The Soviet Union

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The Five-Year plans

When Stalin was given power from the party progress in 1927 it marked an end to the NEP and the beginning of the era of socialist five-year plans.

First 5 year plan - Had staggering economic objectives. Total industrial output was to increase by 250%, agricultural production to increase by 150%, and 1/5 of the peasants in the Soviet Union were scheduled to give up their private plots and join socialist collective farms.

In 1931 Stalin said "No slowdown in Tempo!" Stalin actually wanted an increase and claimed that it was dictated by the peasants and workers of the U.S.S.R. He said that they were 50 - 100 years behind the advanced countries and must catch up within 10 years. He told the working class that socialism would transform the whole world and free them.

The second 5 year plan - The economy seemed to stall in 1927 and 1928.

A new socialist offensive seemed necessary if industry and agriculture were to grow rapidly. Stalin's problem was the peasants. For centuries they had wanted to own the land and finally they had it. Stalin decided on a war against the peasantry in order to bring it under control of the state and to make it pay the costs of the new socialist offensive. This war was collectivization.

New economic Policy

The New Economic Policy (NEP) was announced in March 1921 by Lenin to try to rebuild the Soviet Union which was shattered and devastated after the civil war. Lenin and the Bolsheviks had destroyed the economy as well as their foes. Politically it was a necessary but temporary compromise with the overwhelming peasant majority. Lenin made a deal with them because he knew that they could overturn is government and he was not strong enough to take...