Industrialisation Flashcards
What was command economy and when did Stalin start this?
1928- Command economy is where the state decided what was produced, where it was produced, and when it was produced
What are the pros and cons of a target-driven economy?
People have targets that they have to meet, so they will make sure to work harder in order to meet them. However, this could lead to a decline in quality or falsified statistics
What were the benefits of command economy?
The state could produce what was needed at the moment it was needed. This could help to achieve self sufficiency because it enables prioritisation. Only what is needed is produced
Who would have to manage a particular factory’s targets?
Individual factory managers would have to deal with this as well as hiring staff, managing resources, paying wages etc. This meant that most of the pressure was on these people
What was a ‘quicksand society’?
This is where there is a job vacuum because workers are unable to fulfill the requirements and are being fired or are leaving so they can’t be punished. They are moving a lot and taking a lot of jobs for a short period of time
What was the problem with the quicksand society?
There was a lack of skilled workers and jobs were not being properly filled
What is Stakhanovism?
It was a method of distributing jobs instead of having a bunch of people doing the same thing. It significantly improved efficiency and blew targets out of the water
When did Stakhanovism become a thing?
1935
How much more coal did Stakhanov and his colleagues produce the first time they used his technique?
They produced over 14x more coal than the target suggested they should produce
What is gigantomania?
Large industrial projects
What are three examples of gigantomania?
The Moscow Metro, Magnitogorsk, Dnieper Dam.
What was the significance of the Dnieper Dam?
It was slightly bigger than the Hoover Dam
What was the point of gigantomania?
These projects were functional and beneficial to society
It was internal propaganda that gave workers purpose and showed them what the Soviet state could provide for them
It was also international propaganda that showed other countries just what Russia could do. It was also a time of great economic depression, so it could have made people more positive towards the idea of Communism
What was Magnitogorsk?
It was an industrial village. It attracted many workers, but they didn’t necessarily stay long because it wasn’t that great
When did gigantomania really kick off?
Early 1930s (1931/32 time)
