Stalin's Russia, 1924-1941 – A Level History CAIE Revision

Stalin’s Russia, 1924-1941

Following Lenin’s death in 1924, a power struggle between Stalin and Trotsky ensued.
Stalin gradually outmaneuvered his opponents within the party leadership, gaining increasing control over the institution.
By 1928, Stalin had effectively established himself as the leader of the Soviet Union.

Stalin launched the First Five Year Plan in 1928 with the goal of rapidly transforming the Soviet Union from a peasant society into an industrial powerhouse.
Massive state-led industrialisation projects were undertaken accompanied by forced collectivisation of agriculture.
Millions were mobilised in the construction of new factories, mines and railways, often working in harsh conditions.

Stalin implemented a policy of agricultural collectivisation, aiming to replace individual peasant farms with large, state-run collective farms.
Collectivisation led to violent resistance from peasants, widespread famine and death of millions.
However, it also allowed the Soviet state to control agricultural production and use surpluses to fund industrialisation.

Stalin instigated the Great Purge in the mid-1930s to eliminate perceived enemies within the Communist Party and broader Soviet society.
Numerous party officials, military leaders, and ordinary citizens were arrested, tried in staged show trials, and executed or sent to gulags.
The Purge solidified Stalin’s control over the Party and the Soviet Union as a whole.

Stalin pursued a policy of Socialism in One Country, focusing on strengthening the Soviet Union instead of promoting global revolution.
He signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact with Hitler in 1939, agreeing to non-aggression and secretly planning to divide Eastern Europe between them.
This policy was abruptly ended in 1941 when Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union.

Stalin’s regime sought to modernise and control all aspects of Soviet life and culture.
A propaganda campaign promoted the image of Stalin as the wise and infallible creator of a prosperous, powerful socialist state.
Extreme censorship and state control of the media were imposed, and traditional Russian cultural forms were both exploited and repressed.
Women’s roles drastically changed as they were drafted into industrial work and could become full-fledged members of society, while still bearing the double burden of housework and child-rearing.