Khalil Miller

English 9 Honors - Bell 3B

5/31/16
Research Paper
Russia, a country that went through many government and economic changes, was in a
poor state prior to the takeover of Stalin. At the beginning of WWI, Russias armies performed
poorly. Nicholas II appointed himself commander-in-chief, so he could take direct control of the
military from Grand Duke Nicholas, and shape or form the military into something successful.
He failed at this mission because he was away from his country and army so much that Russia
received no type of orders to keep the country together and on the right path. (Biography.com)
Due to his poor leadership, in 1917, two revolutions swept through Russia, ending centuries of
imperial rule and setting in motion political and social changes that would lead to the formation
of the Soviet Union. In March, growing civil unrest, coupled with chronic food shortages,
erupted into open revolt, forcing the abduction of Nicholas II, the last Russian czar. In 1912,
Lenin, then in exile in Switzerland, appointed Joseph Stalin to serve on the first Central
Committee of the Bolshevik Party. Stalin had continued to move up the party ladder, and in 1922
he became secretary general of the Central Committee of the communist Party, a role that
enabled him to appoint his allies to government jobs and grow a base of political support.
(History.com)
In addition to his rise to power and Russias state prior to his arrival, Stalins plans to
maintain his control over the nation somewhat succeeded, but didnt prevail at the same time. He
used his power to put fear and terror into peoples hearts and to get rid of people who went

against his beliefs and demands, such as the 20 million ordinary Russians he sent to the gulag, a
system of labor camps mostly in Siberia, Where perhaps half of the died. Also, he used his power
to forbid the Christian church and the Muslim religion, and to persecute any ethnic groups.
(bbc.co.uk) His main plan that proved how powerful and how much of a great leader he is was
the Five Years Plans, a series of nationalized plans for the economy development of the Soviet
Union. His main goal was to increase the output of industrial goods, and he placed emphasis on
electrical power, capital goods, and agriculture. He wanted to build up the Soviet Unions
economy and make it self-sufficient, as he feared his nation was falling behind and needed to
catch up. Even though Stalins plans only lasted up to plan three, he still transformed the Soviet
Union from an untrained society of peasants into an advanced industrial economy. (ibatpv.org)
As a result of Stalins plan to shape/form his unions economy to maintain control over
his nation, he went along with a plan to ally with the enemy. In 1939, on the eve of WWII,
Joseph Stalin and German dictator Adolf Hitler signed a nonaggression pact.(History.com)
Unofficially the pact was an agreement to split the territory between the two countries between
them, specifically dividing Poland and allowing the Soviets to conquer the Baltic states of
Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. The downfall of this plan between the two was when it took a
wrong as Hitler decided to attack the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. (Guides.lib.jjay.cuny.ed)
This attack was classified under the codename Operation Barbarossa. Adolf Hitler had always
regarded the German-Soviet nonaggression pact, signed on August 23, 1939, as a temporary
tactical maneuver to throw Stalin off into thinking Hitler and his nation was with them, when all
along they were against them. (Ushmm.org)