How Successful Was Stalinism In Russia
Stalinism defined the ideology, policies and actions led by Stalin and the Communist Party in the years 1929 to 1941. Stalinism in practice was vital in the economic growth of Russia with Industrialisation and Collectivisation which in turn improved social welfare including women’s rights and levels of education. Furthermore, Stalinism targeted key aspects of the Bolshevik past and ‘sought to achieve Socialism in a backward country’ (Thomas and McAndrew). However, Stalinism had a number of detractors including the enormous human costs of the ‘Great Terror’ as well as the issues associated with Stalin’s industrialisation drive. As a result, Stalinism in full adversely affected the population despite the few positive changes it brought to Soviet
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Industrialisation increased its pace enormously, education levels rose and so too did the standing of women in society. From a social welfare perspective Russia was more advanced than many of her western counterparts, with free education and comprehensive medical care, and before long she was able to compete with them on an international industrial scale too. Stalin aimed “to convert the USSR from an agrarian and weak country, dependent upon the caprices of the capitalist countries into an industrial and powerful country, fully self-reliant and independent”. Statistics produced by Alex Nove suggest that Stalin was successful in achieving this goal as industrial output, particularly of raw materials such as coal, pig iron and oil, rose dramatically (coal production rose from 35 million tonnes 1927/28 to 128 million tonnes 1937). As a consequence, partly of the Marxist ideal of equality for all, and partly as a result of the need for a larger labour force to work the factories and collective farms, the status of women rose to the point where they occupied an equal position in the social hierarchy of Stalinist Russia with men. With free and compulsory education, literacy and numeracy rates improved dramatically, perhaps at the cost of creative thinking though as the education system was state run and thus a one-sided affair (Service). Under Stalinism, Russia evolved from a backwards agricultural society to one of the most powerful industrial nations of the century with a relatively well-educated population and advanced rights for
Industrialisation increased its pace enormously, education levels rose and so too did the standing of women in society. From a social welfare perspective Russia was more advanced than many of her western counterparts, with free education and comprehensive medical care, and before long she was able to compete with them on an international industrial scale too. Stalin aimed “to convert the USSR from an agrarian and weak country, dependent upon the caprices of the capitalist countries into an industrial and powerful country, fully self-reliant and independent”. Statistics produced by Alex Nove suggest that Stalin was successful in achieving this goal as industrial output, particularly of raw materials such as coal, pig iron and oil, rose dramatically (coal production rose from 35 million tonnes 1927/28 to 128 million tonnes 1937). As a consequence, partly of the Marxist ideal of equality for all, and partly as a result of the need for a larger labour force to work the factories and collective farms, the status of women rose to the point where they occupied an equal position in the social hierarchy of Stalinist Russia with men. With free and compulsory education, literacy and numeracy rates improved dramatically, perhaps at the cost of creative thinking though as the education system was state run and thus a one-sided affair (Service). Under Stalinism, Russia evolved from a backwards agricultural society to one of the most powerful industrial nations of the century with a relatively well-educated population and advanced rights for