THE SOVIET UNIONChapter 29 Section 4

Social Changes in the Soviet Union

What did Lenin accomplish?

(Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov)• Nationalization – all major

industries under state control• NEP

– Some private ownership of businesses and farms allowed to operate

• Name changed - U.S.S.R.• Social Classes – Communist

party bosses at the top

• Source A:• “There wasn’t any food in the country. We were

down to little bread each. Then suddenly they started the NEP. Cafes opened. Factories went back into private hands. It was Capitalism. In my eyes it was the very thing I had been fighting against.”

• A Boshevik, remembering the 1980

• Interpret this quote – Who said it (Why is this important), What year is the quote from (Why is this important?) What is the topic of the quote? What is the author saying?

What problem did Lenin’s death create in 1924?

• Lenin’s death - creates a power struggle between Trotsky and Stalin because there is no replacement plan for a leader

Lenin dies of a stroke At 54yrs old in 1922

Who was Leon Trotsky?• Leader of the Red Army• 2nd most important

person in Communist Party

• Lost power struggle with Stalin to control the Party

• Exiled and eventually assassinated in Mexico City with an ice pick

Life Under Stalin’s Dictatorship

• Interpret this political cartoon. What does it say about life in the U.S.S.R under Stalin? How do you know?

• Remember to look at the images, titles, symbols, and captions.

What was life like under Stalin’s Dictatorship?

• One of most brutal dictator’s in the world

• Ruled through terror

• Secret Police created climate of fear

Political Changes in the USSR under Stalin

How did STALIN gain power?

• General Secretary of Communist Party with power to remove/appt. officials

• Removed supporters of Trotsky

• Communist Party voted him as leader

• Trotsky exiled and killed on Stalin’s orders

What was the“terror famine”?

• Stalin used starvation to destroy the opposition – Kulaks – anti-Communist

in the Ukraine

What were the Purges?

• Stalin’s elimination of his political rivals during the 1930’s

• Millions expelled, arrested, put in labor camps or shot

Economic changes in the USSR under Stalin

What was Stalin’s Five Year Plan?

• Set Russia’s economic goals for 5 years

• Focus on industrializing heavy industry and increasing agricultural output– Heavy Industry = steel

production, large-scale manufacturing

– Few consumer goods produced

– Agriculture = collectivized farms

“We will turn the Five year plan into a four year one”

Source A1. The USSR was turned into a

modern state.

2. There was genuine Communist enthusiasm among the young ‘Pioneers’.

3. There were huge achievements in the following :

• New cities• Dam/hydroelectric power• Moscow Subway• Farm machinery• Electricity• Coal• Steel• Fertilisers• Plastic• No unemployment• Doctors & Medicine• Education

Source B1. Poorly organized – inefficiency

duplication of effort and waste.

2. Appalling human cost:– Discipline (sacked if late)

– Secret police

– Slave labor

– Labor camps (for those who made mistakes)

– Accidents & deaths (100,000 workers died building just one canal)

– Few sconsumer goods

– Poor housing

– Wages FELL

– No human rights

3. Some historians claim the Czars had done the work to set up industrialization and that Stalin’s work had very little effect on a process that would have happened anyway

Task: Debate with a friend: Were the 5 year Plans a success or a sham?

What is a collective farm?• Peasants work land owned by the Government• Produced food for Soviet people and to export• Exports would pay for industrialization without

having to borrow $ from west• Kulak’s - prosperous anti-communist peasants

opposed collectivization

What were the Results of the 5 Year Plan?

• Soviet Union became an industrial power

• Workers received low wages or none at all

• Food was in limited supply

• Collective farms unable to produce enough food

• Millions died

Which of the following were reforms by Stalin?

Purges of P

oli...

Collecti

vizati...

Incre

ase in

In...

All of t

he Abo...

25% 25%25%25%1. Purges of Political Enemies

2. Collectivization of Farms

3. Increase in Industrial Production

4. All of the Above

When Lenin died, who was expected to take over?

Trotsk

y

Alexander II

Stalin

Kerensk

y

25% 25%25%25%1. Trotsky

2. Alexander II

3. Stalin

4. Kerensky

What did the NEP stress?

Private

owners...

Collecti

vizati...

Small s

cale m

a...

Govern

ment own...

25% 25%25%25%1. Private ownership of farms

2. Collectivization of Farms

3. Small scale manufacturing of consumer goods

4. Government ownership