Assess_the_Impact_of_Stalinism

“Assess the impact of Stalinism on soviet society in the period to 1941” By Sinisa Alavanja – Modern History 2013 The impact of Stalinism on soviet society was immense and totally transformed the economy, society, culture and the communist party itself. Stalin embarked on radical modernisation, while ensuring a more conservative approach to social policy, implemented ‘social realism’ and ensured his personal domination of the party and state through a process of purges and general terror Stalin was born in eastern Georgia in 1879; his father was a cobbler and his mother a peasant. They were poor and Stalin had a rough childhood. He did well at school and gained a scholarship to a seminary where he was first introduced to Marxism. From then on he became involved in the underground world of revolutionaries, writing pamphlets and attending secret meetings. He greatly admired the writings of Lenin. Joseph soon became an active revolutionary and became involved in a number of activities to raise funds for the Bolsheviks By the year 1929, Joseph Stalin had become the sole leader of the Soviet Union. Stalin stated that “We are fifty or a hundred years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this distance in ten years. Either we do it, or they will crush us” Stalin wanted everything to change in Russia in a short space of time and that is how the five year plans were put into place which were there to speed up the modernization of the growing Russian economy. Stalin also moved to force the idea of Collectivisation of Agriculture which was brought up to increase output from large farms, to bring the peasantry under more direct political control and to make taxing the peasants more efficient. Stalin brought up the 5 year plans because his main goal was to industrialise the USSR. Staling felt as if it was vital for the future survival of the Soviet Union and if they failed now the highly advanced nations which comprised of Russia’s past enemies would crush them. Stalin wanted constant growth and progress to be made and to also keep up with the times. These plans were also what Leon Trosky had wanted who was also a rival of Stalin to take over leadership of the USSR after Lenin’s death in 1924. GOSPLAN which was the state planning committee was given the responsibility of inventing the new plans For peasants whose land was collectivised life was very different. The kulaks who were wealthier then the average farmers were expelled from their lands, They were considered to be the very rich farmers who did not back the Revolution by Stalin and therefore “dekulakization” was brought into place which was the cleansing of the Kulaks. Their land was taken by the Communists and collective farms were set up in their place. In Ukraine 2.5 million starved to death as a direct result of collectivisation. Many peasants so resented the policy they slaughtered their livestock and destroyed their machinery rather than hand it over to the state While embarking on radical modernisation that significantly impacted peasants and industrial workers, Stalinism also impacted society through conservative social policies. Stalin gave women far more rights than they had under the Tsar’s. They were given equal rights in education and employment, improving lives for many. Stalin also greatly improved the healthcare of his nation, increasing the life expectancy in Russia by decades. Women during this time were also able to give birth in hospitals, with prenatal care. People were much more literate, due to the mass-literacy campaigns launched in the 30's by Stalin. Education was strictly controlled in the Soviet Union. In 1932 a strict programme of discipline and education was introduced. Exams which were originally banned under Vladimir Lenin were put back into place to make the students more stern and competitive. The government controlled the way subjects in school were taught, with a main focus being on history where Stalin’s role in the 1917 revolution was over exaggerated and glorified. Books which were used in schools were strictly censored by the Soviets and they had ordered the creation of a new highly inaccurate and bias book called “a short history of the USSR” which was to be used in soviet schools The Communists brought in a universal literacy, using the Red Army and ‘workers’ as a means of educating illiterate peasants and workers. By 1939, literacy had reached 94 per cent in the towns and 86 per cent in the villages. Stalinism also transformed Soviet Society through the implementation of cultural change. Social and cultural lives in the Soviet Union were dramatically changed during the 1930s, under the rule of Joseph Stalin. The most important aspects of that transformation were the propagation of the ‘cult of Stalin’. The most visible change in Soviet social and cultural life in the 1930s was undoubtedly the ‘cult of Stalin’, which began in 1929. Using the party’s control over the media, the Stalin was presented as almost a God like figure and in his own eyes a supreme genius and the true successor to Lenin. Stalin’s face began to appear everywhere in Russia, in paintings, posters and so on. Cities and towns were named in his honour and children were taught to thank Stalin for all the positives in life. All influential figures such as writers, painters and movie makers were to devote their talents in the name of Stalin and the socialist concept. The new style was known as ‘Socialist Realism’ Under Stalin, there was an intensification of the campaign to eradicate religious belief. An increasing number of churches were closed, destroyed or converted into museums. The Godless League, which was responsible for this campaign, organised activities to demonstrate the non-existence of god, religious practice was still tolerated however an uneasy coexistence was reached between church and state. This was all due to Stalin wanting the general population to view him as their god and saviour. The significant impact that Stalinism had on politics and the state can also be seen in the purging of the Communist party and the creation of terror which affected the lives of everybody in the Soviet Union. The Great purge which took place in the Soviet Union were a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution which were arranged by Stalin in 1936 which went up to 1939. Stalin wanted to get rid of everybody who could threaten his position in power, he had most of them sent to the Gulags and many faced firing squadrons. The purges involved taking out high ranking members of the Communist party, government officials, repression of peasants, red army leadership. Historians say he executed millions of people this way and among them being 50,000 army officers. The goals of the purges were initially to get rid of left and right opposition, which were mainly the Bolsheviks who were Stalin’s rivals in the fight for power. They were also designed to remove the non-Russians who were employed in the time of the first 5 year plan to install and train the population on the new machinery. Another goal was to create a sense of fear among the military hierarchy so that they would not go against Stalin’s rule. Last was to create a yielding population who did not trust others in society e.g. their neighbours, teachers, bosses, friends and also others below them. The show trials were highly public trials in which the verdicts were already known by all the people involved which included the defendants. The main object of this was to strengthen the party by showing everybody that their was limits to what could be published and spoken about in the party. They were also to strengthen the parties hold on the provinces by arresting powerful party figures. They made sure that ever party no matter who it was supported the Parties stance. All of the defendants in the trials were the major figureheads of the old Bolsheviks who were always highly supportive if Lenin, the people like Kamenez, Zinoviev and Bukharin The NKVD was the secret police of the USSR which had ran the Gulags, suppressed underground resistance, conducted mass deportations of nationalities and "Kulaks" to unpopulated regions of the country, guarded state borders, conducted espionage and political assassinations abroad and was also responsible for influencing foreign governments, Stalinism imopacted all aspects of life in the USSR through the desires for power and control of Stalin. He inflicted his will on economic, social, cultural and political polices to ensure that he held absolute control over the USSR and Soviet society and also ensured the complete loyalty of the Soviet people.