The Policies and Sanctions of Joseph Stalin The Bolshevik revolution of 1917 was a ‘new model of modernization’ for Russian society and government. Although it changed society profoundly, the Stalin revolution, 1928-1932, may have had a more dramatic effect on the society and government of Russia. The sanctions that Stalin imposed in the late 1920’s created the tension and opposition that led to the mass repression of the mid thirties. One of his first governmental changes was called the Five Year Plan. The plan involved major economic and social changes, which were based on some of Marx's ideas. The five year plan was designed to strengthen and enrich the country, make it militarily and industrially self-sufficient, lay the groundwork for a true workers’ society, and overcome the Russian reputation for backwardness. In a speech in 1929, Stalin said "We are becoming a country of metal, a country of automobiles, a country of tractors. And when we have put the USSR in a motor car and the muzhik in a tractor. . . we shall see which countries may then be 'classified' as backward and which as advanced." (Palmer/Colton 763). In order to relieve Russia from being considered a backward country, Stalin said that they (the Russians) must achieve some sort of economic prowess. In order to achieve this 'economic prowess', Stalin set up an agency called the Gosplan to administer a new economic policy. The Gosplan had total control over anything remotely concerning economics. They determined how much of every article the country should produce, how much national effort should go into the formation of capital, and what wages each class of workers would receive. They decided which raw materials to get, how much to buy, what to produce with these materials, and who would be allowed to work on the materials. All decision were made at the top. An example of the authority that the Gosplan had was that they would only order the exa...
