From Lenin to Stalin: Part II

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From Lenin to Stalin Part II

• Building a Communist State in Russia

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Goals of Lenin

• The goal was to build a CLASSLESS society in
  which the means of PRODUCTION were in the hands
  of the Russian people
• Once the Civil War was over, Lenin could now
  focus on rebuilding the nation

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Civil War 3 year war 1918-1921

• It was between the Reds Communists versus the
  Whites tsarist imperial officers.
• Allies intervened to help the Whites. Why?
• Reds appealed to nationalism and urged Russians
  to drive out foreigners.

Counter Revolutionaries shot the Tsar And the
Tsarina. (Whites July 1918)
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Results of World War I Communism

• Economy nearly collapsed
• Factory and mine output fallen
• Peasants stopped producing because they knew it
  would all go to the government
• 5 million die in the Revolution/ 3 million from
  Civil war / 2 million from disease / 5 million
  from lack of seeds to plant for the next season
  10 million

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Communist Constitution, 1922

• Set up an elected legislature called the Supreme
  Soviet
• Any person over 18 could vote
• All political power, resources, and means of
  production belonged to the PEOPLE.
• Communists had the FINAL SAY

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NEP- New Economic Policy 1921

• Lenin answers the economy by coming up with the
  NEP
• State controlled banks, foreign trade, large
  industries
• Small businesses allowed to operate for private
  profit
• Peasants held onto small plots of land and could
  SELL surplus!

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Results of NEP

• Compromise with Capitalism
• Allowed for
• Russias economy to recover
• Ended armed resistance to new government
• By 1928, food and industrial production was back
  to pre-WWI levels

What happens to Lenin? May 13th, 1924
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White army will kill him for autocracy
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Lenin Gets SHOT! April 30, 1918

• A lady will approach Lenin and shoot him 3 times.
  
• Once in the arm, second in the jaw and neck,
  third bullet missed him.
• The took him to his apartment and left the
  bullets in him for a slow recovery.
• April 24, 1922 they removed the bullet in his
  neck.
• He will have headaches and 3 strokes.

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Power Struggles for Communist Leaders

• Leon Trotsky
• Brilliant Marxist Thinker
• Skillful Public Speaker
• Architect of Revolution

• Joseph Stalin
• Not a Scholar
• Not a Skilled Orator
• Shrewd Political Operator
• Behind-the-Scenes Organizer

Led the Red army during Revolution
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Leon Trotsky

• Firm Marxist who wanted support for world-wide
  revolutions against Capitalism
• Isolated by Stalin
• Exiled in 1929
• Murdered in Mexico by a Stalinist agent in 1940
  with an ice pick to the head.

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Joseph Stalin, Man of Steel

• History of prison and Siberian exile
• Not an important role in the Revolution and Civil
  War
• 1920s, Elected General Secretary of the Communist
  Party
• Lenin warned the party about Stalin.

comrade Stalin has concentrated enormous power
in his hands and I am not sure that he always
knows how to use that power with sufficient
caution.
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The Soviet Union under Stalin

• Part II

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Five Year Plan

• Plan to turn Russia into a modern industrial
  power
• 1928 Industrial Revolution of sorts
• Build Heavy Industry
• Improve Transportation
• Increase Farm Output
• All Economic Activity under Govt Control

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Results of 5 Year Plans

• High goals
• Gave bonuses to those who met goals, punished
  those who did not (Siberia).
• 1928-1939
• Large factories, hydroelectric power stations,
  huge industrial complexes
• Oil, coal, steel production increased
• New Railroads

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Effects on People

• Overall, Russians had little to show
• Standards of living remained poor, wages low
• Scarce availability for consumer goods
• Large quantities but low quality
• Focus on Heavy Industry

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Agricultural Revolution

• Stalin forced peasants to give up their land to
  live on state-owned farms
• Collectives Large farms owned and operated by
  group of peasants
• State set prices and controlled access to farm
  supplies

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Goals of Collectives

• Provide tractors, fertilizers, better seeds
• Teach peasants modern farm methods
• Surplus grain was also sold abroad to earn to
  invest

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Resistance

• Peasant resisted by
• Killing farm animals
• Destroying tools
• Burning crops
• Government responds
• with brutal force

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Kulaks and Labor Camps

• Wealthy peasants, Kulaks, were rounded up.
• Sent to labor camps
• Govt confiscated their lands and cattle of
  peasants
• Thousands died from labor or were killed

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Labor Camp
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Effects of Collectivization

• Peasants grew just enough so govt seized all
  grainleaving people to starve
• Poor harvests and govt action led to famine
• 5-8 million people died as a result
• Did not improve farm output
• Increased Stalins control

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The END!

• Soviet Union Symbol