Joseph Stalin Research Paper

In 1928 the USSR was still in crisis, after all revolutions, and the civil war. Russia was still not ass well developed as other European countries 20 years ago, therefore Stalin needed to transform his country into a modern and powerful nation. He wanted to industrialize Russia. Stalin’s main aims were to create a good defense from foreign attacks and to catch up economically with other countries so Russia will not depend on import from mainly Germany and, other nations. Industrialization was all about creating a centrally planned economy which would work well, building factories and spectacular buildings, and finally crating a industrial superpower.

The plan was to divide next 15 years into 5 year plans. The plans set production
and profit targets, which were to be achieved. To place it in reality, foreign technicians were employed to give advice. The production numbers were kept in special books, and was checked by the managers. Unfortunately, some of the pre-sets were not achieved and managers were punished, eventually (because of fear) the managers stopped keeping the numbers authentic if there was some drop in production. If a factory wasn’t productive enough to supply other industries the chain continued and a domino effect occurred. This caused Industrialization to be less spectacular, and lowered the figures. In addition, the organization of work was as poor, you could often find idle workers, and some working for 18 hours per day. Peasants which were send from the countryside were often badly trained (or not trained at all), therefore many lives were lost, and machines were damaged. The conditions in which the workers worked were terrible: “The resistance of the population was very low because of undernourishment during the winter and consistent overwork. Sanitary conditions during the thaw were appealing . . . ” (From Behind The Urals by John Scott) People worked much longer then their organisms were able to. Throughout this time, they received low wages and suffered from the lack of consumer goods and many daily requirements.

However Industrialization is considered to be a great success: “Huge plants were build in Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk, Stalingrad .
. . ” (From The Russian Century by Brian Moynahan) As we can see the spectacular building projects which seemed impossible to other countries were becoming true. Some of these were build months ahead of schedule. While other countries were getting weaker and weaker economically, the USSR was self-efficient and had to sell goods to other nations rather than buy them from others. As Stalin aimed, Russia wasn’t anymore dependent on other countries, and could finally rival with the industrial production of Germany, UK, and the USA. Now lets look at some figures: In 1936, electricity output was 16 times than that of 1913, The output of coal, steel and iron also increased by at least three times than in 1913. Russia’s economy just boomed, new factories were opening almost every week. The living standards rose for some people, cities were being modernized: “Moscow’s cobbled winding lanes were replaced by broad avenues and concrete buildings . . . ” (From The Russian Century by Brian Moynahan). One of the first metro systems was build under these constructions, the metro stations were marbled, and looked gorgeous and amazing at that time. Russia was becoming the biggest and most productive industrial power in the world. Future for children of the people working for Russia at that time was created, as health and education services were available from the money gained by
Industrialization

By the end of 1930's, Russia had become a major industrial power. Mostly thanks to Stalin’s Industrializing plan, and the centrally planned economy. Unfortunately many people had to pay for this with their own lives. However Russia was able to defend herself from foreign attacks during WWII and many lives were saved. Industrialization was a success which unfortunately had some fatal elements.