How Did Stalin Revolutionize Russia's Economy?

Before Joseph Stalin’s assumption to power as the General Secretary of the Communist Party, Russia was primarily an agrarian based society. Determined to transform Russia into a competitive industrial socialist nation, Stalin implemented a series of economic and social reforms now referred to as Stalinism. While these reforms were geared towards accelerating industry, ultimately Stalin’s policies led to a disastrous waste of raw materials, a significant loss of human capital, and a life of hardship for many. The implementation of Stalinism through such efforts as the Five Year Plans and Collectivization improved Russia’s economy by promoting rapid industrialization at all costs including the exile and murder of his opponents. Through close examination of these
During Stalin’s reign, as declining levels of production and huge losses in livestock came to public attention, it was easier for him to mask the underlying problems within the policy through scapegoating the peasants and labeling them Kulaks rather than accepting responsibility for the failure of collectivization. Stalin also introduced the policy of “price scissors,” forcing the peasants to sell grain to the state at below-market prices. The burden of the price scissors led to violence among the peasantry. In March 1930 alone, there were more than 6500 riots with 1.4 million peasants participating (Cheremukhin et al. 9). Nearly four million peasants labeled as Kulaks or resistant peasants were deported or sent to work in forced labor camps as a form of punishment where they faced incredibly harsh conditions. This policy of collectivization not only caused an agricultural disaster and distrust among the Peasantry, but also led to a siege mentality and sense of paranoia, which later intensified during the Great