Stalin as a USSR leader, was a major campaigner of socialist idealism. Stalin, as a leader, recommended that the people uphold the Marxist and Leninist ideologies. Advocacy for a communist way of life had been a major campaign during this period. Stalin’s ways of leadership, ideologies of governance, and his policy on socialism during the period from 1927 to 1953 are referred to as Stalinism. Stalin greatly pushed for communism and advocated for the citizens to uphold socialism and work for the greater good of the society and the State. As a great supporter of communism, Stalin, as his nation’s head, decided to lead his nation in a socialist direction. Some of the most recognizable socialist ideologies were advocated by the Marxism and Leninism philosophies.
These propositions included; a one-party totalitarian police state, the system of socialism in the entire country, rapid industrialization, and collectivization of agriculture. Stalin was up to changing the country to a fully communist state. He was focused on ensuring that his policies were accepted by the masses. Stalin’s change of the USSR to a communist state was majorly seen through his advocacy for the collectivization of agriculture. He enthusiastically forged an aggressive and repressive policy against the Kulaks, who had taken control of the agricultural sector in the country. The Kulaks were perceived to be aiding the capitalist movement since they did not have the interest of the community through their agriculture but were focused on personal gain.
This was not what the Marxism-Leninism movements advocated for, and they were perceived by the socialists as sworn enemies of the State. Stalin was out to ensure that these Kulaks, or the ‘rich peasants,’ were dealt with and eliminated as a class. Stalin noted that “The characteristic feature in the work of our Party during the past year is that we, as a Party, as the Soviet power has developed an offensive along the whole front against the capitalist elements in the countryside; that this offensive …” Stalin knew that starting a war with the Kulaks was not going to be an easy task, so he had to strategize. The Kulaks had by themselves harvested 600 million poods of grain compared to the 80 million poods that were produced by the other individual farmers. This was Stalin’s greatest fear, and he, therefore, had to come up with a strategy to combat the Kulaks and push for collective agriculture.