A. Plan of Investigation:
This investigation will explore the question: To what extent was Joseph Stalin’s 5-year plan successful in achieving rapid industrialization in the Soviet Union? The scope of this research will focus mainly on the timeframe of 1928 to 1932, which is when Stalin’s 5-year plan was implemented. Another thing that will be researched is the production in the Soviet Union during the timeframe. In order to answer this question, a variety of sources will be collected as evidence and will be evaluated for things such as their origin, purpose, limitations and values. Based off the evidence found and analyzed, a conclusion will be made to answer the question of investigation.
B. Summary of Evidence:
• “Stalin executed the plan with a degree of recklessness that angered his former supporters. But through the success of the plan, he gained dictatorial control over the party, state and entire Communist International.” (Gorlizki, 2004)
• “Stalin believed he had to industrialize rapidly in order to strengthen the communist regime and enable the country to defend itself against foreign enemies.” (Kun, 2000, 212)
• The 5-year plan, according to the author, resulted in a near collapse of Soviet agriculture and the deaths of millions of peasants from famine. “Industrialization was achieved, but at a great cost.” (Kun, 2000, 215)
• The industrial transformation of the country had led to the complete suppression of capitalist elements in industry. Production increased 70%. (Pauley, 2001)
• “It called for one of the most stunning rates of economic growth by industrialization. Steel producing factory towns rivaled anything the West had built. The industrialization drive transformed the urbanized population.” (Pauley, 200...
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...power. Researching this particular topic, it sheds light on human nature, because unfortunately people are out for their best interests and have a specific goal set in their minds like Joseph Stalin did.
E. Conclusion:
Joseph Stalin’s 5-year plan from 1928 to 1932 succeeded in achieving rapid industrialization in the Soviet Union. Along with the prosperity of accomplishing his main goal, Stalin got a lot of criticism from his people and even historians for sacrificing millions of lives to get what he wanted.
After evaluating all the sources and evidence that came along in this research, it is clear that the only side that is logical to take is that Joseph Stalin indeed achieved his goal of rapid industrialization in his country. The statistics of the production speak for themselves, and only further validate the fact that he accomplished what he set out to do.
Tucker, Robert C. "Stalinism as Revolution from Above". Stalinism. Edited by Robert C. Tucker. New York: American Council of Learned Societies, 1999.
As part of War Communism meant that industries were nationalised meaning that all industry was n...
Joseph Stalin said, “Ideas are far more powerful than guns. We don 't let our people have guns. Why should we let them have ideas?”. Stalin was a dictator of the USSR from 1929 to 1953. Under his dictatorship, the Soviet Union began to transform from a poor economy to an industrial and military based one. While still a teen, Stalin secretly read Karl Marx 's book the “Communist Manifesto”, and became more interested in his teachings. When Stalin gained power, he ruled his nations using terror and fear, eliminating those who did not comply with his governance.
By 1928, Stalin had ousted Trotsky and the rest of the Left opposition. In four years, Stalin had single handedly taken major steps away from Lenin’s collective leadership and free inter party debate and replaced them with his autocratic dictatorship. Stalin began to secure predominant power over the communist party and the state by destroying passive opposition from the peasantry and former Lenin supporters. He won growing support from the working class who were impressed with the initial five-year plan. As it promised increased industrialization, which would lead to socialism in one country within their lifetime.
During the post World War I era, many European countries were rebuilding, and the Soviet Union saw this as a chance to catch up. The Soviet Union, under Joseph Stalin’s rule, implemented the five-year plan as strategy for rapid industrialization (Hunt, 846). A great example of Stalin’s five-year plan was the construction of Magnitogorsk, a city based around a massive factory. This construction flawlessly captured Stalin’s goals for progression, efficiency, and conquering nature (back cover). The novel Time, Forward! took place in 1932 and described, in detail, the construction of Magnitogorsk. This novel hinted at the spirit of the times. In the novel, one of the engineers, Margulies, decided to push concrete pouring to its limits. His rival, assistant chief of construction, Nalbandov wanted the downfall of Margulies, and decided to write him up. Nalbandov thought of two charges. The first was that Margulies recklessly sacrificed the quality of the cement for more cement production; this recklessness went against the current scientific understanding of concrete, and the quality would not suffice. The second would show Margulies going against Soviet policies of increasing tempos, as he did not allow the next shift to pour an even larger amount of concrete (314). The second charge was less scientific, but it was more in the spirit of the times because those who hindered progress should be punished. One may wonder, what was the spirit of the times? When Joseph Stalin came into power, he instilled in the public sphere that the Soviet Union would no longer accept backwardness (Hunt, 846). The spirit of the times was all about progress, efficiency, and conquering nature; this spirit is what pushed the Soviet Union away form their backw...
When most people hear the name Joseph Stalin, they usually associate the name with a man who was part of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and was responsible for the deaths of millions of people. He was willingly to do anything to improve the power of the Soviet Union’s economy and military, even if it meant executing tens of millions of innocent people (Frankforter, A. Daniel., and W. M. Spellman 655). In chapter three of Sheila Fitzpatrick’s book, Everyday Stalinism, she argues that since citizens believed the propaganda of “a radiant future” (67), they were able to be manipulated by the Party in the transformation of the Soviet Union. This allowed the Soviet government to expand its power, which ultimately was very disastrous for the people.
The factories are all emitting gas and the general conditions of the streets and buildings are less than ideal. This negative portrayal of the industrialization sheds a different light on the effects of industrialization. Between these two conflicting articles, it is difficult to see the true extent of the industrialization process’s benefits and harms. This uncertainty also supports the proposed unrest and conflict of the time.
Stalin’s hunger for power and paranoia impacted the Soviet society severely, having devastating effects on the Communist Party, leaving it weak and shattering the framework of the party, the people of Russia, by stunting the growth of technology and progress through the purges of many educated civilians, as well as affecting The Red Army, a powerful military depleted of it’s force. The impact of the purges, ‘show trials’ and the Terror on Soviet society were rigorously negative. By purging all his challengers and opponents, Stalin created a blanket of fear over the whole society, and therefore, was able to stay in power, creating an empire that he could find more dependable.
Stalin’s five-year plans and policies affected people in all different ways some farmers were in the midst of famine, others were treated negatively, and some had an optimistic view of Stalin’s plans. Stalin’s five-year plan largely helped out the growing economy, but at the same time it hurt the farmers. Although Stalin was extremely supportive to the publics faces, his reign, starting in the 1920’s, led to the most killings in European history. The Soviet Union ended up surviving another thirty years.
Stalin’s leadership of the Soviet Union can be best described as a period of terror and censorship. In other words, he was very strict, considering the fact that he created the totalitarian government. In order to create this type of government, Stalin used fear and propaganda. He took part in The Great Purge, which was a campaign of terror that was supposed to eliminate anyone who threatened Stalin’s power. He also relied on secret police, who would arrest and execute any traitors. The online blog, “The Reasons For the Failure of The Russian Revolution”, brings up information on how Stalin planned to rule as dictator of Russia. It has been noted, “This ‘reshaping’ had three main aspects: the elimination of all dissent; the liquidation of all forms of democracy and of working class organisation; the slashing of the living standards of the working class and the physical annihilation of millions of peasants” (Text 5). This quote explains how Stalin wanted to industrialize Russia, which includes the deaths of several peasants of Russia. The Russians did not just die from The Great Purge, but also from Stalin’s Five-Year Plan. The Five-Year Plan was an attempt to industrialize the Soviet Union. It was also a plan for increasing the output of steel, coal, oil, and electricity. He had control over economic resources, including farms and
Joseph Stalin became leader of the USSR after Lenin’s death in 1924. Lenin had a government of abstemious communist government. When Stalin came into government he moved to a radical communist society. He moved away from the somewhat capitalist/communist economy of Lenin time to “modernize” the USSR. He wanted to industrialize and modernize USSR. He had overworked his workers, his people were dying, and most of them in slave labor camps. In fact by doing this Stalin had hindered the USSR and put them even farther back in time.
Joseph Stalin was a realist dictator of the early 20th century in Russia. Before he rose to power and became the leader of Soviet Union, he joined the Bolsheviks and was part of many illegal activities that got him convicted and he was sent to Siberia (Wood, 5, 10). In the late 1920s, Stalin was determined to take over the Soviet Union (Wiener & Arnold 199). The main aspects of his worldview was “socialism
Among the first policies enacted toward economic prosperity and industrialization were the Five Year Plans. The first Five Year Plan included rapid collectivization of the villages in the countryside in order to make enough agricultural profit to fund industrialization efforts. This period was plagued with violence, unattainable production targets and the destruction of traditional village life. The Second Five year plan began in 1933, in 1935 the term stakhanovite began to be used to identify those workers who developed new innovation that allowed them to greatly surpass average production. The term was named after Aleksei Stakhanov who was a miner.(Fitzpatrick and Slezkine 2000) “Speeches of Stakhanovites” is comprised of several speeches given at national Stakhanovite meetings that included member of the Politburo and Stalin himself. From these speeches we can see that there was a very positive image of Stalin among the Stakhanovites.They all begin and conclude by praising Stalin and the party. This shows that they clearly supported the policies of the Five Year Plans even though they demanded overoptimistic goals of produ...
Joseph Stalin ruled the USSR from 1929 until his death in 1953. His rule was one of tyranny, and great change from the society that his predecessor, Lenin, had envisioned (Seton, 34). Stalin put into effect two self proclaimed "five-year plans" over the course of his rule. Both were very similar in that they were intended to improve production in the nation. The first of these plans began collectivization, in which harvests and industrial products were seized by the government and distributed as needed. The government eliminated most private businesses and the state became the leader in commerce. Stalin also initiated a process called "Russification". (Great Events, 119)"
The dictator, Joseph Stalin, according to the History Channel ruled in Russia from 1929-1953 (2014). During his time as the dictator, Stalin came up with a significant plan to help Russia expand. This plan was called the Five Year Plan. The goal of Stalin’s Five Year Plan was to rapidly industrialized the nation so that it could catch up with the West (Shmoop Editorial Team). Stalin also decided to collectivize agriculture, which meant he thought he could get the peasants to produce more crops by moving them off their individual farms and onto large-scale mechanical farms (Shmoop Editorial Team). Stalin, is represent in the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, as a power hungry bore. As the novel progresses and the bore, Napoleon, gains power over the farm a windmill is built. The relationship between Stalin’s Five Year Plan and the building of the windmill can be seen through understanding the history of the Five Year Plan, there are several similarities between Napoleon and Stalin in the novel, and the building of the windmill is historically accurate.