A Brief History of the Soviet Economy - Part 2

An Empire of Rusting Steel and Rotting Corpses

This is the second in a three-part series exploring the history of the Soviet economy and its modern revival.

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Part 2 – An Empire of Rusting Steel and Rotting Corpses

Introduction

Much of the modern Left’s critique of the Soviet Union focuses on the Stalinist period from 1928 to 1953, which they often cite as the epitome of so-called “state socialism.” Then again, what fully-fledged socialism looks like without an authoritarian state remains largely theoretical. Indeed, it is rare to find any socialist today, besides those few entrenched in the Tankie corners of X, who would openly defend the Great Purges of the 1930s or the socially regressive policies of Stalin’s regime. In the words of Marxist academic Terry Eagleton (2011: p.15): Stalinism ‘made the very idea of socialism stink in the nostrils of many.’

Yet, despite the near-universal condemnation of Stalin’s brutality, there is always one notable caveat offered by many on the Left that implies some degree of admiration for Stalin’s despotic regime. Namely, their exaltation of the “impressive industrialisation” achieved by the proverbial Man of Steel, which transformed the Soviet Union from an underdeveloped agrarian economy into a military superpower, replete with massive steelworks and sprawling factories. Once again, in the words of Eagleton (ibid: p.13): ‘the Soviet Union dragged their citizens out of economic backwardness into the modern industrial world.’

However, behind this façade of fetishised smokestacks and industrial might lay something far more sinister: an empire of rusting steel and rotting corpses. This radical transformation of the Soviet Union was ultimately built upon mass coercion, starvation, and economic irrationality; outcomes that are inseparable from the anti-market dogmas of Marxist theory which are still championed by many on the Left today.

Therefore, in this instalment of the article series, I aim to draw on economic theory to demonstrate how the economic policies implemented under Stalin were not only deeply inefficient but also produced little more than a hollow façade of industrialisation and development. As a result, this illusion of progress should serve as a warning to modern Leftists and policymakers alike, who should be wary of trying to mimic such models to bolster our laggard economies today.