Stalinization: Justifying the Terror
Uploaded by Dan McCash on Jan 20, 2002
No other nation has developed at a more fast and alarming rate than Russia under the control of Comrade Joseph Stalin. The ‘Stalinization’ of Communist Russia may have seemed brutal and unjust, however, many historians agree that many of Stalin’s actions were completely necessary for Russia’s industrialization. Some of the actions taken included the Five Year Plan for Industry, Five Year Plan for Agriculture, and rapid urbanization. These are the three most important aspects of transforming The Soviet Union into a world economic power.
It was soon realized that Lenin’s NEP (New Economic Policy) could not continue for much longer. It was granting Russian farmers to own they’re own land and to sell they’re produce for a profit. The NEP may have been effective for a short while to pull Russia out of her economic slump, but Marxist beliefs dictate that farms must be collectivized. This was the only way that the farms might be able to meet they’re target for grain production (which had fallen short by nearly 7 million tons under the NEP). In light of this, Stalin introduced the new Five Year Plan of Agriculture. There was about 25 million plots of privately owned land that were too small to be effective for Grain production. So under the Agriculture Plan, the walls between these small holdings were knocked down and the farms were collectivized. This meant that land could be cultivated much more efficiently with the use of fertilizers, tractors, and other such machinery that otherwise could not be used in a small, private holding.
Thousands fled the countryside in fear of collectivization to join newly built cities. This led to a rapid urbanization of cities such as Novosibirsk and Moscow, that were expecting to house little more than three million, instead found themselves having to support over six-and-a-half million people that were finding jobs in the industrial work force. This was, however, very hard on the living conditions of the Russian people in these cities. Many people found it hard to get work. Others, with the highest paying jobs, still, were forced to have they’re families share one bedroom accommodations with one or two other families! With so many people in urban areas of Russia there were twice the amount of people working in the coal mines and drilling more oil wells. This in turn helped with Stalin’s Five Year Plan for Industry.
A list of extremely high...