Unit 2: WHAT WAS THE IMPACT OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLANS AND COLLECTIVISATION UNDER STALIN? Flashcards
What were the aims of the five year plans?
To breakaway from the new economic policy with its capitalist elements and make the USSR self-sufficient.
To bring about rapid industrialization to modernise the economy.
To remove nepman.
To use the most advanced technology.
To mass mobilise the Soviet people and resources.
Industrialisation was directed by gosplan
What was gosplan?
The state planning authority that set targets for industries and allocated resources accordingly.
What happened to the bourgeois experts who retained their positions to provide expertise to keep the industry running smoothly?
a campaign against the bourgeois experts
in 1928 there had been a series of show trials against them as they were accused of ‘deliberate sabotage’.
the loss of this group hindered the progress made under the five year plans.
What was the first five year plan (1928 to 1932)?
The first five year plan focused on rapid growth in heavy industries such as coal, iron and steel - an approach recommended by super industrialisers.
Who were the super industrialisers?
Those in the Communist Party who thought that heavy industry should be given priority over other sectors of the economy.
What was the second five year plan (1933 to 1937)?
Initially it was to set higher targets to produce consumer goods, but as the 1930s progressed, the rise of Hitler in Germany redirected the focus onto the needs of defence, which meant that heavy industry continued to receive priority.
What was the third five year plan 1938?
It was geared directly towards arms production to meet the threat of Germany.
What were the results of the first five year plan?
Large industrial centres such as Magnitogorsk and Gorki were built and became large cities with a population of 250,000. But facilities at these centres were primitive as workers were housed in tents and temporary huts.
By 1933, only 17% of the workforce in Moscow was skilled, and in other cities, even less. The government relied on the use of shock brigades made up of the best workers to set an example.
The government used slave labour, such as the Gulag to complete large building projects in remote and cold regions like Siberia, which achieved a large human cost.
The White Sea Canal project employed 180,000 prisoners but during the winter of 1931-32 10,000 prisoners died on this project. This illustrated how Stalin and his government disregarded human cost and the quality of products as long as the aim was achieved.
Factory managers were faced with unrealistic targets, so used a wide range of enterprising methods such as ambushing resources for other factories and bribery.
In the rush to fulfil targets, quality was often sacrificed. For example, the Stalingrad tractor factory was supposed to be producing 500 tractors a month in 1930, but in June it only managed eight. Most of these broke down within days.
What were the results of the second and third five year plans?
Coal production rose during the second plan. Chemical industry made progress, but oil industry didn’t.
Extensive expansion of the railway network, facilitating transportation of goods and resources.
Introduction of machinery and modern techniques resulted in a small increase in agricultural output.
Rapid growth in defence-related industries, such as the production of tanks, aircraft, and ammunition.
Strengthening of communication systems to enhance military coordination.
Consumer industries suffered as the collectivisation of agriculture had destroyed a lot of cottage industry in rural areas.
New bakeries and meat packing factories, were established in many towns, but this did not solve the problems of shortages in important consumer goods.
Name three factors that limited the achievements of Stalin’s economic policy.
Poor planning and implementation.
The adoption of command economy led to failures because planners in Moscow had little understanding of local conditions in certain parts of the Soviet Union
The removal of managers and technical experts through the purges in 1937 slowed down economic progress.
Conclude the five year plan.
Stalin’s aim to produce a modern industrial society able to withstand attack from foreign capitalist powers had been achieved because the Soviet Union defeated the invading forces of Nazi Germany between 1941 and 1945.
However, economic progress was imbalanced with a decline in certain sectors, while others showed impressive growth.
The process of industrialisation led to severe deprivation as the health of the workers and environment was severely damaged.
What were the reasons for collectivisation?
links with industry
To rapidly industrialise so the USSR can defend themselves against foreign invasions and attack by capitalist powers.
Industrialisation would lead to an increase in the population of Towns and cities that would need to be fed by an increase in food surpluses which will be provided by collectivisation.
The food surpluses as a result of collectivisation will pay for technology from abroad to provide for new industries and obtain foreign exchange.
What were the economic reasons for collectivisation?
The formation of collective farms where peasants would be grouped together on larger farms made the use of machinery more viable and cost effective.
The use of machinery would enable increased food production and reduce labour requirements for agricultural production, therefore releasing workers to be used elsewhere in the economy.
What were the political reasons for collectivisation?
To extend socialism to the countryside and therefore ensure the survival of the revolution.
To strengthen the control of the party which had declined since the Tambov rising in 1921.
The land Decree in 1917 resulted in land being the personal property of individual presence, which is not what the Bolsheviks wanted.
To rid the country of capitalist classes such as the kulaks because they prevented progress towards socialism.
State procurements - the amount of grain given to the government by peasants - had been falling since 1926.
How did Stalin respond to this?
The peasants started to grow less food because it would be siezed by the government at a low price.
Stalin introduced a forced policy of collectivisation.
