Transcript Section 15.2 Outline: “From Lenin to Stalin”

Section 15.2 Outline:
“From Lenin to Stalin”
A. Building the Communist Soviet
Union
1. Government was both democratic
and socialistic.
Democratic: Elected
legislature called “The
Supreme Soviet” was
organized: All citizens over
18 could vote
Socialistic: All political,
power, resources, and
means of production were
supposedly owned by the
people.
b. USSR: Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (1922): Russia and other
areas of the old Russian Empire were
united.
Flag of the USSR
USSR in the World
USSR
Symbol of
the USSR
Fictional Character from the former Soviet
Union
2. Government in Theory vs.
Government in Practice
Government in
theory:
People shared equal
rights everyone
produced to
improve the state
Government in
practice:
Communist party
reigned supreme
and used the army
and secret police to
enforce its will
3. 1921 NEP: The New Economic
Policy: replaced “war communism”
a. Lenin compromised with capitalism:
peasants could own small plots of land
and small businesses reopened for
private profit
b. Offset some of the economic problems
in Russia
c. State continued to control banks, large
industries, and foreign trade
B. Stalin vs. Trotsky: After Lenin’s death,
competition for power occurred
1. Joseph Stalin: Did not play a large role
in the revolution, but as party
secretary in the 1920’s, he built a
group of Communist officials close to
him.
2. Leon Trotsky: A skilled speaker, a
brilliant thinker, and an architect of
the Bolshevik Revolution.
Leon Trotsky
Joseph Stalin
3. Stalin gained power because he
placed his own supporters into top
jobs and isolated Trotsky within the
Communist Party.
4. Trotsky was later assassinated in
Mexico by a Stalinist agent.
Trotsky on his death bed
C. Stalin’s Five-Year Plans: intentions
were to build heavy industry, improve
transportation and increase farm output
1. Developed a command economy:
Government owned all businesses
and controlled all economic
resources.
2. Quota System: Incentives and punishments existed
for managers and workers (pertained to industrial
production)
3. Mixed Results
(+) Large factories, hydroelectric power
stations, huge industrial complexes, oil,
coal, and steel production grew: mining
and railroads improved
(-) Standard of living was poor,
wages were low, and consumer
goods were scarce: low quality
goods were produced.
4. Revolution in Agriculture
a. Peasants gave up their private
plots and lived on collectives:
Peasants shared farm resources like
machines and animals
b. Government taught agricultural
innovation and provided
agricultural materials.
5. A ruthless agricultural policy
a. Peasant protest met ruthless
policy: Stalin sent kulaks and
protestors of his policies to labor
camps in Siberia
(1) thousands were killed or
starved in Siberia
b. Ruthless policy + poor harvests =
terrible famine
c. Effect of collectivization: increased
Stalin’s control, but farming output
was relatively unchanged
D. The Great Purge: Stalin and his secret
police cracked down on Old Bolsheviks
and party activists who, according to Stalin,
threatened the USSR
1.
Used “show trials” to convict, incarcerate, and
execute Russians.
2. Over four million people of the Soviet Union were
killed by the Stalin regime
3. Stalin replaced party leaders with young party
members who owed absolute loyalty to Stalin
4. Price of Purges: the death of military leaders
produced a disadvantage in World War II.
E. Soviet Foreign Policy: Goal was to
spread Communism and strengthen
national security through global
cooperation
1. Comintern: Organized by Lenin to aid
revolutionary groups against imperial
powers
2. Sought national security by improving
relations with western governments.
a. Joined the League of Nations
3. The Red Scare: Western countries feared the
spread of Communism in their own
countries.
Translation: “Long
Live the Great
Stalin”
Translation: “We
will turn the Five
Year Plan into a
four year plan”
Soviet
Propaganda
Poster
“ Lenin: The
New Brush
that sweeps
clean”
Translation: "The Spirit of Great Lenin and
His Victorious Banner inspires us during this
Great Patriotic War"
Soviet propaganda poster