Stalin__Criminal_Or_Hero

Stalin: Criminal Or Hero Few would argue that Joseph Stalin came to power in the Soviet Union at a very turbulent time. The Soviet Union, as well as most of the Western World was facing economic problems. In The USSR, these problems took more extreme forms. The country was backward, the population was uneducated and, infinitely worse, the leadership lacked any sort of direction. To make the situation even bleaker, it was painfully obvious that one way or another, the world was heading towards war. Stalin faced an uphill battle to industrialize, educate, and prepare for war. Some would argue, and not completely without merit, that Stalin succeeded in achieving all these goals and that whatever means he used to do so, including the sacrifice of millions of lives, are more than justified. A close examination of the facts, however, paints a slightly different picture. Industrialization in the Soviet Union was achieved at amazing rates and is considered to be one of the most impressive achievements of the Stalin Era. Across the board, production numbers indicate an astonishing rise in output, especially that of heavy industry. However, the policies undertaken by Stalin during the industrialization drive were not prudent by any measure. The stalin, soviet, union, war, millions, stalin’s, one, during, world, without, took, nothing, million, initiative, industrialization, however, allowed, white, western, uneducated, under, through, technical, social, purges, process, problems, positions, people, peasant, needlessly, lives, leadership, impressive, heavy