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the
deeply anticapitalist bolsheviks set about the task of laying
down the foundations of a socialist economy. to lenin and his
followers, this meant, first of all, the implementation of marxist
ideas about introducing a socialist mode of production based on
public ownership and a planned economy.
lenin realized that, in the economic sense, the new soviet russia
was not ready for the introduction of socialism. but he was firmly
convinced that russia would not be left on its own and that its bold
step toward socialism would be supported by the highly developed
countries of europe, which stood on the threshold of a world
socialist revolution. this, however, did not happen, and the
bolshevik revolution remained isolated in a world dominated by
搃mperialist?powers.
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soviet rulers became increasingly concerned that the country抯
economic weakness had serious implications for national security. in
1931 joseph stalin made this point quite clear: 揥e are fifty or a
hundred years behind the advanced countries. we must make good this
distance in ten years. either we do it or we shall be crushed.?ten
years later, nazi germany under adolf hitler invaded soviet russia
determined to crush it; thanks to stalin (despite his massive and
unforgivable errors) and the heroism of the soviet people, hitler抯
plans were thwarted. stalin抯 industrialization and the routing of
nazi germany in 1945 marked the soviet union抯 achievement of
great-power status in the industrial era.
russia抯 postwar enhanced international standing rested firmly on
the foundations of the economic, social, and cultural modernization
laid down under stalin. his rapid industrialization, in particular,
had provided the soviet union with the industrial capacity and
military might that enabled it to defeat nazi germany.
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