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Collectivisation
Stalin begins collectivisation of agriculture... private land now belonged to the state -
Censorship of literature
The Central Committee stated that the State had the right to exercise guidance over literature. This effectively introduced censorship over literature. -
Trotsky exiled to Kazakstan
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First 5 year plan
First five-year plan: Stalin announced the beginning of state industrialisation of the Soviet economy. -
Trotsky banished from USSR
Trotsky was found guilty of being a counter-revolutionary and was banished from the Soviet Union. He was given refuge in Turkey and settled near Istanbul. While in Turkey he published his “History of the Russian Revolution”. -
Bukharin expelled from Politburo
Bukharin was expelled after Stalin rejected the NEP in 1928 -
The Politburo approved “On Measures for the Elimination of Kulak Households in Districts of Comprehensive Collectivisation”
This document divided Kulaks into three categories:
1. Those that should be shot or imprisoned
2. Those that should be deported
3. Those that should be expelled from the Kolkhoz and given areas of poor land. -
Dizzy with success
Stalin published his article “Dizzy with Success” in which he called for a temporary halt to collectivisation claiming that the collectivisation quota outlined in his 5 year plan had been reached and that “some of our comrades have become dizzy with success and for the moment have lost clearness of mind and sobriety of vision” -
Gulag established
The GULAG was officially established. Correctional forced labour camps had been used previously but were now named. They were to be used to house those individuals that were a threat to or disrupted the functioning of the Soviet State. They began housing kulaks immediately -
End of First 5 year plan
Stalin announced that his first Five Year Plan, introduced in 1928, had been such a success that he was ending it a year early. The first Five Year Plan had seen:
An increase in the production of raw materials, iron, steel etc -
Second 5 year plan announced
Plan proposed to: continue to increase industrial production in raw materials, iron, steel etc
improve communications and infrastructure
increase production of electricity
introduce new industries
increase production of consumer goods -
Sergei Kirov assassinated
Kirov was a member of the Politburo who had disagreed with some of Stalin’s policy. It is likely that the assassination was carried out on Stalin’s orders -
Abortion banned and divorce regulated
In a bid to halt the falling population, abortion, which had previously been free to all women, was now banned. Divorce was also made more difficult and payments to those with large families were introduced. The move was dubbed the ‘Great Retreat’ due to the shift in stance from the 1920s when the family had been considered a bourgeois and free love had been encouraged. -
Moscow Trials: Trial of the 16 began
Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev were the primary defendants, began, after being accused for Kirov's death -
Moscow trials: Trial of the 16 ended
The defendants in the Trial of the Sixteen were executed. -
Moscow trials: second trial began
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Moscow Trials: The Second Trial ended
Of seventeen defendants, all but four were sentenced to death. -
Third 5 year plan introduced
Its goal was to prepare USSR for war with Germany -
Moscow trial: Trial of the 21 (third show trial) began
Bukharin was the primary defendant -
Moscow trial: Trial of the Twenty One ended
defendants were executed -
Stalin announced end of The Great Purge
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Nazi-Soviet Pact
The Treaty officially agreed to maintain a non-aggression stance and increase trade between themselves. Privately the treaty agreed to divide Eastern Europe between themselves with Germany taking Western Poland and Czechoslovakia. -
Hitler invaded Poland
Prompted the start of WW2 -
Third 5 year plan ended
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Hitler invaded Russia
Operation Barbarossa-- Although Stalin knew that Hitler would break the Nazi-Soviet Pact and invade Russia he had not expected the invasion until mid 1942 at the earliest. Consequently the Soviet Army was not prepared and was initially pushed back. -
Churchill signed treaty with Stalin
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Battle of Stalingrad began
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Germans defeated at Stalingrad
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Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference was a meeting between Stalin, Churchill and Roosvelt to discuss details of the end of the war. It was agreed among other things that:
Germany and Berlin would be divided into four occupied zones – Soviet, British, French and American
Prisoners of war would be returned to their country of origin
Poland would be allowed to stage free elections