The Soviet Union 1921, Red Army victorious, Communism secured Transportation, communication, banks, mines, factories, businesses all nationalized Famine, drought, and govt requisition of food led to ~5M deaths Industrial output bare min levels March 1921, Lenin offers solution

Lenin’s New Economic Policy Modified version of old capitalism system peasants could sell produce if business >20 ppl it could be privately owned 1922, creation of USSR One-party state strengthening Party bureaucrats were new social elite access to better food, jobs, housing Lenin Died from strokes in 1924

Struggle for Power post-Lenin Politburo leaders fought for power Left led by Trotsky, wanted to end NEP and push industrialization, spread Communism internationally Right wanted socialist state and continue NEP personal rivalry b/w Trotsky and Stalin Stalin used position to gain loyalty and control of Communist party Trotsky ousted in 1927 By 1929 Stalin had eliminated all the Old Bolsheviks and established his dictatorship Stalin’s nickname at one time was comrade card index cause he was such a good organizer...he was the party general secretary but that actually gave him a lot of power cause he made all the regional, district, city, and town appointments

The Stalinist Era: 1929-1939 1928 launched 5 yr econ plan: transform SU from agricultural to industrial nation emphasized max production of armaments, capital goods (instead of consumer goods) succeeded in quadrupling heavy machinery prod and doubling oil production steel: 4-->18M tons/year coal: 36-->128M tons/yr

The Stalinist Era, 1929-1939 Social costs of industrialization: hardly any provisions for absorbing flood of labor force in cities wages and housing declined workers did not have much freedom of movement govt propaganda to inspire and pacify workers your sacrifice is for the greater good of the state agricultural collectivization: 10M households by 1930 1934, 26M fam farms collectivized into 250k farms No private farms, millions will die of starvation...some as a means of forcing them to comply with collectivization, others because they couldn’t be sustained by the collective farms, esp in ukraine

The Stalinist Era, 1929-1939 The Holodomor (Terror Famine) was worst in Ukraine where kulaks (land-owning peasants) most resisted collectivization No private farms, millions will die of starvation...some as a means of forcing them to comply with collectivization, others because they couldn’t be sustained by the collective farms, esp in ukraine

The Stalinist Era, 1929-1939 Political costs of industrialization: party bureaucracy strengthened via purges resisters sent to forced gulags labor camps in Siberia 1936-1938, opposition tried and sentenced to death anyone could be purged: army officers, diplomats, union officials, party members, intellectuals, ordinary czn, esp if denounced abt 8M were arrested and more than a few million died in Siberian camps An old woman sent to siberian work came for saying if ppl prayed they would work better

The Stalinist Era, 1929-1939 Surprise, surprise, Stalin also had an agenda for women Birthrates had been declining early 1920s social legislation allowed divorce/abortion Abortion illegal, fines for repeat divorces Homosexuality-->criminal activity Motherhood praised, large family=patriotic duty Despite all of that, no birthrate increase of consequence

The Stalinist Era, 1929-1939 Some positive changes: program created to enable workers, peasants, and young Communists to get higher edu, esp in engineering...why? pro adult literacy: part-time schools created people started seeing education as necessary for a better job and social mobility He wanted smart leaders to push SU even further

The Stalinist Era, 1929-1939 monstrous, paranoid, brutal, sadistic Stalin’s Cult of Personality: monstrous, paranoid, brutal, sadistic a son and wife committed suicide one year’s worth of purges killed abt 1M and sent many millions to gulags whole ethnic groups were targeted Poles, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Latvians the “Great Terror” of Stalin’s initial reign est his complete control over Soviet life He would even have pics doctored to cut ppl out that were his enemies

edited pictures to reflect who was out of favor/executed for whatever reason