Editing Joseph Stalin (section)

=== 1928–1932: First five-year plan ===
{{Main|First five-year plan (Soviet Union)}}

====Economic policy====
{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote=We have fallen behind the advanced countries by fifty to a hundred years. We must close that gap in ten years. Either we do this or we'll be crushed.

This is what our obligations before the workers and peasants of the USSR dictate to us.|source= — Stalin, February 1931{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=273}} }}

The Soviet Union lagged far behind the industrial and agricultural development of the Western powers.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=256}} Stalin's government feared attack from capitalist countries,{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=172–173|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=256|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3pp=638–639}} and many communists, including in [[Komsomol]], [[OGPU]], and the Red Army, were eager to be rid of the NEP and its market-oriented approach.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=144, 146|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=258}} They had concerns about those who profited from the policy: affluent peasants known as "[[kulak]]s" and small business owners, or "[[NEPmen]]".{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=256|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=571}} At this point, Stalin [[Great Break (USSR)|turned against]] the NEP, which put him on a course to the "left" even of Trotsky or Zinoviev.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=253|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=101}}

In early 1928, Stalin travelled to [[Novosibirsk]], where he alleged that kulaks were hoarding grain and ordered them be arrested and their grain confiscated, with Stalin bringing much of the grain back to Moscow with him in February.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=147–148|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=257–258|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3pp=661, 668–669, 679–684|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4pp=102–103}} At his command, grain procurement squads surfaced across West Siberia and the Urals, with violence breaking out between the squads and the peasantry.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=258|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=103}} Stalin announced that kulaks and the "middle peasants" must be coerced into releasing their harvest.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=258}} Bukharin and other Central Committee members were angered that they had not been consulted about the measure.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=258|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=105}} In January 1930, the Politburo approved the "liquidation" of the kulak class, which was exiled to other parts of the country or concentration camps.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=267}}{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=160|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2p=166}} By July 1930, over 320,000 households had been affected.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=267}} According to [[Dmitri Volkogonov]], dekulakisation was "the first mass terror applied by Stalin in his own country."{{Sfn|Volkogonov|1991|p=167}}

[[File:Stakhanov.JPG|thumb|[[Alexei Stakhanov|Aleksei Stakhanov]] with a fellow miner. Stalin's government initiated the [[Stakhanovite movement]] in order to encourage hard work.{{Sfn|Sandle|1999|p=231}}]]

In 1929, the Politburo announced the [[Collectivization in the Soviet Union|mass collectivisation of agriculture]],{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=265–266|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=110–111}} establishing both ''[[kolkhoz]]'' collective farms and ''[[sovkhoz]]'' state farms.{{Sfn|Sandle|1999|p=234}} Although officially voluntary, many peasants joined the collectives out of fear they would face the fate of the kulaks.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=113}} By 1932, about 62% of households involved in agriculture were part of collectives, and by 1936 this had risen to 90%.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=271}} Many collectivised peasants resented the loss of their private farmland,{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=270}} and productivity slumped.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=270|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=116}} Famine broke out in many areas,{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=272|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=116}} with the Politburo frequently being forced to dispatch emergency food relief.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=272}} Armed peasant uprisings broke out in Ukraine, the [[North Caucasus]], Southern Russia, and Central Asia, reaching their apex in March 1930; these were suppressed by the army.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=270|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=113–114}} Stalin responded with [[Dizzy with Success|an article]] insisting that collectivisation was voluntary and blaming violence on local officials.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=160|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=114}} Although he and Stalin had been close for many years,{{Sfn|Volkogonov|1991|p=174}} Bukharin expressed concerns and regarded them as a return to Lenin's old "[[war communism]]" policy. By mid-1928, he was unable to rally sufficient support in the party to oppose the reforms;{{Sfnm|1a1=Volkogonov|1y=1991|1p=172|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=260|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=708}} in November 1929, Stalin removed him from the Politburo.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=158|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=266|3a1=Conquest|3y=2008|3p=18}}

Officially, the Soviet Union had replaced the "irrationality" and "wastefulness" of a [[market economy]] with a [[planned economy]] organised along a long-term and scientific framework; in reality, Soviet economics were based on ''ad hoc'' commandments issued often to make short-term targets.{{Sfn|Sandle|1999|pp=227, 229}} In 1928, the [[First five-year plan (Soviet Union)|first five-year plan]] was launched by Stalin with a main focus on boosting Soviet heavy industry;{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=259}} it was finished a year ahead of schedule, in 1932.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=274}} The country underwent a massive economic transformation:{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=265}} new mines were opened, new cities like [[Magnitogorsk]] constructed, and work on the [[White Sea–Baltic Canal]] began.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=265}} Millions of peasants moved to the cities, and large debts were accrued purchasing foreign-made machinery.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=118}}

Many major construction projects, including the White Sea–Baltic Canal and the [[Moscow Metro]], were constructed largely through forced labour.{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|pp=186, 190}} The last elements of workers' control over industry were removed, with factory managers receiving privileges;{{Sfn|Sandle|1999|pp=231–233}} Stalin defended wage disparity by pointing to Marx's argument that it was necessary during the lower stages of socialism.{{Sfn|Sandle|1999|pp=241–242}} To promote intensification of labour, medals and awards as well as the [[Stakhanovite movement]] were introduced.{{Sfn|Sandle|1999|p=231}} Stalin argued that socialism was being established in the USSR while capitalism was crumbling during the [[Great Depression]].{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=269}} His rhetoric reflected his [[utopian]] vision of the "[[new Soviet person]]" rising to unparallelled heights of human development.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=300}}
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====Cultural and foreign policy====
In 1928, Stalin declared that class war between the proletariat and their enemies would intensify as socialism developed.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=152–153|2a1=Sandle|2y=1999|2p=214|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3pp=107–108}} He warned of a "danger from the right", including from within the Communist Party.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=108}} The first major [[show trial]] in the USSR was the [[Shakhty Trial]] of 1928, in which middle-class "industrial specialists" were convicted of sabotage.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=152–155|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=259|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3pp=687, 702–704, 709|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=107}} From 1929 to 1930, show trials were held to intimidate opposition;{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=268}} these included the [[Industrial Party Trial]], [[Menshevik Trial]], and [[Metro-Vickers Trial]].{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|p=155}} Aware that the ethnic Russian majority may have concerns about being ruled by a Georgian,{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=324}} he promoted ethnic Russians throughout the state bureaucracy and made Russian compulsory in schools, albeit in tandem with local languages.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=326}} Nationalist sentiment was suppressed.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=301}} [[Social conservatism|Conservative social policies]] were promoted to boost population growth; this included a focus on strong family units, [[LGBT rights in the Soviet Union|re-criminalisation of homosexuality]], restrictions on abortion and divorce, and abolition of the ''[[Zhenotdel]]'' women's department.{{Sfn|Sandle|1999|pp=244, 246}}

[[File:Christ saviour explosion.jpg|thumb|1931 demolition of the [[Cathedral of Christ the Saviour]] in Moscow in order to make way for the planned [[Palace of the Soviets]]]]

Stalin desired a "[[Cultural Revolution in the Soviet Union|cultural revolution]]",{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=299}} entailing both the creation of [[Culture of the Soviet Union|a culture]] for the "masses" and the wider dissemination of previously elite culture.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=304}} He oversaw a proliferation of schools, newspapers, and libraries, as well as advancement of literacy and [[numeracy]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Volkogonov|1y=1991|1pp=111, 127|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=308}} [[Socialist realism]] was promoted throughout the arts,{{Sfnm|1a1=Sandle|1y=1999|1p=246|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2003|2p=85}} while Stalin wooed prominent writers, namely [[Maxim Gorky]], [[Mikhail Sholokhov]], and [[Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy]].{{Sfn|Service|2004|pp=302–303}} He expressed patronage for scientists whose research fit within his preconceived interpretation of Marxism; for instance, he endorsed the research of agrobiologist [[Trofim Lysenko]] despite the fact that it was rejected by the majority of Lysenko's scientific peers as [[pseudo-scientific]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=211, 276–277|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=307}} The government's anti-religious campaign was re-intensified,{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|p=157}} with increased funding given to the [[League of Militant Atheists]].{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=301}} [[Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union|Priests]], [[Islam in the Soviet Union|imams]], and [[Buddhism in Russia|Buddhist]] monks faced persecution.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=268}} Religious buildings were demolished, most notably Moscow's [[Cathedral of Christ the Saviour]], destroyed in 1931 to make way for the [[Palace of the Soviets]].{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|p=191}} Religion retained an influence over the population; in the [[Soviet Census (1937)|1937 census]], 57% of respondents were willing to admit to being religious.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=325}}

Throughout the 1920s, Stalin placed a priority on foreign policy.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=379}} He personally met with a range of Western visitors, including [[George Bernard Shaw]] and [[H. G. Wells]], both of whom were impressed with him.{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|pp=183–184}} Through the Communist International, Stalin's government exerted a strong influence over Marxist parties elsewhere;{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=282}} he left the running of the organisation to Bukharin before his ousting.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=261}} At its 6th Congress in July 1928, Stalin informed delegates that the main threat to socialism came from non-Marxist socialists and [[social democrats]], whom he called "[[social fascists]]";{{Sfnm|1a1=McDermott|1y=1995|1pp=410–411|2a1=Conquest|2y=1991|2p=176|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3pp=261, 383|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4p=720}} Stalin recognised that in many countries, these groups were Marxist–Leninists' main rivals for working-class support.{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|p=173}} This focus on opposing rival leftists concerned Bukharin, who regarded the growth of [[fascism]] and the far right across Europe as a greater threat.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=261}}

In 1929, Stalin's son Yakov unsuccessfully attempted suicide, shooting himself in the chest and narrowly missing his heart; his failure earned the contempt of Stalin, who is reported to have brushed off the attempt by saying "He can't even shoot straight."<ref>{{harvnb|Allilueva|1967|p=111}}</ref>{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=289|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=595}} His relationship with Nadezhda was strained amid their arguments and her mental health problems.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=289}} In November 1932, after a group dinner in the Kremlin in which Stalin flirted with other women, Nadezhda shot herself in the heart.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=169|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2003|2p=90|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3pp=291–292}} Publicly, the cause of death was given as [[appendicitis]]; Stalin also concealed the real cause of death from his children.{{Sfnm|1a1=Montefiore|1y=2003|1pp=94, 95|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=292, 294}} Stalin's friends noted that he underwent a significant change following her suicide, becoming emotionally harder.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=297}}
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