The living standards should be comparable to what europe was like. And not what africa was like. Or Mars.

I don't think geographic location is as significant as a country's, you know, history. Just because they were in Europe doesn't mean that they were starting out on equal footing. If you compare the state of Russia under the tsar to somewhere like Britain or France, then it's clear that the Soviets were starting from a disadvantage. Moreover, they were under constant economic and military threats from most of the developed world. In spite of all of that, they were able to develop quickly enough to defeat the Nazis and become a global superpower.