Prepare to Read - Perth Amboy Public Schools · Stalin’s Five-Year PlansOnce in power, Stalin imposed govern-ment control over the Soviet Union’s economy. In the past, said Stalin,

542

The Rise of Totalitarianism

Vocabulary Builder

4

4

SECTION

Step-by-Step Instruction

Objectives

As you teach this section, keep students focused on the following objectives to help them answer the Section Focus Question and master core content.

■

Describe the effects of Stalin’s five-year plans.

■

Explain how Stalin tried to control how people thought in the Soviet Union.

■

List communist changes to Soviet society.

■

Outline Soviet foreign policy under Stalin.

Prepare to Read

Build Background Knowledge

Remind students that Lenin founded the Soviet state, and after he died in 1924, Stalin took power. Ask them to recall what else they already know about Stalin.

Set a Purpose

■

WITNESS HISTORYWITNESS HISTORY

Read the selection aloud or play the audio.

AUDIO

Witness History Audio CD,

The Heart of the Party

Ask

Based on clues in the image and selection from

Pravda,

what do you think the official view of Stalin was?

(He was to be viewed as the ideal leader.)

Ask students to specu-late what Soviets may have secretly thought of him.

■

Focus

Point out the Section Focus Question and write it on the board. Tell students to refer to this question as they read.

(Answer appears with Section 4 Assessment answers.)

■

Preview

Have students preview the Section Objectives and the list of Terms, People, and Places.

■

Have students read this section using the Paragraph Shrinking strategy (TE, p. T20). As they read, have students fill in the chart with the main ideas about Stalin’s rule in the Soviet Union.

Reading and Note Taking Study Guide,

p. 175

Use the information below and the following resources to teach the high-use words from this section.

Teaching Resources, Unit 4,

p. 49;

Teaching Resources, Skills Handbook,

p. 3

High-Use Words Definitions and Sample Sentences

conform, p. 546

vi.

to obey a set of standardsElena hated plaid skirts but had to

conform

to the school’s mandatory dress code.

access, p. 548

n.

the ability to get and useBecause he worked in the principal’s office, he had

access

to all the students’ records.

L3

L3

44

The Soviet Union Under StalinObjectives• Describe the effects of Stalin’s five-year plans.• Explain how Stalin tried to control how people

thought in the Soviet Union.• List communist changes to Soviet society.• Outline Soviet foreign policy under Stalin.

Terms, People, and Places

russificationatheismComintern

Reading Strategy: Identify Main IdeasSummarize the main points of the section in a chart like the one below.

In January 1924, tens of thousands of people lined up in Moscow’shistoric Red Square. They had come to view the body of Lenin, whohad died a few days earlier. Lenin’s widow, Nadezhda Krupskaya,wanted to bury him simply next to his mother. Communist partyofficials—including Joseph Stalin—wanted to preserve Lenin’sbody and put it on permanent display. In the end, Lenin’s bodywas displayed in Red Square for more than 65 years. By preserv-ing Lenin’s body, Stalin wanted to show that he would carry on thegoals of the revolution. However, in the years that followed, heused ruthless measures to control the Soviet Union and its people.

A Totalitarian StateKarl Marx had predicted that under communism the state wouldeventually wither away. Under Stalin, the opposite occurred. Heturned the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state controlled by apowerful and complex bureaucracy.

Stalin’s Five-Year Plans Once in power, Stalin imposed govern-ment control over the Soviet Union’s economy. In the past, saidStalin, Russia had suffered because of its economic backwardness.In 1928, he proposed the first of several “five-year plans” aimed atbuilding heavy industry, improving transportation, and increasingfarm output. He brought all economic activity under governmentcontrol. The government owned all businesses and distributed all

In this propaganda image, children surround a gentle Stalin.

The Heart of the PartyOn the occasion of Stalin’s sixtieth birthday, the Communist party newspaper, Pravda, or “Truth,” printed this praise of Stalin:

“ There is no similar name on the planet like the name of Stalin. It shines like a bright torch of free-dom, it flies like a battle standard for millions of laborers around the world. . . . Stalin is today’s Lenin! Stalin is the brain and heart of the party! Stalin is the banner of millions of people in their fight for a better life.”

Far from helping people fight for a better life, Stalin’s ruthless policies brought suffering and death to millions of Soviets.

Focus Question How did Stalin transform the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state?

command economycollectiveskulaksGulagsocialist realism

The Soviet Union Under Stalin

Five-YearPlans

Methods ofControl

Daily Life

WITNESS HISTORYWITNESS HISTORY AUDIO

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Chapter 16 Section

4

543

Connect to Our World

Teach

A Totalitarian State

Instruct

■

Introduce: Key Terms

Have students find the key term

command economy

(in blue) in the text. Point out that Stalin’s government took complete con-trol over of the Soviet Union’s economy; in other words, it was the government who “commanded” the economy. Then ask students to explain the difference between a command economy and a capitalist economy.

■

Teach

Ask students to list the goals of Stalin’s five-year plans. Then ask

Why did some peasants resist the collec-tivization plan?

(They did not want to give up their farms and sell crops at the low prices set by the state.)

How did Stalin respond to this resistance?

(He sent kulaks, or well-to-do farmers, to labor camps and seized all grain, leaving people to starve.)

■

Quick Activity

Direct students to the graph on the next page, Soviet Agricul-ture Output, 1928 and 1932, and have them answer the caption question. Then ask

What were the effects of the collectivization plan on Soviet life?

(Though it did not increase farm output, it increased Stalin’s control of the peasantry. It also led to the Terror Famine.)

Answer

Caption

The output for each more than quadrupled.

Connections to Today

For many years, Ukrai-nian interest groups have worked for international recognition of the Terror Famine. This was a deliberate Soviet policy meant to destroy the will of the Ukrai-nian people. Their quest is in some ways similar to that of Armenian groups who hope to gain recogni-tion of the genocide of Armenians that took place in the Ottoman empire during World War I.

A big step for Ukrainians occured in 1984 when the U.S. Congress set up the Commission on the Ukraine Famine to compile the information available on the famine. The Committee concluded: “There is no doubt that large numbers of inhabitants of the Ukrainian SSR and the North Caucasus Territory starved to death in a man-made famine in 1932–1933, caused by the seizure of the 1932 crop by Soviet authorities.”

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resources. The Soviet Union developed a command economy, in whichgovernment officials made all basic economic decisions. By contrast, in acapitalist system, the free market determine most economic decisions. Pri-vately owned businesses compete to win the consumer’s choice. This compe-tition regulates the price and quality of goods.

Mixed Results in Industry Stalin’s five-year plans set high productiongoals, especially for heavy industry and transportation. The governmentpushed workers and managers to meet these goals by giving bonusesto those who succeeded—and by punishing those who did not. Between1928 and 1939, large factories, hydroelectric power stations, and hugeindustrial complexes rose across the Soviet Union. Oil, coal, and steelproduction grew. Mining expanded, and new railroads were built.

Despite the impressive progress in some areas, Soviet workers had lit-tle to show for their efforts. Some former peasants did become skilled fac-tory workers or managers. Overall, though, the standard of livingremained low. Central planning was often inefficient, causing shortagesin some areas and surpluses in others. Many managers,concerned only with meeting production quotas, turnedout large quantities of low-quality goods. Consumer prod-ucts such as clothing, cars, and refrigerators were scarce.Wages were low and workers were forbidden to strike. Theparty restricted workers’ movements.

Forced Collectivization in Agriculture Stalin alsobrought agriculture under government control, but at ahorrendous cost. The government wanted farmers to pro-duce more grain to feed workers in the cities. It also hopedto sell grain abroad to earn money.

As you have read, under Lenin’s New Economic Plan(NEP), peasants had held on to small plots of land. Manyhad prospered. Stalin saw that system as being inefficientand a threat to state power. Stalin wanted all peasants tofarm on either state-owned farms or collectives, largefarms owned and operated by peasants as a group. On col-lectives, the government would provide tractors, fertiliz-ers, and better seed, and peasants would learn modernfarm methods. Peasants would be permitted to keep theirhouses and personal belongings, but all farm animals andimplements were to be turned over to the collective. Thestate set all prices and controlled access to farm supplies.

Some peasants did not want to give up their land andsell their crops at the state’s low prices. They resisted col-lectivization by killing farm animals, destroying tools, andburning crops. Stalin was furious. He believed thatkulaks, or wealthy farmers, were behind the resistance.He responded with brutal force. In 1929, Stalin declaredhis intention to “liquidate the kulaks as a class.” To thisend, the government confiscated kulaks’ land and sentthem to labor camps. Thousands were killed or died from overwork.

Even after the “de-kulakization,” angry peasants resisted by growing justenough to feed themselves. In response, the government seized all of theirgrain to meet industrial goals, purposely leaving the peasants to starve.In 1932, this ruthless policy, combined with poor harvests, led to a terrible

“Industrialism is the Path to Socialism”As this 1928 poster proclaims, Stalin’s government saw rapid industrialization as the key to the success of the Soviet Union. Using the line graph, describe the effect of the Five-Year Plans on steel and brown coal output.

Effects of the Five-Year Planson Soviet Industry

20

15

10

5

01928 1933 1938

Out

put

(in m

illio

nsof

met

ric

tons

)

Brown CoalSteelSOURCE: B.R. Mitchell, European Historical Statistics,1750–1970

Year

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544


Solutions for All Learners

Independent Practice

Have students write two statements, one that argues for collectivization and one that argues against it. Using the Think-Write-Pair-Share strategy (TE, p. T23), have students share and discuss their statements.

Monitor Progress

As students complete their charts, circu-late to make sure they list collectivization as one of the main points of the five-year plans. For a completed version of the chart, see

Note Taking Transparencies,

182

Answers

Stalin’s government took control of all busi-nesses, distributed all resources, and made all basic economic decisions.

Caption

Output of potatoes, wheat, and oats all fell between 1928 and 1932.

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Gifted and Talented L4

Advanced Readers

Tell students that the Gulag looms large in the cultural life of the former Soviet Union. It is the subject of Nobel Prize winner Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s first book,

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch

, in which Solzhen-itsyn draws from his own Gulag experience to chronicle a typical day in a prison camp. Ask students to conduct further research to learn more about conditions in a

Gulag. Then ask them to write a fictional letter from a Gulag prisoner to a family member, describing what life is like as a prisoner. The letter should include details about daily life in the camp, the prisoner’s views on the Communist government, and the prisoner’s hopes for the future after getting out of prison.

famine. Later called the Terror Famine, it caused between five and eightmillion people to die of starvation in the Ukraine alone.

Although collectivization increased Stalin’s control of the peasantry, itdid not improve farm output. During the 1930s, grain production inchedupward, but meat, vegetables, and fruits remained in short supply. Feed-ing the population would remain a major problem in the Soviet Union.

How did Stalin take control of the Soviet Union’s economic life?

Stalin’s Terror TacticsIn addition to tactics like the Terror Famine, Stalin’s Communist partyused secret police, torture, and violent purges to ensure obedience. Stalintightened his grasp on every aspect of Soviet life, even stamping out anysigns of dissent within the Communist elites.

Terror as a Weapon Stalin ruthlessly used terroras a weapon against his own people. He perpetratedcrimes against humanity and systematically violatedhis people’s individual rights. Police spies did nothesitate to open private letters or plant listeningdevices. Nothing appeared in print without officialapproval. There was no free press, and no safemethod of voicing protest. Grumblers or critics wererounded up and sent to the Gulag, a system of bru-tal labor camps, where many died.

The Great Purge Even though Stalin’s powerwas absolute, he still feared that rival party lead-ers were plotting against him. In 1934, he launchedthe Great Purge. During this reign of terror, Stalinand his secret police cracked down especially onOld Bolsheviks, or party activists from the earlydays of the revolution. His net soon widened to tar-get army heroes, industrial managers, writers, andordinary citizens. They were charged with a widerange of crimes, from counterrevolutionary plots tofailure to meet production quotas.

Between 1936 and 1938, Stalin staged a series ofspectacular public “show trials” in Moscow. FormerCommunist leaders confessed to all kinds of crimesafter officials tortured them or threatened their fam-ilies or friends. Many of the purged party memberswere never tried but were sent straight to the Gulag.Secret police files reveal that at least four millionpeople were purged during the Stalin years. Somehistorians estimate the toll to be much greater.

Results of the Purge The purges increased Sta-lin’s power. All Soviet citizens were now well awareof the consequences of disloyalty. However, Stalin’sgovernment also paid a price. Among the purgedwere experts in industry, economics, and engineer-ing, and many of the Soviet Union’s most talented

Food as a WeaponIn 1932, when peasants failed to meet unrealistic crop quotas, Stalin retaliated by seizing all of their grain to sell on the market, leaving millions to starve. Below, a woman and her son search for food during the famine. Describe the effect of Stalin’s ruthless policies on the production of oats, wheat, and potatoes.

Soviet Agriculture Output1928 and 1932

50

40

30

20

10

0OatsWheatPotatoes

Out

put

(in m

illio

ns o

f met

ric

tons

)

1928 1932

SOURCE: B.R. Mitchell, European Historical Statistics,1750–1970

Year

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Chapter 16 Section

4

545

Solutions for All Learners

Stalin’s Terror Tactics

Instruct

■

Introduce

Display

Color Transpar-ency 170:

Gulag Prisoners

, by Nikolai Getman

to show a painting from the Gulag. Tell students that Sta-lin used the threat of these labor camps to control life in the Soviet Union. Ask students to predict other methods that Stalin used.

Color Transparencies,

170

■

Teach

Ask

What was the Great Purge

?

(the arrest and execution of hundreds of thousands of people whom Stalin suspected of disloyalty)

How did the purges increase Stalin’s power?

(They made all Soviet citizens aware of the consequences of disagree-ment or disloyalty, and they replaced old revolutionaries with young party members loyal to Stalin.)

How do you think this affected Soviets’ feelings toward their government?

(Sample: It probably made them feel either more loyal or become more secretive.)

■

Quick Activity

Have students access

Web Code nbp-2841

to take the

Geography Interactive Audio Guided Tour

and then answer the map skills questions in the text.


Link to Literature

To help students better understand Stalinist Russia, have them read the selection from Arthur Koestler’s

Darkness at Noon

and complete the worksheet.


p. 54

Monitor Progress

■

Check answers to map skills questions.

■

Refer students to the image of the Gulag on this page. To review this sec-tion, ask students to list Stalin’s terror tactics.

Answers

Map Skills

1.

Review locations with students.

2.

Russia was the largest republic and the capital, Moscow, was located there.

3.

that Stalin needed the threat of labor camps to guarantee his dominance

The country lost many of its intellectual and military leaders.

L1

Special Needs L2

Less Proficient Readers L2

English Language Learners

Ask students to refer to the Infographic on totalitari-anism in the previous section. Have them create a table, listing the six basic features of a totalitarian state in one column, and how those basic features played out in Stalin’s Soviet Union in a second col-umn. For a review at the end of the chapter, consider asking students to add columns for Italy and Germany.

Use the following resources to help students acquire basic skills.

Adapted Reading and Note Taking Study Guide

■

Adapted Note Taking Study Guide, p. 175

■

Adapted Section Summary, p. 176

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ArchangelLeningrad

Moscow

Stalingrad

Vladivostok

RUSSIAN SOVIET FEDERATED SOCIALIST REPUBLIC

MONGOLIA

TadzhikS.S.R.

KirghizS.S.R.

UzbekS.S.R.Turkmen

S.S.R.

AzerbaijanS.S.R.

Armenian S.S.R.Georgian S.S.R. Kazakh

S.S.R.

UkrainianS.S.R.

BelorussianS.S.R.

CHINA

AFGHANISTAN

IRAN

INDIA

TURKEY

POLAND

LITHUANIA LATVIAFINLAND

ESTONIAEUROPE

KOREA

Manchuria

JAPAN

N

S

E

W

40°E

60°E80°E

120° E

140°E

160° E

80°N

40°N

60°N

180°

20° E

0°

Sakhalin

A r c t i cO c e a n

P a c i f i cO c e a n

LakeBaikal

LakeBalkhash

AralSea

BlackSea

Sea ofOkhotsk

Cas

pian

Sea

Ob River

Yenisei R

iver

Len

aR

iver

Volga R.

Am

ur

R.

5000 1000 mi

5000 1000 km

Conic Projection

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 1938Forced labor camp regionIsolation camp regionS.S.R. boundariesGulag labor camps

writers and thinkers. The victims included most of the nation’s militaryleaders and about half of its military officers, a loss that would weighheavily on Stalin in 1941, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

In what ways did Stalin’s terror tactics harm the Soviet Union?

Communist Attempts to Control ThoughtAt the same time that he was purging any elements of resistance inSoviet society, Stalin also sought to control the hearts and minds ofSoviet citizens. He tried to do this by tirelessly distributing propaganda,censoring opposing ideas, imposing Russian culture on minorities, andreplacing religion with communist ideology.

Propaganda Stalin tried to boost morale and faith in the communistsystem by making himself a godlike figure. He used propaganda as a toolto build up a “cult of personality” around himself. Using modern technol-ogy, the party bombarded the public with relentless propaganda. Radios

Map Skills Stalin used terror and Gulag labor camps to control the huge, multi-national Soviet Union.1. Locate (a) Ukrainian S.S.R. (b) Russian

Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (c) forced labor camp region

2. Regions How does the map help explain why Russia was the most influ-ential republic in the Soviet Union?

3. Make Inferences What does the number of labor camps in the Soviet Union indicate about Stalin’s rule?

The Soviet Union, 1928–1941 For: Audio guided tourWeb Code: nbp-2841

A Gulag labor camp in 1934



546


Link to Humanities

Communist Attempts to Control Thought

Instruct

■

Introduce: Vocabulary Builder

Have students read the Vocabulary Builder term and definition. Ask them if they have ever felt pressure to

conform

to a set of rules or customs from their par-ents or peers. Ask what it would be like if they felt this pressure from the state. Explain that those were the daily con-ditions in Stalinist Russia.

■

Teach

Ask

How did Stalin control cultural life in the Soviet Union?

(by distributing propaganda, censoring ideas, promoting Russification, and destroying religion)

How do you think people reacted to the policy of Russification?

(Sample: They prob-ably resented it, because previously, they had been encouraged to celebrate their autonomy.)

■

Quick Activity

Read the Primary Source selection aloud or play the accompanying audio. Ask

How long has Akhmatova’s son been in prison?

(almost a year and a half)

What feelings does Akhmatova describe in this poem?

(fear, despera-tion)

Based on clues in this feature, how effective do you think censor-ship was in controlling writers?

(Students may suggest that it was inef-fective, as writers continued to work in secrecy, or they may suggest that it was effective, because writers could not pub-lish or share their ideas with others within the Soviet Union.)

AUDIO

Witness History Audio CD,

Anna Akhmatova


To help students recognize propaganda, have them write two propaganda pieces for two different newspapers. One should be a statement in support of Stalin’s poli-cies and should be similar to the quote from

Pravda

at the beginning of the sec-tion. The other should be a statement that an illegal anti-Stalinist newspaper might have printed. Both should incorporate facts about Stalin’s policies in some way.

Monitor Progress

As students write their statements, circu-late to make sure they understand how the two newspapers would have different views of Stalin’s policies.

Sergei Eisenstein and Early Soviet Cinema

In the Soviet Union, filmmakers used motion pictures to express revolutionary ideals. “Of all the arts, for us the cinema is the most important,” said Lenin, who valued film as a propaganda tool.

In 1925, director Sergei Eisenstein’s

Battleship Potemkin

went far beyond propaganda to become true art. Eisenstein worked with a technique called

montage

,

in which two or more images are juxtaposed in order to convey an emotional impact or a new idea. Eisenstein won international acclaim for his use of this technique in

Battleship Potemkin.

In fact, many critics consider the film to be the best ever made. It was also the last film over which Eisenstein had full control. Like other Soviet artists, Eisenstein was constrained by government regu-lations and expectations after Stalin’s takeover.

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and loudspeakers blared into factories and villages. In movies, theaters,and schools, citizens heard about communist successes and the evils ofcapitalism. Billboards and posters urged workers to meet or exceed pro-duction quotas. Headlines in the Communist party newspaper Pravda,or “Truth,” linked enemies at home to foreign agents seeking to over-throw the Communist regime.

Censorship and the Arts At first, the Bolshevik Revolution hadmeant greater freedom for Soviet artists and writers. Under Stalin, how-ever, the heavy hand of state control also gripped the arts. The govern-ment controlled what books were published, what music was heard, andwhich works of art were displayed. Stalin required artists and writers tocreate their works in a style called socialist realism. Its goal was toshow Soviet life in a positive light and promote hope in the communistfuture.

In theory, socialist realism followed in the footstep of Russian greatsTolstoy and Chekhov; in practice it was rarely allowed to be realistic.Socialist realist novels usually featured a positive hero, often an engi-neer or scientist, battling against the odds to accomplish a goal. Popularthemes for socialist-realist visual artists were peasants, workers, heroesof the revolution, and—of course—Stalin.

If they refused to conform to government expectations, writers, artists,and composers faced government persecution. The Jewish poet OsipMandelstam, for example, was imprisoned, tortured, and exiled for com-posing a satirical verse that was critical of Stalin. Out of fear for hiswife’s safety, Mandelstam finally submitted to threats and wrote an “Odeto Stalin.” Boris Pasternak, who would later win fame for his novelDoctor Zhivago, was afraid to publish anything at all during the Stalinyears. Rather than write in the favored style of socialist realism, hetranslated foreign literary works instead.

Despite restrictions, some Soviet writers produced magnificent works.Yevgeny Zamyatin’s classic anti-Utopian novel We became well known

outside of the Soviet Union, but was not published in hishome country until 1989. The novel depicts a night-

mare future in which people go by numbers, notnames, and the “One State” controls people’sthoughts. And Quiet Flows the Don, by MikhailSholokhov, passed the censor. The novel tells thestory of a man who spends years fighting in WorldWar I, the Russian Revolution, and the civil war.

Sholokhov later won the Nobel Prize forliterature.

Russification Yet another way Stalincontrolled the cultural life of the Soviet

Union was by promoting a policyof russification, or making anationality’s culture more Rus-sian. By 1936, the U.S.S.R. was

made up of 11 Soviet SocialistRepublics. The Russian Soviet FederatedSocialist Republic consisted of the oldRussian heartland and was the larg-est and dominant republic. The otherAUDIO

Vocabulary Builderconform—(kun FAWRM) vi. to obey a set of standards

Anna Akhmatova (ahk MAH tuh vuh), one of Russia’s greatest poets, could not publish her works because she had violated state guidelines. Still, she wrote secretly. In this passage from “Requiem,” she describes the ordeal of trying to visit her 20-year-old son, imprisoned during the Stalinist terrors:

Primary Source

“ For seventeen long months my pleas,My cries have called you home.I’ve begged the hangman on my knees,My son, my dread, my own.My mind’s mixed up for good, and I’mNo longer even clearWho’s man, who’s beast, nor how much timeBefore the end draws near.”—Anna Akhmatova, “Requiem” (tr. Robin Kemball)

Soviet ArtIn this Socialist Realist sculpture, a factory worker and a collective farmer raise the hammer and sickle together.



Chapter 16 Section

4

547

History Background

Soviet Society Under Stalin

Instruct

■

Introduce: Vocabulary Builder

Ask students if they know what the word

elite

means.

(a small, privileged group or ruling class)

Ask them who they think probably comprised the elite in Soviet society.

(members of the Commu-nist party)

Then have them read the Vocabulary Builder term and defini-tion. Ask

What do you think the elites would gain

access

to that the rest of Russia probably would not?

(better housing, better jobs, better food)

■

Teach

Ask

How did life change under Soviet rule for those not in the elite party?

(Though they had access to free schooling, free medical care, and inexpensive housing, key necessities remained scarce.)

■

Quick Activity

Divide the class into small groups. Using the Idea Wave strategy (TE, p. T22), ask students to decide whether or not women’s lives improved under Soviet rule.


Have students fill in the Outline Map

The Soviet Union in the 1930s

and label the SSRs and the major industrial centers.


p. 57

Monitor Progress

Circulate to make sure students are cor-rectly labeling the SSRs on their Outline Maps. Administer the Geography Quiz.


p. 57

Answers

Caption

For the religious, it would encourage secret worship and dislike of the Communist Party.

Stalin used censorship and propaganda to glorify his work and stifle those who did not agree with him.

The Russian Orthodox Church

The Russian Orthodox Church survived more than half a century of Communist persecution. Under Stalin, clergy were often imprisoned and killed because of their beliefs. Church buildings were destroyed or converted for government uses. The government softened its policy towards the church in the late 1940s, but then cracked down again under Khrushchev and Brezhnev in the 1950s and 1960s.

After the fall of the Communist government in 1991, the Church experienced a revival in the Russian Federation. Its membership has swelled to perhaps as many as 80 million people. One Muscovite put it this way: “The Orthodox Church is perhaps the last, lone symbol of Russian national identity to have survived communism more or less intact. People . . . want and need such a symbol.”

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SSRs, such as Uzbek and the Ukraine, were thehomelands of other nationalities and had their ownlanguages, historical traditions, and cultures. At first,Stalin encouraged the autonomy, or independence, ofthese cultures. However, in the late 1920s, Stalinturned this policy on its head and systematically triedto make the cultures of the non-Russian SSRs moreRussian. He appointed Russians to high-rankingpositions in non-Russian SSRs and required the Rus-sian language to be used in schools and businesses.

War on Religion The Communist party also triedto strengthen its hold on the minds of the people bydestroying their religious faith. In accordance withthe ideas of Marx, atheism, or the belief that there isno god, became an official state policy. Early on, theCommunists targeted the Russian Orthodox Church,which had strongly supported the tsars. Many priestsand other religious leaders were among those killed inthe purges or sent to die in prison camps. Other reli-gions were persecuted as well. At one show trial,15 Roman Catholic priests were charged with teachingreligion to the young, a counterrevolutionary activity.The state seized Jewish synagogues and banned theuse of Hebrew. Islam was also officially discouraged.

The Communists tried to replace religion withtheir own ideology. Like a religion, communist ideol-ogy had its own “sacred” texts—the writings of Marxand Lenin—and its own shrines, such as the tomb ofLenin. Portraits of Stalin replaced religious icons inRussian homes. However, millions of Soviets continued to worship, in pri-vate and sometimes in public, in defiance of the government’s prohibi-tions.

How did Stalin use censorship and propaganda to support his rule?

Soviet Society Under StalinThe terror and cultural coercion of Stalin’s rule made a mockery of theoriginal theories and promises of communism. The lives of most Russiansdid change. But, while the changes had some benefits, they were oftenoutweighed by continuous shortages and restricted freedoms.

The New Elite Takes Control The Communists destroyed the oldsocial order of landowning nobles at the top and peasants at the bottom.But instead of creating a society of equals as they promised, they createda society where a few elite groups emerged as a new ruling class. At thehead of society were members of the Communist party. Only a small frac-tion of Soviet citizens could join the party. Many who did so were moti-vated by a desire to get ahead, rather than a belief in communism.

The Soviet elite also included industrial managers, military leaders,scientists, and some artists and writers. The elite enjoyed benefits deniedto most people. They lived in the best apartments in the cities and restedat the best vacation homes in the country. They could shop at special

The Party Versus the ChurchTo weaken the power of the Russian Orthodox Church, the party seized church property and converted churches into offices and museums. Here, Red Army soldiers carry off religious relics from a Russian church. How might the policy of destroying churches in such a public way have backfired on the party?



548


History Background

Soviet Foreign Policy

Instruct

■

Introduce: Key Terms

Have students find the key term

Comintern

(in blue) in the text and explain its meaning. Ask

What was its purpose?

(to encourage worldwide revolution)

Ask students to speculate on how Western nations might view this goal.

■

Teach

Ask

What foreign policy goals did both Lenin and Stalin pursue?

(to bring about a worldwide revolution and to win the support of other coun-tries)

Lead students in a discussion of how these goals were incompatible. Then ask

What progress did the Soviet Union make toward the goal of winning the support of other nations?

(It slowly won recogni-tion from Western powers, increased trade with them, and joined the League of Nations.)


Have students make a Venn diagram com-paring the goals and practices of Stalin and Lenin. Have them refer back to Chap-ter 14 for more information on Lenin.

Monitor Progress

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To review this section, ask students to summarize the Soviet Union’s foreign policy goals.

(to bring about worldwide revolution, to gain support of other nations)

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Check Reading and Note Taking Study Guide entries for student understanding.

Answers

Caption

The people in the photograph seem to be living in cramped and crowded conditions, indicating the failure of planning to meet people’s needs.

Schools taught communist values but also gave more students opportunities for higher education and extracurricular programs.

Educating the Youth

The Soviet government used schools and youth groups to indoctrinate young people with communist ideals. One Soviet reader for elementary students began with this assertion: “The first country of socialism in the world became the first country of children’s happiness in the world.”

The Communist Party also set up three youth groups: the Little Octobrists, for young children, the

Young Pioneers, for children ages 9 to 14, and the Komsomol, for young Soviets ages 14 to 28. Komso-mol members were often given better scholarships and jobs than non-members. They were also favored for Communist Party membership, with all of its advantages.

L3 stores for scarce consumer goods. On the other hand, Stalin’s purgesoften fell on the elite.

Benefits and Drawbacks Although excluded from party membership,most people did enjoy several new benefits. The party required all chil-dren to attend free Communist-built schools. The state supported techni-cal schools and universities as well. Schools served many importantgoals. Educated workers were needed to build a modern industrial state.The Communist party also set up programs for students outside school.These programs included sports, cultural activities, and political classesto train teenagers for party membership. However, in addition to impor-tant basic skills, schools also taught communist values, such as atheism,the glory of collective farming, and love of Stalin.

The state also provided free medical care, day care for children, inex-pensive housing, and public recreation. While these benefits were real,many people still lacked vital necessities. Although the state built mas-sive apartment complexes, housing was scarce. Entire families might bepacked into a single room. Bread was plentiful, but meat, fresh fruit, andother foods remained in short supply.

Women in the Soviet Union Long before 1917, women such asNadezhda Krupskaya and Alexandra Kollontai worked for the revolu-tion, spreading radical ideas among peasants and workers. Under theCommunists, women won equality under the law. They gained access toeducation and a wide range of jobs. By the 1930s, many Soviet womenwere working in medicine, engineering, or the sciences. By their labor,women contributed to Soviet economic growth. They worked in factories,in construction, and on collectives. Within the family, their wages wereneeded because men and women earned the same low salaries.

How did Communist schools benefit the state and the Communist party?

Crowded LivesAt the start of the first Five-Year Plan, millions of Soviets moved from the country to cities to take jobs in new industrial plants. This influx led to extremely crowded living conditions. These men gather in close quarters in a Soviet hostel in the early 1930s. How does this photograph reflect the drawbacks of a centrally planned command economy?

Vocabulary Builderaccess—(AK ses) n. the ability to get and use



Chapter 16 Section

4

549

Assess and Reteach

Assess Progress

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Have students complete the Section Assessment.

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Administer the Section Quiz.


p. 47

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To further assess student understand-ing, use

Progress Monitoring Transparencies,

121

Reteach

If students need more instruction, have them read the section summary.

Reading and Note Taking Study Guide,

p. 176

Adapted Reading and Note Taking Study Guide,

p. 176

Spanish Reading and Note Taking Study Guide,

p. 176

Extend

Tell students that in the 1990s, the breakup of the Soviet Union led to a revival of religion, particularly the Rus-sian Orthodox Church. Ask students to form groups and discuss this question:

Why do you think the Soviets were unsuccessful in their attempt to destroy religion?

Answer

By aiding revolutionary groups in other coun-tries and urging colonial peoples to rise up against imperialist powers, the Soviet Union also undermined potential trade relationships.

Section 4 Assessment

1.

Most of the terms apply to changes that resulted from Communist rule.

2.

Stalin brought all economic activity under government control, and he used terror tactics to control Soviet life.

3.

The five-year plans were aimed at building up and improving industry and agricul-ture. The plans resulted in progress in industry but failed to increase agricultural output. Peasants resisted collectivization.

4.

Command: government controls economy; Capitalist: free market controls most eco-nomic decisions.

5.

tightened control and used force to punish opposition or protest

6.

Soviet policy dictated that artists could only show Soviet life in a positive light.

7.

Both repressed opposition, rejected democracy, tried to build up industry, and carried out programs of russification. However, the tsars supported religion whereas Stalin opposed it.

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Writing About History

Students’ outlines should reflect under-standing of the two types of organization.

For additional assessment, have students access

Progress Monitoring

Online

at

Web Code nba-2841.

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Soviet Foreign PolicyBetween 1917 and 1939, the Soviet Union pursued two very differentgoals in foreign policy. As Communists, both Lenin and Stalin wanted tobring about the worldwide revolution that Marx had predicted. But asSoviets, they wanted to guarantee their nation’s security by winning thesupport of other countries. The result of pursuing these two differentgoals was a contradictory and generally unsuccessful foreign policy.

In 1919, Lenin formed the Communist International, or Comintern.The purpose of the Comintern was to encourage world-wide revolution.To this end, it aided revolutionary groups around the world and urgedcolonial peoples to rise up against imperialist powers.

The Comintern’s support of revolutionary groups outside the SovietUnion and its propaganda against capitalism made Western powershighly suspicious of the Soviet Union. In the United States, fear of Bol-shevik plots led to the “Red Scare” in the early 1920s. Britain broke offrelations with the Soviet Union when evidence revealed Soviet schemesto turn a 1926 strike into a revolution. Even so, the Soviet Union slowlywon recognition from Western powers and increased trade with capitalistcountries. It also joined the League of Nations. However, mistrust stillpoisoned relations, especially after the Great Purge.

How did the Soviet Union’s foreign policy goals contradict one another?

Looking AheadBy the time Stalin died in 1953, the Soviet Union had become a militarysuperpower and a world leader in heavy industry. Yet Stalin’s effortsexacted a brutal toll. The Soviet people were dominated by a totalitariansystem based on terror. The reality of communism fell far short of Lenin’spromises. Most people in the Soviet Union lived meager lives comparedwith people in the West.

Terms, People, and Places

1. What do many of the key terms listed at the beginning of the section have in common? Explain.

2. Reading Skill: Identify Main Ideas Use your completed chart to answer the section Focus Question: How did Stalin transform the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state?

Comprehension and Critical Thinking

3. Identify Effects What were the goals and results of Stalin’s five-year plans? How did the effects differ between industry and agriculture?

4. Contrast How did the command economy under Stalin differ from a capitalist economy?

5. Synthesize Information What meth-ods did Stalin use to create a totalitar-ian state?

6. Synthesize Information One histo-rian has said that socialist realism was “communism with a smiling face.”What do you think he meant?

7. Compare Compare life under Stalin’s rule with life under the Russian tsars.

● Writing About History

Quick Write: Choose an OrganizationCompare-and-contrast essays are often organized either point by point or by block. The first organization involves a discussion of one idea first, followed by the discussion of another, and emphasizes the two ideas. The second discusses all of the similarities, followed by all the differences, and empha-sizes the comparison or contrast itself. Write an outline for each type for an essay comparing and contrasting the results of the Five-Year Plans in industry and agri-culture.

Progress Monitoring OnlineFor: Self-quiz with vocabulary practiceWeb Code: nba-2841

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Documents

Prepare to Read - Perth Amboy Public Schools · Stalin’s Five-Year PlansOnce in power, Stalin imposed govern-ment control over the Soviet Union’s economy. In the past, said Stalin,