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Stalin's economic policies
Stalin's economic policies
Stalin's economic policies
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The nationalism, industrialization, and imperialism displayed by many countries in the 19th century continuously led to warfare in the early 20th century. This is evidenced by Russia when their growing desire to imperialize and industrialize other countries and their increasing sense of nationalism due to the Soviet system led them to participate in the Second World War in hopes of spreading communism throughout Russia. Part of what steered Russia towards war in World War II was imperialism. For instance, Vladmir Lenin, head of the Soviet Union, claimed that “imperialism is the highest form of capitalism.” In other words, Lenin believed that free trade can lead capitalists to be more ambitious in hopes of gaining profits by trying to imperialize others in order to gain that extra wealth and power. Additionally, in …show more content…
For instance, in “Industrialization of the Country,” written by Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, Stalin discussed the need for Russia to industrialize in order to compete with the rising, surrounding nations of the world such as Germany, France, England, and the U.S. Stalin believed that Russia must do whatever it takes, even if it meant going to war, to make sure Russia did not fall too far behind the other world powers, both technologically and economically, in the race for industrialization; he believed that doing so would result in a return to capitalism for Russia. He believed that winning the industrialization race was the final missing piece to the puzzle that could propel socialism towards its victory in Russia (Stalin, p. 331). In order to accelerate the industrialization process, Stalin created a Five-Year Plan in 1928, which involved the collectivization of agriculture, a policy in which three to five percent of the wealthiest farmers were either killed, sent to labor camps or sent for resettlement on inferior soils (PWH, p.
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.
Various justifications were offered to explain the cause of imperialism, for example the British economist J. A. Hobson and V. I. Lenin’s. Lenin used some of Hobson’s analysis in his 1917 tract Imperialism, the Highest Stage of
Distrust and skepticism within Britain toward the new Bolshevik government led to Britain's reluctance to support it and a hands off diplomatic approach to Russian problems. By 1917 it was evident that the "question of peace and war would be a bitter source of controversy within the Bolshevik party" (Kowalski 11). Lenin had uncompromisingly defended his position not to continue the war, a decision that was leading to a split in the upper ranks of the party (Kowalski 33). His reasoning was that any imperialist states should not be negotiated for peace, instead calling "for an international civil war against world capitalism" (Kowalski 11). Lenin’s statements are quite a shock for the newly opened spheres of investments that had led to a great interest in Eastern Europe industries (Sherow). France and even Britain had loaned out much money to facilitate the growth --and, hopefully, returns-- in Eastern Europe; any resort to war at this point would cost both countries dearly (Sherow).
After Vladimir Lenin, a Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political theorist, died, Stalin outmaneuvered his rivals and won the control of the Communist Party. In the tardy 1920’s he became dictator of the Soviet Cumulation. Then he wanted to industrialize the country because at the time the economic was farming. Millions of farmers reluctant to be apart of Stalin’s orders and were killed as penalization. The civilization led a widespread famine across the Soviet Coalescence and killed millions of people. Stalin wanted to kill anyone who opposed him of his orders. He engendered an army of secret police, and inspirited citizens to spy on others which had many people killed or sent to a labor camp. Virtually everyone around Stalin was considered a threat to him, even the Communist Party, the military, and components of the Soviet Coalescence society, s...
...ress from the continuous arms races and military scares, held a big part of the responsibility for the war. Imperialism is tightly connected with militarism, because as one increases so does the other, but if this relationship is ignored we can clearly see that militarism was the half that bore most of the responsibility. Without expanding militarism, countries wouldn’t have had as many imperialist aims. But the deciding factor was the changing alliances in Europe. Even though this ties in with the tension building from the military scares and naval arms races that went on because of military expansion, they provided an environment of mistrust and a sort of betrayal for the evergrowing tensions between nations to grow to the breaking point. Even though alliances alone did not cause the war, without the crumbling alliance system in Europe war could’ve been avoided.
Imperialism, Expansionism, and the Cold War The Cold War developed after the Second World War as a blend of several unsolved disputes and diplomatic misinterpretations. Ideological differences worsened the matter and made interaction with either side less probable since each other was resented by the other's actions during the previous war. Even so, what really built up and intensified the war was the imperialistic and expansionist nature of the capitalist and communist nations since both sides struggled to obtain better relations with other strong countries and expand their rule or political influence. First of all, the ideological differences between the capitalist and communist parties were probably the main determining factors in the imperialist/expansionist decisions which were taken. In the case of the communists, it was their main principles which defied the capitalists since the communist main points were that the capitalists would eventually destroy themselves.
These nations were building large armies and enhancing the glories of war. After rationalizing a huge arms race, people were eager to put up large amounts of money to support their government’s vast military. Great Britain has always had a large navy. Germany decided it wanted a navy to rival Britain’s. When the people of Britain saw the buildup of Germany’s navy, they got scared and started producing more and bigger ships for it’s own navy. Every time Britain got a “leg up” on Germany, Germany struggled to outdo Britain, and vice-versa. Soon, the public was clamoring for war. Militarism is based on imperialism and the fear that another nation is getting ahead imperially.
Stalin put forward an opposite theory - the theory of Socialism in One Country. He argued that the USSR must always come first in the government's plans. The rest of the world must take second place. The Communists should concentrate on building up the economy of the USSR, not waste money on helping revolutionary groups abroad....
Stalin implemented a Five Year Plan in order to build up the industrial production of the Soviet Union. In order to keep the illusion of a successful Five Year Plan, production quotas were constantly made known well before they had been attained. He also announced another Five Year Plan before the last Five Year Plan was completed. According to Lyotard, Stalin and his Communism tried to give the proletariat a reality beyond that of the working class still bound to national traditions and differential claims, but unfortunately it would never be recognized for the legitimacy of any local power. Stalin to maintain power in his totalitarian regime, he purged his party of those who might oppose him and opportunists who might make the attempt to replace his regime. His use of terror was able to deceive people as long as it did because it seemed to be working toward the realization of the socialist republic. Terror became one of the key features of the government. Stalin, through his totalitarian power, got Russian workers many benefits like free education, free medical services and pension. The unemployment rate decreased and there was a great possibility for personal advancement. To advance in this society y...
Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many European nations began to increase their military spending. Between 1910 and 1914, “France increased her defence expenditure by 10%, Britain by 13%, Russia by 39%, and Germany was the most militaristic as she increased by 73%” (World). Europe industrialized throughout the eighteenth century, which allowed them to develop and produce large volumes of new and deadly weaponry. Many Europeans also increasingly began to use military strength as a way to prove nationalism, which is why there was such a large increase in military spending during this period. In Germany and the Next Great War, which was written in 1911, Friedrich von Bernhardi stated that the Germany “must secure to German nationality and German spirit throughout the globe that high esteem which is due them” (Bernhardi). Bernhardi was a strong supporter of the German military, as he saw it as a way to assert German nationalism and prove that Germany was a dominant force. He, along with other Germans, thought that increasing the German military would enable Germany to become a powerful nation. Brandon Brown, the author of the textbook Causes of World War I (The Great War), stated that these European nations quickly found a “reason to use their militaries against each other in an attempt to prove who is superior” (Brown). European nations used military power as a way to assert global power throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This resulted in growing tensions throughout Europe, which contributed to World War
Within Europe, imperialism occurred at the height of industrialization. As European countries were discovering more about the sciences and mass production benefits via industrialization, a demand and competition for more land and produce was developing, and this would create the tension needed to begin the First World War. Germany and Great Britain were two powerful European countries that had been trying to establish control in Africa and Asia, two countries that were not as strong as them, and relatively vulnerable. Due to rebellions of the native people and interferences by each other and other countries, they were not entirely successful. This lack of cooperation between European countries in the attempt to govern and control weaker states so as to use their products for trade caused tension, and finally after it built up to a certain point, war was the only option left.
What better way to understand industry in the United States than the Industrial Revolution (there goes the word “Revolution again) The Industrial Revolution brought many modifications to the organizations that went through the process of industrialization. A portion of the modifications improved society, however, others experienced damage within most of the society. The working class of these societies were the most affected. To the working people of the country of England, they went through tons of hard ache due to industrialization. The agony was not worth the gains of the Industrial Revolution in England from 1780 to 1850, which mainly affected the working class of England. The working class went through awful working and living conditions
Another key cause was Nationalism. Nationalism is “an ideology that arose in the nineteenth century and that holds that all peoples derive their identities from their nations, which are defined by common language, shared cultural traditions, and sometimes religion” (Hunt, G-4). Nationalism can also be described as the attitude that people of a nation have when they care about their national identity as well as the actions these people might take when seeking to achieve self determination. Everyone in the European countries had a lot of pride and joy for their country. This led to these countries trying to prove their dominance and power. Every country had to show that they were the best to all the other countries. Since this was happening, everyone wanted to show their best by helping an alliance in war.
The concept of imperialism is one that has pervaded nearly every major society or empire throughout human history. It seems to be a natural consequence of societies growing in size, power, and knowledge. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries vast changes occurred in Western Europe (and soon spread elsewhere) that spurred a new round of imperialism the likes of which had not been seen before. The changes were the industrial revolution that was taking place. Countries were rapidly advancing to industrial societies producing much greater quantities of goods at much lower costs. The goods produced ranged everywhere from cotton textiles to military machinery, all of which would play important roles in rounds of imperialistic expansion that would follow. The imperialistic displays by Western European nations also brought about several other industrial revolutions in other regions including the Ottoman Empire, Russia, and Japan. I will take a look at how the industrial revolution encouraged imperialistic expansion, as well as some of the results of that expansion in other regions.
Vladimir Lenin describes imperialism in his work Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism as the "product of highly developed industrial capitalism. It consists in the striving of every industrial capitalist nation to bring under its control or to annex larger and larger areas of...territory, irrespective of what nations inhabit those regions" (155). When the industrial nation allows its citizens to settle in the conquered territory the area is then a colony and the settlers are colonizers whereas the people native to the area are the colonized. The fundamental motive of imperialism and colonialism is economic: profits are large because investment in the conquered area is nil and native labor is cheap, and this situation is maintained by depriving the colonized peoples of political and economic rights. However, as James Kavanagh points out in his essay "Ideology," such a "social situation e...