Lenin & Stalin

Presentation created by Robert MartinezPrimary Content Source: Prentice Hall World HistoryImages 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.

russiapedia.rt.com

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.www.gettyimages.com

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.www.dipity.com

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.

www.soviethistory.org

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-the-

scenes 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.

www.soviethistory.org

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 low-

quality 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.www.allrussias.com

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. www.mahalo.com

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. molinaopinion.blogspot.com