• RowRowRowYourBot
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    3 days ago

    The USSR under his first two five year plans got running potable water and electricity to the entire nation. That is a larger QoL improvement for most families whose life before Stalin mirrored most of their ancestors for centuries.

    This is why he falls into the mixed bag category rather than being seen as an outright monster like Beria was.

    • PugJesus@lemmy.worldOPM
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      3 days ago

      The USSR under his first two five year plans got running potable water and electricity to the entire nation

      You’re kidding me, right?

      Electricity access during Stalin’s reign only marginally increased after the initial successes in the 1920s - which, may I remind you, were plans formulated before Stalin took power, and executed before he had finished purging his enemies, including Trotsky. Fuck, as late as the 1950s, only some 10% of Soviet households had power, and the majority did not have indoor access to running water - that’s why the Khrushchevka, basic as they were, were such a major step forward.