AA MASTER OF POLITICAL INFIGHTING, Joseph Stalin (1879–1953) cautiously consolidated his power and eliminated his enemies after Lenin’s death in 1924. Then in 1928, as undisputed leader of the ruling Communist Party, Stalin launched the first five-year plan — the “revolution from above,” as he termed it — the beginning of a radical attempt to transform Soviet society into a Communist state. The ultimate goal of this effort was to generate new attitudes, new loyalties, and a new socialist humanity. The means were constant propaganda, sacrifice by the people, harsh repression that included purges and executions, and rewards for those who followed the party line. Thus the Soviet Union in the 1930s became a totalitarian state.
Day Shift at MagnitogorskBeginning in 1928, Stalin’s government issued a series of ambitious five-year plans designed to industrialize the Soviet Union rapidly. The plans focused primarily on boosting heavy industry and included the building of a gigantic steel complex at Magnitogorsk in the Ural Mountains. Here, steelworkers review production goals at the Magnitogorsk foundry. (© Sovfoto)