Stalin’s 5-Year Plan was made to increase the country’s industrialization. The USSR had grown at a tremendous pace. Stalin came to power through a “system of terror” in which previous behavior or loyalty counted for nothing; arrests were random. The idea was to frighten people and keep them constantly off balance so no organized resistance could arise. By 1939 the system was perfected, and the Soviet population terrorized. Stalin maintained political terror in the form of periodic waves of arrests until he died. Lenin, the first leader of the Soviet Union, took over Ukraine in 1921 after 4 years of fighting. The Soviets immediately began shipping massive amounts of grain from Ukraine. After that, a drought occurred in Ukraine, resulting in widespread starvation and a surge of resentment against Lenin and the Soviets. To lessen the hatred, Lenin relaxed his grip on the country, stopped taking out so much grain, and encouraged a free-market exchange of goods. This gave hope to many Ukrainians. Stalin, however, did not like Lenin’s plan. He imposed the Soviet system of land management known as collectivization. Thus, he seized all privately owned farmlands and livestock, in a country where 80% of the people were village farmers. To sum up, Stalin organized a famine so perfectly that millions
Stalin’s 5-Year Plan was made to increase the country’s industrialization. The USSR had grown at a tremendous pace. Stalin came to power through a “system of terror” in which previous behavior or loyalty counted for nothing; arrests were random. The idea was to frighten people and keep them constantly off balance so no organized resistance could arise. By 1939 the system was perfected, and the Soviet population terrorized. Stalin maintained political terror in the form of periodic waves of arrests until he died. Lenin, the first leader of the Soviet Union, took over Ukraine in 1921 after 4 years of fighting. The Soviets immediately began shipping massive amounts of grain from Ukraine. After that, a drought occurred in Ukraine, resulting in widespread starvation and a surge of resentment against Lenin and the Soviets. To lessen the hatred, Lenin relaxed his grip on the country, stopped taking out so much grain, and encouraged a free-market exchange of goods. This gave hope to many Ukrainians. Stalin, however, did not like Lenin’s plan. He imposed the Soviet system of land management known as collectivization. Thus, he seized all privately owned farmlands and livestock, in a country where 80% of the people were village farmers. To sum up, Stalin organized a famine so perfectly that millions