Lenin

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Lenin Stalin

• Presentation created by Robert Martinez
• Primary Content Source Prentice Hall World
  History
• Images as cited.

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Lenins first years as leader of Russia had been
occupied in putting down civil war. Once the
communist victory and his personal power secure,
he turned to the enormous problem of rebuilding a
state and an economy that had been shattered by
World War I, two revolutions, and years of civil
war.
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In 1922, the Communists produced a constitution
that seemed democratic and socialist. It set up
an elected legislature, later called the Supreme
Soviet, and gave all citizens over 18 the right
to vote. All political power, resources, and
means of production would belong to workers and
peasants. The new government united much of the
old Russian empire in the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics, or Soviet Union.
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The Soviet Union was a multinational state made
up of European and Asian peoples. In theory, all
the member republics shared certain equal rights.
Reality, however, differed greatly from theory in
the Soviet Union. The Communist party, not the
people, reigned supreme. Like the Russian czars,
the party used the army and secret police to
enforce its will. Russia, which was the largest
republic, dominated the other republics.
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On the economic front, Lenin retreated from his
policy of war communism, which had brought the
economy to near collapse. Under party control,
factory and mine output had fallen. Peasants
stopped producing gain, knowing it would only be
seized by the government.
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In 1921, Lenin adopted the New Economic Policy.
It allowed some capitalist ventures. Although the
state kept control of banks, foreign trade, and
large industries, small businesses were allowed
to reopen for private profit. The government also
stopped squeezing peasants for grain. Under the
NEP, peasants held on to small plots of land and
freely sold their surplus crops.
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Lenins compromise with capitalism helped the
Soviet economy recover and ended armed resistance
to the new government. By 1928, food and
industrial production climbed back to prewar
levels. The standard of living improved, too. But
Lenin always saw the NEP as just a temporary
retreat from communism. His successor would soon
put the Soviet Union back on the road to pure
communism.
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Lenins sudden death in 1924 set off a power
struggle among Communist leaders. The chief
contenders were Trotsky and Joseph Stalin.
Trotsky was a brilliant Marxist thinker, a
skillful speaker, and an architect of the
Bolshevik Revolution.
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Stalin, by contrast, was neither a scholar nor an
orator. He was, however, a shrewd political
operator and behind-the-scenes organizer.
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Stalin was born Joseph Djugashvili to a poor
family in Georgia, a region in the Caucasus
Mountains. As a boy, he studied for the
priesthood. But his growing interest in
revolution brought him under the seminarys harsh
discipline. Once, he was confined to a punishment
cell for reading a novel about the French
Revolution.
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By 1900, Djugashvili had joined the Bolshevik
underground and had taken the name Stalin,
meaning man of steel. He organized robberies to
get money for the party and spent time in prison
and in Siberian exile. He played a far less
important role in the revolution and the civil
war than did Trotsky. But in the 1920s, he became
general secretary of the party. He used that
position to build a loyal group of Communist
officials who owed their jobs to him.
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As early as 1922, Lenin had expressed grave
doubts about Stalins ambitious nature Comrade
Stalinhas concentrated an enormous power in his
hands, and I am not sure that he always knows how
to use that power with sufficient caution. To
Lenin, Stalin was too rude. Lenin urged the
party to choose a successor more tolerant, more
loyal, more polite, and more considerate to
comrades.
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At Lenins death, Trotsky and Stalin jockeyed for
position. They differed on most issues, including
the future of communism. Trotsky, a firm Marxist,
urged support for a worldwide revolution against
capitalism. Stalin took a more cautious view.
Efforts to foster Marxist revolutions in Europe
after World War I had failed. Instead, he wanted
to concentrate on building socialism at home
first.
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With political cunning, Stalin put his own
supporters into top jobs and isolated Trotsky
within the party. Stripped of party membership,
Trotsky fled the country in 1929. Still, he
continued to criticize Stalin. In 1940, Trotsky
was murdered in Mexico by a Stalinist agent.
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Once in power, Stalin set out to make the Soviet
Union into a modern industrial power. In the
past, said Stalin, Russia had suffered defeats
because of its economic backwardness. In 1928, he
proposed the first of several five-year plans
aimed at building heavy industry, improving
transportation, and increasing farm output.
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To achieve this growth, he brought all economic
activity under government control. The Soviet
Union developed a command economy, in which
government officials made all basic economic
decisions. Under Stalin, the government owned all
businesses and allocated financial and other
resources. By contrast, in a capitalist economy,
the free market controls most economic decisions.
Businesses are privately owned and operated by
individuals for profits.
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Stalins five-year plans set high production
goals, especially for heavy industry and
transportation. The government pushed workers and
managers to meet these goals by giving bonuses to
those who succeeded, and by punishing those who
did not. Between 1928 and 1939, large factories,
hydroelectric power stations, and huge industrial
complexes rose across the Soviet Union. Oil,
coal, and steel production grew. Mining expanded,
and new railroads were built.
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Despite the impressive progress in some areas,
Soviet workers had little to show for their
sacrifices. Some former peasants did improve
their lives, becoming skilled factory workers or
managers. Overall, standards of living remained
poor. Wages were low, and consumer goods were
scarce. Also, central planning was often
inefficient, causing shortages in several areas
and surpluses in others.
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Many managers, concerned only with meeting
production quotas, turned out large quantities of
low-quality goods. During and after the Stalin
era, the Soviet Union continued to do well in
heavy industry, such as the production of farm
machinery. However, its planned economy failed to
match that of the capitalist world in making
consumer goods such as clothing, cars, and
refrigerators.
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Stalin also brought agriculture under government
control. Under the NEP, peasants had held on to
small plots of land. But Stalin saw that system
as being inefficient and a threat to state power.
He forced peasants to give up their private plots
and live on either state-owned farms or
collectives, large farms owned and operated by
peasants as a group.
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Peasants were permitted to keep their houses and
personal belongings, but all farm animals and
implements were to be turned over to the
collective. The state set all prices and
controlled access to farm supplies.
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On collectives, the government planned to provide
tractors, fertilizers, and better seed, and to
teach peasants modern farm methods. The
government needed increased grain output to feed
workers in the cities. Surplus grain would also
be sold abroad to earn money to invest in
industry.
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Peasants resisted collectivization by killing
farm animals, destroying tools, and burning
crops. The government responded with brutal
force.
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Stalin sought to destroy the kulaks, or wealthy
peasants. The government confiscated kulaks land
and sent them to labor camps. Thousands were
killed or died from overwork.
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Collectivization took a horrendous toll. Angry
peasants often grew just enough to feed
themselves. In response, the government seized
all the grain, leaving the peasants to starve.
This ruthless policy, combined with poor
harvests, led to a terrible famine. Between five
and eight million people died in Ukraine alone.
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Although collectivization increased Stalins
control, it did not improve farm output. During
the 1930s, grain production inched upward, but
meat, vegetables, and fruits remained in short
supply. Feeding the population would remain a
major problem in the Soviet Union.
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Even though Stalins power was absolute, he
harbored obsessive fears that rival party leaders
were plotting against him. In 1934, he launched
the Great Purge. In this reign of terror, Stalin
and his secret police cracked down especially on
Old Bolsheviks. His net soon widened to target
army heroes, industrial managers, writers, and
ordinary citizens. They were charged with a wide
range of crimes, from counterrevolutionary plots
to failure to meet production quotas.
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Between 1936 and 1938, Stalin staged a series of
spectacular public show trials in Moscow.
Former Communist leaders confessed to all kinds
of crimes after officials tortured them or
threatened their families or friends. Many purged
party members were never tried but were sent to
force-labor camps in Siberia and elsewhere.
Others were executed. Secret police files reveal
that at least four million people were purged
during the Stalin years.
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The purges increased Stalins power. Old
revolutionaries were replaced by young party
members who owed absolute loyalty to him. All
Soviet citizens were now well aware of the
consequences of disloyalty.
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However, Stalin also paid a price. The victims of
the purges included most of the nations military
officers. This loss of military leadership would
weigh heavily on Stalin in 1941, when Germany
invaded the Soviet Union.
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Between 1917 and 1939, the Soviet Union pursued
two very different goals in foreign policy. As
Communists, both Lenin and Stalin wanted to bring
about the worldwide revolution that Marx had
predicted. But as Russians, they wanted to
guarantee their nations security by winning the
support of other countries. The result of
pursuing two different goals was a contradictory
and generally unsuccessful foreign policy.
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Lenin formed the Communist International, or
Comintern. It aided revolutionary groups around
the world and urged colonial peoples to rise up
against imperialist powers. Yet the Soviet Union
also sought to join the League of Nations and to
improve relations with western governments.
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The Cominterns propaganda against capitalism
made western powers highly suspicious of the
Soviet Union. In the United States, fear of
Bolshevik plots led to the Red Scare in the
early 1920s. Britain broke off relations with the
Soviet Union when evidence revealed Soviet
schemes to turn a 1926 strike into a revolution.
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Even so, the Soviet Union slowly won recognition
from western powers and increased trade with
capitalist countries. It also joined the League
of Nations. However, mistrust still poisoned
relations, especially after the Great Purge.
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Historians often compare the Russian, French, and
American revolutions. The American Revolution was
in many ways the least radical of the three.
American leaders did not order mass executions or
seize property.
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French revolutionaries executed thousands and
nationalized the lands of the Church and the
aristocracy.
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In Russia, Stalin seized even the lands of the
peasant masses. His policies caused millions of
deaths.
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All three revolutions had a worldwide impact. The
Declaration of Independence and the United States
Constitution served as models of democratic
government. The French Revolution inspired
revolts across Europe.
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The Soviet Union would support revolts in many
lands and become a model for other communist
governments. Yet today, Russia and most of its
allies have abandoned the goals of Lenin and
Stalin. Democratic nations continue to build on
the principles preached during the American and
French revolutions.
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