A man born Josef Vissarionvich Djugashivili, in Gori, Georgia, on December 18, 1878 would have a profound impact on the Soviet Union throughout his time as supreme leader (Brent, 2008, pg 8). Born the son of a Georgian shoemaker, he was always reading and studying hard which earned him a scholarship to the Theological seminary in Tbilisi, Georgia (Marrin, 1988, pg. 10). This man stood only five feet four inches tall and had a severely withered left arm which made his left hand nearly useless (Brent, 2008, pg. 19). While at the seminary, he became heavily involved in Marxist teachings. He led demonstrations and private meetings where he taught Marxist ideals inside the seminaries locked gates. In 1912, Josef Vissarionvich Djugashivili changed his name and became Joseph Stalin, Russia’s “Man of Steel” (Brent, 2008, pg. 72). Heavily influenced by his Marxist teachings and the mentorship of Lenin, he became the most revered and the most feared leader of the Soviet Union. Stalin became leader of the Soviet Union during hard economic times when their industries were fifty years behind other nations. Stalin implemented a series of five year plans to help bring the Soviet Union up to date with the rest of the World. Although is five year plans helped the Soviet Union industrialize quickly, they had a severe impact on his countries citizens. Stalin wanted to be the one and only leader of the Soviet Union and persecuted anyone who did not remain totally loyal to him or his philosophy. The policies of Joseph Stalin had a severe impact on the Soviet Union and left them unprepared for World War II. In 1889, Stalin was expelled from the seminary for missing exams but he claimed it was for his Marxist propaganda (Marrin, 1988, pg. 107). After leaving school, Stalin became an underground political agitator taking part in labor strikes and demonstrations. Stalin joined the militant group lead by Vladimir Lenin, the Bolsheviks. During the revolution of 1904-1905, Stalin made his name by staging daring bank robberies and used the money to help fund the Bolshevik Party. In 1912, Lenin, who was exiled in Switzerland, appointed Stalin to serve on the first Committee of the Bolshevik Party (Marrin, 1988, pg. 248). After the fall of czarism, Stalin made his way to Petrograd, Russia, where, until Lenin returned from exile in Switzerland, he was the senior party member and editor of Pravda, the party newspaper (Marrin, 1988, pg. 306). In March, 1917, the Bolshevik revolution broke out and Stalin did not play a leading role in it. In November, 1917, the Bolsheviks gained control of Russia. Stalin continued to move up within the ranks of the party, and in 1922, The Soviet Union was founded with Lenin as its first leader (Conquest, 1991, pg. 78). Lenin appointed Stalin as the Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Conquest, 1991, pg. 79). In this role, Stalin was able to appoint his allies to government jobs in order to grow a base of political support. In late 1922, Lenin went into the hospital to have a bullet removed but it left him paralyzed down his right side and unable to speak (Conquest, 1991, pg. 126). Stalin stepped I and became the mouthpiece of Lenin. Lenin began to fear Stalin was taking over leadership of the party so Lenin composed a letter to senior members of the party; “Comrade Stalin, having become General Secretary, has concentrated enormous power in his hands: and I am not sure if he always knows how to use that power with sufficient caution. I therefore propose to our comrades to consider a means of removing Stalin from his post and appointing someone else who differs from Stalin I one weighty respect: being more tolerant, more loyal, more polite, more considerate of his fellow comrades.” (Conquest, 1991, pg. 129).
Lenin dies before any action could be taken and Stalin would become leader of the Soviet Union. After defeating Trotsky for power, the reign of Stalin had begun. Stalin continued to support Lenin’s New Economic Plan (NEP) established in 1921 (Viola, 2002, pg. 206). In 1928, after all his key rivals for power had been defeated, Stalin proposed his first draft plan for collectivization (Viola, 2002, pg. 208). Stalin initiated this plan because the peasants would not produce enough grain because the price was so low. The lower price of the grain did not give the peasants enough money to buy what they needed to survive (web.ku.edu, 2010, para 44). Stalin viewed this as being disloyal to the state and to the party. In April, 1928, the Supreme Economic Council proposed an industrial expansion of one hundred thirty percent over a five year period (web.ku.edu, 2010, para 46). Exported grain from collectivization was to provide most of the capital investment for industrialization. In March, 1929, the first five year plan was implemented. This first five year plan originally called for the collectivization of thirteen percent of the total farm population by 1933 (web.ku.edu, 2010, para 48). The peasants, mainly the Kulaks, resisted fiercely so Stalin decided on all out collectivization. Security Administration troops were sent in and they burned entire villages and shot all the people, those who resisted and those who did not. The majority of the peasant landowners were the Kulaks. Since they resisted so heavily yet the government continued to take their grain and livestock, the Kulaks would often kill off their livestock and burn their crops to keep the government form getting it. During the first five years plan with collectivization, agricultural production actually decreased leading to widespread famine throughout the Soviet Union (web.ku.edu, 2010, para51). See Appendix A The first five year plan also called for rapid industrialization focusing on heavy industry. Due to all the problems and the persecutions, eighty percent of those involved in agriculture moved from the country to the cities (Viola, 2002, pg. 215). Stalin wanted to increase heavy industry by building more steel mills, building more dams for electricity, more coal mines, and building plants for farm equipment and automobiles. Under this plan, there was to be a two-hundred fifty percent increase in industrial development and a three-hundred thirty percent expansion in heavy industry (Conquest, 1991, pg. 146). There were many successes and failures with this plan. Electricity and coal production increased, and vast technological advances were made in chemicals, metals and manufacturing. During this time, the Soviet Union made huge progress in becoming an industrialized nation but at the cost of its citizens. Since so much emphasis was placed on industrialization and the problems with collectivization, they were faced with major shortages of consumer goods. The work areas were unsafe, inhumane and unhealthy. The seven day work week, shortages of food, and the fear of relentless persecution hurt the production levels even though significant progresses were made. Although this was a five year plan, significant progress was made so the plan was ended in four years and the next five year plan was initiated (web.ku.edu, 2010, para 55). The second five year plan was started in 1932 although its official start date was not until 1933 (Brezhkov, 1994, pg. 78). This plan kept the same goals as the first with just a few modifications. This plan still focused on heavy industry which put the Soviets just behind the Germans as one of the major steel producing countries of the World (web.ku.edu, 2010, para 49). Improvements were made in communications and railways, making them more reliable and faster. Stalin employed more incentives as well as harsher punishments for failing to reach his production goals. Childcare was introduced as a means of encouraging mothers to help in the process. The third five year plan, instituted in 1938, focused on the same objectives as the first two plans. This plan only ran for three years and was interrupted by World War II. At the start of WW II, the focus was turned to building armaments for the War. When collectivization was introduced to help restructure the Soviet Union, it was met with great resistance. The Kulaks were the biggest land owners and the ones who would not give into collectivization. Stalin ordered anyone that did not give in to be shot and soon labeled all peasant land owners as Kulaks (Berezhkov, 1994, pg. 98). Stalin did not trust the peasants and thought they were a threat to the party and to his government. Stalin sent his secret police to take away all the food and leave the villages with none. This soon led to a government induced widespread famine. Stalin held the Kulaks responsible for this and started his persecution of those people. He divided the Kulaks into three groups; those to be shot immediately, those to be sent to prisons or gulags, and those to be deported to Siberia (Berezhkov, 1994, pg. 150). The third group alone consisted of over one million people. By 1931, famine ran rampant throughout the Ukraine, Volga, and north Caucarus (Berezhkov, 1994, pg. 171). Even at the request of the Congress, Stalin would not deviate from his policy toward the region and it is estimated that between eight to ten million people were shot or died of hunger from 1929-1933 (Berezhkov, 1994, pg. 211). The Great Terror or Great Purge in the Soviet Union began I 1934 with the assassination 0f Sergei Kirov on December 1, 1934 (Berezhkov, 1994, pg. 280). Kirov opposed Stalin’s brutal methods of collectivization. Kirov was the leader of the Leningrad Party and a well respected member of the committee. Stalin used his assassination as a pretext to start a series of purges within the party. There were mass arrests, not just the individuals belonging to the party but their families, supporter, friends and acquaintances. During this time, neighbors were turning on neighbors accusing them of being critical to the government. Stalin held public trials so that all of the Soviet Union could see what happened to those who opposed his absolute power. In all, ninety percent of the Congress of 1934 were purged (mot were killed), and their slots filled directly by Stalin with his loyal supporters (Berezhkov, 1994, pg. 289). From 1934 to 1937, Stalin’s purge of the Bolshevik Party resulted in the elimination of about 850,000 party members (Berezhkov, 1994, pg. 303). This was approximately thirty-six percent of its members. This is just party members; this does not take in account the massive amounts of arrests and executions or ordinary citizens. Stalin terrorized Russia using those arrests and executions instilling a fear of the police and making the citizens feel insecure. Having purged his party and instilling fear in its citizens, Stalin now turned his attention to the military. Soldiers and Officers had been openly criticizing Stalin for his force collectivization; it was their families and friends that had been suffering because of this. Stalin feared the mounting criticism of his policy and viewed popular Army leaders as a direct threat to himself and his power. As a result of his insecurities, in June 1937, Stalin arrested Marshals Tukhechevsky, Yegorov, Bluekher, first Deputy Commissar of Defense, two Army Commanders, and five Corps Commanders and charged them with espionage and being a spy (web.ku.edu, 2010, para 53). They were all executed. This was only the beginning of Stalin’s military purges. Stalin claimed he had evidence of a military coup was being planned so he continued with the military purge. By the end of 1938, some seventy-thousand officers had been purged (Berezhkov, 1994, pg. 376). As a result of the military purges, four out of five Soviet Marshals, ninety percent of the generals, eighty percent of the colonels had been purged (Berezhkov, 2010, pg. 379). Eighty percent of all officers above the rank of captain had been shot or put into labor camps (web.ku.edu, 2010, para 56). Some of those officers survived the labor camps and were released in 1941 to help fight in the war. Stalin’s policies of the 1930s had a direct impact on the Soviet Union not being prepared for World War II. His policy of collectivization was a miserable failure. This is evident from the tremendous loss of life during the Great Famine. The production of grain fell dramatically even though they were already unable to feed the population. Great progress was made in industrialization and the Soviets built a great infrastructure which would be destroyed in WW II.
The purge of the Bolsheviks left the government weak and without adequate leadership to continue to help the country continue to grow. The policy that had the greatest effect on them not being prepared for the war was in 1937-1938 when Stalin purged the military of its senior leaders. The loss of so much experience left the Army unable to effectively repel a German invasion and save all that they had gained from the five year plans. The Soviet Army was poorly trained due to the lack of experienced leaders.