Stalin - 1928-53

Question 1

What was the nature of Stalin’s economy?

Answer 1

• Command economy (Gosplan)
• 5 year plans
• Dekulakisation
• Collectivisation

Question 2

Give 4 reasons for stalin introducing the plans?

Answer 2

1. Ideology
2. Economics
3. Military
4. Political

Question 3

Reasons for the plans

Ideology

Answer 3

• wanted to abolish the capitalist market

Question 4

Reasons for the plans

Economics

Answer 4

• NEP had failed to help Russia to industrialise

Question 5

Reasons for the plans

Military

Answer 5

• Stalin argued that Russia had to industrialise in order to prepare for war with capitalist nations

Question 6

Reasons for the plans

Political

Answer 6

• by abolishing capitalism, stalin won the support of the left wing of the party

Question 7

What were the main aims of the plans?

Answer 7

1. Heavy industry
2. Transport
3. Labour productivity
4. Rearmament (from 1936)
5. MASS INDUSTRIALISATION

Question 8

When was the First 5 year Plan?

Answer 8

1928-1932

Question 9

When was the Second 5 year Plan?

Answer 9

1933 - 1937

Question 10

When was the Third 5 year Plan?

Answer 10

1938 - 1941

Question 11

Overall success of the first three ‘5 year plans’ - in reference to aims.

Answer 11

The first three ‘5 year plans’ succeeded in industrialising the Soviet Union.

1. Heavy industry = success
2. Transport = success
3. Labour productivity = improvement, but still poor
4. Re-armament = success

Question 12

Success of the first three ‘5 year plans’ -

Give three facts about how heavy industry succeeded.

Answer 12

1. Electricity output increased almost ten-fold.
2. Coal and steel production increased 5 times over.
3. There was a three-fold increase in oil production.

Question 13

Success of the first three ‘5 year plans’ -

Give two facts about how transport succeeded.

Answer 13

1. Moscow Metro opened in 1935

2. Moscow-Volga Canal opened in 1937

Question 14

Success of the first three ‘5 year plans’ -

Evidence of labour productivity improving.

Answer 14

• productivity rose between 25 and 50% in Russia’s major industries between the first and third ‘5 year plan’

Question 15

Success of the first three ‘5 year plans’ -

What were the government initiatives aimed at improving labour productivity?

Answer 15

1. Stakhanovite Movement
   - propaganda campaign praising miner who mined 14 times his quota in his shift
   - aimed to encourage productivity
2. higher payments to reward the most productive workers

Question 16

Success of the first three ‘5 year plans’ -

Evidence of labour productivity remaining limited

Answer 16

soviet productivity still lagged behind that of Germany, USA and France

Question 17

Success of the first three ‘5 year plans’ -

Evidence of rearmament being successful.

Answer 17

9 military aircraft factories built between 1939-1941

Question 18

Name 3 ways in which the first three ‘5 year plans’/ command economy was unsuccessful.

Answer 18

1. Poor quality goods
2. Inefficiency
3. Falsified data

Question 19

Failures of the first three ‘5 year plans’ -

Why was quality poor

Answer 19

because factory managers were rewarded for producing large quantities of material, regardless of quality

Question 20

Failures of the first three ‘5 year plans’ -

Give a fact showing the planned economy was inefficient

Answer 20

poor transport and communication meant that 40% of what was produced was wasted

Question 21

Failures of the first three ‘5 year plans’ -

Problems with command economy
ignorance/ falsified data

Answer 21

• Gosplan didn’t set reasonable targets because they didn’t know how big the factories they controlled were or how much they could produce
• factory management lied about production to avoid punishment –> falsified data made it harder to plan

Question 22

When was Stalin’s period of collectivisation?

Answer 22

1928-41

Question 23

What was collectivisation?

Answer 23

• small farms were merged into large farms

- ownership of farms was taken over by the state

Question 24

Name 4 causes of collectivisation?

Answer 24

1. ideology
2. economics
3. failure of the NEP
4. politics

Question 25

Causes of collectivisation - Communist Ideology

Answer 25

- NEP farming was essentially capitalist. the government wanted to end private ownership of farms

Question 26

Causes of collectivisation - Economically more beneficial to the state

Answer 26

- NEP = gov collected a small tax on farms BUT with collectivisation, the government could take much more wealth from farms and INVEST in industrialisation

Question 27

Causes of collectivisation - Failure of NEP

Answer 27

agricultural production fell in 1927 --> leading to food shortages in the cities

Question 28

Causes of collectivisation - Political

Answer 28

won stalin support from the left wing of the party

Question 29

Describe the process of collectivisation.

Answer 29

a) violent = kulaks who refused were killed or deported b) wasteful --> decline in agricultural production = many peasants responded by destroying their crops/ animals/ machinery

Question 30

What were the 5 main consequences of collectivisation?

Answer 30

1. Falling production 2. Famine 3. Modernisation 4. Grain procurement 5. Slow recovery

Question 31

Consequences of collectivisation - Give 2 pieces of evidence showing how collectivisation caused falling production.

Answer 31

1. Grain production decreased from 73.3 million tons in 1928 to 68.4 tons in 1933. 2. 60 million sheep and goats were destroyed as a result of rural unrest.

Question 32

Consequences of collectivisation - Give evidence of famine.

Answer 32

- Ukraine in 1932-1933 caused 5 million deaths. HAPPENED BECAUSE = stalin seized grain and livestock because Ukraine resisted collectivisation

Question 33

Consequences of collectivisation - Give evidence of modernisation. How effective was it?

Answer 33

- 75,000 tractors provided EFFECTIVE = made limited impact. Barely made up for all the horses lost during the collectivisation period

Question 34

Consequences of collectivisation - Give a fact demonstrating how the government procured far more than under the NEP.

Answer 34

The government procured almost double the amount of grain in 1933 as it did in 1928

Question 35

Consequences of collectivisation - Evidence that the recovery of Soviet agriculture was slow and that productivity was worse than during the NEP.

Answer 35

private farms = 410 kilos of grain per hectre collective farms = 320 kilos of grain per hectre

Question 36

What was the overall effect of WW2 on the soviet economy?

Answer 36

- devastated economy | - soviet industry recovered quickly, but agriculture grew more slowly

Question 37

Name 2 economic consequences of WW2.

Answer 37

- 25 million people were homeless | - soviet industry was producing around one third of what they produced in 1940

Question 38

When was the fourth '5 year plan'?

Answer 38

1945 - 1950

Question 39

Name 2 successes of the fourth '5 year plan'?

Answer 39

- by 1950, the soviet economy was producing more iron coal and steel than in was in 1940 - fastest growing economy in the world

Question 40

What were the priorities of the fourth '5 year plan'?

Answer 40

- industrial recovery | - military spending (cold war)

Question 41

Give evidence that industrial recovery was a priority of the fourth '5 year plan'.

Answer 41

almost 90% of economic investment was devoted to developing heavy industry.

Question 42

Give evidence that the military was priority of the fourth '5 year plan'.

Answer 42

1952 = military = 25% of government spending

Question 43

Name 3 problems that remained in the fourth '5 year plan'.

Answer 43

1. Low labour productivity and inefficiency. 2. Light industry/ consumer goods failed to grow. 3. High-tech production lagged behind other modern economies.