The five year plan

When was the first five year plan?

Oct 1928-Dec 1932

When was the second five year plan?

Jan 1933-Dec 1937

When was the third five year plan?

Jan 1938- June 1941

What were two ideological causes?

• Stalin believed that socialism was only possible in a highly advanced industrialised nation

• Stalin wanted to replace the bourgeois specialists’ who managed industry during the NEP with ‘red specialists’ who were educated by the communist gov and who came from the ranks of the working class

What was one more ideological cause?

Stalin believed that the revolution should serve the working class, and not the peasants like the NEP had done

What was an economic cause?

Improvements in production of commodities such as crude oil and coal still left Russia significantly behind Germany, France and other western nations

What was another economic cause?

The NEP failed to industrialised Russia, for example the amount of iron, steel and copper produces never exceeded the amount produced in the last year’s of Tsarism

What was a political causes?

Having won the leadership struggle, Stalin no longer wanted to be seen as Lenin’s pupil. In 1929, on his 50th birthday, he issued a speech in which he highlighted Lenin’s mistakes in regards to the NEP

What was another political cause?

In order for Russia to defend itself against capitalist nations, Stalin believed that it would need to develop iron, steel, oil and coal industries on a grand scale, as they were necessary for modern warfare