Purges and show trials: Kirov
seen as rival to Stalin,
assassinated. Stalin took this
opportunity to eliminate his
opponents / Extensive purge
of the Leningrad Party,
Kirov's powerbase.
Thousands were identified
and accused of being
Trotsky's supporters. Political
rivals such as Kamenev,
Zinoviev and Bukharin were
accused of conspiring with
Trotsky to overthrow the
government. They were tried
in public show trials before
being executed.
Stain suspicious of Red
army bc of Trotsky's strong
connection with them. Many
high ranking commanders
and tens of thousands Red
Army officers accused of
treason.
Arrests and
interrogation: Secret
police
arrested,questioned
and forced people to
inform against their
friends and family.
Quota system put in
place but in
reality,anyone could be
arrested. Peasants,
factory workers and
intellectuals such as
doctors scientists
teachers and writers
were arrested to
prevent them from
organising opposition to
Stalin's rule.
Many killed on the spot or sent to labour camps. Offical
reports in 1937: close to 39 million killed. 3 million
imprisoned in labour camps. Many died due to poor living
conditions,overwork and ill treatment
Stalin became
extremely powerful as
a result of the purges
and show trials.
Nobody dared to
oppose him due to the
prevailing atmosphere
of fear.
Loss of intellectuals,skilled
workers and officers due to
the mass execution. This
greatly affected the
strength of the country.
Execution nof engineers,
scientists and skilled
workers: Stalin's workforce
for the push to
industrialisation shrank.
Loss of administrators and
teachers meant less
effective management
within the government due
to lack of such personnel.
Red army commanders
and officers cut to more
than half of the most
experienced officers and
commanders. No strong
leadership for the
inexperienced soldiers.
Affected ability to prepare
for WWII
Propaganda
Stalin used Propaganda to extensively build up his profile.
He claimed to be the father to
his people.All offices,
factories, classrooms were
required to have a picture of
him.
Large portions of Soviet
History rewritten to boost
Stalin's status and
discredit his rivals as
disloyal counter
revolutionaries.
Photos edited to remove unwanted
people. Eg Trotsky edited out of
photos of Lenin leading at the
revolution.
All of these measures
boosted his authority and
status, both within the Party
and among the people, as
the undisputable leader of
the Soviet Union. It also
made opposition against
him even more impossible.
Social
State Control of Society
Fall in standard of living: Drive
towards industrialisation caused
more people to move to the cities
were factories were located
Increase of people in the cities made the
shortage of housing a greater problem. Buying of
houses, apartments and land were controlled by
the state thus many were forced to live in
cramped conditions often without running water or
sanitation, in overcrowded cities.
In addition, The workers
were pushed very hard to
achieve the ambitious
targets of the Five Year
Plans. This meant that
workers worked log hours
and not fairly paid for their
efforts. They were
overworked.
Thus the shortage of housing and
the long working hours led to a
steady fall in the standard of living.
Famine: State controlled
the use of agricultural
products from the
collective farms. The
farms were owned by the
state thus farmers could
not keep produce to
themselves.
During the Great Famine
of 1932, the State did not
distribute its stockpiled
grain, but sold the grain
overseas to raise funds
for more industrial
machinery and
development. The famine
carried on until 1934, and
close to seven million
peasants died of
starvation due to the
extreme shortage of food.
Lack of consumer goods: First two plans
focused on agricultural and targets but neglected
the production of consumer goods such as
chairs,textiles and sugar. Stalin did not care for
the welfare if his workers but was driven to
achieve the targets of his Five Year Plans. Third
Five Year plan finally promised to provide more
'luxuries' such ass bicycles and radios but these
promises were not kept. The economy and
industry were geared towards the production of
weaponry,in anticipation o WWII. The Third ive
Year Plan was disrupted as WWII began in
September 1939.
Living In Fear
Fear became an
aspect of everyday
life in the Soviet Union
under Stalin.
The Secret police had
informers everywhere
and the slightest indication
of anti-Stalin sentiments
could warrant an arrest.
People knew they were always being watched and judged by
Stalin's officials. If judged poorly, it would be more difficult for them
to apply for housing, jobs or holidays. If they stood out wrongly or
upset the officials, they could fall victim to the secret police and
sent to forced labour camps or even killed.
Impact of Policies in Various Social Groups
Minority
Nationalities.
Creating
the ' New
Soviet Man '
Women's
entry into
the
workforce
Compulsory
Schooling and
Literacy Rates
Economic
Collectivisation
Merge Small individual farms into larger
collective farms. - Believed that larger
units of land could be farmed more
efficiently
Aim: 'Peace Land and Bread for all' also to aid Stalin's main aim of
Rapid Industrialisation/To promise a secure food supply
Measures: Land owned by the state/Crops distributed by
state/equiment provided by state./Farmers who produced
low quantities or absent from work were punished/
Results: Farmers esp Kulaks killed their own animals,burnt
their grain and produce, hid and buried their crops in the
ground to keep them from the state/Bad harvest Contributed to
the Great Famine of 1932 to 1933 which led to millions of
deaths in the Soviet Union/ Grain harvests dropped
dramatically betwen 1931 and 1934 and did not recover to
1928 level./Loss of animal population were not recovered until
after WWII in 1945
Rapid Industrialisation
Sought to rapidly industrialise the Soviet Union.
More equipment poduced for the mechanisation of
farming
FYP generally seen as a success despite
targets not being met,helped to propel Soviet
Union forward. Little growth in consumer
industries eg house building, fertilisers,
woollen textiles. FYP marked as poor
coordination and planning.
faced underproduction as they
were hold up with shortage of
materials
Other factories
overproduced in their
attempts to meet the
target. Resulted in great
deal of wastage. Quality
of products were
substandard and
potentially hazardous
Aims of the 2nd and 3rd plan was to
develop on heavy industries such as
coal, steel,oil and electricity. however,
emphasis was placed in taking stock
production and puttting in place greater
planning and coordination.
After 1937,Soviet
Union thus faced an
economic slowdown
and industries such as
oil and steel stopped
growing.