In 1928, Joseph Stalin became one of the world’s most contentious leaders. During the period that Stalin was in control of mother Russia, he transformed the Soviet Union into a modern super power. He used certain methods to change Russia. He did this by modernizing the Russian economy with his Five Year Plans. He also increased industrial and agricultural production with his policy of collectivization.
How successful were Stalin’s industrial policies in developing the Russian economy in the years 1928-41 ? During the first five year plans Stalin focuses on developing the countries economy as a means to turn the Soviet Union into a modern world power and to improve the living standards of all Soviet citizens. Later in the period Stalin focusses on establishing Russia as a world power through strengthening Russia’s military power. In order to achieve this, Stalin believed in collectivisation and industrialization. By collectivizing and industrializing the agriculture and industries.
Generally, the agriculture production in this period saw a rise from the 74.5 million tonnes of grain harvested in 1913 (while Russia still operated under the Tsarist regime) to 97.1 million in 1940 [8] . This then had the effect of increasing industrial growth as there was more food to support the workers with. A lot of this grain was used for export purposes; this portrayed communist Russia as a rich and
In spite of all these changing times and circumstances, the tension between the upper and lower classes remained tenser than ever before, building up under the fabric of society. Russian became industrialized during the 1930's when Joseph Stalin instituted a series of what he called “five year plans". The plans were designed to rapidly increase the industrial capacity of the Soviet Union and change it from an agrarian economy to an industrial one. The plans succeeded and Russia did become an industrialized nation. Prior to the “five year plans”, Russia had mostly a peasant farming economy.
The collectivisation of agriculture provided Stalin with the idea that further industrial growth was necessary in order to fuel the country’s economy and diminish the burden of Russia’s backwards nature. He wanted Russia to become self-sufficient and not have to rely on the West for anything so the first 5 year plan was established in the hope that changes could be made. It can be perceived that the first plan did not achieve a great deal but
To move towards a socialist society: • According to Marxist theory, socialism could only be created in a society where the majority of the population were workers – but in 1928, only 20% were workers in the USSR. To establish his credentials: • Stalin wanted to prove himself was the worthy succession of Lenin. • He wanted to make the leading Bolsheviks believe the he was Lenin’s equal. • He believed he could do this through his economic plan – he believed that by taking the USSR towards socialism would prove this. To improve standards of living: • Stalin knew the USSR had a bad standard of living was poor compared to the West, and wanted to catch up with them.
How far did the aims and key features of the Five-Year Plans change in the years 1928-41? Aims and features changed: * Aimed originally to catch up with the Western economies that were about 100 years ahead of the USSR. * To manufacture weapons in order to defend against invasion from capitalist countries. * Aimed to continue socialism as it was believed socialism could only exist in a highly industrialised nation. * Aimed to improve conditions for the working class as Stalin believed the revolution was a working class one, and had seen how the peasants prospered but the working class did not under the NEP.
To what extent did collectivisation improve Soviet agriculture in the years 1928-41? Along with Stalin’s policy of industrialisation came widespread changes in agriculture. It was seen by Stalin as necessary to improve Russia’s agriculture, modernising it in order to create food surpluses that could be exported, therefore fuelling his Five Year plan. The policy of Collectivisation, in which larger agricultural units were created ensuring peasants would farm collectively rather than on individual farms, was seen as the solution to improving Russia’s agriculture, which had been left largely unchanged since the 1917 revolution. However, it proved deeply unpopular with the peasants, and although it allowed Stalin and the party to finally gain control over the workers in the countryside, it had devastating effects on this section of the Russian population.
What was more important for Stalin’s control of the USSR, propaganda or fear? Throughout Stalin’s rule he used both propaganda and fear to his advantage. When constructing his ‘5 year plans’, he applied great discipline to make sure his targets were met. His first 5 year plan focused on increasing outcome of major industries, such as coal, iron and steel. Due to Stalin setting his targets to high, they were never met.
Animal husbandry was becoming widely used. This was just the beginning of the change, and many important players were able to create other innovations for the farm that would change the ways farms would work: The Seed Drill - Source • Jethro Tull (1674 - 1741) Jethro Tull was a key player in introducing and popularizing root vegetables. His major contributions to the Agricultural Revolution, however, were his two inventions: the seed drill and horse hoe (Gernhard). The seed drill was an innovation that allowed seeds to be easily planted deep into the earth instead of on top where the majority were washed away or otherwise lost. The machine was pulled by horses and consisted of rotating drills or runners that would plant seeds at a set depth (Seed Drill).