Lenin died in 1924 creating a power struggle between Leon Trotsky and Josef Stalin. Stalin assumed leadership of the Soviet Union, and between 1928 and 1941, he transformed the USSR. Stalin's real name was Joseph Djugashvil and later renamed himself Stalin meaning "man of steal." During Stalin's reign of power he used many methods and changes that effected Russia in man ways.During the power struggle both Leon Trostky and Josef Stalin differed in views of the future of the Russia. Trostky was more of a firm Marxist and wanted a worldwide revolution against Capitalism, while Stalin took a more cautious look at Marxism. Stalin later drove Trotsky out of the party and assassinated him in Mexico making Stalin the leader of Russia. Stalin's goal was to turn the Soviet Union into a modern industrialized nation. In order to do this, he set up several Five Year Plans mainly on building heavy industry, transportation, and increasing the farm output. In document 2, it showed a chart predicting that after the Five Year Plan the production of electricity, coal, oil, iron, and steal would increase tremendously. In order to accomplish the Fiver Year Plan, Stalin set up a collectivization policy. Collectivization is taking over all the farms and forcing peasants and farmers to work on collecting farms. In document 3, it explains that the purpose of collectivization was to drive out the capitalist in agriculture and destroy the kulaks that would advance Russia in many ways. Stalin's used very brutal force to enforce the Five Year Plans. Bu waged war against the kulaks (they were wealthy farmland owners that resented collectivization). Stalin took their lands and sent them to work camps where 1,000's were executed and died from overwork. Stalin's policy was very strict and harsh that peasants started to resist collectivization. In document 4, stated that peasants started to slaughter animals and burned crops in order to revolt and show there disgust against collectivization and being sent to work camps. Collectivization was also the cause of the Ukranian Genocide as explained in document 5. Stalin would deliberately continue to steall food from the Ukrains with the excuse of famine and food decline in Russia, causing millions of Ukranian people to starve to death. The end result of the policy was not very successful standard of living because every body was being payed the same low wages and having scarce of food. Stalin also started the Great Purge in Russia because he feared that rival party leaders were secretly plotting against him. He targeted old Bolsheviks heroes, and ordinary people to confess by torturing them. In document 8, A French ambassador stated that the purpose of the confessions public trials and he secret police was to try and rid of the people that was against Stalin. Life under Stalin was life under a Totalitarian State. In which one dictatorship controls every aspect of the lives of citizens. He used censorship and propaganda in a daily basis, in society, arts, politics, schools, media, universities, and economy in order to support his cause and encouraged Russification (wanted everyone to act, speak, and think like Russian).All and all, Stalin had many plans he thought that would benefit Russia. The methods he used were very strict and harsh to many people. He set collective farms and started the Ukranian Genocide that changed how people thought of Stalin. Overall, the changes he made in Russia would effect them in many years.
