Stalin Essay

Stalin Essay

Stalin Essay

In a country full of chaos, a great leader
is needed to restore order. In Russia’s case, that leader was Joseph

Stalin. After Lenin’s death, Stalin controlled the communist party
in 1927. He believed in socialism in one country. After

Stalin came into power, his goal was to make Russia a powerful communist
country. To achieve this goal, he felt that Russia needed to rapidly
industrialize, since they were 100 years behind advanced countries.

As heavy industry was being developed, agriculture was to be collectivized
as a part of achieving Stalin’s goal to make Russia a stronger state.

Collectivization meant eliminating individual farms, and placing them in
government control. After WW1, Russia was extremely unstable.

They had retreated from the war before the allies were victorious.

They had lost land and their military was weaker than it already had been.

That is until Stalin made the Soviet Union involved in international affairs.

They were victorious against the German oppression and they had also joined
the League of Nations under Stalin’s control. When Stalin was in
power, there was no doubt that millions of innocent people had died through
his strategies of making Russia more powerful. But in spite of his
cruel methods, Joseph Stalin deserves the title of the ‘Father of the USSR’,
for industrializing the country, collectivizing its agriculture and making
the Soviet Union more active in international affairs.

In 1928, one of Stalin’s goals was to
rapidly develop a heavy industry. Stalin wanted to make the Soviet

Union an industrial fortress and a strong nationalistic state. He
figured to make Russian communism succeed industrial power was immediately
needed. This was to be achieved by creating a command economy, which
had meant that the industry was being forced to industrialize. Lenin
had previously destroyed the power of private businesses to create a manageable
industry. Therefore, when Stalin came into power, most of the major
industries were already in government hands. Stalin had stated that
stated that the Soviet Union was behind advanced societies, and that they
had to industrialize quickly before ‘enemies’ would crush them. Heavy
industry was essential for defense and for supplying agricultural tractors
and combines. Stalin had believed that equality and democracy
had to wait until the Soviet Union had a thriving industrial economy.

In 1928, Stalin replaced Lenin’s New Economic Policy (NEP) by the first

Five-Year Plan. Where within a five-year period, each business was
given a target that it must reach. The punishments for failing to
meet the target were extremely severe. Many people were forced to
work against their own will but Stalin felt that the policy was essential.

The first three Five-year Plan from 1928 to 1941 increased production about

400%. By the mid-1930s Russia had surpassed the 1913 production figures
of iron, coal and oil. There was no country ever known to industrialize
so quickly. As a result, unemployment had been abolished. As

Stalin was industrializing the country, he felt it was necessary to collectivize
the farms of the country.

As heavy industry developed, agriculture
was to be collectivized. In 1929, collectivization began. There
would be no more individual farms, and no more individual farmers selling
their goods independently. The farmers were required to hand over
a certain amount of produce to the state each year. The young, large-scale,
socialized agriculture, growing now even faster than big industry, had
a great future and could show miracles of growth. Collectivization
was mainly directed against the kulaks, which were the rich peasants who
owned their own land. Basically, Stalin would take land from the
people who had owned it since 1861. Many peasants were forced to
work for the state as a part of a collective commune. Some peasants
and many kulaks resisted collectivization. They slaughtered their
own cattle rather than to turn it over to the government. As a result,
they were killed or sent to labor camps called the ‘gulags’. By 1934,

70% of all the farms in Russia were collectivized and the kulaks were eliminated
as a class. On the collective farms, peasants would be paid wages
in return for handing over the produce to the government.

Under Stalin’s power, the Soviet Union
became more involved in international affairs. During the WW1, Russia
did not play a major role in the Great War. They didn’t have a strong
military and their economy was weak. Even in the past, Russia was
not active in international affairs as they were under Stalin’s control.

In 1934, the Soviet Union joined the League of Nations and made diplomatic
agreements. This made Russia’s defense stronger than the German oppression.

Before WW2, both the axis powers and the democracies realized that the
balance of power in Europe depended of which side Russia joined.

If they joined Britain and France, Hitler would be forced to fight a two-front
war. Both sides entered negotiations with Russia, but Stalin and
communist Russia had been distrusted by both sides in the past. On

August 23, 1939, Stalin and Hitler signed a non-aggression treaty.

This Nazi-Soviet pact was shocking to all countries, but Russia had stated
that it was for national self-interest only. Stalin wished to avoid
war until, at least Russia was prepared. But later, Stalin was aware
that Germany might eventually attack his country. On June 1941, German
troops invaded Russia. Hitler’s invasion on Russia, convinced the

Soviet Union to join the ‘Grand Alliance’, which consisted of only Great

Britain and the United States. Then later 26 other nations signed
the Atlantic Charter, which was the beginning of the formation of the United

Nations. By February 1943, Russia successfully stopped the German advance,
which had attacked Stalingrad. Russia’s military, as a result, became
stronger.

Therefore, although people had died through

Stalin’s cruel methods of making Russia powerful, he deserves the title
of the ‘Father of the USSR’, because he successfully industrialized the
country, collectivized the farms and made the Soviet Union more active
in international affairs. Within ten years, a primarily feudal country
changed into an industrialized one. He also collectivized the farms
for the good of the people as a whole. He leaded Russia into gaining
more victories for the country by becoming more involved in worldwide affairs.

Like a father, he guided his child, the USSR, to become stronger and more
powerful among others. By setting crucial goals for the country,
the Soviet Union became stronger than it was before Stalin was in power.

The only question that concerns many is, were there any other alternatives
of achieving his goals, without killing millions?

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