Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • Free Essays • My Term Papers • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Government & Politics The sanctions of Joesph Stalin The sanctions of Joesph Stalin The Policies and Sanctions of Joseph Stalin The Bolshevik revolution of 1917 was a ‘new model of modernization’ for Russian society and government. Although it changed society profoundly, the Stalin revolution, 1928-1932, may have had a more dramatic effect on the society and government of Russia. The sanctions that Stalin imposed in the late 1920’s created the tension and opposition that led to the mass repression of the mid thirties. One of his first governmental changes was called the Five Year Plan. The plan involved major economic and social changes, which were based on some of Marx's ideas. The five year plan was designed to strengthen and enrich the country, make it militarily and industrially self-sufficient, lay the groundwork for a true workers’ society, and overcome the Russian reputation for backwardness. In a speech in 1929, Stalin said "We are becoming a country of metal, a country of automobiles, a country of tractors. And when we have put the USSR in a motor car and the muzhik in a tractor. . . we shall see which countries may then be 'classified' as backward and which as advanced." (Palmer/Colton 763). In order to relieve Russia from being considered a backward country, Stalin said that they (the Russians) must achieve some sort of economic prowess. In order to achieve this 'economic prowess', Stalin set up an agency called the Gosplan to administer a new economic policy. The Gosplan had total control over anything remotely concerning economics. They determined how much of every article the country should produce, how much national effort should go into the formation of capital, and what wages each class of workers would receive. They decided which raw materials to get, how much to buy, what to produce with these materials, and who would be allowed to work on the materials. All decision were made at the top. An example of the authority that the Gosplan had was that they would only order the exact number of ball bearings needed. They would never make any extra expenditures. This tight control of materials may have seemed to save money, but it actually cost the Russians. If a machine were to break down, there would be no extra parts to repair it. This severely hindered Russian efficiency. The Gosplan also controlled who would be working with the machinery. They controlled who would be trained in technical schools and for what job they would be trained for. To put it simply, the Gosplan had total control of any form of capitalism. Stalin's aim was to build up the heavy industry, or capital wealth, of the USSR. The second part of the five year plan was the collective cultivation of farm land. Stalin succeeded in using the Five Year Plans to make great strides in industrializing Russia. When he tried to equal that success with agricultural growth he met with some resistance and ended up liquidating an entire social class and causing famine. Socially, he gave important benefits to workers and gave women equal rights. However, he also tried to purge the country and eliminated a lot of the Communist party, most of the army, and a good portion of workers and peasants. It seemed that when Stalin first started out as leader of Russia, he truly had Lenin’s ideology in mind for a truly successful and competent socialist society; but once power was attained, he had to have more and would have so by way of any means possible. Stalin made several industrial improvements for his country but that does not even begin to equal the death and destruction that he caused. Between 1924 and 1928, Stalin used his position to remove his opposition from the Party. He was the unchallenged leader of the Soviet Union by 1929. As leader of the Soviet Union he ordered the creation of the collective farms to aid in the rapid industrialization of the country. When poor management of the farms caused thousands of people to die in a famine; Stalin continued collectivization at an increased rate after the famine. Stalin s purge began after the death of Sergei Kirov. It is believed that the murder may have been arranged by Stalin as a pretext for eliminating all opponents. Stalin used Kirov s death as an excuse to charge Party members and Army generals with treason or conspiracy and sentence them to death. Almost all of the members of the Central Committee and the 17th Congress were killed or arrested; some were sent to labor camps known as Gulags. At first, the purge was secret; show trials in Moscow were evidence of the purge s existence. Later on the purge spread from high-ranking officials to people associated with Lenin and then to common workers and farmers. Anyone perceived as a threat to Stalin s power was killed. The officer-corps were created so Stalin would have total support in the lower ranks of the armed forces. Everyone was considered a suspect by the secret police. During the purge the secret police ordered spying on important industrialists. They also ordered neighbors to spy on each other, children to report on their parents, children to watch their siblings, and adults to spy on their employers/employees. With so may people being arrested, killed, or just disappearing, many began to lose faith in Stalin’s leadership. Not many spoke openly spoke out against Stalin for fear of their lives and Western nations did not find out the true extent of the purge because it was not discussed in public. One of the most adverse affects of the purge was that when World War II began, many of the Soviet Union’s best generals had been killed off. The lack of capable generals was a contributing factor in many of the Soviet Union s early defeats in the war. These sanctions were just a few of the many policies that were imposed by the Stalin government, which led to the discontent and eventually repression of millions of Russians. The heaviest losses occurred in Ukraine, which had been the most productive agricultural area of the Soviet Union. Stalin was determined to crush all vestiges of Ukrainian nationalism. Thus, the famine was accompanied by a devastating purge of the Ukrainian intelligentsia and the Ukrainian Communist party itself. The famine broke the peasants' will to resist collectivization and left Ukraine politically, socially, and psychologically traumatized. This is proof of how Stalin’s purges not only affected the specifically targeted peasants of Russia, but also the peasants of other regions. Stalin’s purge disillusioned many devoted Communists, and rocked Western faith in the Socialist system used by the Soviets. The purge liquidated many faithful Communists and struck fear into the hearts of Stalin s opponents. This fear prevented challenges to his rule of the Soviet Union, but to prevent further challenges Stalin initiated atrocities that were wider ranging than the Nazi’s World War II Holocaust. The Great Purge is a bleak spot in Soviet history that many of the Soviet Union s leaders and citizens would like to put behind them. In the face of the growing threats from Nazi Germany and Japan, Stalin reverted increasingly to traditional forms of foreign policy, seeking diplomatic alliances with the European powers. Finally in August 1939, he concluded a bilateral non-aggression treaty with Hitler. He led Russia to victory over one of the largest armies ever to invade a foreign land. Although Stalin’s policy in the mid-1930s was to support the Communist International (Comintern) in forming a popular front against the rise of fascism in Europe, he gave up the idea of collective security with the West and in August 1939 decided upon an alliance with Nazi Germany. The "Secret Protocols" of the German-Soviet Non-aggression Pact carved up Eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence; the Soviets allowed Germany to invade Poland in exchange for Hitler’s promised non-aggression against Soviet territory. On the 7th of November 1928, Stalin instituted the ‘Great Turn’, The three main aims of which were: Expropriate the kulak, institute widespread use of collective farms and abolish the private sector in the rural economy. By 1930, 50% of peasant households had joined the collectives, by July 1936 this figure had risen to 90% and by 1936 collectivization was effectively complete, and rural capitalism in the countryside had been virtually destroyed. Stalin achieved collectivization through the divisions of peasants. At village meetings, Poorer peasant households were encouraged to help in the extermination of the kulaks by seizing land and property for the collectives. Religion was also attacked. By 1938, 80% of village churches were destroyed. Stalin claimed collectivization to be a complete success, that it had the support of most poor and middle peasants. In reality collectivization was resisted, not only by the kulaks, but by the majority of the peasants. During the 1930s, particularly while the purges were occurring, Communist propaganda portrayed Stalin as a Messiah. Pictures of him appeared on billboards and all over public places, portraying him as a friend of the worker, with children, or with Lenin. He became the source of all wisdom and authority in Soviet society. Such propaganda had created a cult around his personality. Stalin consolidated his totalitarian rule through his effective use of terror and coercive methods. Stalin combined with the control of the secret police over the civilian population, the creation of an atmosphere of public paranoia, and the increase in party loyalty due to purges to consolidate totalitarian control over Soviet Russia by 1939. Stalin’s revolution, spanning over the years of 1928-1932, changed society as well as Russian government profoundly. The sanctions and policies Stalin imposed led to the revolution and the undeniable tensions and contradictions that contributed to the mass repression of 1937 and 1938. These results influenced the Soviet government for many years to come. “The Policies and Sanctions of Joseph Stalin” Bibliography: Word Count: 1645
Copyright © 1998-2008 College Term Papers, INC All Rights Reserved. DMCA Notifications and Requests