Totalitarianism in Russia with Stalin as their “fearless leader”

Totalitarianism in Russia with Stalin as their “fearless leader” Chap 14.2

Trotsky v. Stalin • Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin were the two rivals competing for the top position. • The winner in this struggle was Joseph Stalin • Stalin turned the Soviet Union in to a totalitarian state What’s Totalitarianism?

Totalitarianism • Government takes complete, central control over every aspect of public and private life • It challenges the values of democratic states of the Enlightenment • reason, freedom, human dignity, and the worth of the individual (Please refer to page 441 for a chart on Totalitarianism)

Police State • Not even the slightest bit of dissent was allowed, before the secret police arrested you • If there was even the slightest suspicion you were planning to overthrow the government or failed to meet your quota…Bye, Bye! • Stalin became more powerful than any of the previous Russia czars

Great Purge • Stalin arrested many Bolsheviks who participated in the revolution & almost every leader in Stalin’s government for “crimes against the Soviet state” • These killings were called the Great Purge • 8 to 13 million deaths occurred

Propaganda and Censorship • Stalin’s Gov’t controlled all Newspapers, motion pictures, radio, and other information sources. • All media glorified communism, and Stalin's achievements.

Education and Indoctrination • Government controlled all education from Preschool – Universities. • Taught virtues of communism. • Professors risk imprisonment for challenging ideas of history or science. • State trained youth groups

Religious Persecution • State encouraged (no…demanded) atheism • Police destroyed churches and synagogues • Persecuted religious leaders • But people still clung to their faiths

Command Economy • Stalin changed Lenin’s NEP to an economy controlled by the government • Wanted to catch up to Great Britain and Germany, as well as the rest of Europe, in industrialization

First Five Year Plan and Worker’s Lives • 1928: Stalin outlined Five-Year Plan • The government take drastic steps to promote rapid industrial growth and strengthen military defenses (remember just lost WWI) • Set impossibly high quotas for the output of steel, coal, oil, and electricity • To reach goals, Russia limited the production of consumer goods – thus hurting the population • Government controlled every aspect of a worker’s life-who, where and when they work

The Agriculture Revolution • The Agriculture Revolution was very successful, but far more brutal • In 1928, Stalin began to seize 25 million private farms and combine them into huge collective farms. Peasants worked on these farms.

The Agriculture Revolution • The Peasants were angry-they revolted by destroying crops and livestock • Stalin struck back with the secret police, sending peasants to work at the threat of death • Between 5-10 million peasants were killed with millions more sent to Siberia. • The kulaks, wealthy peasants, revolted and their entire class was sent to death or work camps

Women gain Rights • Men and Women declared equal • Women had to join labor force • State provided child care for working mothers • Careers in Engineering, Science and Medicine attracted women • Motherhood considered patriotic duty.

Success! • In 10 years: • Wheat production was doubled due to collective farming • Electricity production was up 800% • Steel production increased from 4 to 18 million metric tons • The USSR was becoming a major industrial power

In the Long Run • Stalin responsible for Russia’s industrialization • Russia was able to stand up to Germany in WWII • Stalin changed Russia from an agricultural backwater into a world-power industrial giant • But the people paid the price for these gains

Totalitarianism in Russia with Stalin as their “fearless leader”