Stalin: Founder and controversial figure of the Soviet system As the leader of the Soviet Union, Stalin's name is not foreign to the Chinese people. After Lenin's death, he held the supreme power of the Soviet Union for three decades and is known as the true architect of the Soviet system.
Under his leadership, the Soviet Union experienced numerous major historical events that had a profound impact on the world. However, just as history is always full of controversies, Stalin was no exception.
Compared with other historical figures, he is even more unlucky, because doubts and criticisms come unusually early and quickly. Only three years after his death, the 20th National Congress of the Soviet Union was held, and his successor, Nikita Khrushchev, made a "secret report" in front of the communist parties of various countries, listing many mistakes of Stalin's rule and subversively criticizing him.
The report quickly attracted worldwide attention, and the Soviet people, after experiencing the shock of the collapse of faith, began to reflect on the corruption of the cadres of the time, and they were eager to know whether Stalin had amassed an astonishing fortune after years in power.
In order to answer this question, Khrushchev specially set up a liquidation group to investigate how much property Stalin actually had. However, when the investigative report was on the table, everyone fell silent.
The expected astronomical figures did not materialize, but the real figures made everyone feel ashamed. According to the count, Stalin left only a few pipes, cigarette cases, old clothes and some worthless furniture.
As for the deposits, he only had 900 rubles in his passbook, which was equivalent to more than 200 dollars, while the annual salary of Truman in the United States at that time was 100,000 dollars.
This result made it clear that Stalin did not pursue personal wealth, but devoted all his energies to the building of the state.
What is the historical background behind Stalin's historical image and controversial acts? Why did the Stalinist model focus on heavy industry? All of this provokes us to think.
Although the textbook succinctly states that "the emphasis on heavy industry and the neglect of light industry has led to uneven economic development" as the core feature of the Stalinist model, we still want to delve into why Stalin placed heavy industry in such an important position.
At the beginning of the Soviet Union, the tsarist ** had a long period of economic and cultural backwardness, and the small-scale peasant economy was dominant. According to traditional thinking, vigorously developing agriculture and gradually developing industry seems to be the surest way to build socialism.
However, Stalin had a different view of the construction of socialism, and he firmly believed that capitalism in Britain and the United States developed rapidly because the good environment was created for the seeds of capitalism to take root and flourish in the feudal era.
Stalin believed that as long as the social system was changed, society as a whole would develop rapidly. However, for the USSR, the conditions for building socialism were not as superior as those of Britain and the United States.
In the early days of the Soviet Union's construction of socialism, because the predecessor of Tsarist Russia was a backward country, and the development of both socialism and capitalism was limited, it was necessary to find a way to quickly catch up with and surpass the West.
Stalin believed that state industry was an important part of the socialist economy, and its development could promote the development of the socialist economy more quickly. Therefore, Stalin advocated the industrialization of the country on the basis of which priority was given to the development of heavy industry and the production of the means of production by means of centralized industrialization.
Industrialization cannot be achieved by shouting empty slogans, the key is to solve the problem of funding. For the British and French and other old colonists, they obtained a lot of money through colonial plunder.
However, the Soviet Union had no overseas colonies, and its industrial products were relatively fragile and could not be profitably dumped against other countries. Faced with this situation, Stalin set his sights on the vast rural areas, using the "scissors difference" method to obtain funds for industrialization.
The pace cannot be slowed down, but on the contrary, the process of industrialization must be accelerated as quickly and to the maximum extent possible. ”
Stalin felt that the socialist Soviet Union, despite its vast territory, was isolated and helpless, and worried whether the capitalist countries would again join forces to intervene in the future, as they had done in the early days of Soviet Russia.
He put forward the viewpoint that "if you are backward, you will be beaten," stressing that "delaying development means being backward, and those who lag behind will be dealt a blow." He deeply reflected on the lessons of the history of old Russia, which was constantly harassed by foreign enemies because of its backwardness, such as Mongolia, Turkey, Sweden, Poland, Britain, France, Japan and other countries.
Therefore, Stalin was convinced that the USSR needed to close the gap with the advanced countries within 10 years, otherwise it would be in danger of being crushed.
It turned out that Stalin's doubts were not superfluous. In 1939, the Soviet Union signed the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact with Germany, but this was only a stopgap measure, neither side trusted the other, Hitler wanted to avoid fighting on two fronts, and Stalin needed more time to prepare.
This is also confirmed by Stalin's actions before and after the signing. On September 1, the Soviet Union amended the Military Service Law to lower the enlistment age to 19 years old, and even to 18 years in the case of secondary school graduates, while the length of service was extended accordingly.
After the introduction of the new military service law, the number of Soviet Red Army personnel increased significantly. By 1941, the size of the army had expanded from 1.94 million in 1939 to more than 4.2 million.
In response to the threat to the border, Stalin sent 500,000 reserve soldiers to the border at the end of March 1941. In addition, Stalin decided to rebuild the mechanized corps and in 1940 formed 9 mechanized corps, and in February 1941 he also approved the plan of the General Staff for the formation of 20 mechanized corps.
To support these mechanized troops, up to 320,000 tanks. Without the backing of the powerful industry of the Soviet Union, such a plan would not have even dared to be conceived.
Despite this, Stalin still felt inadequate, so he increased his investment in heavy industry and the defense industry, demanding that more factories be converted to the production of ** equipment.
He strengthened national defense construction at all costs, and in 1939 the national defense budget accounted for a quarter of the total budget, and by 1941 it had climbed to 434%。At the same time, he ordered the relevant departments to work overtime to carry out production, intensively built fortifications and airfields on the western border of the Soviet Union, and mobilized more than 100,000 people to participate in the construction.
It was planned that these works would not be completed until 1942, but in June 1941, Germany reneged on its promise and launched an undeclared attack on the Soviet Union. At this time, Stalin's five army groups to the western frontier were still on their way.
Obviously, Stalin foresaw Hitler's untrustworthiness and the possibility of war between the Soviet Union and Germany, but he did not foresee such a rapid German aggression against the USSR.
Can the parade be an hour or two earlier? "They were surprised by this, because at such a critical time, Stalin also intended to parade troops as originally planned.
Stalin gave clear instructions that press film studios should produce and distribute documentaries as soon as possible, and newspapers should cover the parade widely. He will give a report at the celebration and speak at the military parade.
His decision demonstrated the courage and determination of the Soviet Union to unite in its struggle and never give in. On November 7, Stalin paraded and spoke on Red Square, when the Germans were just over twenty kilometers away and could even see the Red Star on top of the Kremlin with a telescope.
After the parade, Soviet troops went directly to the front.
In difficult times of war, Soviet military parades shattered rumors that wanted to bring Stalin to its knees. With the widespread coverage of **, the morale of the Soviet military and civilians was greatly encouraged, and the determination to resist fascist aggression was strengthened.
And Stalin, with his tenacious will, finally succeeded in leading the Soviet people to defeat the fascist invaders and win the Great Patriotic War. However, few people know that behind Stalin's powerful image, there is actually a soft heart hidden.
This is perhaps the truest side of Stalin. In 1918, the 39-year-old Stalin married the 17-year-old Aliluyeva, who, despite her youth, was full of yearning for the revolution and threw herself into the cause of revolution even when her family was against it.
Aliluyeva began by assisting Stalin in her work and gradually rose to the rank of Lenin's secretariat. She was meticulous in her work, often working all night to translate telegrams, which made a deep impression on Lenin, so whenever there was an important task, it was entrusted to her.
In the 20s, the top leaders of the USSR, including the Stalins, lived a simple life. Although they own a small home, they still need to live with Aliluyeva's parents.
However, despite having a place to live, Stalin's family life remained poor. He once told his wife: "I never liked money, and I always had no money." This was also demonstrated in later published archives.
Stalin lived a simple and unpretentious life, and even after he became the leader of the USSR, his salary advances were not much, usually only a few dozen rubles. Stalin's archives contain a lot of receipts from which he received salary advances, testifying to the fact that his personal life was quite frugal.
In the early days of the founding of the Soviet Union, Lenin had very strict requirements for leading cadres, he forbade the use of state funds to issue bonuses or prizes, and even required members of the Soviet Union to hand over all their manuscript fees.
Stalin fully accepted such a way of life and adhered to it in practice. For example, when his wife, Aliluyeva, was studying chemistry at the Moscow Polytechnic Institute, she hid her identity and did not accept special treatment from the school, but lived in the school dormitory like everyone else, and applied for a scholarship from the school.
Due to her limited living expenses, Aliluyeva sometimes had to write letters to Stalin asking for money.
Sorry, I forgot to send you money. I will now ask my comrades to carry 120 rubles for you, I hope it will help you. "You know, Stalin in 1929 has become the undisputed supreme leader of the Soviet Union, and Aliluyeva, as the country's first lady, still often faces economic difficulties, which is unique in the history of ancient and modern China and foreign countries.
Whether money is needed or sent, whether it is fifty rubles or 120 rubles, it is enough to show the simplicity of Stalin's daily life.
Unfortunately, Aliluyeva was not able to accompany Stalin through the second half of her life. At the October Revolution Memorial Dinner in 1932, Aliluyeva committed suicide with a gun after returning home alone over trivial matters, which dealt a great blow to Stalin.
He was speechless for a long time after receiving the news, never married again, and moved out of his old house, which reminded him of painful pasts. According to their daughter Svetlana, the death of her mother emptied Stalin's heart, and since then he has also lost trust in others.
In his later years, Stalin's longing for his deceased wife became more and more intense. He hung Aliluyeva's ** in the Kremlin, replacing the previous office with the largest number of photographs of Lenin and Stalin.
He often ponders over these ** and forbids others from entering his room without permission, perhaps because he doesn't want others to see his affectionate side. However, this ban eventually had an effect on Stalin himself.
One morning in 1953, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and fell to the ground unaware. It was not until 10 o'clock in the evening that the staff carefully opened the door, but by this time Stalin had already missed the best time to treat him.
After a difficult rescue, he passed away at 9:50 on March 5, becoming the eternal memory of a generation of great men.
Stalin's material legacy is scarce, but his political legacy, the Soviet Union, has been lost in the long river of history. All we are left with is deep contemplation and endless sentimentality about his merits and demerits.