Emergence of Josef Stalin

By Mr. Baker

Upbringing

• Stalin was born the son of a poor shoe

repairer and a washer-woman

• He learned Russian while attending a

church school and attended Tiflis

Theological Seminary to become a priest

• It was there when he first read Karl Marx

• He was expelled for revolutionary activity

Stalin Rises In Leadership

• Between 1901 and 1913, he was arrested,

imprisoned, and exiled 7 times!

• His revolutionary activity caught the

attention of Lenin, who named him to the

board of Pravda, the party newspaper

• Within two weeks he was given a seat on

the Executive Committee of the Soviet, but

was exiled to Siberia until 1917

Stalin Rises In Leadership

• When he learned that the Tsar abdicated,

Stalin returned in March 1917

• He briefly led the Bolsheviks in July 1917,

when Lenin’s failed uprising caused him to

go into hiding

• Stalin played little part in the October

Revolution that placed the Bolsheviks in

power

Stalin Rises In Leadership

• During the civil war, Stalin was sent to

Tsaritsyn (the future Stalingrad) as

Director General of food supplies

• Stalin also reorganized branches of the

Cheka and suppressed many plots by

simply arresting the accused and having

them executed

Stalin Rises In Leadership

• In 1922, he came General Secretary of the

Central Committee. He was also member

of the Politburo and of many other

committees

• The same year, Lenin suffered a series of

strokes which left him nearly incapacitated

Lenin’s Potential Successors

• Leon Trotsky

– Trotsky was an intellectual and formerly a

member of the Mensheviks (he recently had

joined the Bolsheviks)

– He had led the Red Army and was probably

the most able successor, but he was very

arrogant and did not have political allies

– He was prepared to criticize the party for the

growth of bureaucraticatization

Lenin’s Potential Successors

• Kamenev and Zinoviev

– These candidates lost credibility by allying

themselves with Trotsky

Lenin’s Potential Successors

• Bukharin

– Was the editor of Pravda and Secretary of the

Comintern

– He supported Lenin’s NEP

– He was not a viable candidate to succeed

Lenin because his belief system was not

sufficiently Marxist

Lenin’s Potential Successors

• Josef Stalin

– Was underestimated and was careful never to criticize

the party

– As General Secretary of the Cabinet, Stalin controlled

promotions and ranks in the Soviet Union. He filled

the party with those who were personally loyal to him

– He used the image of Lenin and the “Cult of Lenin” to

present himself as the rightful heir. Stalin presented

himself as the only true Leninist

– The Cheka was used to find information which could

be used to discredit his opponents

Lenin’s Death

• Lenin learned of Stalin’s actions and

began preparing letters and speeches in

order “to crush Stalin politically”

• However, on March 7, 1923, he suffered

his last stroke and lost the power of

speech

• He died on January 21, 1924

Stalin Rises to Power

• Stalin did not allow Trotsky to attend his

funeral, which discredited Trotsky

• Stalin discredited Lenin’s warnings to

others of himself because Lenin was “a

sick man surrounded by womenfolk” at the

time of his death

• Stalin ruthlessly discredited or shot his

comrades

Rapid Industrialization

• Stalin wanted rapid industrialization to:

– Free Russia from dependence on capitalist states for goods

– Put all national resources under government control, including workers

– Make Russia economically strong so that she would be able to produce more powerful weapons

– Prove that the socialist system was more successful than capitalism

Rapid Industrialization

• Was rapid in the cities due to coercion and

strict enforcement of worker discipline

• Stalin encouraged enthusiasm and that

people were part of something new and

good

• Educational programs would replace the

bourgeoisie intellectuals with a new Soviet

educated class

Five Year Plans

• Were plans to industrialize Russia with

emphasis on heavy industries such as coal, iron,

oil, steel, and electricity

• Capitalist models were used for nearly every

project

• Targets were set which industries had to meet

• Exaggerated figures were often submitted to

demonstrate that a particular factory had

exceeded expectations

Gosplan

• This was a group responsible for administering the Five Year Plans

• They decided:

– The amount of every article the country should produce

– How much of the national effort should go into the formation of capital and how much for consumption

– The wages all classes of workers should receive

– The price of all goods exchanged

First Five Year Plan (1928-1932)

• Aimed to create an industrial base for further

development through the rapid expansion of

coal and steel production, electrical power, and

transport

• It called for a 20% increase per year, but it was

not realistic since peasants had little skill and

central planners were inexperienced

• It met with some success as a result of

enthusiastic workers puffed up by propaganda

Second Five Year Plan (1933-

1937)

• The aim was diversification

• The focus shifted to communication systems such as railways and new industries such as the chemical industry

• The skilled workforce meant excellent growth in certain areas such as engineering and metal working

• The rise to power of Hitler demanded that more and more resources be allocated to weapon production

Third Five Year Plan (1938-1941)

• The aim was weapons production

• Its goal for growth was 12%

• It was not successful because:

– There were labor shortages due to the purges

and famines caused by collectivization

– Stalin’s purges led to disorganization in the

party

Assessment of the Five Year Plans

• Russia was transformed into a major industrial power second only to the U.S.

• The Five Year Plans allowed the USSR to resist the German invasion

• Living standards declined at first, then improved slowly

• Russians suffered a lack of consumer goods and daily necessities

• Communist principles were compromised – good workers were rewarded with higher pay and competition between factories was encouraged

Collectivization of Agriculture

• Industrial development could not occur

without sufficient food production

• Collectivization was pursued as a means

of giving the government the food supply

needed to support industrial areas

Collectivization of Agriculture

• Peasants were forced to work on collective farms

• All their belongings were confiscated and those peasants who resisted were killed or faced starvation

• The main goal of the revolution from the peasants’ point of view was land ownership

• The kulaks resisted strongly by smashing farm tools, burning farm buildings, slaughtering livestock, and setting crops on fire

Collectivization of Agriculture

• In 1932, a crop failure came which resulted in a

famine that killed 5 million

• By 1939, 95% of Russian farms had been

collectivized, but some concessions were made

to peasants:

– Were allowed too keep small plots for their own use

– Were able to keep their own cattle

– Were able to sell their extra crops on the open

market for profit

Collectivization of Agriculture

• Results:

– The workers were guaranteed a supply of cheap

food

– The produce of collectives was sold in overseas

markets for big profit – the money could be used in

industries

– The government gained greater control over the

production and allocation of food, which helped

during German’s invasion

– Kulaks were virtually eliminated

– Had an enormous human cost