How Did Stalin Influence The Soviet Union

Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1954, effectively as a dictator. Within the first ten years of his period of rule, Stalin introduced significant change to the Soviet Union in areas of policy such as, industrialization, agriculture, education and culture. Despite the fact that some positive implications were perceived within the nation and soviet society regarding the outcomes of his policies relating to industrialization and education, the impact of his policies in the areas of agriculture, and culture were overwhelmingly damaging to the Russian people, and consequently, the nation as a whole. Thus, it is considered that the period falling from 1928 and 1938 held devastating implications for the soviet society, but less
Stalin’s actions were legitimized by the consideration that the rest of the world’s primary industrial powers were in a far more advanced state than that of the Soviet Union, thus progressive action was required to meet these rising standards. Stalin set about achieving the transition of the Soviet Union from an agricultural to an industrial nation through the formation of a succession of plans, spanning five years, constructed to assist economic development in the Soviet Union. The introductory Five Year Plan was initiated in the year 1928. The objective of the plan entailed heavy industries, for instance steel, oil and coal to treble their total output. Similarly, the production requirement of light industries such as clothing, domestic goods and fabric were doubled. Electrical output was increased six fold in an effort to facilitate and assist this expansion. [Brooman, J 1988. p. 10] The immensity associated with such an impracticable venture caused “The atmosphere of Russia became feverish with effort.” [Baker, P, P and Basset, J, J 1988. p.
Failure to meet the output requirements of the Stalin’s plans was harshly punished under the crime of treason. Furthermore, Stalin established the accordingly named uninterrupted working week in 1929, meaning factories would remain operational for seven days a week and workers were expected to take alternate days off. [Brooman, J 1988. p. 12] This contributed to a breakdown in family life and was damaging to worker morale. Families had little time to spend with one another during long periods of work. Additionally, Stalin implemented a severe system of worker discipline was. Workers could be penalized for absenteeism with punishments such as financial fees, reduction in rations or dismissal. This code was based upon the assumption that “Workers would be intimidated so that they were encouraged to work harder.” [Fiehn, T 1996. p. 89] Although productivity was no doubt increasing, the emergence of a culture of fear had cataclysmic connotations in the day to day lives of the labor force. Furthermore, another negative aspect resulting from Stalin’s industrial policy includes the overpopulation of towns and cities, resulting from the influx of those working in an industrial environment. This was ruinous to the Russian people as overcrowding created a shortage of