What Was Stalin Like In The 1930s
During the 1930's the Soviet Union found itself in a incredibly difficult position. Following Lenin's death in 1925 Stalin was able to consolidate his power base and break with Kamenev and Zinoviev. And by then end of the decade he emerged as the supreme leader. In 1928 Stalin introduces his first Five-Year Plan, the “revolution from above” to help develop the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union had fallen behind, Stalin remarked, “We are fifty to one-hundred years behind the advanced countries.... we must make good this distance in 10 years. Either we do it, or we shall go under..”1 To do this Stalin has the state take control of the economy to introduce rapid industrialization, all the while setting unrealistic goals. The “revolution fro above” came via collectivization, industry and commerce are nationalized.
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Millions of peasant farmers are forced to collectivize their property and then work on the new “state-controlled” farms. This was the first step in Stalin's 1930's decade of increasingly unattainable goals, and purges of the people. Lydia Chukovskaya, Sofia Petrovna, and John Scott, Behind the Urals, provide differing takes on what life was like during this decade. We will look to these works to understand life in 1930's Stalin controlled Soviet Union. We will use these sources as a window into what everyday life was like during the industrialization drive and the Great Purges, how ordinary Russians understood the time. We will discuss how ordinary Russians were both victims and beneficiaries of the “revolution from above.” To understand collectivization's long arm the reaches in personal lives at home, how this odd and unusual time was normal and accepted by the people not because they wanted to but because they had
Millions of peasant farmers are forced to collectivize their property and then work on the new “state-controlled” farms. This was the first step in Stalin's 1930's decade of increasingly unattainable goals, and purges of the people. Lydia Chukovskaya, Sofia Petrovna, and John Scott, Behind the Urals, provide differing takes on what life was like during this decade. We will look to these works to understand life in 1930's Stalin controlled Soviet Union. We will use these sources as a window into what everyday life was like during the industrialization drive and the Great Purges, how ordinary Russians understood the time. We will discuss how ordinary Russians were both victims and beneficiaries of the “revolution from above.” To understand collectivization's long arm the reaches in personal lives at home, how this odd and unusual time was normal and accepted by the people not because they wanted to but because they had