Stalin used his support throughout the country to undermine his opponents and backed one against the other. By 1928 he had total control. Stalin persuaded the nation to believe that major economical reforms were necessary in order for Russia to catch up after the western world but a question that arises here again is were these dramatical and in many ways brutal changes necessary and in place? Stalin believed that Russia was one hundred years behind the West and had to catch up as quickly as possible. This could only be achieved by creating a “command economy” and forcing farmers and industry to modernize. He ended the Lenin’s New Economic Policy and began to force all peasants to join Collective Farms. Peasants had to pool their machinery and livestock on large farms, which were controlled, by the state. Five million richer peasants, Kulaks, were murdered or starved to death. On the Collective farms, peasants were forced to hand over their produce to the government and were either paid wages or had to feed themselves on whatever was left over. The ensuing result was a devastating famine. Kulaks burnt their crops and killed their animals, rather than hand them over. Five million people starved to death and the agricultural production fell by 15 % between 1932 and 1934. Collectivization was part of the first five-year Plan. This was an attempt to modernize industry by the state taking over all firms and businesses. Each business or factory was given a target that it had to meet every year for five-year period. The targets were worked by the “gosplan” in Moscow. The First Five year plan was actually cut to four years to make people work harder. Punishment for failing to meet targets was severe. Managers of factories could be executed. Workers were forced to work longer hours and were not allowed to change their jobs. Being away from work became a crime. Many factories faked production figures, or disregarded the quality of goods produced. So long as the numbers were right, nothing else mattered. It was estimated that half of all tractors made in the 1930s broke down. Overall the first three Five Year Plans, which ran from 1928 to 1941, increased industrial production by about 400%, but how much of that increase was genuine is very difficult to say. Those who did not agree with Stalin’s methods ended up in labor camps called Gulags. These were very often in Siberia where the weather in winter was very cold, and were forced to work there with little food for many years. Many died here from exhaustion.