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Period: to
Civil war in Russia
Trotsky organizes Red Army; Stalin commands forces in Tsaritsyn, Petrograd (St. Petersburg), and elsewhere. -
Stalin elected General Secretary of the Communist Party
- Lenin appointed him.
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Death of Lenin
Stalin survives the reading of the Testament by the Central Committee in May. -
Trotsky removed
- He was removed from the post Commissar for War due to the new supporters that Stalin got after the election.
-
Zinoviev and Kamenev no longer needed
The election of new supporters of Stalin no longer needed these men -
Trotsky: life of Exile
- He was forced to leave the Soviet Union, never to return again.
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Start of Five Year Plans
Stalin carried out The New Economic Policy that was introduced by Lenin in 1921, but was in a much harsher way:- Stalin increased the pressure on factory workers by not only exceeding the target but often hoping it would be done before schedule
- Penalties for failure were severe; workers were forced to be sent a 100 miles to live in the cold and terrible conditions ( ex. Serbia )
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Period: to
First Five Year Plan
Targets were reached by the Oil Industry. -
Bukharin expelled
- When Zinoviev and Kamenev had been expelled from the party, Stalin no longer needed Bukharin. So, he turned on him and expelled him.
-
Collectivization gets intense
Stalin announces "liquidation of the kulaks as a class"; collectivization begins in earnest.
-intended to increase agricultural output from large-scale mechanized farms.
-To make tax collection more efficient
- However, living standards would drastically drop for peasants
-Later on the "Kulaks" were to be shot -
Stalin makes a Speech
- He makes his famous speech about how Russia is behind many advanced countries; Industry and agriculture had to be transformed and modernized
-
Period: to
Terrible Famine
Famine stretches across the Soviet Union; millions die -
Period: to
The Second Five Year Plan
-focused on heavy industry and set targets which were double and triple the 1932 levels. -
Sergei Kirov Murdered
Murder, by Stalin's agents, of Sergei Kirov. Beginning of "Great Terror," which continues until 1938. -
Wrongly Accused
Zinoviev, Kamenev, and others are arrested, accused of complicity in Kirov's assassination. -
Pensions and Sickness Benefits
Industrial workers improving, the were guarenteed free medical care from the new constitution -
Purges Continue
- urge of the army begins, top generals are tried and executed
- Everyone Stalin thought that was a threat to his position of power he had seacret police to shoot them.
- Kamenev and Zinoviev were shot in 1936 and in 1938 Bukharin was executed
- Stalin was the only one who remained out of the first 15 Bolshevik government.
-
Period: to
Third Five Year Plan
-Focused on light industry; this was so that consumer goods could raise the standard of living
- unsuccessful and threat of war spread -
End of Great Terror
At Eighteenth Party Congress, Stalin announces end of the Great Terror. -
Nazi-Soviet Pact is signed in Moscow
- Germany would exchange manufactured goods for Soviet raw materials
- This pact also meant that Germany and Russia would not attack another
- Enabled Germany to invade Poland without Russia interventing
-
WWII
When Germany invaded Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3. However, Poland was defeated by Germany and the Soviet Union. -
Positive Outcomes
-The USSR had overtaken Britain in Iron and Steel Production and was within 20% of Germany's output -
Trotsky Mudered.
Trotsky assassinated, by Stalin's agents, in Mexico City. -
Hitler invades Soviet Union
- On December 18, 1940, he signed Directive 21 the first operational order for the invasion of the Soviet Union.
- With 134 Divisions at full fighting strength and 73 more divisions for deployment behind the front, German forces invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, less than two years after the German-Soviet Pact was signed.
-
Period: to
Battle of Stalingrad.
Germans are defeated, marking the turning point in the war. -
End of war in Europe
Hitler commits suicide in bombed-out Berlin, ending war in Europe. Red Army controls all of Eastern Europe. -
Communists seize power in Czechoslovakia
Soviet take control over Eastern Europe -
Soviets explode their first atomic bomb.
- code name "First Lightning."
- In order to measure the effects of the blast, the Soviet scientists also made buildings, bridges, and other civilian structures in the surrounding area of the bomb.
-
Sino-Soviet Treaty signed
- Soviet Union sent aircrafts to chinese in Operation Zet as well as economic aid
- Allowed them to Focus on the Western Border where Nazi germany was building
-
Period: to
Korean War
-
Plots against Stalin
Announcement of Jewish "Doctors' Plot" against Stalin, plans for new wave of terror. -
Death of Stalin
Stalin was found lying on the floor in a pool of his urine. He was helpless and unable to speak, and his broken watch showed he had fallen at 7:30 pm
