Stalin+3

**//Social Aspects (Bryce Stamper)-// Our leader, Joseph Stalin, whose name means the man of steel has proven to us that he is a very powerful man, but there are things that he is not telling us. He has not been telling us that the tens of millions of people that have been disappearing from our wondrous country have been sent to labor camps or worse executed. Josef's power has gone out of control from 1932-1933 he engineered a famine in the Ukraine that killed around 6-7 million innocent people. Others have decided to call this the worst gendercide of the century because so many people have been killed by our leader.** = = = Biography (Megan Henry): His full name is Joseph Stalin and he was born in Gori, Georgia on the 21st of December, 1879. As a child his mother was very protective of him since she had 3 other children before Stalin but they died. Stalin’s father was a boot maker. Also as a child he lived in poverty and he was a peasant. He studied at the Tiflis Theological Seminary. At the Seminary he joined a secret organization called Messame Dassy. The members of the Messame Dassy supported Georgian independence from Russia. Since Stalin was a communist he got kicked out of the Seminary for being one. In 1901 Stalin joined the Social Democratic Labor Party. On April 18th 1902 Stalin was arrested for coordinating a strike at the large Rothschild plant at Batum. After 18 months in prison Stalin was deported to Siberia. In 1904 Stalin escaped from Siberia and in a few months he was back organizing demonstrations and strikes. In 1905 Stalin was invited to meet Lenin in Finland because Lenin was impressed with Stalin’s achievements. ** Stalin’s path to power **  Stalin began a career in the Social Democratic Party in 1899 as a propagandist among Tbilist railroad workers. In the last years of czarist Russia (1905-17) Stalin was more of a follower than a leader. Stalin was Lenin’s choice to head the Commissariat for Nationality Affairs. Together with Yakov Sverdolv and Leon Trotsky, Stalin helped Lenin decide all emergency issues in the difficult first period of the civil war. During Russia’s civil war Stalin was a commander on several fronts. Within the party Stalin strengthened his position by dogged organizational work and devotion to administrative tasks. He was commissar for state control in 1919-23 and in 1922 he became secretary of the party. After Lenin’s death Stalin joined a troika (group) with Grigory Zinovgev and Kamenev to lead Russia. By his 50th Birthday (1929) Stalin had cemented his position as Lenin’s successor and entrenched his power as sole leader of the Soviet Union .**\**= =__The Political Situation of the Soviet Union(Garrett Downard)__- //**Joseph Stalin rules the USSR with an iron fist, yet the structure is weak and cracking, as it is based on control by fear; the people's fear of Stalin and Stalin's fear of his enemies and the people. Our 'gracious' leader is using a rule-by-terror method because he is becoming ever more paranoid. Stalin is seeing plots against him everywhere, and is becoming power mad in the process. His solution to these imaginary plots: the cleansing of all aspects of the Soviet Union. Stalin had 7 leading generals shot to death, and citizens found themselves imprisoned in a concentration camp, or dead, for meaningless 'crimes'. Stalin purged religion, by wiping it out of Russia. He imprisoned religious leaders and closed down the churches. Stalin's secret police enforced all of his bidding. Sergey Kirov had broken off from Stalin's party, but he soon became a threat to Stalin's rule and was murdered. No one has proof of whether or not Stalin arranged this, but he (Stalin) used the incident to order the arrest of some of his major opponents. Stalin __is__ doing a good job of industrializing the nation, although his work camps are necessary to this. The USSR is a strong and powerful nation, but it is one that is built on fear, paranoia, and a horrible abuse of power.**//=
 * Stalin's Takeover of Russia:**

STALIN’S ECONOMY (Kristen Couch) What Was Stalin’s Plan? When Stalin came to power, Russia was still not industrialized. This caused its economy to be weak. Thus Stalin developed his “Five Year Plans.” There were three sets of these plans and they were geared to industrializing Russia rapidly. Their layout was as followed:

__First Five Years (1928-1932):__ · All businesses went under government control. · The main production focused on coal, oil, iron, steel, and electricity. · Unrealistic targets were set and achievement of them was expected. Literally, no one met these targets. This created a sort of competition between managers. Superior ones (ones closest to the targets) were rewarded while inferior ones were severely punished. __ Second Five Years (1933-1937): __ · The targets were still in place and businesses continued producing the same sorts of goods. · Chemical industries were encouraged to grow. · New transportation (trains) were built and used. · Communication devices were improved. __ Third Five Years (1938-1941): __ · In the final Five Years, the industries took a huge step towards producing weapons. · That was a clue that the USSR was beginning to think about going to war.

How Did the People Feel About It? · Lenin had given people land in 1918. By 1924, even the poorest peasants had land to grow crops on. · After Stalin grouped their land together, people began to starve because they could no longer afford to buy food or grow their own. · Stalin tried to cover up his failures by turning the peasants against the “Kulaks”, or people who refused to give up their land. · There were also harsh punishments (including banishment to Siberia) for anyone who was considered uncooperative with the government.