Following the death of Lenin, most observers saw Leon Trotsky as his most likely successor. But inside the Communist Party, the quarrelsome Trotsky had ruffled a lot of feathers, including Lenin’s. That was why Lenin nominated Joseph Stalin, and not Trotsky, to become General Secretary of the Communist Party.
After Lenin’s death, Trotsky’s opponents sided with Stalin and Trotsky became marginalized. Meanwhile, the Party wrestled with the question of exactly how one builds a socialist economy. Lenin’s New Economic Plan had helped Russia get back on its feet, but is was too capitalism-friendly to be a long-term policy. In 1928, Stalin proposed the first Five-Year Plan, an ambitious, centrally organized program to rapidly increase the USSR’s industrial sector.
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Fanfare
Opening Theme
“Chant Hindou” from Sadko
Composed in 1898 by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Public domain.
Violinist: Vasa Prihoda. Performed in 1929. Public domain recording. Source.
Closing Theme
Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.
This is my favorite podcast. I ran across it about a year ago. I got spoiled because I listened to between 2 and 5 episodes per day until I got caught up. Now I have to wait for a week or two before I can get another fix.
I just listened to The Five Year Plan. I had expected to hear about two knaves: Walter Duranty and Trofim Lysenko. I also expected to hear about at least one unsung hero, Gareth Jones, and perhaps a bit about Malcolm Muggeridge, both of whom told the truth about the Holodomor. Duranty won a Pulitzer Prize and Jones was murdered (probably by the Soviets).
Perhaps we will get into these folks later or perhaps discussing them gets a little deep into the weeds, but these guys are worth knowing about.
Great podcast. Thanks for letting me comment.
Your episodes are always good, but this one was extra good..