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USSR under Joseph Stalin. War Communism (Lenin). what When : 1918 -1921 What : Industry was nationalized, compulsory labour was introduced and private trade was suppressed Why : because of the desperate need to obtain food for the Red Army & the urban population
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War Communism (Lenin) • what When: 1918 -1921 What: Industry was nationalized, compulsory labour was introduced and private trade was suppressed Why: because of the desperate need to obtain food for the Red Army & the urban population Outcome: communism, military & militants swung into full force
So What? • Peasants resisted, and forcible requisitioning and repression became common • There was further economic decline as requisitioning and rationing were needed to supply the Red Army & cities with food • - This was Lenin’s first attempt to install the first communist economy
Lenin’s New Economic Policy What When: March 1921 What: Introduced a small measure of capitalism Why: Problems with War Communism Outcome: Some improvement in production
So What? - Lenin showed his flexibility; some private trade was permitted, peasants were allowed to sell surplus, small factories returned to a form of private ownership • With this policy, Lenin sacrificed some of the ideals of Marxism for the seeming necessity of capitalist production -The economy improved a little
Emergence of Stalin Born: 1879 in Georgia Died: 1953
Troubled childhood • Abusive father • Mother wanted him to be a priest, but he was kicked out of the Seminary, most likely for bad behaviour
Power-hungry from young age • Idolized Lenin • Wanted to succeed Lenin as leader of Communists • Excellent memory • Lived simply • Liked good food & wine • Not interested in money
“Man of Steel” • Ruthless, cruel, cold • Once sentenced 70,000 people to death at one time
Who were Stalin’s victims? • Political rivals – often killed by NKVD (secret police) • All military that didn’t support him Just before WWII, purged 2/3 of the army and most talented members of Communist party and the military
3) Dissidents Sent to labour camps or to work on industrialization projects
4) Ukrainian peasants – 6 “Collectivization” – killed 6 million in 2 yrs (even his wife committed suicide over the plan) • State farms: like agricultural factories; peasants worked for wage. Losses borne by state
b) Collective farms - advantages -rewarded labour for its input -tax was paid to the state • overhead was paid for by earnings • surplus distributed on basis of how much labour each worker had done • workers could maintain small, private plots, plus limited # of livestock Purpose – destroy rich peasants (Kulaks), and the poor peasants would be victorious
The brutality of collective farms Kulaks – farmer with property = $800 + -about 5% of farmers were Kulaks -Kulaks deemed “unfit” for collective farms…too independent -forced out of Ukraine (breadbasket of USSR) -Siberia & Central Asia -5 million kulaks “disappeared” Starved to death, sent to industrial projects, deported to labour camps in Siberia
Collectivization destroyed USSR’s agriculture • If peasants resisted, govt. slaughtered their livestock • Droughts in Southern Russia and Ukraine led to major famine in Ukraine, 1932-33 6 million deaths • USSR never able to grown enough grain for its people again, but continued to export grain
