Communism in Russia (Leaving Cert History): Model Answers

What challenges faced the Soviet Union in peace and war 1924-1945?

Essay Plan

INTRO:

• From 1924-45, the USSR transformed from a backwards rural economy into an industrial powerhouse.
• Achieved through policies like socialism in one country, propaganda, and WWII involvement.
• The USSR became a totalitarian state under a dictatorship.

BODY PARAGRAPHS:

1. Socialism in one country and public works.
2. Collectivisation.
3. Industrialisation.
4. Purpose of show trials.
5. Format of show trials, including Trials of 16 & 17.
6. Trial of 21.
7. Reaction and effects of show trials.
8. Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact.
9. Economy and Soviet victory in WWII.
10. Soviet role in Allied victory.

CONCLUSION:

• From 1924-45, despite challenges, industrialisation made the USSR a global superpower.
• Stalin's authoritarian regime and paranoia led to his downfall, with little empathy for his people.
• This set the stage for the Cold War with the USA, lasting until the USSR's collapse in 1989.

Sample Essay

The Soviet Union faced many challenges in peace and war from 1924 to 1945. As the Leader of the USSR, Stalin's aim was to transform the county from a backwards rural economy into and industrial powerhouse. To achieve this, many challenges had to be overcome, such as the introduction enforcement of new policies, the use of the propaganda and the involvement of the USSR in Word War II. As dictator, Stalin faced these issues head on, resulting in the creation of a totalitarian state.

One of the first policies implemented by Stalin was "Socialism in one country." The aim of this was to rapidly industrialise Russia and boost its economy. Heavy emphasis was placed on raw material such as coal, iron and steel. The construction of massive public works such as the Moscow underground created a large proletariat class. In the country side, state control was achieved using collectivisation where the government abolished the ownership of private land. This was a direct effect of Stalin ending Lenin's New Economic Policy, which allowed limited capitalism. Control over his people was one of many challenges overcome by Stalin, while the people of the Soviet Union were still at peace.

Most of the population lived in rural areas of the country, and worked in agriculture. In order to establish communist control in the countryside, the state abolished privately owned farms, and merged them into large mechanised, collectivised farms. In order to increase efficiency and economic output. Collectivization was strongly opposed by the peasants, who faced the risk of mass deportation and famine. It is estimated around 10 million people died as a result of collectivization. Since farms had to meet quotas set by the government, many had no excess produce they could live off of. While faced with the challenge of establishing widespread communist control over the rural working class, Stalin did everything in his power to make sure his goals and aims were met while the fragile peace in the country lasted.

Alongside collectivisation Stalin worked to industrialise Russia, to get more people to move to urban areas. Industrialisation involved the introduction of Stalin's 5-Year-plans. The aim of these plans was to increase productivity rates and economic output exponentially, the heavy industry saw a 330% increase in output, a number unimaginable to date. Industrial cities like Magnitogorsk produced 4.5 million tonnes of iron and 5 million tonnes of steal and employed 45,000 people. Every five years, the quotas would be raised, making life even more difficult for workers. Stalin overcame the challenge of a low output economy with the 5-year plans and a zero-tolerance policy in the workplace.

To aid himself in the process of tackling social, economic and political issues—before the great patriotic war— Stalin used more than his fair share of propaganda. Newspapers, radio and cinema were all controlled by the communist party, which created a platform for Stalin to portray the messages he wanted to the Russian people. If and when any of his plans failed, all was blamed on saboteurs or spies. Over time he created a cult of personality for himself. People believed he could do no wrong. Some even branded him as a godlike figure. Giving him titles such as Vozhd meaning leader or "Father of Nations." Cities like Stalingrad were named in his honour and even Soviet history was rewritten to amplify his small role in the October revolution. Stalin used propaganda to such an extent, that he could make it appear as the have face no challenges during his "peaceful" reign.

In the 1930's international tensions began to rise. Stalin tried to quell this growing threat by joining the League of Nations in 1934, conducting a peaceful foreign policy. As Germany started to become a bigger and bigger issue, Stalin looked for allies against a possible German attack. During this uncertain time between peace and war, communist parties were encouraged to form popular front governments. In 1939, Hitler, the German dictator, offered Stalin a deal called the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (also known as the the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact). The USSR and Germany promised not to attack each other for 10 years, and agreed to divide Poland and the lands lost by Russia in 1918 between them. While the world was at the brink of war, Stalin thought he'd overcome yet another challenge to his power.

Two years after World War II broke out Hitler was losing to Britain. In an attempt to salvage his efforts, He launched operation Barbarossa in 1941. This involved a massive invasion of Russia, breaking the non-aggression pact. The attack was successful initially, as Stalin had purged the Red Army officers due to his growing paranoia. Minsk and Kiev were captured by the Germans who then advanced to Leningrad. Stalin was in shock by the attack. The Stavka organised Soviet forces and figured Russians wouldn't fight for communism, so instead they increased propaganda, which stressed Soviet glories. People would fight for patriotism. Faced with the challenge of oncoming attack, Stalin kept together war efforts by introducing the Scorched Earth policy, which involved retreating Russian troops destroy supplies.

The Russians had to act fast. They moved the production of war materials east, including 10 million workers. 2600 factories were dismantled and rebuilt further from enemy fronts. The production of war materials was aided by the new industrial cities like Tankograd, producing tanks and planes. Men aged 18-50 were conscripted and around a million women joined willingly. The conditions for ordinary citizens were just as harsh. They had terrible living conditions and food was rationed severely. Work days were extremely long with no leave. To deal with the war onslaught the workforce was placed under military control.

Partially due to luck, things began to look up for the Red Army. The winter of 1941 was very harsh, and the Germans suffered many casualties due to frostbite. The USSR fought on the Allied side, so the US aided them with supplies like trucks, fuel and radio. Georgi Zhukov controlled the military and reformed tactics. A major turning point occurred when the Red Army scored a victory at Stalingrad in 1943. The following year, the Germans suffered a defeat at Kursk. By mid-1944, All German troops were out of the USSR. The final challenge the Soviets faced was entering Germany and capturing Berlin, which they did in 1945. This solidified the Allied Victory.

However, winning the war come at a great cost. The Russians committed a surplus of war crimes when faced with the issue of WWll. Stalin conducted deportations of suspected nationalists, uprooting millions and sending them to Siberia. Wide scale executions were carried out, the most infamous one being Katyn Forest in 1940, where many Polish officers were shot. 3 million Germans surrendered to the Red Army, and one million died in captivity. Additionally, the treatment of Soviet POWs was atrocious. Stalin declared them "traitors of the motherland" and they were either shot or sent to labour camps. When facing the challenge that was war, Stalin made himself and almost the entire Red Army war criminals.

In conclusion, Russia as a country was presented with many challenges regardless of whether they were in a state of war or not. While dealing with issue after issue from 1924-45, Stalin achieved his goals of industrialising Russia and transforming it into a world superpower. He became the dictator of an authoritarian regime, and handles problems with no morality and empathy for his own people. All the choices he made as an autocratic, ruthless leader, led to the Cold War between the USSR and the USA, that dominated world affairs for the next 40 years. The USSR eventually collapsed in 1989.