RECALL


1. Who was the Tsar of Russia and why was he overthrown in the February Revolution? 2. What three things did the Bolshevik Party offer the people of Russia? 3. What does nationalise mean? 4. Who was Leon Trotsky? 5. What did Lenin introduce to help solve the famine that developed in 1921? 6. Who became General Secretary of the Bolshevik Party following Lenin’s death?


Industrialisation of the USSR


Stalin introduced his first Five-Year Plan for the USSR in 1929. This plan demanded that industries doubled or trebled their production of goods. Workers were encouraged to work harder and people were punished if targets were not met. The first Five-Year Plan worked very well and two more followed in 1933 and 1938. Soon the USSR was one of the most industrialised and powerful countries in the world.


Stalin also wanted to modernise agriculture. He did this by nationalising all the farms in the USSR. Small farms were merged to create large collective farms that used modern farming methods. He hoped that this would increase agricultural productivity and reduce the risk of another famine. Some farmers continued to work on these new large farms. The rest were brought to the cities and given jobs in the new factories and industries. However, many medium-sized farmers (known as Kulaks) did not want to move to the cities and resisted the collectivisation of their farms. Stalin dealt with this resistance very harshly. It is estimated that five million Kulaks were killed or sent to prison camps called gulags. The actions of the Kulaks and Stalin’s response to it led to food shortages and a further five million people died as a result. Eventually the collectivisation of the USSR farms was achieved but at the cost of over 10 million lives.


The Great Purges


Stalin’s policies were unpopular with many people inside the USSR. However, anyone thought to be against his policies was arrested by the country’s secret police, NKVD. Millions of people were arrested and many were executed or sent to the gulags. Stalin worried that members of the Bolshevik Party might plot against him. From 1936 onwards, thousands of Bolshevik Party members were put on trial for conspiracy. These Great Purges (to purge means to get rid of something impure) resulted in many deaths, including seven of the country’s leading army commanders and many of Stalin's political rivals.


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