StalinKARL MARX, the father of modem communism, stated that history moved through identifiable stages: from feudalism, to capitalism, and finally (he predicted) to socialism. He said that this last transition would begin with the revolution of the working classes against their masters. Then would follow a period known as the dictatorship of the proletariat (or working classes), when capitalist ways and thinking would be eliminated. Eventually, a stateless socialist world would emerge, without classes or private property, in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.

Following the revolution of November 1917, the Russian Communist Party believed that it was entering the stage of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Certain conditions would have to be fulfilled to create a fair and classless society. Compare the aims of the Bolsheviks in 1917 with Stalin's policies:

  • Industrialization. The Bolsheviks believed that industrialization was necessary to satisfy the material needs of the socialist society. Stalin introduced a series of FiveYear Plans.

  • Spread the revolution to other nations. Stalin adopted a policy of socialism in one country.

  • Weed out all members of the bourgeoisie (the ruling class) and ensure that capitalist ideas did not creep back into Soviet society. In 1934 Stalin declared:

... we are heading for the formation of a classless socialist society. It goes without saying, that [this] ... cannot come of itself ... It has to be built by the efforts of all the working people, by strengthening the organs of the dictatorship of the proletariat [particularly the Party], by intensifying the class struggle, by abolishing classes, by eliminating the remnants of the capitalist classes, and in battle with enemies both internal and external.