Research EssayVladimir Lenin officially took power of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic in 1917 with the Communist Party. The USSR erupted into civil war in 1918 between the Red Army, made up of Bolsheviks, and the White Army. The Red Army defeated the White Army in 1921 and the Communist Party gained total power. Eventually, the USSR was subjected to war communism, which further diminished its economy. After the death of Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin took control of Russia in 1924. He considered himself a Marxist. Stalin believed strongly in Bolshevism and supported Lenin until he came to power. Stalin eliminated everyone close to Lenin and established himself as dictator of Russia. He wiped out any opposition or anyone who challenged him. During the great purges of the 1930s, Stalin executed or imprisoned 35,000 soldiers and killed nearly every important leader of the time. Although Stalin supported Lenin as dictator, after Lenin's death he stripped Russia of Lenin's policies. Stalin began to develop his own policies, which he imposed on the Russian people under his dictatorship. Research Stalin's collectivization policy. How did Stalin change Lenin's policies? How did the Kulaks resist collectivization? What were the consequences of their resistance? Did the end justify the means? Joseph Stalin's policies largely changed the Soviet Union between 1924 and 1941. He wanted to develop Russian industry to be as developed and technologically advanced as countries like Germany. His policy of collectivization consisted of the act of grouping farms together to form large shared or collective farms. Stalin implemented policies aimed at eradicating wealthy farmers, known as Kulaks, from the Soviet Union. The...... middle of article......org.za/grade-11/challenges-capitalism-russian-revolution-and-establishment-communist-state(Internet)5. George Beers, “Master and Margarita”, Russian Collectivization. Accessed January 29. http://www.masterandmargarita.eu/estore/pdf/eren003_beers.pdf (Non Internet)6. OA Narkiewicz. Stalin, War Communism and Collectivization Soviet Studies, Vol. 18, no. 1 (July 1966), p. 20 http://www.jstor.org/stable/149830 (off the Internet)7. Naum Jasny. The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 32, no. 1 (February 1950), pp. 92-99 http://www.jstor.org/stable/20099624 (off the Internet)8. Massimo Livi-Bacci. Review of Population and Development, Vol. 19, no. 4 (December 1993), pp. 743-766 http://www.jstor.org/stable/2938412 (Non-Internet)9. Naum Jasny. The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 32, no. 1 (February 1950), pp. 92-99 http://www.jstor.org/stable/1928283 (access without Internet)