamed them for hoarding grain and holding back socialism

Question 11

How did collectivisation progress over the years?

Answer 11

1. Stalin did slow collectivisation in the wake of peasant opposition and even allowed kolkhoz members to own some animals and a small plot of land for their own use
2. But the process accelerated by 1930 and by late 1932 about 62% of peasant households had been collectivised and by 1937 the figure was 93%

Question 12

How did Stalin ensure collectivisation?

Answer 12

1. He used propaganda to encourage peasants into collectivisation
2. From 1930 he sent out bands of activists backed by the OGPU (secret police replacing Cheka)
3. Whoever resisted the kolkhoz was labelled as a Kulak and rounded up and deported to Siberia or labour camps

Question 13

How did the peasants oppose to collectivisation?

Answer 13

• Many preferred to slaughter and eat their animals, burn their crops and even their houses rather than give them to the kolkhoz
• 30 million cows and 16 million horses died this way
• This rapid enforced and unpopular change caused huge disruption and consequent food shortages

Question 14

What were the short term results of collectivisation?

Answer 14

1. Grain production fell 10% from 1928-1934, and there was not enough in 1928
2. 1932 poor harvest
   - Lead to famine in which 13 million people died and the government refused to acknowledge this and continued to requisition grain

Question 15

What were the long term results of collectivisation?

Answer 15

1. By 1934 there were no kulaks left
2. By 1942 almost all agricultural land was collectivised
3. Eventually more grain was produced, although numbers did not reach pre-collectivisation levels until 1940, by which time there were around 240,000 kolkhoz

Question 16

What aims did Stalin achieve through collectivisation?

Answer 16

1. He controlled the grain supply and in 1929 the state procured 12m tons of grain and by 1932 they procured 23m tons
2. Collectivisation and labour for the factories
3. Enough food to feed the towns and Red Army
4. Control of the countryside, and never again did the peasants openly rebel against communist rule

Question 17

What were the positive and negative impacts of collectivisation for the people?

Answer 17

• Some collective farms prospered, having schools and hospitals
• The MTS worked well and the mechanisation of farming speeded up
• However farming still remained insufficient, with Soviet farmers producing less per head than those in the USA and until 1930s food had to be brought from abroad

Question 18

What was the most important impact of collectivisation?

Answer 18

• The famine as it affected Stalin’s image and ideas negatively
• He could control grain supply so allowed him to have more power and hep industrialisation
• Even where industrialisation had bee introduced successfully, peasants were unfamiliar with new ideas and methods and there was much bitterness as starving peasant watched communist official send their food away
• There was a fall in food production as everyone resented this and taking away of food

Question 19

How can collectivisation be seen as a success?

Answer 19

• Success for Stalin
  1. He controlled grain supply, increasing his power
  2. Began to work towards communism by taking away Kulaks
  3. Help industrially and still enough food to feed towns and Red Army
  4. In Long term did improve, but the famine and complete change of lifestyle was not good for support of Stalin

Question 20

How can collectivisation not be seen as a success?

Answer 20

1. Fall in food production
2. People lost their own lands
   (But hospitals and schools)
3. Extreme famine

Question 21

What were Stalins other reasons for modernising industry? (1-2)

Answer 21

1. To increase the USSR’s military strength: WW1 had show that a country could only fight a modern war if it had industries to produce the weapons and other equipment which was needed
   - And fear of an invasion from the West, who had supported the Whites
2. To rival the economies of the USA and other capitalist countries: When Stalin took power, much of Russia’s industrial equipment had to be imported. Stalin wanted to make the USSR self-sufficient so that it could make everything it needed for itself. He also wanted to improve the standards of living in Russia do that people would value Communist Rule

Question 22

What were Stalins other reasons for modernising industry? (3-5)

Answer 22

3. To increase food suppliesL Stalin wanted more workers in industries, towns and cities. He also wanted to sell grain abroad to raise cash to buy industrial equipment. This meant fewer peasants had to produce more food which meant that the farming would need to be re-organised
4. To create a Communist society: Communist theory said that most people had to be workers for Communism to work, in 1928 only one in five Russians were industrial workers
5. To establish his reputation: Lenin had made big changes to the USSR. Stalin wanted to prove himself a great leader by bringing about even greater changes
   - Reform the NEP as right-wing leaders e.g. Tomsky and Bukharin were in favour of NEP and the 5YPs would enable him to get rid of these
   - Increase wealth and output

Question 23

When was the First FYP and what was its focus?

Answer 23

• 1928-1932

- Concentrated on heavy industry e.g. coal, steel and iron

Question 24

What were the FYPs?

Answer 24

1. It was directed by Gosplan, the state planing organisation set up by Lenin, and it set targets for certain key industries and ensured that these were given priority in the allocation man power and raw materials
2. Gosplan set overall targets for an industry
3. Each region was given targets
4. Each region set a for its mine, factories etc
5. Manger of each mine etc set targets for each foreman
6. Foremen set targets for each shift or even each worker
7. Targets were often unrealistic

Question 25

What was the effect of the First Five Year Plan?

Answer 25

1. Although encouraged by the apparent success of the plan realised over ambitious targets needed to be revised (were twice)
2. Thousands of soviet citizens, especially young people, went willingly to work in the new towns and factories because they genuinely believed that they were creating a new society
3. Increased output and exceeded some targets
4. Huge urbanisation, movement of people from countryside to industrial cities

Question 26

When was the second FYP and what was its focus?

Answer 26

• 1933-1937
• Set targets for the increased production of consumer goods (which had been neglected in first FYP)
• Not setting too high targets as in First FYP
• Heavy industry was still a priority as fear for invasion form the West increased especially from Nazi Germany

Question 27

What was the effect of the Second Fiver Year Plan?

Answer 27

1. Production of armaments trebled

2. Living standards did not increase and strikes were not permitted

Question 28

When was the third FYP and what was its focus?

Answer 28

• 1938-1941 (was abandoned June 1941 when Germany invaded the USSR)
• Concentrated on the production of household goods and luxuries such as bicycles and radios (new industries and this had been neglected in first FYP)
• Military

Question 29

What was the effect of the Third Five Year Plan?

Answer 29

The production of coal, steel, oil and electricity did all increase over the FYPs

Question 30

How was industrialisation achieved? What had been made as a result?

Answer 30

1. Industrialisation was largely achieved by the workers
2. Foreign observers were amazed to see new steel mills, dams and hydro-electric power stations appear; huge cities such as Magnitogorsk grew from nowhere
3. Russian experts moved into the “muslim” central areas such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, creating new industry from scratch

Question 31

How were the workers encouraged to work hard? What were some of the negative aspects of this?

Answer 31

1. The workers were bombarded with propaganda and fined if they dd not meet their targets
2. The most famous worker was Alexei Stakhanov, as on one day in 1935 he cut 102 tons of coal in one shift (it was an easy seam to mine, and he had tow helpers, but still a lot of coal)
3. Other workers were encouraged formed “shock brigades” to try to copy Stakhanov; they became known as Stakhanovites and were rewarded with medals such as The Order of Lenin, new houses and free holidays
4. However the campaign was dropped in the late 1930s because Stakhanovites were increasingly being beaten up by their fellow workers

Question 32

What were some of the negative social impacts of Industrialisation?

Answer 32

1. Some of the biggest tasks in the plans were carried out in appalling conditions by prisoners in gulags, many were peasants who had opposed collectivisation and they built, among other things, the Moscow Metro and the Belomor Canal and estimated 100,000 worker did in BC construction
   - HOWEVER did lead to infrastructure improving that can sill be used today - become a modern state
2. Most families had to live in overcrowded and rundown buildings, as it was impossible to build enough houses for the million of peasants who cam to the cities
3. Workers poorly paid and the value of their wages fell 50% from 1928-1933, effectively doubling the price of goods
4. Harsh working conditions and rules as fines were imposed for lateness and workers who were absent for more than a day were sacked and anyone blamed for obstructing work would be sent to a gulag or shot
   - Factory discipline was strict and punishments severe
5. Very few consumer goods

Question 33

What were some of the negative economic impacts of Industrialisation?

Answer 33

1. Huge shortage of skilled workers, as industry grew so rapidly, meaning that targets were often missed for example in the first FYP, was supposed to produce 170,000 tractors but only managed 50,000
   - HOWEVER: at the end of the second FYP production of electricity, coal, oil and pig iron was all below target, but had increased enormously E.G. coal 1930 was 60 million tonnes produced to 128 million tonnes produced in 1937
2. Due to the rush to fulfil targets many products were often of poor quality and consumer goods were at a shortage so then economy would be less likely to grow-3. Great deal of inefficiency, duplication of effort and waste

Question 34

What were the positive impacts of Industrialisation?

Answer 34

1. Workers were productive and encouraged each other
   e. g. Alexei Stakhanov in 1935
2. More woman drafted into industry from 1930 and set up thousand of new creches and day-care centre so that mother could work
   - By 1937 women were 40% of industrial workers as opposed to 28% in 1927
3. Education free and compulsory for all and Stalin invested huge sums in training scheme based in colleges and in the workplace, emergence of a skilled workforce who would later be able to send men into space
4. Unemployment almost non-existent
   - In 1940 the USSR had more doctors per head of population than Britain
5. By 1937 the USSR was a modern state and it was this that saved it from defeat when Hitler invaded in 1941 and defence spending increased?
   - Collectivisation and FYPs also dragged Soviet Economy into the Twentieth Century
   - Lead to USSR becoming major superpower in the second half of Twentieth Century

Question 35

Why was industrialisation good for Stalin and bad for workers?

Answer 35

1. The Fiver Year plans were sued very effectively for propaganda purposes
2. Stalin had wanted the Soviet Union to become a beacon of socialism and his publicity machine used the successes of industrialisation further that objective
3. Blaming the workers was a good way of excusing the mistakes made by management
   - HOWEVER: many of the workers were unskilled ex-peasants and they did cause damage to machinery and equipment
   - To escape punishments and harsh conditions, or to try to get better wages and bonuses, workers moved jobs frequently
   - This did not help industry or society to stabilise
   - To try and prevent this, internal passports were introduced to prevent the movement of workers inside the USSR