Class struggle played a central role in the social policies of the USSR and socialist countries , all of which constitutionally outlined the supremacy of the working class in dictating society 's development towards communism . Other classes with interests hostile to those of the working class were subjected to repression . This primarily focused on capitalists , including anyone who derived their living from privately owning property or capital assets . In the USSR , which was founded on a class alliance between workers and peasants , a neo-capitalist class emerged by the 1930s as a result of the New Economic Policy introduced after the end of the civil war . Among the peasants , this new class ( called Kulaks ) accumulated disproportionately large amounts of wealth through merchant trading and small capital practices . Under Joseph Stalin , the government began to crack down on the Kulaks , to which their resistance was met with violent repression in what could arguably considered a second civil war . Kulaks who resisted the socialization of their assets , along with anyone who collaborated with or fought for them , were punished with imprisonment , deportation to Siberia , or even execution . Lev Kopelev , who was personally involved in actions against villagers deprived of food for collaborating with Kulaks explained his motivation :
crack down on the Kulaks
Dekulakization
Communist propaganda