Stalin’s Russia, 1929-39

Economic policies and the Purges

Richard FitzsimmonsStrathallan School

Stalin’s rise to power ….

Born in Georgia in 1879 to a peasant family as Joseph Djugashvili

Very motivated at school and gained a scholarship to a seminary, but he became more attracted to Marxism than God and religion

He became an active revolutionary, arrested and exiled to Siberia 8 times from 1902-1913

1917 became editor of Pravda (Bolshevik party newspaper) – skilled organiser – later Commissar for Nationalities

1922 – became General Secretary of the Communist Party, in charge of general organisation

Trotsky … Trotsky seemed to be the best

candidate to replace Lenin Organisation of Red Army A leader in the Revolution Arrogant, not really interested

in campaigning against Stalin, distrusted by other members of the Party

Believed in exporting Communism to other countries

Many thought his extreme ideas might split the Party

or Stalin … ? In powerful position as

General Secretary – controlled membership and appointed to posts

Expelled radicals likely to support Trotsky, promoted supporters into important posts

Not an intellectual or effective speaker, dull, humourless

Cunning political schemer Wanted ‘Communism in One

Country’ Not extreme – middle of the

road

Eliminating the opposition … Stalin played a leading role at Lenin’s funeral –

Trotsky was absent 1924, Kamenev and Zinoviev joined forces with Stalin

to defeat Trotsky Stalin turned on Kamenev and Zinoviev and had them

ejected from the Politburo In 1927 Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev were

expelled from the Communist Party By 1929 Stalin had also turned on Bukharin and the

right-wing MPs – they were removed from their posts and Stalin was undisputed leader of the USSR

Economic Change …‘We are fifty or a

hundred years behind the

advanced countries. We must make

good this distance in ten years. Either we shall do it or we

shall go under’

Stalin, February 1931

Economic Change … In 1928 the Soviet Union was poor, backward

industrially, and falling further behind the more advanced nations of the West – Stalin was determined to change that …

Collectivisation of farming from May 1929 – led to widespread famine and a great deal of resistance amongst the peasants

State planning of the economy – 5 Year Plans producing targets for heavy industry to set the foundations for future industrial growth

Five Year Plans … 1st 5 Year Plan (1928-33) emphasised heavy

industry – coal, iron, steel, oil, electricity – targets were unrealistic but results were impressive – 100 new towns built, over 1500 new industrial plants …

2nd 5 Year Plan (1933-38) – emphasis on communication – railways; growth in new industries such as chemicals and metallurgy

3rd 5 Year Plan (ran 1938-41) – resources ploughed into new armaments

Collectivisation … Plan to collectivise (combine & take into state

ownership) about 5 million farms between 1929-33 Collective ownership of land, tools, livestock,

machinery Would sell proportion of produce to the State at a low

price and the State would provide machinery (tractors etc)

Fierce resistance to collectivisation among the peasants (would take away their independence)

Famine in 1932-33 killing ca. 13 million people, possibly more

The Communist police state … In the 1930s Stalin’s Russia developed into a

totalitarian state, remarkably similar to Hitler’s Germany

- secret police (NKVD under Yagoda)

- labour camps (Gulags)

- education controlled by the state

- close control of propaganda and censorship

- only one political party allowed

- cult centred on the leader (Stalin)

The purges, 1934-38 (phase 1) No walk of life was exempt from the effects of the

purges – communist party, army, arts and science - ordinary people

They were arrested and sent to the labour camps (Siberia – Gulags) or shot

Public trials were held in which old Bolsheviks confessed to crimes against the Soviet Union (e.g. 1936 – Zinoviev and Kamenev)

Stalin exploited the atmosphere of paranoia caused by the murder of Sergei Kirov (a critic of Stalin’s ironically) to order arrests and to purge the Communist party of opponents or critics

Show Trials 1936 – old Bolsheviks who had been there from the beginning –

e.g. Zinoviev and Kamenev, along with 14 others – were placed on public trial broadcast on radio – charges were laughable but confessions were extracted from them all, and they were executed

1936-38: thousands of Communist Party members were denounced and expelled – a good way for someone to achieve promotion in the party was to denounce people

1937 – senior Party members were accused of industrial sabotage and spying (on behalf of Germany and Japan)

Marshal Tukhachevsky was found guilty of collaborating with the Germans in 1937 – he was shot. Over 35,000 other officers were removed from their posts.

1938 – Bukharin, Rykov and Yagoda (former head of the NKVD) were put on trial and shot

Results of the purges

Removed many of the old Bolshevik leadership Over a fifth of Communist Party members had been

expelled or shot Of the 1961 delegates at the 1934 Party Congress

(where Kirov’s speech had inspired greater applause than Stalin’s), 1108 had been arrested

Of the 139 Central committee members, over 90 were shot

Of the Politburo members of 1934, five of the eleven were dead, many under suspicious circumstances

Why did Stalin launch the purges ? Collectivisation had failed and many people had hoped that

politicians such as Bukharin and Kirov might have opposed Stalin and stopped the process

The 5 Year Plans had plunged the USSR into chaos – production targets were missed, machinery broke down, projects fell behind. Stalin wanted to avoid responsibility so the Purges were a way of searching for scapegoats

Stalin was paranoid about agents working for Trotsky (in exile), or the Germans. He wanted to make sure that members of the Party, police and army were loyal to him. By creating terror he ensured minimal opposition.