In 1928, the newly empowered Stalin embarked on one of the most ambitious industrialisation programs in world history, leading to the establishment of the U.S.S.R as a pinnacle world superpower in less than half a century. Industrialisation was the primary goal of Lenin and Stalin, as well as many communist party members. The Soviet economy had made advances under Lenin's semi-capitalist N.E.P with its slight capitalist elements, but Stalin's five-year plans were far more ambitious and so far riskier. Did the Soviet Union need to industrialise so quickly and radically or was it merely an elaborate scam to strengthen...
and the millions killed in the purges left a culture of fear and oppression in the USSR which characterised Stalinism and led to the comparison of the Soviet Union with the fascist states who wanted to wipe it out. I would conclude then by saying that whilst the plans were immediately successful in modernizing the USSR and creating a country able to cope with war, their chaotic implementation and the fact that they helped to secure Stalinism in the USSR as the dominant force was the driving force behind the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union.