Europe Between the Wars

Dictatorship and Depression

The Soviet Union

Stalin and the Soviet Union

Lenin died in 1924, failing to realize his goal of worldwide communism.

His likely successor seemed to be Leon Trotsky…whose rival was a Georgian named Joseph Jughasvili (Stalin).

“The Great Helmsman”

Power Struggle

Joseph Stalin

Stalin masterfully used party politics to isolate Trotsky and win support for himself.

Wanted the Soviet Union to industrialize and modernize – “Building socialism in one country”

Leon Trotsky

Agreed with Lenin’s ideas for a worldwide revolution.

By 1927, Stalin was firmly in control of the Communist Party

…Trotsky fled the country.

Drag picture to placeholder or click icon to add

At left, an altered photo showing Lenin with Stalin. Below, Trotsky has been erased from a photo. Above, Trotsky has been erased from a photo.

Another fake.

Trotsky was killed by a Stalinist agent in Mexico in 1940.

Five Year Plans• Lenin’s New Economic

Policy (NEP) was replaced by the more radical Stalinist Five Year Plans

• This was an attempt to rapidly increase Soviet industrial and agricultural production.

“We’ll fulfill Stalin’s Five Year Plan!”

[example of Soviet Realism]

Five Year Plans

The Five Year Plans started in 1928. Key elements included:1. Centralized Planning – Economic decisions were

made by government planners.

2. Collectivized Agriculture – Small farms were consolidated into huge government-run communes.

The first Five Year Plan produced fantastic increases in industrial output, especially when contrasted with economic depression in Europe and the United States.

What are the similarities between Stalin’s Five Year Plans & FDR’s New

Deal?

Both programs were designed to improve the economic viability of their countries, though they had

fundamental differences…Five Year Plans

Designed to improve the effectiveness of government-owned businesses, often at the expense of individuals.

Created an effective production system at the expense of the living standards of people.

New Deal

Used government influence to ensure the viability and profitability of business & lifestyle of people.

Created an environment that allowed private industry to grow and provided a better standard of living for people.

The Human Cost of the Five Year Plans

The “success” of the Five Year Plans came at great cost to human lives.

Holodomor/”Terror Famine”

In The Ukraine, kulaks (land-owning peasants) resisted collectivization.

Stalin engineered a famine to kill them, resulting in as many as 10 million deaths.

The Second Five Year Plan

Starting in 1933, the second Five Year Plan emphasized heavy industry.

Stalin believed that this was necessary to avoid being crushed by Germany.

“Dedicate 1933 to the exploration of oil and metal!”

“Koba the Dread:” Cult of Personality

Stalin was a monstrous human being, paranoids, brutal, and sadistic.

His purge trials of 1937-1938 left nearly a million people dead and sent millions more to forced labor camps called gulags.

The “Great Terror” established Stalin’s complete control over Soviet life – a “Cult of Personality”

Stalin had photos retouched to eliminate enemies.

“Papa Joe”

Stalin’s first wife died in 1907.

One of his sons tried to kill himself, but failed.

Stalins aid, “He can’t even shoot straight.”

This son was captured during WWII, and when the Germans offered a trade…

Stalin said, “I have no son.”

He then killed himself by throwing himself against an electric fence.

His second wife committed suicide after a quarrel.

A daughter, Svetlana, lived in Wisconsin at the time of her death in 2011.