The Rise of the Soviet Union and Stalin

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The Rise of the Soviet Union and Stalin
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Characteristics of TotalitarianismDictatorship,
One-Party Rule, Importance of State over
Individual, state controls major aspects of life
Fascism Communism
Basic Principles Authoritarian leader identified w/ state Leninism, Marxism, dictatorship of the people
Political Nationalist, militarist, racist Nationalist, Internationalist
Supporters industrialists military Workers (USSR) Peasants (China)
Economic Private ownership, some state control Collective ownership, central state planning
Cultural Censorship, indoctrination, secret police Censorship, indoctrination, secret police
Examples Italy, Spain, Germany USSR, China
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Stalin Acquires Power

• Lenin used NEP to rebuild economy
• 1924 Lenin dies, leaving a power struggle btwn.
  Stalin and Trotsky
• Stalin uses intimidation and threats to assume
  power
• Trotsky exiled 1940 killed in Mexico
• Stalin now w/out any real rivals

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Stalin prior to WWII

• Adopted a policy of forced industrialization
• Five Year Plan (1928)
• Goal to industrialize very quickly make USSR a
  world power
• Collectivization nationalized farmland forced
  peasants to work the land
• Resistance met w/ forced starvation Kulaks of
  Ukraine died by the millions
• Enacted purges to remove and execute those who
  posed a threat
• Red Army Leadership, Educated Elite, Jews
• 1934 USSR joined the League of Nations
• Signed a Non-Aggression Pact w/ Hitler that
  was supposed to prevent invasion