Joseph Stalin

====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 behind the industrial development of Western countries,{{sfn|Service|2004|p=256}} and there had been a shortfall of grain; 1927 produced only 70% of grain produced in 1926.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=254}} Stalin's government feared attack from Japan, France, the United Kingdom, Poland, and Romania.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=172–173|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=256|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3pp=638–639}} 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 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 their grain and ordered that the kulaks be arrested and their grain confiscated, with Stalin bringing much of the area's 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 Western Siberia and the Urals, with violence breaking out between these squads and the peasantry.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=258|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=103}} Stalin announced that both kulaks and the "middle peasants" must be coerced into releasing their harvest.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=258}} Bukharin and several other Central Committee members were angry that they had not been consulted about this measure, which they deemed rash.{{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; accused kulaks were rounded up and exiled to other parts of the country or to concentration camps.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=267}} Large numbers died during the journey.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=160|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2p=166}} By July 1930, over 320,000 households had been affected by the de-kulakisation policy.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=267}} According to Stalin biographer [[Dmitri Volkogonov]], de-kulakisation was "the first mass terror applied by Stalin in his own country."{{sfn|Volkogonov|1991|p=167}}

[[File:Stakhanov.JPG|thumb|left|[[Aleksei Grigorievich Stakhanov]] with a fellow miner; Stalin's government initiated the [[Stakhanovite movement]] 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 ''[[kolkhozy]]'' collective farms and ''[[sovkhoz]]'' state farms.{{sfn|Sandle|1999|p=234}} Stalin barred kulaks from joining these collectives.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=266|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=112}} Although officially voluntary, many peasants joined the collectives out of fear they would face the fate of the kulaks; others joined amid intimidation and violence from party loyalists.{{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 of the 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 ordering distribution of emergency food relief to these regions.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=272}}

Armed peasant uprisings against dekulakisation and collectivisation broke out in Ukraine, the [[North Caucasus]], Southern Russia, and Central Asia, reaching their apex in March 1930; these were suppressed by the Red Army.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=270|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=113–114}} Stalin responded to the uprisings with [[Dizzy with Success|an article]] insisting that collectivisation was voluntary and blaming any violence and other excesses 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 about these policies; he regarded them as a return to Lenin's old "[[war communism]]" policy and believed that it would fail. 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, precise, and scientific framework; in reality, Soviet economics were based on ''ad hoc'' commandments issued from the centre, often to make short-term targets.{{sfn|Sandle|1999|pp=227, 229}} In 1928, the [[first five-year plan]] was launched, its main focus on boosting heavy industry;{{sfn|Service|2004|p=259}} it was finished a year ahead of schedule, in 1932.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=274}} The USSR 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, although urban house building could not keep up with the demand.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=265}} Large debts were accrued purchasing foreign-made machinery.{{sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=118}}

Many of 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 increasing their authority and receiving privileges and perks;{{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, a series of medals and awards as well as the [[Stakhanovite movement]] were introduced.{{sfn|Sandle|1999|p=231}} Stalin's message was that socialism was being established in the USSR while capitalism was crumbling amid the [[Wall Street crash]].{{sfn|Service|2004|p=269}} His speeches and articles reflected his [[utopian]] vision of the Soviet Union rising to unparalleled heights of human development, creating a "[[new Soviet person]]".{{sfn|Service|2004|p=300}}
{{clear|left}}