The Soviet Union Under Stalin

SECTION 4Step-by-Step ion Objectives As you teach this section, keep students focused on the following objectives to help them answer the Section Focus Question and master core content. Describe the effects of Stalin s five-year plans. Explain how Stalin tried to control how people thought in the Soviet Union. List communist changes to Soviet society. Outline Soviet foreign policy under Stalin. 4 In this propaganda image, children surround a gentle Stalin. WITNESS HISTORY AUDIO The Heart of the Party On the occasion of Stalin s sixtieth birthday, the Communist party newspaper, Pravda, or Truth, printed this praise of Stalin: There is no similar name on the planet like the name of Stalin. It shines like a bright torch of freedom, it flies like a battle standard for millions of laborers around the world.... Stalin is today s Lenin! Stalin is the brain and heart of the party! Stalin is the banner of millions of people in their fight for a better life. Far from helping people fight for a better life, Stalin s ruthless policies brought suffering and death to millions of Soviets. Focus Question How did Stalin transform the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state? Prepare to Read Build Background Knowledge Remind students that Lenin founded the Soviet state, and after he died in 1924, Stalin took power. Ask them to recall what else they already know about Stalin. Set a Purpose WITNESS HISTORY Read the selection aloud or play the audio. AUDIO Witness History Audio CD, The Heart of the Party Ask Based on clues in the image and selection from Pravda, what do you think the official view of Stalin was? (He was to be viewed as the ideal leader.) Ask students to speculate what Soviets may have secretly thought of him. Focus Point out the Section Focus Question and write it on the board. Tell students to refer to this question as they read. (Answer appears with Section 4 Assessment answers.) Preview Have students preview the Section Objectives and the list of Terms, People, and Places. Have students read this section using the Paragraph Shrinking strategy (TE, p. T20). As they read, have students fill in the chart with the main ideas about Stalin s rule in the Soviet Union. Reading and Note Taking Study Guide, p. 259 Objectives Vocabulary Builder Use the information below and the following resources to teach the high-use words from this section. Teaching Resources, Unit 6, p. 49; Teaching Resources, Skills Handbook, p. 3 High-Use Words conform, p. 908 access, p. 910 The Soviet Union Under Stalin Describe the effects of Stalin s five-year plans. Explain how Stalin tried to control how people thought in the Soviet Union. List communist changes to Soviet society. Outline Soviet foreign policy under Stalin. Terms, People, and Places command economy collectives kulaks Gulag socialist realism russification atheism Comintern Reading Strategy: Identify Main Ideas Summarize the main points of the section in a chart like the one below. Five-Year Plans The Soviet Union Under Stalin Methods of Control Daily Life In January 1924, tens of thousands of people lined up in Moscow s historic Red Square. They had come to view the body of Lenin, who had died a few days earlier. Lenin s widow, Nadezhda Krupskaya, wanted to bury him simply next to his mother. Communist party officials including Joseph Stalin wanted to preserve Lenin s body and put it on permanent display. In the end, Lenin s body was displayed in Red Square for more than 65 years. By preserving Lenin s body, Stalin wanted to show that he would carry on the goals of the revolution. However, in the years that followed, he used ruthless measures to control the Soviet Union and its people. A Totalitarian State Karl Marx had predicted that under communism the state would eventually wither away. Under Stalin, the opposite occurred. He turned the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state controlled by a powerful and complex bureaucracy. Stalin s Five-Year Plans Once in power, Stalin imposed government control over the Soviet Union s economy. In the past, said Stalin, Russia had suffered because of its economic backwardness. In 1928, he proposed the first of several five-year plans aimed at building heavy industry, improving transportation, and increasing farm output. He brought all economic activity under government control. The government owned all businesses and distributed all Definitions and Sample Sentences vi. to obey a set of standards Elena hated plaid skirts but had to conform to the school s mandatory dress code. n. the ability to get and use Because he worked in the principal s office, he had access to all the students records. 904 The Rise of Totalitarianism

resources. The Soviet Union developed a command economy, in which government officials made all basic economic decisions. By contrast, in a capitalist system, the free market determine most economic decisions. Privately owned businesses compete to win the consumer s choice. This competition regulates the price and quality of goods. Mixed Results in Industry Stalin s five-year plans set high production goals, especially for heavy industry and transportation. The government pushed workers and managers to meet these goals by giving bonuses to those who succeeded and by punishing those who did not. Between 1928 and 1939, large factories, hydroelectric power stations, and huge industrial complexes rose across the Soviet Union. Oil, coal, and steel production grew. Mining expanded, and new railroads were built. Despite the impressive progress in some areas, Soviet workers had little to show for their efforts. Some former peasants did become skilled factory workers or managers. Overall, though, the standard of living remained low. Central planning was often inefficient, causing shortages in some areas and surpluses in others. Many managers, concerned only with meeting production quotas, turned out large quantities of low-quality goods. Consumer products such as clothing, cars, and refrigerators were scarce. Wages were low and workers were forbidden to strike. The party restricted workers movements. Forced Collectivization in Agriculture Stalin also brought agriculture under government control, but at a horrendous cost. The government wanted farmers to produce more grain to feed workers in the cities. It also hoped to sell grain abroad to earn money. As you have read, under Lenin s New Economic Plan (NEP), peasants had held on to small plots of land. Many had prospered. Stalin saw that system as being inefficient and a threat to state power. Stalin wanted all peasants to farm on either state-owned farms or collectives, large farms owned and operated by peasants as a group. On collectives, the government would provide tractors, fertilizers, and better seed, and peasants would learn modern farm methods. Peasants would be permitted to keep their houses and personal belongings, but all farm animals and implements were to be turned over to the collective. The state set all prices and controlled access to farm supplies. Some peasants did not want to give up their land and sell their crops at the state s low prices. They resisted collectivization by killing farm animals, destroying tools, and burning crops. Stalin was furious. He believed that kulaks, or wealthy farmers, were behind the resistance. He responded with brutal force. In 1929, Stalin declared his intention to liquidate the kulaks as a class. To this end, the government confiscated kulaks land and sent them to labor camps. Thousands were killed or died from overwork. Even after the de-kulakization, angry peasants resisted by growing just enough to feed themselves. In response, the government seized all of their grain to meet industrial goals, purposely leaving the peasants to starve. In 1932, this ruthless policy, combined with poor harvests, led to a terrible Effects of the Five-Year Plans on Soviet Industry 20 Output (in millions of metric tons) 15 10 5 0 1928 1933 1938 Year Steel Brown Coal SOURCE: B.R. Mitchell, European Historical Statistics, 1750 1970 Industrialism is the Path to Socialism As this 1928 poster proclaims, Stalin s government saw rapid industrialization as the key to the success of the Soviet Union. Using the line graph, describe the effect of the Five-Year Plans on steel and brown coal output. Teach A Totalitarian State n n n Introduce: Key Terms Have students find the key term command economy (in blue) in the text. Point out that Stalin s government took complete control over of the Soviet Union s economy; in other words, it was the government who commanded the economy. Then ask students to explain the difference between a command economy and a capitalist economy. Teach Ask students to list the goals of Stalin s five-year plans. Then ask Why did some peasants resist the collectivization plan? (They did not want to give up their farms and sell crops at the low prices set by the state.) How did Stalin respond to this resistance? (He sent kulaks, or well-to-do farmers, to labor camps and seized all grain, leaving people to starve.) Quick Activity Direct students to the graph on the next page, Soviet Agriculture Output, 1928 and 1932, and have them answer the caption question. Then ask What were the effects of the collectivization plan on Soviet life? (Though it did not increase farm output, it increased Stalin s control of the peasantry. It also led to the Terror Famine.) Connect to Our World Connections to Today For many years, Ukrainian interest groups have worked for international recognition of the Terror Famine. This was a deliberate Soviet policy meant to destroy the will of the Ukrainian people. Their quest is in some ways similar to that of Armenian groups who hope to gain recognition of the genocide of Armenians that took place in the Ottoman empire during World War I. A big step for Ukrainians occured in 1984 when the U.S. Congress set up the Commission on the Ukraine Famine to compile the information available on the famine. The Committee concluded: There is no doubt that large numbers of inhabitants of the Ukrainian SSR and the North Caucasus Territory starved to death in a man-made famine in 1932 1933, caused by the seizure of the 1932 crop by Soviet authorities. Answer Caption The output for each more than quadrupled. Chapter 28 Section 4 905

Independent Practice Have students write two statements, one that argues for collectivization and one that argues against it. Using the Think- Write-Pair-Share strategy (TE, p. T23), have students share and discuss their statements. As students complete their charts, circulate to make sure they list collectivization as one of the main points of the five-year plans. For a completed version of the chart, see Note Taking Transparencies, 182 Food as a Weapon In 1932, when peasants failed to meet unrealistic crop quotas, Stalin retaliated by seizing all of their grain to sell on the market, leaving millions to starve. Below, a woman and her son search for food during the famine. Describe the effect of Stalin s ruthless policies on the production of oats, wheat, and potatoes. Soviet Agriculture Output 1928 and 1932 Output (in millions of metric tons) 50 40 30 20 10 0 Potatoes Wheat Oats Year 1928 1932 SOURCE: B.R. Mitchell, European Historical Statistics, 1750 1970 famine. Later called the Terror Famine, it caused between five and eight million people to die of starvation in the Ukraine alone. Although collectivization increased Stalin s control of the peasantry, it did not improve farm output. During the 1930s, grain production inched upward, but meat, vegetables, and fruits remained in short supply. Feeding the population would remain a major problem in the Soviet Union. How did Stalin take control of the Soviet Union s economic life? Stalin s Terror Tactics In addition to tactics like the Terror Famine, Stalin s Communist party used secret police, torture, and violent purges to ensure obedience. Stalin tightened his grasp on every aspect of Soviet life, even stamping out any signs of dissent within the Communist elites. Terror as a Weapon Stalin ruthlessly used terror as a weapon against his own people. He perpetrated crimes against humanity and systematically violated his people s individual rights. Police spies did not hesitate to open private letters or plant listening devices. Nothing appeared in print without official approval. There was no free press, and no safe method of voicing protest. Grumblers or critics were rounded up and sent to the Gulag, a system of brutal labor camps, where many died. The Great Purge Even though Stalin s power was absolute, he still feared that rival party leaders were plotting against him. In 1934, he launched the Great Purge. During this reign of terror, Stalin and his secret police cracked down especially on Old Bolsheviks, or party activists from the early days of the revolution. His net soon widened to target army heroes, industrial managers, writers, and ordinary citizens. They were charged with a wide range of crimes, from counterrevolutionary plots to failure to meet production quotas. Between 1936 and 1938, Stalin staged a series of spectacular public show trials in Moscow. Former Communist leaders confessed to all kinds of crimes after officials tortured them or threatened their families or friends. Many of the purged party members were never tried but were sent straight to the Gulag. Secret police files reveal that at least four million people were purged during the Stalin years. Some historians estimate the toll to be much greater. Results of the Purge The purges increased Stalin s power. All Soviet citizens were now well aware of the consequences of disloyalty. However, Stalin s government also paid a price. Among the purged were experts in industry, economics, and engineering, and many of the Soviet Union s most talented Solutions for All Learners Answers Stalin s government took control of all businesses, distributed all resources, and made all basic economic decisions. Caption Output of potatoes, wheat, and oats all fell between 1928 and 1932. L4 Gifted and Talented L4 Advanced Readers Tell students that the Gulag looms large in the cultural life of the former Soviet Union. It is the subject of Nobel Prize winner Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn s first book, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch, in which Solzhenitsyn draws from his own Gulag experience to chronicle a typical day in a prison camp. Ask students to conduct further research to learn more about conditions in a Gulag. Then ask them to write a fictional letter from a Gulag prisoner to a family member, describing what life is like as a prisoner. The letter should include details about daily life in the camp, the prisoner s views on the Communist government, and the prisoner s hopes for the future after getting out of prison. 906 The Rise of Totalitarianism

The Soviet Union, 1928 1941 FINLAND LITHUANIA LATVIA ESTONIA EUROPE Leningrad POLAND Belorussian TURKEY Georgian Armenian Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 1938 Forced labor camp region Isolation camp region boundaries Gulag labor camps Black Sea Ukrainian Azerbaijan Stalingrad Caspian Sea IRAN Moscow Volga R. Aral Sea Uzbek Turkmen Archangel AFGHANISTAN 0 RUSSIAN SOVIET FEDERATED SOCIALIST REPUBLIC Kazakh 20 E Lake Balkhash Map Skills Stalin used terror and Gulag labor camps to control the huge, multinational Soviet Union. INDIA 1. Locate (a) Ukrainian (b) Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (c) forced labor camp region Kirghiz Tadzhik 40 E 60 E Ob River Arctic Ocean 80 E Yenisei River W N S E 120 E 140 E MONGOLIA Conic Projection 0 500 1000 mi 0 500 1000 km 80 N 160 E Lena River Lake Baikal 180 CHINA 2. Regions How does the map help explain why Russia was the most influential republic in the Soviet Union? 3. Make Inferences What does the number of labor camps in the Soviet Union indicate about Stalin s rule? For: Audio guided tour Web Code: nap-2841 Manchuria Sea of Okhotsk Amur R. KOREA 60 N Sakhalin Vladivostok Pacific Ocean JAPAN 40 N Stalin s Terror Tactics Introduce Display Color Transparency 170: Gulag Prisoners, by Nikolai Getman to show a painting from the Gulag. Tell students that Stalin used the threat of these labor camps to control life in the Soviet Union. Ask students to predict other methods that Stalin used. Color Transparencies, 170 Teach Ask What was the Great Purge? (the arrest and execution of hundreds of thousands of people whom Stalin suspected of disloyalty) How did the purges increase Stalin s power? (They made all Soviet citizens aware of the consequences of disagreement or disloyalty, and they replaced old revolutionaries with young party members loyal to Stalin.) How do you think this affected Soviets feelings toward their government? (Sample: It probably made them feel either more loyal or become more secretive.) Quick Activity Have students access Web Code nap-2841 to take the Geography Interactive Audio Guided Tour and then answer the map skills questions in the text. writers and thinkers. The victims included most of the nation s military leaders and about half of its military officers, a loss that would weigh heavily on Stalin in 1941, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Soviet Union? In what ways did Stalin s terror tactics harm the Communist Attempts to Control Thought At the same time that he was purging any elements of resistance in Soviet society, Stalin also sought to control the hearts and minds of Soviet citizens. He tried to do this by tirelessly distributing propaganda, censoring opposing ideas, imposing Russian culture on minorities, and replacing religion with communist ideology. Propaganda Stalin tried to boost morale and faith in the communist system by making himself a godlike figure. He used propaganda as a tool to build up a cult of personality around himself. Using modern technology, the party bombarded the public with relentless propaganda. Radios A Gulag labor camp in 1934 Independent Practice Link to Literature To help students better understand Stalinist Russia, have them read the selection from Arthur Koestler s Darkness at Noon and complete the worksheet. Teaching Resources, Unit 6, p. 54 Check answers to map skills questions. Refer students to the image of the Gulag on this page. To review this section, ask students to list Stalin s terror tactics. Solutions for All Learners L1 Special Needs L2 Less Proficient Readers L2 English Language Learners Ask students to refer to the Infographic on totalitarianism in the previous section. Have them create a table, listing the six basic features of a totalitarian state in one column, and how those basic features played out in Stalin s Soviet Union in a second column. For a review at the end of the chapter, consider asking students to add columns for Italy and Germany. Use the following resources to help students acquire basic skills. Adapted Reading and Note Taking Study Guide Adapted Note Taking Study Guide, p. 259 Adapted Section Summary, p. 260 Answers Map Skills 1. Review locations with students. 2. Russia was the largest republic and the capital, Moscow, was located there. 3. that Stalin needed the threat of labor camps to guarantee his dominance The country lost many of its intellectual and military leaders. Chapter 28 Section 4 907

Communist Attempts to Control Thought Introduce: Vocabulary Builder Have students read the Vocabulary Builder term and definition. Ask them if they have ever felt pressure to conform to a set of rules or customs from their parents or peers. Ask what it would be like if they felt this pressure from the state. Explain that those were the daily conditions in Stalinist Russia. Teach Ask How did Stalin control cultural life in the Soviet Union? (by distributing propaganda, censoring ideas, promoting Russification, and destroying religion) How do you think people reacted to the policy of Russification? (Sample: They probably resented it, because previously, they had been encouraged to celebrate their autonomy.) Quick Activity Read the Primary Source selection aloud or play the accompanying audio. Ask How long has Akhmatova s son been in prison? (almost a year and a half) What feelings does Akhmatova describe in this poem? (fear, desperation) Based on clues in this feature, how effective do you think censorship was in controlling writers? (Students may suggest that it was ineffective, as writers continued to work in secrecy, or they may suggest that it was effective, because writers could not publish or share their ideas with others within the Soviet Union.) AUDIO Witness History Audio CD, Anna Akhmatova Independent Practice To help students recognize propaganda, have them write two propaganda pieces for two different newspapers. One should be a statement in support of Stalin s policies and should be similar to the quote from Pravda at the beginning of the section. The other should be a statement that an illegal anti-stalinist newspaper might have printed. Both should incorporate facts about Stalin s policies in some way. As students write their statements, circulate to make sure they understand how the two newspapers would have different views of Stalin s policies. Vocabulary Builder conform (kun FAWRM) vi. to obey a set of standards Soviet Art In this Socialist Realist sculpture, a factory worker and a collective farmer raise the hammer and sickle together. Anna Akhmatova (ahk MAH tuh vuh), one of Russia s greatest poets, could not publish her works because she had violated state guidelines. Still, she wrote secretly. In this passage from Requiem, she describes the ordeal of trying to visit her 20-year-old son, imprisoned during the Stalinist terrors: Primary Source For seventeen long months my pleas, My cries have called you home. I ve begged the hangman on my knees, My son, my dread, my own. My mind s mixed up for good, and I m No longer even clear Who s man, who s beast, nor how much time Before the end draws near. Anna Akhmatova, Requiem (tr. Robin Kemball) Link to Humanities AUDIO Sergei Eisenstein and Early Soviet Cinema In the Soviet Union, filmmakers used motion pictures to express revolutionary ideals. Of all the arts, for us the cinema is the most important, said Lenin, who valued film as a propaganda tool. In 1925, director Sergei Eisenstein s Battleship Potemkin went far beyond propaganda to become true art. Eisenstein worked with a technique called montage, and loudspeakers blared into factories and villages. In movies, theaters, and schools, citizens heard about communist successes and the evils of capitalism. Billboards and posters urged workers to meet or exceed production quotas. Headlines in the Communist party newspaper Pravda, or Truth, linked enemies at home to foreign agents seeking to overthrow the Communist regime. Censorship and the Arts At first, the Bolshevik Revolution had meant greater freedom for Soviet artists and writers. Under Stalin, however, the heavy hand of state control also gripped the arts. The government controlled what books were published, what music was heard, and which works of art were displayed. Stalin required artists and writers to create their works in a style called socialist realism. Its goal was to show Soviet life in a positive light and promote hope in the communist future. In theory, socialist realism followed in the footstep of Russian greats Tolstoy and Chekhov; in practice it was rarely allowed to be realistic. Socialist realist novels usually featured a positive hero, often an engineer or scientist, battling against the odds to accomplish a goal. Popular themes for socialist-realist visual artists were peasants, workers, heroes of the revolution, and of course Stalin. If they refused to conform to government expectations, writers, artists, and composers faced government persecution. The Jewish poet Osip Mandelstam, for example, was imprisoned, tortured, and exiled for composing a satirical verse that was critical of Stalin. Out of fear for his wife s safety, Mandelstam finally submitted to threats and wrote an Ode to Stalin. Boris Pasternak, who would later win fame for his novel Doctor Zhivago, was afraid to publish anything at all during the Stalin years. Rather than write in the favored style of socialist realism, he translated foreign literary works instead. Despite restrictions, some Soviet writers produced magnificent works. Yevgeny Zamyatin s classic anti-utopian novel We became well known outside of the Soviet Union, but was not published in his home country until 1989. The novel depicts a nightmare future in which people go by numbers, not names, and the One State controls people s thoughts. And Quiet Flows the Don, by Mikhail Sholokhov, passed the censor. The novel tells the story of a man who spends years fighting in World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the civil war. Sholokhov later won the Nobel Prize for literature. Russification Yet another way Stalin controlled the cultural life of the Soviet Union was by promoting a policy of russification, or making a nationality s culture more Russian. By 1936, the U. was made up of 11 Soviet Socialist Republics. The Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic consisted of the old Russian heartland and was the largest and dominant republic. The other in which two or more images are juxtaposed in order to convey an emotional impact or a new idea. Eisenstein won international acclaim for his use of this technique in Battleship Potemkin. In fact, many critics consider the film to be the best ever made. It was also the last film over which Eisenstein had full control. Like other Soviet artists, Eisenstein was constrained by government regulations and expectations after Stalin s takeover. 908 The Rise of Totalitarianism

SSRs, such as Uzbek and the Ukraine, were the homelands of other nationalities and had their own languages, historical traditions, and cultures. At first, Stalin encouraged the autonomy, or independence, of these cultures. However, in the late 1920s, Stalin turned this policy on its head and systematically tried to make the cultures of the non-russian SSRs more Russian. He appointed Russians to high-ranking positions in non-russian SSRs and required the Russian language to be used in schools and businesses. War on Religion The Communist party also tried to strengthen its hold on the minds of the people by destroying their religious faith. In accordance with the ideas of Marx, atheism, or the belief that there is no god, became an official state policy. Early on, the Communists targeted the Russian Orthodox Church, which had strongly supported the tsars. Many priests and other religious leaders were among those killed in the purges or sent to die in prison camps. Other religions were persecuted as well. At one show trial, 15 Roman Catholic priests were charged with teaching religion to the young, a counterrevolutionary activity. The state seized Jewish synagogues and banned the use of Hebrew. Islam was also officially discouraged. The Communists tried to replace religion with their own ideology. Like a religion, communist ideology had its own sacred texts the writings of Marx and Lenin and its own shrines, such as the tomb of Lenin. Portraits of Stalin replaced religious icons in Russian homes. However, millions of Soviets continued to worship, in private and sometimes in public, in defiance of the government s prohibitions. How did Stalin use censorship and propaganda to support his rule? Soviet Society Under Stalin The terror and cultural coercion of Stalin s rule made a mockery of the original theories and promises of communism. The lives of most Russians did change. But, while the changes had some benefits, they were often outweighed by continuous shortages and restricted freedoms. The New Elite Takes Control The Communists destroyed the old social order of landowning nobles at the top and peasants at the bottom. But instead of creating a society of equals as they promised, they created a society where a few elite groups emerged as a new ruling class. At the head of society were members of the Communist party. Only a small fraction of Soviet citizens could join the party. Many who did so were motivated by a desire to get ahead, rather than a belief in communism. The Soviet elite also included industrial managers, military leaders, scientists, and some artists and writers. The elite enjoyed benefits denied to most people. They lived in the best apartments in the cities and rested at the best vacation homes in the country. They could shop at special The Party Versus the Church To weaken the power of the Russian Orthodox Church, the party seized church property and converted churches into offices and museums. Here, Red Army soldiers carry off religious relics from a Russian church. How might the policy of destroying churches in such a public way have backfired on the party? Soviet Society Under Stalin Introduce: Vocabulary Builder Ask students if they know what the word elite means. (a small, priviledged group or ruling class) Ask them who they think probably comprised the elite in Soviet society. (members of the Communist party) Then have them read the Vocabulary Builder term and definition. Ask What do you think the elites would gain access to that the rest of Russia probably would not? (better housing, better jobs, better food) Teach Ask How did life change under Soviet rule for those not in the elite party? (Though they had access to free schooling, free medical care, and inexpensive housing, key necessities remained scarce.) Quick Activity Divide the class into small groups. Using the Idea Wave strategy (TE, p. T22), ask students to decide whether or not women s lives improved under Soviet rule. Independent Practice Have students fill in the Outline Map The Soviet Union in the 1930s and label the SSRs and the major industrial centers. Teaching Resources, Unit 6, p. 57 Circulate to make sure students are correctly labeling the SSRs on their Outline Maps. Administer the Geography Quiz. Teaching Resources, Unit 6, p. 57 History Background The Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church survived more than half a century of Communist persecution. Under Stalin, clergy were often imprisoned and killed because of their beliefs. Church buildings were destroyed or converted for government uses. The government softened its policy towards the church in the late 1940s, but then cracked down again under Khrushchev and Brezhnev in the 1950s and 1960s. After the fall of the Communist government in 1991, the Church experienced a revival in the Russian Federation. Its membership has swelled to perhaps as many as 80 million people. One Muscovite put it this way: The Orthodox Church is perhaps the last, lone symbol of Russian national identity to have survived communism more or less intact. People... want and need such a symbol. Answers Caption For the religious, it would encourage secret worship and dislike of the Communist Party. Stalin used censorship and propaganda to glorify his work and stifle those who did not agree with him. Chapter 28 Section 4 909

Soviet Foreign Policy Introduce: Key Terms Have students find the key term Comintern (in blue) in the text and explain its meaning. Ask What was its purpose? (to encourage worldwide revolution) Ask students to speculate on how Western nations might view this goal. Teach Ask What foreign policy goals did both Lenin and Stalin pursue? (to bring about a worldwide revolution and to win the support of other countries) Lead students in a discussion of how these goals were incompatible. Then ask What progress did the Soviet Union make toward the goal of winning the support of other nations? (It slowly won recognition from Western powers, increased trade with them, and joined the League of Nations.) Independent Practice Have students make a Venn diagram comparing the goals and practices of Stalin and Lenin. Have them refer back to Chapter 26 for more information on Lenin. To review this section, ask students to summarize the Soviet Union s foreign policy goals. (to bring about worldwide revolution, to gain support of other nations) Check Reading and Note Taking Study Guide entries for student understanding. Vocabulary Builder access (AK ses) n. the ability to get and use Crowded Lives At the start of the first Five-Year Plan, millions of Soviets moved from the country to cities to take jobs in new industrial plants. This influx led to extremely crowded living conditions. These men gather in close quarters in a Soviet hostel in the early 1930s. How does this photograph reflect the drawbacks of a centrally planned command economy? stores for scarce consumer goods. On the other hand, Stalin s purges often fell on the elite. Benefits and Drawbacks Although excluded from party membership, most people did enjoy several new benefits. The party required all children to attend free Communist-built schools. The state supported technical schools and universities as well. Schools served many important goals. Educated workers were needed to build a modern industrial state. The Communist party also set up programs for students outside school. These programs included sports, cultural activities, and political classes to train teenagers for party membership. However, in addition to important basic skills, schools also taught communist values, such as atheism, the glory of collective farming, and love of Stalin. The state also provided free medical care, day care for children, inexpensive housing, and public recreation. While these benefits were real, many people still lacked vital necessities. Although the state built massive apartment complexes, housing was scarce. Entire families might be packed into a single room. Bread was plentiful, but meat, fresh fruit, and other foods remained in short supply. Women in the Soviet Union Long before 1917, women such as Nadezhda Krupskaya and Alexandra Kollontai worked for the revolution, spreading radical ideas among peasants and workers. Under the Communists, women won equality under the law. They gained access to education and a wide range of jobs. By the 1930s, many Soviet women were working in medicine, engineering, or the sciences. By their labor, women contributed to Soviet economic growth. They worked in factories, in construction, and on collectives. Within the family, their wages were needed because men and women earned the same low salaries. How did Communist schools benefit the state and the Communist party? Answers Caption The people in the photograph seem to be living in cramped and crowded conditions, indicating the failure of planning to meet people s needs. Schools taught communist values but also gave more students opportunities for higher education and extracurricular programs. History Background Educating the Youth The Soviet government used schools and youth groups to indoctrinate young people with communist ideals. One Soviet reader for elementary students began with this assertion: The first country of socialism in the world became the first country of children s happiness in the world. The Communist Party also set up three youth groups: the Little Octobrists, for young children, the Young Pioneers, for children ages 9 to 14, and the Komsomol, for young Soviets ages 14 to 28. Komsomol members were often given better scholarships and jobs than non-members. They were also favored for Communist Party membership, with all of its advantages. 910 The Rise of Totalitarianism

Soviet Foreign Policy Between 1917 and 1939, the Soviet Union pursued two very different goals in foreign policy. As Communists, both Lenin and Stalin wanted to bring about the worldwide revolution that Marx had predicted. But as Soviets, they wanted to guarantee their nation s security by winning the support of other countries. The result of pursuing these two different goals was a contradictory and generally unsuccessful foreign policy. In 1919, Lenin formed the Communist International, or Comintern. The purpose of the Comintern was to encourage world-wide revolution. To this end, it aided revolutionary groups around the world and urged colonial peoples to rise up against imperialist powers. The Comintern s support of revolutionary groups outside the Soviet Union and its propaganda against capitalism made Western powers highly suspicious of the Soviet Union. In the United States, fear of Bolshevik plots led to the Red Scare in the early 1920s. Britain broke off relations with the Soviet Union when evidence revealed Soviet schemes to turn a 1926 strike into a revolution. Even so, the Soviet Union slowly won recognition from Western powers and increased trade with capitalist countries. It also joined the League of Nations. However, mistrust still poisoned relations, especially after the Great Purge. How did the Soviet Union s foreign policy goals contradict one another? Looking Ahead By the time Stalin died in 1953, the Soviet Union had become a military superpower and a world leader in heavy industry. Yet Stalin s efforts exacted a brutal toll. The Soviet people were dominated by a totalitarian system based on terror. The reality of communism fell far short of Lenin s promises. Most people in the Soviet Union lived meager lives compared with people in the West. 4 Terms, People, and Places 1. What do many of the key terms listed at the beginning of the section have in common? Explain. 2. Reading Skill: Identify Main Ideas Use your completed chart to answer the section Focus Question: How did Stalin transform the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state? Comprehension and Critical Thinking 3. Identify Effects What were the goals and results of Stalin s five-year plans? How did the effects differ between industry and agriculture? 4. Contrast How did the command economy under Stalin differ from a capitalist economy? 5. Synthesize Information What methods did Stalin use to create a totalitarian state? 6. Synthesize Information One historian has said that socialist realism was communism with a smiling face. What do you think he meant? 7. Compare Compare life under Stalin s rule with life under the Russian tsars. Progress Monitoring Online For: Self-quiz with vocabulary practice Web Code: naa-2841 Writing About History Quick Write: Choose an Organization Compare-and-contrast essays are often organized either point by point or by block. The first organization involves a discussion of one idea first, followed by the discussion of another, and emphasizes the two ideas. The second discusses all of the similarities, followed by all the differences, and emphasizes the comparison or contrast itself. Write an outline for each type for an essay comparing and contrasting the results of the Five-Year Plans in industry and agriculture. Assess and Reteach Assess Progress Have students complete the Section Assessment. Administer the Section Quiz. Teaching Resources, Unit 6, p. 47 To further assess student understanding, use Progress Monitoring Transparencies, 121 Reteach If students need more instruction, have them read the section summary. Reading and Note Taking Study Guide, p. 260 Adapted Reading and L1 Note Taking Study Guide, p. 260 Spanish Reading and Note Taking Study Guide, p. 260 Extend L4 Tell students that in the 1990s, the breakup of the Soviet Union led to a revival of religion, particularly the Russian Orthodox Church. Ask students to form groups and discuss this question: Why do you think the Soviets were unsuccessful in their attempt to destroy religion? Answer By aiding revolutionary groups in other countries and urging colonial peoples to rise up against imperialist powers, the Soviet Union also undermined potential trade relationships. L2 L2 Section 4 Assessment 1. Most of the terms apply to changes that resulted from Communist rule. 2. Stalin brought all economic activity under government control, and he used terror tactics to control Soviet life. 3. The five-year plans were aimed at building up and improving industry and agriculture. The plans resulted in progress in industry but failed to increase agricultural output. Peasants resisted collectivization. 4. Command: government controls economy; Capitalist: free market controls most economic decisions. 5. tightened control and used force to punish opposition or protest 6. Soviet policy dictated that artists could only show Soviet life in a positive light. 7. Both repressed opposition, rejected democracy, tried to build up industry, and carried out programs of russification. However, the tsars supported religion whereas Stalin opposed it. Writing About History Students outlines should reflect understanding of the two types of organization. For additional assessment, have students access Progress Monitoring Online at Web Code naa-2841. Chapter 28 Section 4 911