Stalinism: A Radical Distortion of Leninism Some historians argue that Stalin’s regime was a logical and inevitable continuation of Lenin’s authoritarian rule. However, other historians view Stalin’s regime as a radical revision and distortion of the communist system. The Lenin regime allowed farmers to keep their surpluses, created a free market for small industries, and negotiated peace with the Germans to end World War 1. In contrast, The Stalin regime executed great purges, forced agricultural collectivization among farmers, nationalized industries, and went to war in World War 2. Evidence from Peter Kenez’ A History of the Soviet Union from the Beginning to End, Ronald Grigor Suny’s The Structure of Soviet History, and John Scott’s Behind the Urals, provide evidence that proves that Stalinism was fundamentally different from Leninism. Stalinism differed from Leninism due to Stalin’s violent regime and economic policies regarding agriculture and industry. Vladimir Lenin was a communist revolutionary who served as Chairman of People’s Commissars of the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1922. Vladimir Lenin was the first leader to establish Marxist policies. Leninism represents Vladimir Lenin’s interpretation of Marxism as well as Lenin’s economic, political, and foreign policies. Lenin also wanted the proletariat to overthrow the bourgeoisie and led the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution in 1917. To understand the main ideologies of Leninism, it is important to study Lenin’s role in the Bolshevik Revolution. Lenin’s “Letter to Central Committee Members” in Ronald Grigor Suny’s The Structure of Soviet History depicts Lenin’s original intentions with the Bolshevik revolution. Lenin wrote, “it would be an infinite crime on the part of the revolutionaries were they to let the chance slip, knowing that the salvation of the revolution, the offer of peace, the salvation of Petrograd, salvation from famine, the transfer of the land to the peasants”.1 This quote shows that Lenin was interested in freeing the Russians from famine and giving land to the peasants. Lenin led the Bolshevik Revolution and became head of the world’s first communist nation in 1917. Lenin believed in a centrally planned economy that acted as the state industrialist that protected the economic interests of the people. Lenin also knew that the Russian people desperately needed to withdraw from World War 1 and negotiated peace with the Germans with the Treaty of Brest Litovsk. The two economic policies pursued by Lenin were War Communism and the New Economic Policy. Lenin’s economic shift from War Communism to the New Economic Policy reflected Lenin’s deep belief in freeing the peasants and the farmers. War Communism was an economic policy established during the Russian Civil War in 1917 that nationalized industries and required farmers to sell their entire product to the government. The main goal for War Communism was for the government to be able to supply enough foods and weapons to the army. This policy restricted free trade and impacted farmers. For example, in Behind the Urals, John Scott stated, “During the civil war there were no military operations in Masha’s village, but her elder brother went to the front, and her father arrived home, wounded and sick with a trench malaria. The village livestock was requisitioned and 1 “Letter to Central Committee Members” in Ronald Grigor Suny, The Structure of Soviet History: Essays and Documents (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), p. 48 2 sent off to Moscow and Leningrad to feed the revolution.”2 This quote depicted the typical lives for Russians during the Civil War. Famine, war, and disease were rampant and Lenin realized this and knew it was necessary to withdraw from World War 1. Lenin felt that War Communism was essential during the war so that the government had enough food and weapons to stock the Red Army. This economic policy was seen as restrictive and violated the freedoms of the farmers and industrialists. Lenin realized that War Communism was not favoring the peasants and farmers so he implemented the New Economic Policy. In 1921, Vladimir Lenin proposed the New Economic Policy. This was an economic policy that was favorable to both farmers and peasants. “New Economic Policies” in Peter Kenez, History of the Soviet Union from Beginning to End discussed Vladimir Lenin’s economic policies. For example, Peter Kenez wrote, “The heart of the change was the abolition of requisitioning and the substitution of a tax in kind.”3 This basically meant that the farmers would not have to surrender their surplus to the government and would instead be taxed. This was considered to be an extremely favorable policy for the farmers. The New Economic Policy also favored the proletariats. Peter Kenez later described the New Economic Policy by writing, “Workers could freely sell their labor in either the private or the state sector of the economy. Skilled workers now received much better wages than the unskilled. The trade unions regained a limited 2 John Scott, Behind the Urals, (Indiana University Press, p. 121 3 Peter Kenez, A History of the Soviet Union from the Beginning to the End, (Cambridge University Press), p. 47 3 ability to protect the economic interests of workers.”4 Lenin nationalized large industries like the railroad and public utilities but allowed free trade among the peasants. While Lenin wanted a utopian socialist society that provided for all its citizens, Lenin knew that the free market would allow smaller industries to develop. In contrast, Stalin implemented economic policies that were even more extreme than War Communism. Joseph Stalin completely changed the economic policies of Lenin by forcing agricultural collectivization, nationalizing all industries, and implementing Five Year Plans. As a result, the Stalin regime represented a radical distortion to Leninism. The first economic policy imposed by Joseph Stalin was agricultural collectivization, which required farmers to work on state farms and surrender all their surpluses to the government. This was a forced policy that took away the economic freedoms of the farmers. The industrial workers were also nationalized and forced to work in exchange for food and shelter. Peter Kenez wrote, “No matter how much the peasants hated the new institutions, they were unable to protect themselves. Resistance was almost exclusively passive, taking such forms as the slaughter of domestic animals.”5 In short, the peasants were hopeless at fighting the all powerful Soviet state. Lenin dreamed about agricultural collectivization but he knew that it could not be forced on its citizens and could only be implemented when the Soviet economy was booming. Lenin realized this with War Communism and decided to charge farmers a tax in kind with the New Economic Policy. Lenin was more concerned with the livelihood of the farmers and gave the farmers more economic 4 Kenez, History of the Soviet Union, p. 24 5 Kenez, History of the Soviet Union, p. 87 4 freedom. As a result, Lenin would not have agreed with Stalin forcing the farmers to engage in collective agriculture. This is one huge reason why Leninism and Stalinism are fundamentally different. Furthermore, Stalin arrested and executed the “kulaks” or rich peasants, and annexed their land for the government. Joseph Stalin used the Cheka to arrest and execute the “kulaks” or rich peasants. John Scott described this purge when he wrote, “the Soviet power disfranchised, dispossessed, or liquidated more than a million kulaks and their families.”6 Stalin stereotyped the “kulaks” and depicted them as being the greatest problem in the USSR. Stalin’s purge of the kulaks represented a radical distortion of Leninism; in fact, Lenin wanted to give land back to the peasants. Ronald Grigor Suny’s The Structure of Soviet History provides Lev Kopelev’s insights into Stalin destroying the Kulak class. Lev Kopelev wrote, “The grain front! Stalin said the struggle for grain was the struggle for socialism. I was convinced that we were warriors on an invisible front, fighting against kulak sabotage for the grain which was needed by the country, by the five year plan.”7 Lev Kopelev depicted that Stalin’s rationale for agricultural collectivization was that it was imperative to fuel the Five Year Plans. Joseph Stalin also executed over one million of his own people during the Great Purges from 1936 to 1940. In Ronald Suny’s “Stalin’s Letter to Kosior and Chubar in Kharkov”, Stalin wrote, “repressions against the counter-­‐
revolutionary part of the spetsy who have attempted to poison and kill Communist patients are completely justified and essentially pale before the criminal activity of 6 John Scott, Behind the Urals, (Indiana University Press), p. 187 7 “The Last Grain Collections” in Suny, p. 234 5 these counter-­‐revolutionary bastards.” 8 Stalin transported millions of people in cattle cars to Siberian work camps. These workers were forced to work all day and many starved to death of froze to death and Siberia. Stalin did this to purge the Communist Party and the USSR of all potential opponents. Historians speculate why the great purge happened and John Scott stated that the purge got its origins in the October Revolution of 1917. Jeremy Smith wrote, “Many of the early national purges were connected directly to the reluctance of leaders to implement collectivization fully.”9 This shows how Stalin relied on agricultural collectivization and purges to fuel his Five Year Plans. The Five Year Plans contrasted greatly with Vladimir Lenin’s plans. Lenin favored the New Economic Policy, which allowed for the free market in some industries. The government still controlled larger industries, like railroads and utilities, but the peasants could engage in free market trade. Although Lenin knew that socialism was the goal, he knew that the free market could stimulate the economy and help fuel industrial growth. Lenin also wanted certain economic freedoms for farmers and established favorable agricultural tax policies. Lenin would have disagreed with Stalin’s Five Year Plans because it relied on agricultural collectivization and also eliminated the free market completely. Joseph Stalin realized that superpowers like the United States, Britain, and France had advanced industries. He also thought that it was imperative the Soviet Union rapidly expand industry or else people would lose faith in communism. As a result, Joseph Stalin prepared a new economic policy known as the Five Years Plans. 8 Suny, The Structure of the Soviet Union, p. 255 9 Jeremy Smith, Red Nations, (Cambridge University Press), p. 99 6 These plans consisted of massive, centrally planned, industrial projects. Joseph Stalin knew that agricultural collectivization was necessary for rapid industrial expansion because he could have direct control over both the farmers and the industrialists. Some historians still argue that Stalinism was an inevitable extension of Leninism. One argument that these historians would make is that the Five Year Plans and the nationalization of industries resembled Vladimir Lenin’s policy of War Communism. For example, Peter Kenez wrote, “the Soviet method of industrialization turned out to be an immense improvisation, a revival of the war economy. The times shared a great deal with the period of war communism.”10 While it is true that Vladimir Lenin nationalized industries and prevented free trade under War Communism, Lenin still had the intentions to give freedom back to the peasants, industrialists, and farmers. This is reflected in Lenin’s New Economic Policy. In contrast, Joseph Stalin nationalized industries when the USSR was not at war. In some ways, Lenin’s War Communism paved the way for the Five Year Plans because it set the precedent that government could centrally plan all industries. Leninism and Stalinism were fundamentally different and Lenin would be terrified if he knew about the Stalin regime, with its purges and agricultural collectivization. Although Lenin paved the way for a communist nation, the Stalin regime represented a radical distortion of Lenin’s ideologies. Lenin cared about economically uplifting the peasants, farmers, and proletariats. Stalin was only interested in expanding and defending his own power. As a result, Stalinism and Leninism are fundamentally different. 10 Kenez, A History of the Soviet Union From Beginning to End, p. 91 7 Works Cited Peter Kenez, A History of the Soviet Union from the Beginning to the End, Cambridge University Press, 1999. Scott, John, Behind the Urals, Indiana University Press, 1973. Smith, Jeremy, Red Nations, Cambridge University Press, 2013. Suny, Grigor Ronald, The Structure of the Soviet Union, Oxford University Press, 2014. 8