What was the impact of the Five-Year Plans and collectivisation under Stalin?

What saw transformation of the Soviet economy?

Five Year Plans and Collectivisation

What were brought under state control post-1921?

all aspects of industry and agriculture

What did the Five-Year Plans and Collectivisation see emergence of?

the USSR as an industrial super-power = 'Stalin's Revolution'

What was the cost of the Five-Year Plans and Collectivisation?

an enormous human cost

What was the difference between the Five-Year Plans and collectivisation?

Five-Year Plans = industrial change
Collectivisation = agricultural change

What was one of the central aims of the Communist regime and what was the catch?

to industrialise the country = the Soviet Union was still behind Europe - outdated technology plus growing population

What were the Five-Year Plans designed to do?

move away from the capitalist elements of the NEP and stimulate rapid industrialisation to modernise the economy

What was Stalin's "Socialism in one country"?

a patriotic call to industrialise to avoid being crushed = becoming self-sufficient

When was the decision to abandon the NEP made?

after the Fifteenth Party Congress in 1927

What did the Plans aim to use?

Gosplan, the State Planning Authority

Who were targets set for?

industries the government saw as the priority for modernisation (resources allocated accordingly)

What were set up to co-ordinate the differing branches of industry?

People's Commissariats

How were Party members used during the Plans?

at factory level to ensure orders from the centre were carried out

How did the Plans see a drive against Nepmen?

small businesses and shopkeepers were often forced to join state co-operatives

What was the factories campaign against and why?

the so-called 'bourgeois experts' = technical staff who had retained positions because state needed their expense to keep industry running smoothly - seen as class enemies

What did the removal of the 'bourgeois experts' do?

- built on prejudices of industrial workers
- opened up job opportunities to more loyal and less well-trained communist members

What did the loss of the 'bourgeois experts' do?

hinder the progress made under the Plans

What happened against these 'bourgeois experts' in 1928?

a series of show trials, often accusing them of wrecking and deliberate sabotage - in collaboration with foreign agents

When was the First Five-Year Plan and what did it concentrate on?

1928-32
- focused on rapid growth in heavy industry, such as coal, steel and iron = recommended by 'superindustrialisers'

What was neglected and what was the justification? (First Five-Year Plan)

- consumer industries, such as textiles and household goods
- the need to build up an industrial infrastructure first before other sectors could flourish

Who did it use the ideas of? (First Five-Year Plan)

Evgeny Preobrazhensky, an economic theorist

When was the Second Five-Year Plan and what happened within it?

- 1933-37
- initially set higher targets for production of consumer goods
→ as 1930s progressed rise of Hitler redirected focus onto needs of defence = heavy industry received priority

When was the Third Five-Year Plan launched and what was it generally directed towards?

- 1938
- arms production to meet the threat of Germany

What happened with the targets set?

very ambitious but constantly raised to ever more unrealistic heights - goal became not fulfilling but over-fulfilling (not = lack of commitment to Revolution)

Although targets were rarely reached...

the achievements were impressive and transformed the Soviet Union into a major industrial power with a modern, if unbalanced, economy

McCauley about unrealistic targets
" A I M H C T F "

"as if mathematics had ceased to function"

Who were superindustrialisers?

those within the Communist Party who believed that agricultural surpluses should be seized by the state in order to invest in industry

What was industrial expansion largely the result of and why? (First Five-Year Plan)

- making more efficient use of existing factories and equipment
- new plants built but did not make a significant impact on production until 1934

What were built from scratch and created large cities? (First Five-Year Plan)

large industrial centres such as Gorki and Mangitogorsk

How many people were living in Magnitogorsk in 1929 and in 1932?

1929 = 25
1932 = 250,000

What was life like for the workers at the industrial centres?

- facilities = primitive - tents and temporary huts
- material rewards limited
- work was hard
- had to rely on revolutionary attitudes and socialist beliefs for motivation

By 1933 what percent of the workforce in Moscow were skilled?

17%

Who did the government rely on to set an example? (First Five-Year Plan)

'shock brigades' - made up of best workers

Who was the most well-known model worker?

Alexei Stakhanov 
- coalminer from Donbass region
- could mine 15 x the average amount of coal

What were rewards for model workers?

new flats and bigger rations (slackers = ridiculed)

What did many industrial sites have?

statues of Lenin - inspired workers to greater revolutionary achievements

What did the government use in the last resort to complete large building projects?

slave labour

Who did the government use in cold remote regions such as Serbia where nobody went to work?

the burgeoning population in the Gulag

Explain the White Sea Canal project

- employed 100,000 prisoners by 1932
- in the winter 25,000 died
- propaganda triumph but depth was reduced from 22 feet to 12 to reduce costs = shows lack of quality

What was the Gulag?

vast system of forced labour camps

Who were put under immense pressure? (First Five-Year Plan)

workers and factory managers

What enterprising methods did factory managers use?

ambushing resources destined for other factories, bribery

What had its roots in the policy requirements of the 1930s?

the corruption for which the USSR became infamous

What is an example of quality being sacrificed?

the Stalingrad tractor factory - supposed to be producing 500 tractors a month in 1930 - June only 8 and most broke down within 3 days

What did the Second Five-Year Plan do?

drew on lessons learnt and made use of technical expertise

What results of the Second Five-Year Plan were impressive and what remained disappointing?

coal production rose substantially, chemical industry made progress, oil industry remained disappointing

What did the Third Five-Year Plan become heavily focused on?

the defence industry in light of growing international tension 

What did the Second and Third Plans develop?

both traditional industrial centres- Moscow and Leningrad - and new centres in less developed parts of the country

Where was much of the new industry located? (Second and Third Five-Year Plans)

the remoter areas of the USSR, such as Kazakhstan = form of regional development to promote even distribution

What was there a deliberate policy of? (Second and Third Five-Year Plans)

locating east of Ural Mountains = industry safer against an attack from the West

What was the growth rate 1928-41?

17%

What was the increase in the production of steel, and of coal?

steel = four-fold 
coal = six-fold

What was an important example of a successful project?

the Dnieper dam project

What had large consequences? (Plans)

- housing industry ignored
- heavy focus on heavy industry
- shortage of consumer goods

What did Historian A. Nove draw attention to?

issues concerning official production figures → production of machinery greatly over-fulfilled the Plans despite less success in production of metal

What were advances in consumer goods in the Second Five-Year Plan?

footwear production and food processing made significant increases

By the late 1930s why were there slight improvements in living standards?

new bakeries, ice-cream and meat-packing factories established in many towns but DID NOT solve shortage problem

What limited the achievements of Stalin's economic policy?

chaotic implementation and planning

Why did the state's rigid adoption of a command economy lead to failures?

planners based in Moscow = little understanding of local conditions in the far-flung parts of the Soviet Union = wasted resources

When was interference by the Party a significant factor?

1937 - disruption caused by removal of managers and technical experts during the purges = economic slowdown

How did living standards increase under the Five-Year Plans?

- better by 1936

- public transport = Moscow’s Metro 1935

- no unemployment

How were living standards poor during the Five-Year Plans?

- neglect of consumer goods

- overcrowded housing

- real wages low

- food shortages/ poor quality goods 

- rationing

Nove “ M P D I L S I H H “

“most precipitous decline in living standards in human history”

How much did the population of Moscow and Leningrad grow 1929-36?

Moscow - 2.2 million to 3.6 million

Leningrad - 1.5 million to 3.5 million

When did the Stakhanovite Movement begin and what was it?

during the second FYP in 1935 → new stage of socialist competition

Who was the Stakhanovite Movement based on and what did it do?

Aleksei Grigorievich Stakhanov - he mined 102 tonnes of coal in less than 6 hours

What was needed for industrialisation to be carried out?

supported by food supplies → efficiency and productivity needed

Why did organisation of food production do?

rid of the old system based on the mir

What enabled mechanisation to take place on larger units?

state ownership imposed on agricultural production 

How much coal was produced under the first Five-Year Plans in 1927 and 1937, and what was the goal for 1937?

- 1927 = 35.5 million tonnes
- goal for 1937 = 152.5 million tonnes
- 1937 = 128 million tonnes

What were the successes of the first Five-Year Plans?

increased production in key areas of industry such as steel, electricity and coal

What did Stalin recognise about industrialisation?

it could only be carried out if supported by food surpluses = efficiency needed

What did organisation of food production do?

remove the old system based on the mir

What did state ownership imposed on agricultural production enable?

mechanisation to take place on larger units

How did the NEP leave agriculture?

largely unchanged since the Revolution of 1917

How did agriculture still run by 1928?

largely on an individual basis by peasant households under supervision of the mir

What were pushing Stalin towards abandoning the NEP?

both economic and political forces

What were the industrial reasons for collectivisation?

- industrialisation needed increase in agricultural productivity - more population, get foreign exchange for technology from abroad
- agriculture to provide food and labour due to mechanisation = new industrial centres had more workers
- policy of industrialisation only achieve if agriculture = efficient

What were the economic reasons for collectivisation?

- small peasant plots = inefficient compared to Western Europe 
- farms owned by peasant households - piecemeal land distribution
- collective farms = economies of scale
- large units make machinery more viable and cost-effective
- machinery enabled increased food production and reduced labour requirements = labour could be shifted to the growing industrial sector

What were political reasons for collectivisation?

- extends socialism to countryside = ensure survival of Revolution → support and control was weak and had declined since Tambov Revolt
- chance to get rid of the 'capitalist' kulaks who were hoarding grain (for own consumption, hiding from workers) and benefitting from NEP
- disincentive to raise production → seized by state at a low price and lack of industrial goods to buy with profit from surplus

By 1925, what percentage of farmland was collectivised?

less than 1%

When did the amount of surplus grain given to the government by peasants fall since and when did the Party arguments come to a head?

since 1926, by 1928

When was there a process of voluntary collectivisation?

since the Fifteenth Party Congress December 1927

What was labelled the 'Ural-Siberian' method?

the forced requisitioning of grain due to food shortages in 1928 (meant to be temporary emergency measure)

Elaborate on the 'liquidating' of the kulaks

- Stalin's policy
- originally applied to richer peasants who owned their own plot of land - started to be applied to any peasant who refused to sign up to the kolkhoz
→ labelled as 'class enemies' and deported to Siberia and Urals

Explain the 'kolkhoz'

- there was organisations of these collective farms
- administered under a Party official who announced the set up and gave lectures to convince peasants to sign up

What were the Machine and Tractor Stations (MTS)?

- government-run centres, supplied farm machinery to collectives (including tractors)
- provided farming technique advice and political lectures

What did the implementation of collectivisation lead to from a large number of peasants and what did this include?

- violent opposition, particularly in the richer agricultural areas of the Ukraine and Caucasus region
- set fire to farms, slaughter animals and murdered Party officials

How was opposition to collectivisation dealt with?

- 'dekulakisation squads' often referred to as 'Twenty-five Thousanders' = forcibly organised collectives
- OGPU rounded up kulaks and those who refused to co-operate (deported, often to labour camps)
- some occasions = Red Army - bombed by air force

What did Stalin issue in March 1930 and who did this blame for 'excesses'?

- his article 'Dizzy with Success'
- blaming over-zealous local Party officials

Were there any concessions made due to the opposition to collectivisation?

some concessions offered to peasantry, such as some members allowed animals and small garden plot for own use, but programme of collectivisation continued to be pursued

What was the percentage of peasant households that had been collectivised in 1932 and in 1937?

1932 = 62%
1937 = 93%

Why was the result of collectivisation devastating?

- supply of machinery was slow, many without tractors until mid-1930s
- removal of kulaks was damaging = most productive farmers, relied on for hire of tools
- resisting peasants = damaged agricultural production

What did the slaughtering of animals lead to 1928-33?

- within the 5 years the number of cattle halved
- shortage of meat and milk

What was food production sufficient for due to collectivisation and what was the consequence?

to feed towns and the Red Army - took much needed supplies from the countryside

Production of what declined as a result of collectivisation?

livestock and grain harvest

What did the government seize food for as the rural population starved?

to export for foreign exchange

Explain the widespread famine 1932-33

- particularly affected Ukraine, Kazakhstan and the Caucasus region
- peasants were moving to town in search of food - government implemented a passport system to prevent them leaving collectives
- some resorted to eating their own children

How many famine-related deaths were there in 1933?

4 million

What was the grain harvest in 1930 and in 1933?

1930 = 83.5 million tonnes
1933 = 68.4 million tonnes