Joseph Stalin is undoubtedly one of the most notorious characters in history. He has been called: The greatest criminal in history and a 20th century Ivan the Terrible. He ruled as a supreme dictator and was responsible for the deaths of millions during collectivization, through slave labour camps and through grave mistakes during WW2. He isolated the Soviet Union from most of the world, keeping his people inside and keeping foreigners out. He created an entire society based purely on terror, one that no citizen could escape and finally, he created a new privileged class in Russia that exploited the rest of the population. However, all this evil did have a purpose. Stalin turned Russia from a backward mainly agricultural country to an industrial superpower. He created the worlds first and largest collectivized farming system. He also created the world's first state socialist system and probably the main thing: he successfully defended Russia from all foreign invaders.
The two major economic policy makers of the USSR, ...
Chinese Stamp, 1950. Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong ...
RussiaRussia was extremely vulnerable and needed somebody like Stalin to modernize her otherwise she would be crushed.
To give an overview of Russia in 1930, pre-Stalin: The First World War, the revolution and the civil war had taken its toll on Russia. The country was just starting to recover and the introduction of the New Economic Policy (NEP) meant that workers now had incentives to work harder. Between 1918-1922, Russia had been invaded by many countries including Germany, France and Britain. The Red Army: was weak, had almost no modern equipment and lacked leadership. Over 90% of the Russian population lived on small farms. Farming was primitive and this meant Russia had no money to spend. Russian industry was concentrated in only a few cities including Leningrad and Moscow. Output was well below 1913 levels. The government was weak and the socialist dream...