The Soviet Union had grand plans that started with a grand idea and a socialist city. Magnitogorsk was conceived as a way to put the Soviet industry back on top, it was to be a big milestone. In Kotkin’s Stalinism, he gives us a detailed look at the process from conception to completion of the “Magnetic Mountain.”
Kotkin paints a picture of how the best laid plans go by the wayside. The Soviet Union, and Stalin, were focused on being the most powerful country in the world. Leading up to this article we know that Stalin had unrealistic goals of how to get the Soviet’s industry back on track and on top. Kotkin writes about how lack of communication, tension in the ranks, lack of compromise and actual knowledge about what the Soviets were creating ended up failing. The goal was to build an iron and steel factory that would play a vital role in boosting the economy. A city would also be developed to house the workers of the factory. Kotkin tells us about the grand plan for the city but due to confrontation and lack of money, never came to fruition. We learn about the squalor that the Soviet workers had to live in. Cramped apartment complexes without plumbing and proper sanitation forced many workers to live along the skirts of the city in squalor. Living conditions being so poor and the labor so …show more content…
He describes to us how as the factory progresses so does the culture in the surrounding city. We learn that even though the original goal for te factory was unrealistic, the metal production did begin. Kotkin states that, “For one thing, many people gladly embraced the opportunity to become a “Soviet worker,” with all that such a designation required, from demonstrations of complete loyalty to feats of extraordinary self-sacrifice.” (223) Kotkin tells us about the sense of pride in culture and almost a normalcy for the workers. He paints a picture of hard labor but then fun times and
Kotkin paints a picture of how the best laid plans go by the wayside. The Soviet Union, and Stalin, were focused on being the most powerful country in the world. Leading up to this article we know that Stalin had unrealistic goals of how to get the Soviet’s industry back on track and on top. Kotkin writes about how lack of communication, tension in the ranks, lack of compromise and actual knowledge about what the Soviets were creating ended up failing. The goal was to build an iron and steel factory that would play a vital role in boosting the economy. A city would also be developed to house the workers of the factory. Kotkin tells us about the grand plan for the city but due to confrontation and lack of money, never came to fruition. We learn about the squalor that the Soviet workers had to live in. Cramped apartment complexes without plumbing and proper sanitation forced many workers to live along the skirts of the city in squalor. Living conditions being so poor and the labor so …show more content…
He describes to us how as the factory progresses so does the culture in the surrounding city. We learn that even though the original goal for te factory was unrealistic, the metal production did begin. Kotkin states that, “For one thing, many people gladly embraced the opportunity to become a “Soviet worker,” with all that such a designation required, from demonstrations of complete loyalty to feats of extraordinary self-sacrifice.” (223) Kotkin tells us about the sense of pride in culture and almost a normalcy for the workers. He paints a picture of hard labor but then fun times and