1 / 22

Russian Dictatorships 1855-1955

Russian Dictatorships 1855-1955. Joseph Stalin. Stalin’s accession to power. Key to rise to power was his post as General Secretary of the Communist Party As Party grew in size and influence Stalin’s own influence grew Lenin warned Party of Stalin’s ambitions. Power Struggle.

nina-york
Télécharger la présentation

Russian Dictatorships 1855-1955

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Russian Dictatorships 1855-1955 Joseph Stalin

  2. Stalin’s accession to power • Key to rise to power was his post as General Secretary of the Communist Party • As Party grew in size and influence Stalin’s own influence grew • Lenin warned Party of Stalin’s ambitions

  3. Power Struggle • Leon Trotsky was Stalin’s main rival • Stalin allied himself with the Right to attack Trotsky • Programme of ‘Socialism in One Country’ seemed to offer stability

  4. Victory goes to Stalin • Using support of Bukharin Stalin removed Trotsky from power • The Right believed that the NEP would continue • After a food shortage grain was seized (again!)

  5. The drive to industrialise • “We are 50 to 100 years behind the advanced countries • We must make good this lag in ten years. • Either we do it or they crush us…” • Stalin planned to replace the NEP by the 5 year Plans

  6. The Five Year Plans • Not a general programme • A Law which laid down rate of increase for industry and agriculture 1928-32 • Emphasis to be on heavy industry & fuel supplies • Target was 300% for industry • Industries producing consumer goods to develop more slowly

  7. Industrial Expansion • A new iron & steel works grew up in the Urals • Europe’s largest hydro-electric plant was built • New tractor and car plants built

  8. The 1st, 2nd & 3rd Plans • First Plan focused on industrial expansion • Second and Third Plans stressed transport • As a result 100,000 miles of air lines, roads and waterways were built • Old towns were enlarged and new ones created • Overall industrial output increased by 400% from 1914

  9. Goods 1913 1928 1940 Pig iron 4.2 mill tons 3.3 mill tons 15.0 mill tons Steel 4.2 mill tons 4.3 mill tons 18.3 mill tons Coal 29.1 mill tons 35.5 mill tons 166 mill tons Oil 9.2 mill tons 11.7 mill tons 31 mill tons Cement 1.5 mill tons 1.8 mill tons 5.8 mill tons Grain 81 mill tons 73 mill tons 95.5 mill tons Tractors 0 700 31,000 Motor vehicles 0 700 145,000

  10. Cost to the workers • Targets set by Gosplan • Workers book system restored • Conditions of service got worse • ‘From each according to his means,to each according to his needs’ • Some workers rewarded more than others

  11. Stakhanovites • Alexis Stakhanov produced record amount of coal • Became figure head of Stakhanovite movement • Awarded Hero of the Soviet Union

  12. Conditions for the workers • For majority of workers conditions worsened • Food and goods in short supply • Anyone who criticised the Party could be arrested for sabotage • Those arrested faced show trials • Many shot, thousands of others sent to work camps

  13. Collectivisation (1) • Money needed to finance industrial expansion - Peasants were only real source • Growing number of workers needed cheap food • Peasants needed as labour • Only one solution for Stalin- peasants must be moved to collective farms

  14. Collectivisation (2) • Stalin hoped peasants would support policy – tried to blame Kulaks for problems • Almost all peasants opposed – police and army units used force • 1000s lost property and were exiled • Millions burned crops and killed animals • Chronic shortage of equipment delayed increases in production

  15. Collectivisation

  16. “Peasants call for the expulsion of the Kulaks from the village” At work in the Gulag

  17. The Purges • Criticism of Stalin’s policies growing in early 1930s • Purges sparked by Kirov’s death in 1934 • ‘Old Bolsheviks’ found guilty by public show trials • One fifth Red Army officers liquidated • Stalin’s men replaced those killed in the terror

  18. Russia and Europe • Stalin underestimated threat posed by Hitler – KPD opposed SPD in elections • Russia joined League in 1934 – western governments did not trust Communists • USSR supported Republicans in Spanish Civil War • Stalin began negotiations with Germany – Nazi-Soviet Pact (August 1939)

  19. War! • June 22nd 1941 Germany attacked the USSR • Russia suffered huge losses from the ‘Blitzkrieg’ • Poor treatment by German troops cost them support

  20. The Great Fatherland War • Stalin took charge of the war • 1,500 factories were moved to the East • Surrender was not an option for Russian soldiers • Moscow, Stalingrad and Leningrad were besieged • ‘General Winter’ helped to turn the tide

  21. Victory in the East! • The Germans could not afford to lose the men and equipment at the same rate • As the Germans retreated Russian forces ‘liberated’ Eastern Europe • At Yalta Churchill & Roosevelt gave in to Stalin’s demands • By the time the war ended Russia was a ‘superpower’

More Related