 Despite the great human cost , the Soviet Union under Molotov 's nominal premiership made great strides in the adoption and widespread implementation of agrarian and industrial technology . In a document written by Molotov he noted how cannibalism and starvation were still serious problems even in 1937 in the Soviet Union . Andrey Vyshinsky , the Procurator General , even told Molotov personally of incidents involving mothers eating their newly born children . The rise of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany precipitated the development of a modern armaments industry on the orders of the Soviet government . Ultimately , it was this arms industry , along with American Lend @-@ Lease aid , which helped the Soviet Union to prevail in World War II ( Great Patriotic War ) . Set against this , the purges of the Red Army leadership , in which Molotov participated , weakened the Soviet Union 's defence capacity and contributed to the military disasters of 1941 and 1942 , which were mostly caused by unreadiness for war . The purges also led to the dismantling of privatised agriculture and its replacement by collectivised agriculture . This left a legacy of chronic agricultural inefficiencies and under @-@ production which the Soviet regime never fully rectified . 
