The Great Turn

When was the First Five Year Plan?

1928–1932

What was the focus of the First Five Year Plan?

Heavy industry

What were some aspects of the First Five Year Plan?

→ building factories to produce machinery, machine tools, tractors

→ building dams for hydro power

→ extraction of raw materials (iron, steel, coal, iron)

→ creating chemicals, motor vehicles, synthetic rubber, artificial fibres

→ building of roads, railways, canals

What were some achievements of the First Five Year Plan?

→ 600% increase in electrical supply

→ building of the Moscow Metro

→ expansion of railway system and canals, connecting White Sea to Baltic Sea and Moscow with Volga River

Were all targets hit? If not, how was this handled?

→ no, since they were unrealistically high

→ workers lied about production (“cooked the books“) to prevent getting fired or being sent to gulags

→ production had still increased though, even without manipulated stats

When was the Second Five Year Plan?

1933–1937

What was the focus of the Second Five Year Plan?

Heavy industry

What were some aspects of the Second Five Year Plan?

→ 1935, bread rationing came to an end and other foods were more available

→ armament production trebled (tripled)

→ Stakhanovism (socialist competition → individuals rewarded if they exceed quotas → intended to make people work harder)

→ some rewards: higher pay, free holidays, a visit to the Kremlin, awards (Order of Lenin, Hero of Soviet Labour)

When was the Third Five Year Gear Plan?

1938–1942 (1941)

What was the focus of the Third Five Year Plan?

Light industry and consumer goods

Why and when was the Third Five Year Plan interrupted?

Operation Barbarossa (June 21, 1941 at 4:00AM)

How did the Third Five Year Plan change?

Focus shifted to armament production and military support

What was the Soviet name for WWII?

The Great Patriotic War

What was the overall result of the Five Year Plans?

→ despite propaganda and lies, production had increased overall

→ no foreign loans were taken

→ by 1940, USSR outproduced Britain in steel and iron and almost matched Germany's production level

→ population increased to 170M

→ quality of life was still no better for most than 1920

→ very cruel and cold (20M died, “re-education” to be obedient to the state without question)