SSU

  - Joseph Stalin was the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee from 1922 until his death in 1953. During that time he established the regime now known as Stalinism. As one of several Central Committee Secretariats, Stalin's formal position was originally limited, but he gradually gained power and became the party leader and ruler of the Soviet Union.  - Stalin launched a command economy in the Soviet Union , forced rapid industrialization of the largely rural country and collectivization of its agriculture. -While the Soviet Union  transformed from an agrarian economy to a major industrial powerhouse in a short span of time, millions of people died from hardships and famine that occurred as a result of the severe economic upheaval and party policies. - At the end of 1930s, Stalin launched the Great Purges, a major campaign of repression. Millions of people who were suspected of being a threat to the party were executed or exiled to Gulag labor camps in remote areas of Siberia or Central Asia. A number of ethnic groups in Russia  were also forced to move. Stalin in the Arts: 
 *    //Animal Farm//—George Orwell's novel, a history of the Soviet Union from the revolution to the Tehran Conference; Stalin served as the direct basis for the character Napoleon.
 *    //Nineteen Eighty-Four// — another work by George Orwell, that was inspired by Stalin's propaganda
 *    //The First Circle// — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's novel where Stalin is depicted as vain and vengeful, remembering with pleasure the torture of a rival, and dreaming of one day becoming emperor of the world.
 *    “Stalin Wasn't Stallin” — a song written by Willie Johnson and first recorded in 1943 by the Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet. It praises Stalin and the Soviet people in their efforts against the Nazis in World War II.
 *     “Stalin Vs. Mussolini”  --- a song by Gogol Bordell o

**__<span style="font-size: 120%; color: rgb(80, 47, 81); font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255)">Timeline of Events __**

<span style="color: rgb(109, 95, 95)">**<span style="font-size: 110%; color: rgb(140, 140, 140)">1929 Stalin achieves supreme power. 1929 Collectivisation introduced. 300,000 Kulak (well to do class of Russian peasants) families deported. 1929-1932 Famine causing death of 5-6 million peasants. 1928-1932 First Five Year Plan. 1932- Second Five Year Plan. 1935 Stakhanovite movement begins. ** <span style="font-size: 110%; color: rgb(140, 140, 140)"><span style="color: rgb(63, 44, 44); font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif">Stakhanovite movement: <span style="font-size: 90%; color: rgb(173, 173, 173)"><span style="color: rgb(66, 61, 61)">On August 30, 1935, coal miner Alexei Stakhanov was reported to have mined a record of 102 tons in a single shift, 14 times the normal amount. Publicity of this event was used to encourage socialist ambition in production, known as the Stakhanovite movement. It helped to spark rapid industrialization in the Soviet Union at a time when the capitalist world was suffering its worst depression. However, it also was seen by many workers as a form of speedup that undermined socialist unity. <span style="color: rgb(154, 141, 141)"><span style="color: rgb(255, 61, 61)"> <span style="color: rgb(255, 61, 61)"> Aleksei Stakhanov ** 1935 Great Purge begins following the murder of Kirov in 1934. ** <span style="color: rgb(25, 21, 21)"><span style="color: rgb(66, 51, 51); font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif"> It is estimated that the number of deaths associated with the Great Purge run from 681,692 to nearly 2 million. **<span style="color: rgb(25, 21, 21)"><span style="font-size: 110%; color: rgb(140, 140, 140)">1936 Show trials begin. 1937 Purge of Armed Forces begins. 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact ** <span style="display: block; font-size: 110%; color: rgb(26, 128, 147); text-align: center"> <span style="color: rgb(54, 90, 7)">  ** Social Realism ** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Social realism was critical of the socio-political environment that created these conditions. Social realism as an art form was used to express the "true" state of being. It was a tool used to educate the working class of socialist societies, on the goals of communism. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"> <span style="color: rgb(54, 90, 7)">

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