Stalin's 5 Year Plan example essay topic

Alex BelingerIndependent Study World History 7/28/02 On November 1923, German army veteran and leader of an extremist party, Adolf Hitler climbed onto a table and fired his pistol. "The National Socialist revolution has begun!" Hitler's rise to power is one of the most significant events of our century. People today still debate how and why Hitler's totalitarian dictatorship in the 1930's was such a big success with support of many Germans. At the time of Hitler's rise, Germans were in a rough time of sorrow and unemployment. In order to stabilize the economy many workers were needed to reconstruct highways, houses and forests.

Demand for Military hardware stimulated business and helped eliminate unemployment. Propaganda was used to encourage young men to join programs like "Strength Through Joy", which offered vigorous outdoor vacations that also make them physically fit for military service. The Nazi's indoctrinated young people with their racist ideology. Women weren't allowed to be work in upper-level jobs and turned away from universities. Hitler's goal to keep women in the home applied mainly to the privileged. Women were needed for work when the industry expanded.

In his fanatical anti-Semitism, Hitler set out to drive Jews from Germany. Germans were not allowed by law to interact with Jews in any way. Mobs went around Jewish towns at night attacking harmless people. With the help of two strong imperialistic countries, Hitler sought out to take over the world. Germans planned attacks on Russia, they pushed troops through the vast tundra of Russia, weakening the Germans.

Russia used this to advantage and forced a counterattack and were advancing into Eastern Europe. Nazis mas ace more than six million Jews in what became known as the Holocaust. B. Lenin's sudden death in 1924 set off a power struggle among Communist leaders. The 90 chief contenders were Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. Stalin, by contrast, was neither a scholar nor an orator. He was, however, a shrewd, political operator and behind-the-scenes organizer.

Stalin's cautious view of Lenin's Marxist's ideology integrated with concentrating on building socialism at home first. Trotsky fled into exile in 1929. Later, he was murdered in Mexico by a Stalinist agent. Stalin's five-year plans set high production goals, especially for heavy industry and transportation. The government pushed workers to succeed and punishing those who did not. Despite the production in some areas, Soviet workers had little to show for their sacrifices.

Some peasants improved their lives, becoming skilled factory workers or managers. Overall, though, standards of living remained poor. The economy's plan was meeting production quotas, which resulted in high quantity low quality products. Peasants were forced to work on collectives, large farms owned and operated by peasants as a group. The state set all prices and controlled access to farm supplies. Peasants were forced to give up most of their agricultural crops in order to meet Stalin's needs.

Stalin targeted kulaks, wealthy peasants, for special treatment. He sent them to labor camp where thousands were overworked or were executed. Collectivization took a horrendous toll. Peasants grew angry at Stalin's 5 year plan.

Between 5 and 8 million people died in Ukraine alone. C. As Stalin's plan moved along in full force, the United States stayed out of the League of Nations. Many Americans feared the joining the league might lead to involvement in future foreign wars. In the 1920's, the United States took a leading role in international diplomacy. It sponsored the Kellogg-Brand Pact, pressed for disarmament, and worked to reduce German reparations. Fear of bomb-throwing radicals and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia set off a "Red Scare" in 1919 and 1920. Police rounded up suspected foreign-born radicals, and a number were expelled from the United States. D. Jewish people try to establish a state of Jews in Palestine.

The most distinguished among them was the Nobel laureate in physics, Albert Einstein. Most of the refugees settled in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. The great Albert Einstein raised questions about Newtonian science, which compared the universe to a machine that operated according to absolute laws. Peggy Guggenheim brought famous art to America. Born into one of New York's elite Jewish families, Guggenheim spent her life embracing the avant-garde in art and literature.

During the war, Jews were forced to move from their homes in order to escape Hitler's wrath. Moving to America was a good solution. 60 percent of all Jews were skilled workers.