Overview
When Lenin died in 1924, Joseph Stalin seemed an unlikely successor: a dull administrator beside the brilliant Trotsky. Within five years he had outmanoeuvred every rival. He then launched a “revolution from above” — the Five-Year Plans Key term · from 1928 Five-Year Plans Centrally set production targets for the Soviet economy, beginning with the First Five-Year Plan in 1928, focused on heavy industry. Why it matters They made the USSR a major industrial power by 1941 — vital to victory over Germany — at a huge human cost and with chronic shortages of consumer goods. See in glossary → and forced collectivisation Key term · 1929–1937 Collectivisation The forced merger of private peasant farms into collective (kolkhoz) and state (sovkhoz) farms. Why it matters It gave the state control of grain supplies to fund industrialisation, but destroyed the peasantry's independence and contributed to the famine of 1932–33. See in glossary → — and consolidated his power through the Great Terror Key term · 1936–1938 Great Terror The peak of Stalin's repression, including show trials of leading Bolsheviks, a purge of the Red Army, and mass arrests and executions across Soviet society. Why it matters It eliminated any possible challenge to Stalin, but damaged the army and economy on the eve of war. It is central to debates about how far Stalin's rule depended on terror. See in glossary → and a pervasive cult of personality Key term · 20th century Cult of personality The use of propaganda to present a leader as heroic, wise and infallible — through images, songs, rewritten history and public ceremonies. Why it matters Stalin, Mao and other authoritarian leaders used it to build legitimacy and loyalty beyond the party. Khrushchev denounced Stalin's cult in 1956. See in glossary → .
Key dates
- 1922–1923 Stalin becomes General Secretary; Lenin’s Testament Key term · 1922–1923 Lenin's Testament Letters Lenin dictated in his final illness assessing the party's leaders, including a postscript recommending that Stalin be removed as General Secretary. Why it matters It could have ended Stalin's career, but the leadership chose not to publish it — showing how Stalin's rivals underestimated him. See in glossary → warns against him.
- 1924–1927 Stalin allies with Zinoviev and Kamenev, then Bukharin, to defeat Trotsky and the Left.
- 1928–1929 The First Five-Year Plan begins; Bukharin and the Right are defeated.
- Dec 1929 Stalin calls for the “liquidation of the kulaks Key term · 1920s–1930s Kulaks A label for supposedly wealthy peasants, applied in practice to any peasant who resisted collectivisation. Why it matters "Dekulakisation" meant shooting, deportation and dispossession of millions, and removed the most productive farmers from the countryside. See in glossary → as a class”.
- 1932–1933 Famine in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and elsewhere — the Holodomor Key term · 1932–1933 Holodomor The famine in Soviet Ukraine caused by collectivisation, excessive grain requisitioning and policies that blocked starving peasants from leaving; the name means "death by hunger". Why it matters Millions died. Whether it was genocide deliberately targeting Ukrainians is debated by historians; Ukraine and many other states recognise it as such. See in glossary → in Ukraine.
- Dec 1934 The murder of Sergei Kirov becomes the pretext for mass repression.
- 1936–1938 The Great Terror: show trials Key term · 1936–1938 Show trials Public trials in Moscow in which leading Old Bolsheviks such as Zinoviev, Kamenev and Bukharin confessed to invented crimes and were sentenced to death. Why it matters They destroyed Stalin's former rivals and taught the public that enemies were everywhere. Confessions were obtained through threats and torture. See in glossary → , the purge of the army, and mass operations by the NKVD Key term · 1934–1946 NKVD The Soviet ministry of internal affairs, which included the secret police, under Yagoda, Yezhov and then Beria. Why it matters It carried out arrests, executions and deportations during the Terror and ran the Gulag. Its leaders were themselves purged when Stalin needed scapegoats. See in glossary → .
- 1941–1945 The Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany.
- 5 Mar 1953 Stalin dies.
The struggle for power
Stalin’s post as General Secretary gave him control of party appointments, which he used to build a loyal network. He presented himself as a moderate, defended Lenin’s legacy and backed Socialism in One Country against Trotsky’s “permanent revolution”. His rivals underestimated him and failed to publish Lenin’s criticism.
Stalin is too rude and this defect, although quite tolerable in our midst and in dealings among us Communists, becomes intolerable in a Secretary-General.
Why this quote matters
Lenin's warning could have ended Stalin's career. The party leadership agreed not to publish it — an early example of how Stalin's rivals, each fearing the others, helped him survive.
Economic transformation
Stalin argued that the USSR must industrialise at breakneck speed to survive in a hostile world.
We are fifty or a hundred years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this distance in ten years. Either we do it, or we shall go under.
Why this quote matters
The speech justified the extreme pace and human cost of the Five-Year Plans in terms of national survival. Ten years later Germany invaded — which Stalin's defenders used to vindicate him.
- Industry. Heavy industry, coal, steel and electricity grew dramatically, and new industrial cities such as Magnitogorsk were built. Targets were often unrealistic, figures inflated, and consumer goods neglected. Model workers were celebrated through the Stakhanovite movement Key term · from 1935 Stakhanovite movement A campaign celebrating workers who exceeded their production quotas, named after the miner Alexei Stakhanov. Why it matters It was propaganda for the Five-Year Plans and a way to raise targets for everyone — resented by many workers as a result. See in glossary → .
- Agriculture. Collectivisation forced peasants into collective farms to secure grain for the cities and exports. Resistance was met with deportation of “kulaks”; peasants slaughtered livestock rather than surrender it. The famine of 1932–33 killed millions.
Terror and control
After Kirov’s murder, repression widened into the Great Terror. Old Bolsheviks confessed to absurd charges in show trials; most of the Red Army’s senior commanders were shot; and mass operations targeted “anti-Soviet elements” and national minorities. Around 700,000 people were executed in 1937–38 alone, and millions passed through the Gulag Key term · 1930–1960 Gulag The Soviet system of forced-labour camps, from the Russian acronym for the Main Administration of Camps. Why it matters Millions of prisoners passed through it. It was both an instrument of terror and a source of labour for mining, construction and timber in remote regions. See in glossary → .
Terror worked alongside propaganda: the cult of personality presented Stalin as the wise father of the nation, history was rewritten, and culture was bound to “socialist realism”.
Historians’ debate
Conquest argued that the Terror was directed from the top by Stalin personally and caused enormous loss of life — a view largely confirmed on Stalin’s role when Soviet archives opened.
Getty argued that the purges grew partly out of chaos and conflict between the centre and regional officials, and that initiatives from below escalated repression.
Fitzpatrick examined how ordinary people lived under Stalin — adapting, denouncing, and seeking advancement — to explain how the system functioned beyond the Kremlin.
Test yourself
How did Stalin use the post of General Secretary to win power? Reveal
It controlled appointments and promotions in the party. Stalin placed loyal supporters in key positions, who then voted for him at congresses and in the Central Committee.
What were the aims of collectivisation, and what were its consequences? Reveal
To secure grain for the growing cities and for export, to finance industrialisation, and to bring the peasantry under state control. It caused the deportation of millions labelled kulaks, the slaughter of livestock, a collapse in production and the famine of 1932–33.
How do Conquest and Getty differ in explaining the Great Terror? Reveal
Conquest stressed Stalin’s personal direction of the Terror from above; Getty emphasised pressures, chaos and initiatives from lower levels of the party and state that escalated the repression.
Key terms
- Collectivisation 1929–1937
-
The forced merger of private peasant farms into collective (kolkhoz) and state (sovkhoz) farms.
Significance: It gave the state control of grain supplies to fund industrialisation, but destroyed the peasantry's independence and contributed to the famine of 1932–33.
- Cult of personality 20th century
-
The use of propaganda to present a leader as heroic, wise and infallible — through images, songs, rewritten history and public ceremonies.
Significance: Stalin, Mao and other authoritarian leaders used it to build legitimacy and loyalty beyond the party. Khrushchev denounced Stalin's cult in 1956.
- Five-Year Plans from 1928
-
Centrally set production targets for the Soviet economy, beginning with the First Five-Year Plan in 1928, focused on heavy industry.
Significance: They made the USSR a major industrial power by 1941 — vital to victory over Germany — at a huge human cost and with chronic shortages of consumer goods.
- Great Terror 1936–1938
-
The peak of Stalin's repression, including show trials of leading Bolsheviks, a purge of the Red Army, and mass arrests and executions across Soviet society.
Significance: It eliminated any possible challenge to Stalin, but damaged the army and economy on the eve of war. It is central to debates about how far Stalin's rule depended on terror.
- Gulag 1930–1960
-
The Soviet system of forced-labour camps, from the Russian acronym for the Main Administration of Camps.
Significance: Millions of prisoners passed through it. It was both an instrument of terror and a source of labour for mining, construction and timber in remote regions.
- Holodomor 1932–1933
-
The famine in Soviet Ukraine caused by collectivisation, excessive grain requisitioning and policies that blocked starving peasants from leaving; the name means "death by hunger".
Significance: Millions died. Whether it was genocide deliberately targeting Ukrainians is debated by historians; Ukraine and many other states recognise it as such.
- Kulaks 1920s–1930s
-
A label for supposedly wealthy peasants, applied in practice to any peasant who resisted collectivisation.
Significance: "Dekulakisation" meant shooting, deportation and dispossession of millions, and removed the most productive farmers from the countryside.
- Lenin's Testament 1922–1923
-
Letters Lenin dictated in his final illness assessing the party's leaders, including a postscript recommending that Stalin be removed as General Secretary.
Significance: It could have ended Stalin's career, but the leadership chose not to publish it — showing how Stalin's rivals underestimated him.
- NKVD 1934–1946
-
The Soviet ministry of internal affairs, which included the secret police, under Yagoda, Yezhov and then Beria.
Significance: It carried out arrests, executions and deportations during the Terror and ran the Gulag. Its leaders were themselves purged when Stalin needed scapegoats.
- Show trials 1936–1938
-
Public trials in Moscow in which leading Old Bolsheviks such as Zinoviev, Kamenev and Bukharin confessed to invented crimes and were sentenced to death.
Significance: They destroyed Stalin's former rivals and taught the public that enemies were everywhere. Confessions were obtained through threats and torture.
- Socialism in One Country from 1924
-
Stalin's doctrine that the USSR could build socialism on its own without waiting for world revolution.
Significance: It appealed to party members' patriotism and weariness of revolutionary adventures, and cast Trotsky's "permanent revolution" as reckless.
- Stakhanovite movement from 1935
-
A campaign celebrating workers who exceeded their production quotas, named after the miner Alexei Stakhanov.
Significance: It was propaganda for the Five-Year Plans and a way to raise targets for everyone — resented by many workers as a result.