Stalin’s USSR

1. Stalin’s USSR

2. Bolsheviks in Power • November 1917 radical socialist Vladimir Lenin seized power in Russia and vowed a global revolution carried out by the workers to erase capitalism • 1918 The Bolsheviks sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany. • Russia had to surrender a large chunk of territory to Germany. • The land contained a large portion of Russia’s population and industry. • The terms of the treaty caused widespread anger.

3. Civil War 1918-21 • The Bolshevik opponents form the White Army (with support from USA) • Leon Trotsky commanded the Bolshevik Red Army • Around 15 million Russians died in the civil war from 1918-1920 • The Red Army won and after the civil war the USSR turned in on itself. • No Versailles, no League

4. Lenin’s Economic Reforms • War and revolution destroyed the Russian economy • Lenin launched the New Economic Policy or NEP • Lenin put aside his idea for a state-controlled economy and resorted to a small scale version of capitalism. • The government still kept control of major industries and banks

5. Lenin’s Political Reforms • Lenin organized Russia into several self-governing republics under the central gov’t • The country was named the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) • Bolsheviks renamed their party the Communist Party • They created a constitution based on socialist and democratic principles, but the Communist part had total control • Lenin dies 1924

6. v. • Trotsky (right) was a firm Marxist who wanted support for a worldwide revolution against capitalism • Stalin (left) wanted to work on socialist views in Russia first • Stalin put his supporters into top jobs and isolated Trotsky in his own party • Trotsky was stripped of party membership and fled into exile in 1929 • He was later murdered in Mexico by an agent working for Stalin

7. Stalin becomes Dictator • Stalin was cold, hard and impersonal • After forcing Trotsky out Stalin focused on Russia’s development • He used the phrase “socialism in one country” to describe his aims of perfecting a Communist state within the USSR

8. Stalin’s Totalitarian State • Stalin transformed Russia into a Totalitarian state • Totalitarianism described a gov’t that takes total, centralized state control over every aspect of public and private life

9. Stalin’s Economic Reforms • Lenin’s NEP was a mixture of free enterprise and state control but Stalin’s economic policy called for total state control • He called for a command economy, which is a system where the government makes all economic decisions

10. USSR’s Industrial Revolution • In 1928, Stalin outlined the 1st of many five-year plans for development of the USSR’s economy • The five-year plans set unrealistic quotas to increase the output of steel, coal, oil, and electricity

11. USSR’s Industrial Revolution • To try and reach these unrealistic quotas, the gov’t limited consumer production • People faced shortages of housing, food, clothing and other goods • The gov’t controlled every aspect of the worker’s life, which took a toll on peoples personal lives • From 1928-1937, industrial production increased by 25%

12. Agricultural Revolution • Collectivization: In 1925, the gov’t seized 25 million privately owned farms • The gov’t combined them into huge collective farms • Peasants resisted the gov’t and Stalin used terror and violence to force the peasants to work

13. Weapons of Totalitarianism • Police Terror • Dictators of totalitarian states uses terror and violence to force obedience • Monitored telephone lines, read mail, planted informers Lavrent Beria (right): head of secret police

14. Stalinism • In 1934, Stalin launched the purges, a campaign of terror that was directed at eliminating anyone who threatened his power • When the Great Purge ended in 1939, Stalin gained total control of both the Soviet government and the Communist Party

15. Stalinism 2) Indoctrination and Propaganda • Totalitarian states rely on indoctrination or instruction on the govt’s set of beliefs, to mold people’s minds • Party leaders lectured workers and peasants on the ideals of communism • The State supported youth groups and used them as training grounds for future party members

16. Stalinism • PROPAGANDA Soviet newspapers and radio broadcasts glorified the achievements of Communism and Stalin • Soviet Realism was an artistic styles that praised Soviet way of life

17. Stalinism 3) Censorship • Stalin would not tolerate individual creativity that threatened conformity • Gov’t controlled all newspapers, motion pictures, radio and other sources of information

18. Stalinism 4) Religious Persecution • Communists aimed to replace religious teachings with the ideals of Communism • The Russian Orthodox Church was the main target of persecution • Roman Catholics and Jews were also persecuted

19. Nazi-Soviet Non-Agression Pact 1939 • Stalin shocks the world by signing an agreement of nonaggression and friendship with his ideological enemy. • They had arranged a secret agreement to divide Poland among them and Stalin agreed to stay out of any war over Poland in exchange for a “sphere of influence” in the Baltics • One week after the Pact is signed Germany invades Poland, the UK and France declare war and WWII officially began.

20. What was the role of the USSR in the outbreak of WWII? • Limited initially as the focus was on industrialization and security. • By the 1930s Stalin was anxious about a war on two fronts, which led him to develop a more dynamic foreign policy stance. • His preoccupation with Japan was equal to his worries about Germany. 1939 Japanese-Soviet clashes on Mongolian border solidify his concerns • As the western powers continued to appease Hitler, Stalin believes that their inaction is part of a plot to have the communists and Nazis destroy each other. • After the Munich Agreement Stalin sees war as inevitable