The USSR: From Revolution to WWII
The New Economic Policy
Russia suffered human and material losses during the Russian Civil War. The New Economic Policy (NEP) was an attempt to rebuild the economy.
The USSR: A New State
The USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) was created in 1922 as a federation of republics. It was a multi-national and multi-ethnic state.
The first constitution of the USSR, formulated in 1924, established the new political system:
- Republics had autonomy in domestic policy, law, education, and health. They could retain their languages and customs and were allowed to leave the union if they wished.
- The highest legislative body was the Supreme Soviet.
Political organization was controlled by the sole party, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU).
The USSR and the Internationals
Lenin believed it was necessary to extend the revolution outside the USSR because the country would not be able to survive in isolation. He created the Third International in Moscow, also known as the Comintern or the Communist International. Other countries were invited to join, in the hope that strong communist parties would develop abroad.
Most communist parties followed the CPSU model and became centralized, undemocratic organizations where criticism was repressed.
The USSR became the ideal that communist parties throughout the world sought to reproduce in their own countries. Foreign intellectuals visited the USSR and were extremely impressed by what they considered to be a vast social experiment.
Stalin’s Dictatorship
The Rise of Stalin
Stalin favored giving up the idea of a worldwide revolution. According to his theory of ‘socialism in one country‘, efforts should be turned to strengthening the revolution in the USSR. The Third International existed only to serve Soviet interests.
A Totalitarian Dictatorship
Stalin took control of the government and established a personal dictatorship, based on:
- Cult of personality: Propaganda was used to depict Stalin as the great benefactor and father of the people. Positive traits in his enemies were eliminated from public view.
- Reinforcement of the Communist Party: To take part in politics, people had to be members of the CPSU. This party imposed all candidates to the soviets.
- Terror: All opposition was silenced. This was enforced by a secret police force called the NKVD. The public also contributed by denouncing alleged counter-revolutionaries. The most intense purges took place between 1933 and 1939. Thousands of people were sent to concentration camps called gulags, mainly in Siberia, where they were forced to do hard labor.
A Planned Economy
Stalin believed the state should plan the economy. In 1928, an agency produced the first Five-Year Plan, which established the USSR’s economic goals. The main objectives were industrial development and agricultural and military self-sufficiency.
All economic activity (industry, agriculture, and trade) came under state control. Private property disappeared.
Collective Farming
The First Five-Year Plan established land collectives. Landowners had to give up individual ownership, and their land then belonged to a collective.
Kulaks (wealthy peasants who had prospered under the NEP) resisted these changes and faced brutal repression. Agricultural productivity was interrupted. Production never grew at the rate predicted by the Five-Year Plans, and there was scarcity and famine.
Two types of collectives emerged:
- Kolkhozes: Large, collective farms.
- Sovkhozes: State-owned farms that paid their workers a salary.
The aim was to make both types of farms highly mechanized and use advanced farming techniques to modernize Russian agriculture. Stalin intended for the new farms to produce significantly more food to support the industrialization process and the growing urban labor force.
Industrial Development
Priority was given to heavy industry and energy production. Coal, petroleum, and electricity production doubled. The state promoted productivity through propaganda. Workers were encouraged to work extra days and were asked to sacrifice themselves for the good of the state.
The initial results of these policies were spectacular, and the USSR became an industrial power. However, the policies also generated imbalances:
- An excess of capital goods like machinery and weapons.
- A scarcity of consumer goods like clothes, shoes, and household goods.
Basic goods were scarce, and the population suffered.
The Policy of Appeasement and WWII
The Policy of Appeasement
Facing Germany’s aggressive expansionism, the British and French democracies adopted a strategy of appeasement: acceptance of all of Hitler’s demands in the hope that this would avoid another war.
- Anschluss: Germany sent troops into Austria and annexed it.
- Munich Agreement: Britain and France signed an agreement ceding the German-speaking Sudetenland to Germany.
- Czechoslovakia: Hitler broke the Munich Agreement and occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia.
The Outbreak of World War II
Germany claimed territory that it had lost to Poland following World War I. It rejected the Danzig Corridor, a strip of land belonging to Poland that divided Germany into two parts. However, France and Britain had signed treaties with Poland to maintain its independence, so it was better protected than Czechoslovakia had been.
To ensure the neutrality of the USSR (and avoid a war on two fronts), the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact was signed in 1939. The pact included a secret agreement to divide Poland between the two powers. The USSR would also control Finland and the Baltic States. Stalin accepted because he was worried about the German threat to the USSR and could not count on assistance from the Western powers due to their hostility towards communism.
Hitler demanded that Poland cede the Danzig Corridor, but Poland refused. Germany invaded Poland. France and Britain declared war on Germany. World War II had begun.
The Axis Offensive (1939-1941)
Blitzkrieg Warfare
- Poland: German armies conquered large parts of Poland, and the USSR occupied the rest of the country. The USSR also attacked Finland.
- Scandinavia: Germany attacked Denmark and Norway to ensure access to Norwegian steel and control of the North Sea.
- France and the Low Countries: Through a series of highly effective mobile operations known as lightning war (Blitzkrieg), Germany rapidly conquered France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. German troops entered Paris. France was divided into two zones: Vichy France in the south and the colonies, ruled by General Pétain, collaborated with Nazi Germany.
Britain faced the threat of a German invasion. Hitler needed to establish aerial supremacy before German troops could be transported across the sea. In the Battle of Britain, British fighter planes resisted the German air force. The Germans were unable to launch a full invasion and responded by bombing British cities.
Italy entered the war. A major offensive in North Africa aimed at reaching the Suez Canal and blocking communication between Britain and its colonies. The Italian attack was repelled, and Germany sent troops to assist them. Italian troops invaded Greece, but they were again unsuccessful, and German troops intervened to complete the invasion.
The Invasion of the USSR
Hitler always considered communism his main enemy. Once he had continental Europe under control, his forces invaded the USSR. Hitler intended to occupy the major cities of Leningrad, Moscow, and Kiev before winter. A key strategic objective was to control the production of grains and oil in the Caucasus region to assist the Nazi war effort.
The plan suffered a huge setback.