The USSR Under Stalin: Civil War, Power Struggle, and Dictatorship
The USSR Under Stalin
The Civil War and the Creation of the USSR
With the support of the Congress of Soviets of Russia, Lenin formed a worker’s government. The new Soviet government established the first revolutionary measures: land was expropriated to be distributed among the peasants, and factories came under the control of workers’ committees. The peace of Brest-Litovsk (1918) was also signed with Germany, which led to major territorial losses for Russia.
The new Soviet government had to face a civil war that lasted for three years (1918-1921). A fraction of the Tsarist army, composed of members of the former privileged classes and wealthy peasants, organized the so-called White Army, which rose up in arms. The Bolsheviks created the Red Army, under the leadership of Leon Trotsky, which was ultimately successful. However, the war left the country in misery: hunger caused five million deaths, and production plummeted. During the conflict, the Bolshevik Party, which since 1918 had taken the name Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), seized a monopoly on power, and other parties were excluded from the government.
In 1922, the USSR was created, a state that brought together all the nationalities of the old Tsarist empire. The USSR was governed by a Parliament and a single party, the CPSU, which controlled political life. It was a totalitarian system in which the state and party were fully identified and the institutions were not chosen democratically. The new political system was justified through the “dictatorship of the proletariat”: power was exercised by the Communist Party, which represented the proletariat, that is, the majority of the population.
The Power Struggle
Lenin, the undisputed leader of the revolution, died in 1924 at a time when there was debate about the best way to consolidate the revolution. Different proposals were put forward by the party leaders, especially Trotsky and Stalin.
- Trotsky argued that it was necessary to export the revolution, provoking it in other countries.
- Stalin proposed the construction of socialism in one country, through the transformation of the USSR into a great power that would be the cradle of future revolutions.
Stalin, who had become Secretary-General of the CPSU, took control of the situation from 1927 and became the main leader of the USSR. Trotsky, his rival, went into exile and was assassinated in 1940 by order of Stalin himself.
Stalinism
Stalinist policies imposed a collectivist economy and society, with the goal of generating growth that would make the Soviet Union a major industrial power. To achieve this, the following guidelines were followed:
- Private property was banned, and land, factories, banks, and transport were converted into state property.
- Priority was given to heavy industry with the goal of building the necessary infrastructure.
- A centrally planned economy was established by the state, with Five-Year Plans to plan agricultural and industrial production.
The result was rapid industrialization, but agriculture was severely delayed as a result of its subordination to industry. In addition, the priority given to heavy industry led to the neglect of consumer goods production, and a good part of the population’s needs remained unmet.
Stalin established a true dictatorship in which the Communist Party controlled all organs of the state. His leadership was reinforced by the cult of personality that surrounded him. Anyone suspected of opposing Stalin was accused of being an enemy of socialism, and repression affected the whole of society, including the Communist Party. During the Moscow Trials (1936-1938), a violent police apparatus purged dissidents, and many were executed, imprisoned, or deported to labor camps (Gulag).