An Analysis of Soviet Foreign Policy under Stalin

Stalin scheduled his third Five-Year Plan from 1938-1941. During this time, the Soviet Union was preparing for war, believing this to be inevitable as the Nazi threat continued. More and more resources were poured into the military and war related industry. This five-year plan was cut somewhat short by the 1941 Nazi invasion of Soviet Russia. It was then that most of the nation's industry was moved from western Russia to the Urals to guard against future war damage. Stalin's fourth Five-Year Plan occurred from 1946 through 1950 and focused on the rebuilding of areas of the nation devastated by war.
Stalin's dealings with eastern Poland were nothing short of brutal. In October of 1939, he had his secret police order the, so called, election of new local authorities in Poland, Polish Ukraine and Belorussia. Most of these individuals were criminals who were more than happy to grab control of respectable citizens. They were encouraged to take property away from the land owners and, in the name of land reform, make the peasants divide up the lands and loot among themselves.
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