The Triumphs and Shortcomings of Stalin’s Five-Year Plans Press enter or click to view image in full size Photo by Adventure Albania on Unsplash In the 1920s, Stalin emerged as Premier of the Soviet Union. This was not a successor Lenin suggested, and in his final testament, Lenin requested that Stalin be removed from his position as Communist Party General Secretary. Nonetheless, Stalin still emerged as the successor and would establish the Five-Year Plans. NEP, otherwise the New Economic Policy, was Lenin’s economic policy that had revitalized the Soviet economy after War Communism. No longer were there grain shortages, but grain surpluses, in Russia. Russian railroad networks were also greatly expanded, further enhancing transportation for the Russian industry. Despite this, NEP would not be continued by Stalin. NEP was an economic policy closer to free market economics, and so, in this respect was not a policy that closely matched communism.…