May 27, 2001

Western Civilization III

In the nineteen thirties, millions of Russians were savagely killed. These people did not lose their lives from war or plague, but rather from the paranoia and lust for power of their leader, Joseph Stalin. Through the Communist Party, Stalin oppressed the Russian people and turned the country into a totalitarian dictatorship where freedom and independence were severely punished. Stalin’s plan, known as The First Five Year Plan was one of history’s finest examples of true totalitarianism. Unlike western Europe and the United Stares, Russia had not yet had an Industrial Revolution. His plan was to improve the Russian economy through modifications of industry and agriculture so that Russia could compete with its European neighbors. However, the price of this new economy was high and Stalin would be known throughout the centuries as on the of world’s cruelest dictators.

In order to fully understand Stalin’s affect on Russia, one must understand what kind of man Joseph Stalin was. He was born in 1879 to a poor cobbler in Gori, Georgia whom many speculate treated him badly. His poor and unpleasant upbringing would gave him an overwhelming feeling of inferiority that would last throughout his life. Stalin received his education at a seminary in Tiflis where he was training to be a priest of the Christian Church of the Eastern Orthodox rite. He was expelled at age seventeen just before graduation for "lack or religious vocation" after it was discovered that he attended a secret Marxist discussion group.

After the Revolution in 1905, the Communist Party began to lose much of the funds that it had previously received from wealthy aristocrats. To make up for the loss, the Party participated in less legal acts of "fundraising" such as blackmail, extortion, and theft. Stalin joined the party officially in 1904, but no one is quite sure as to what he did in the time between his expulsion and 1912. There is documentation that suggests that Stalin was a police informant but at the same time was carrying out illegal "fundraising" acts for the Communist Party.¹

Stalin was exiled several times during this time period by the Menshevik authorities, but they were never strict in enforcing his punishment and he would return soon after. Possibly the police were so lenient because he was helping them by giving them information to turn his enemies within the Party over to the authorities. This was an early example of Stalin’s skill at playing his adversaries against each other in order to benefit him. However in 1912, he was at last made a member of the Central Committee of the Party and ceased cooperating with the authorities. The police exiled him to Siberia in 1913 and he was unable to return until the 1917 Revolution.¹

Stalin embarked on his rise to his power as he gradually worked his way through the ranks of the Communist Party. He was appointed secretary-general in 1922 and with Lenin’s death in 1924, there was an opening for someone to lead the country. Many thought that Leon Trotsky would succeed Lenin, but Stalin was determined to take power for himself. He used his position in the Party to manipulate the system and to appoint officials that supported him. Europe was well on its way to recovering from world War I, which made Trotsky’s idea of a worldwide Communist Revolution appear unlikely. Stalin was soon running the country and all the old Bolsheviks that opposed him were executed or exiled. Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party and exiled from the country for his opposition to Stalin. Later, in 1940 while Trotsky was traveling in Mexico City, one of Stalin’s men split his skull open with an ax.¹

With most of his opposition dead or at least too frightened to speak against him, Stalin began to make plans for Russia to conform to his Communist dream. Stalin was not interested in continuing Lenin’s New Economic Plan because under this plan, the state would only control big industry and the banks while still permitting private trade amongst shops, restaurants, and other privately owned establishments. A majority of the country’s income came from agriculture and while the state owned the land under Lenin’s plan, the peasants who worked it were allowed to use only family labor and to pay taxes rather than to fulfill a quota of crops. Stalin’s plan was to improve the economy by industrializing Russia and eliminating private trade and ownership all within five years. The Communist Party adopted the plan in 1928 and it became known as the First Five Year Plan.

The main objective of Stalin’s First Five Year Plan was the industrialization of Russia. Stalin wanted no less than a 250 percent increase in industrial development and high annual quotas to be filled by each factory. The state also determined the prices of these goods and how much the workers would be paid. Several new industrial centers were developed and thousands of new factories were built to meet these demands. The quotas were enforced by an agency known as the Gosplan which consisted of around half a million people and punishment for failure to meet these quotas was severe. Several factory managers were killed or imprisoned and it was at one time illegal for workers to leave the workplace.²

Despite the unrealistic expectations of the Five Year Plan and the toll that this forced industrialization would take from the workers, the plan did wonders to improve the Russian economy. While the rest of Europe and the United States suffered a financial depression, Russia’s income had increased from 24 billion rubles to 96 billion. However, since most of the industry focused on heavy industry, there was a shortage of consumer goods.

In order to convert Russia from an agricultural society to an industrial one, the farming system had to be reformed as well. The Party passed the collectivization of the agricultural lands of Russia which would combine many small farms into one large collective. Stalin’s goal was to eliminate the ownership of private property and for all land to be owned by the state. Much like the factories, farms were also expected to fulfill a harsh annual quota of goods. The surplus created by these regulations enabled the Russian government to fund the new industrialization and to introduce new machinery to the collective farms. Since the use of machines in farming eliminated the need for several workers, these peasants had little alternative than to go to the city and find factory work.³

Of course this plan was not well met be many of the peasants as they objected to having their land taken from them and being forced to work long, grueling hours. The more successful class of farmers, known as the kulaks, were particularly displeased with Stalin’s plan. The Five Year Plan meant that their class would be dissolved and they would lose their right of private ownership. In protest to Stalin’s plan, the kulaks refused to sell their goods at The Party’s specified prices and many even began to destroy their crops and livestock to avoid it falling into the Party’s hands. Half of the cattle in Russia were obliterated and would not be restored until over twenty years later. The destroyed crops created a famine in Russia and although an abundance of food was produced by the collective, the peasants got very little of it.²

Stalin was not one to be lenient of opposition and had a reputation for his ability to annihilate his enemies and the kulaks were severely punished for their insubordination. Those who refused to join the collective were executed, imprisoned, or exiled. Their land was taken and given to the poorest peasants and over twenty million people were moved off their land. By the time World War II broke out, ninety-nine percent of farm land belonged to a collective and was completely controlled by the state.²

The kulaks were only a part of the millions whose death Stalin was responsible for. Throughout his political career, his paranoia, lust for power, and a lingering feeling of inferiority led to the deaths of millions of Party members. Stalin would only need be suspicious and the secret police would execute anyone without any real evidence. Trotsky was amongst these deaths and some believed that Stalin was also responsible for Lenin’s death.¹ Stalin was also suspected for murdering his second wife, Nadezhda after the couple got into a heated political argument. She had gone to their bedroom in tears when she was late found dead, shot by Stalin’s gun.⁴

Despite the loss of several lives, Stalin’s First Five Year Plan had been a Communist success. Private ownership was eliminated and industry in Russia was booming. Propaganda assured the Russian people that the hardships they suffered were not Stalin’s fault, but the fault of Western Europe. Trials were held in Russia where Western victims were accused and tortured until they confessed to ridiculous crimes in order to inspire nationalism and xenophobia in the Russian people.¹ A Second Five Year Plan was developed to increase production of consumer goods and a Third Five Year Plan was conceived but never realized as Russia became involved in war with Germany.

Stalin’s Five Year Plans did not only effect the economic aspects of Russian life but family life, art, literature, education, and religion were also effected. The government was making efforts to stabilize society and abortion and divorce were outlawed. At Russian schools, history books were more like Communist propaganda than an account of true events and students were lead to believe that the hardships they suffered were fulfilling a "greater historical purpose". Although since the economy improved so rapidly, higher education was made more readily available and illiteracy was reduced by thirty percent. Writer and artists were required to join a union in order to comply with Communist laws and all of the art and literature they produced had to conform to a specific style by promoting Russia, Communism in a non-abstract fashion. Religion was frowned upon in this Communist society and many religious people were executed, those who survived, were forced to worship in secret.²

After all the oppression that he inflicted upon the people, it’s no surprise that many believe that Stalin did not die of natural causes. In 1953, Stalin was found by a faithful servant on the floor of his room, paralyzed and unable to speak, after suffering what appeared to be a massive stroke. However, some speculate that he could have been poisoned by one of his many political enemies. Stalin died shortly after.⁴

Joseph Stalin is considered to be a lunatic by today’s standards, prone to fits of homicidal paranoia and a dangerous inferiority complex. Although the country as a whole benefited from his Five Year Plan, the people suffered famine, imprisonment, torture, and death. By the time his plan was complete, Russia was an almost complete totalitarian state with the government controlling all trade, education, family life, art, literature, religion, the military, and industry. However due to Stalin’s efforts, Russia had finally entered the industrial age and the economy flourished for several years. Unfortunately, this would not last and Stalin’s name goes down in history as one of the world’s cruelest dictators.

Created by Jennifer Strohm
Last Updated: Friday November 07, 2003