dictatorship in the soviet union swbat: identify how stalin shaped the soviet union. homework: none...
TRANSCRIPT
Dictatorship in the Soviet Union
SWBAT: identify how Stalin shaped the Soviet Union.
Homework: None
Do Now: Where did we last leave the Soviet Union?
Russia under LeninAfter WWI was over, Russia’s economy still struggled to get back to its pre-war levels.
Lenin decided to allow some to start private businesses to try and jumpstart the economy.
To try and meet the food needs of the nation, Lenin decided to “persuade” farmers to form collective farms.
Land is pooled into large farms that people worked on together.
Stalin takes over
Upon Lenin’s death in 1924, Joseph Stalin came to power.
Wanted to create a model communist state. Those private businesses that Lenin allowed?
Not under Stalin’s watch.
The goals of this state were agricultural and industrial growth.
Wanted to transform USSR from a backward rural nation into a great industrial power.
This meant continuing collective farming.
Created what were known as “Five-year plans” to direct industrialization. All economic activity was placed under state control.
Stalin’s Success
By 1937, the USSR had become the world’s 2nd largest industrial power, surpassed only by the USA.
But, at what cost?
Solidifying Power
Stalin executed or imprisoned all his political enemies.
One of the first people to fall under this category was Leon Trotsky, a fellow communist who Stalin had outmaneuvered to become Lenin’s successor.
Trotsky fled Russia, first to Paris, and then eventually Mexico City.
He was assassinated in 1940 by one of Stalin’s agents, stabbed to death with an ice pick.
The Purge
In 1934, an important figure in the communist party was assassinated.
Stalin responded by using his power and position to kill off many people in high level positions, including many who had been leaders of the Russian Revolution.
The trials given to these people were a sham, their confessions of guilt tortured out of them.
One result of this purge was that many of the Soviet Union’s best military minds were killed, a situation which left the state vulnerable in case of foreign invasion.
The Kulaks
In his attempt to modernize the Soviet Union, Stalin was ruthless and did away with anyone who he thought opposed his power and that includes the everyday people.
The 1st people that fell victim to his policies were the kulaks, independent farmers.
When collectivization began, these people were forced off their farms to work for the state.
Those that did not comply were executed.
The Holodomor
During the years 1932-1933, the Ukraine, a territory of the Soviet Union, suffered from widespread famine and malnutrition.
But the Ukraine was the breadbasket of the Soviet Union. How was a famine possible?
The government was collecting all the food for storage and not distributing it properly to the populace.
Scholars still argue today whether the Holodomor was a planned genocide or not, though several countries officially recognize it as such.
Countries which recognize the Holodomor as a genocide
The Death Count
In total, Stalin was responsible for the death of some 8 to 13 million people.
His establishment of the NKVD, a secret police, also led the people of the Soviet Union to live in fear for their lives.
The state was firmly in control of every aspect of its citizens lives. Thus, the Soviet Union is known as a totalitarian state.
Stalin’s Effect on Culture
Religion
Soviet officials discourage religious worship and seized the property of the Orthodox Church.
Churches and synagogues were destroyed or converted into public buildings.
The state executed ministers, priests, and rabbis.
Outlawed teaching religion in schools.
The Arts
The works of artists, musicians and writers were subjected to government control and censorship.
Artists were ordered to product works of “socialist realism” to prove their loyalty to the state.
Everyday humans became the subject of the novel, the play, poetry, and art.
Also celebrated Stalin as a great leader.
The working class was at the center of communist ideals; hence, his life was a worthy subject for study.
This was an important shift away from the aristocratic art produced under the Russian tsars of previous centuries.
Activity
There are 4 different accounts of the Holodomor. You are going to read one and fill in the chart. You will do this 2 times.
You will have 8 minutes to read and take notes on each.
You may not be able to fill in every block, but you should be able to jot down something for most.
These are notes, not sentences.
Be ready to discuss what you read.
Questions
What was the effect of rationing on the population of the Ukraine?
What lengths were people willing to go to eat?
Do you think this was a planned genocide? What similarities/differences do you see between the genocide in the Ukraine and the Holocaust?
Why do you think Russia neglects to recognize the genocide?