Topic 2: Five Year Plans and Collectivisation

What were Stalin’s economic aims?

• he wanted to develop heavy industry such as coal, oil, and steel

• He also wanted to collectivise agriculture, and increase consumer goods, but this was abandoned

• These would both lead to a drastic fall in consumer goods

Why did Stalin not approve of the NEP?

Allowed private enterprise and went against communism

Why was industrialisation a better alternative to the failings of the NEP?

Abandonment of the NEP meant that Stalin was staying committed to large-scale industrialisation

What were the ideological reasons for favouring industrialisation?

• restore central/ state direction of industry - leaving Stalin in full control of the Soviet industry

• Convinced that Soviet union would be invaded by surrounding capitalists countries

Why was there fear of invasion from Britain?

British Government accused Soviet officials of spreading revolutionary propaganda, searched the Soviet trade mission in London and broke off diplomatic relations

What event in China increased Stalin’s fear of invasion?

In China, the communists under Mao were attacked by their political opponents (Nationalists), resulting in a civil war

What event in Poland increased Stalin’s fear of invasion?

A soviet diplomat (Pyotr Voykov) was assassinated

Why would industrialisation help Stalin politically?

• allowed him to divide his opponents on the right wing

• Helped his victory

• Improved his authority in the party

• Called it the ‘second revolution’

• Places himself alongside Lenin who ran the 1st revolution in oct 1917

What was GOSPLAN?

The creation and administration of a series of 5 year plans which governed the USSR

What did GOSPLAN do?

Set out ambitious economic targets for the whole Soviet Union

Developed the plans in great detail so that everyone had individual goals

What were the common features of the first 3 Five Year Plans?

• heavy industries

• Consumer industries

• All plans declared complete ahead of schedule

• Targets were rarely met but important advances in industry were made

What were the main aims of the 1st FYP?

Expand heavy industry

What were the successes of the 1st FYP?

• economy grew by 14% in a year

• Coal & iron output doubled

• Steel production increased by 1/3

What were the weaknesses of the 1st FYP?

• targets not met

• Lack of skilled workers

• Living and working conditions declined

• Poor quality products

What were the main aims of the 2nd FYP?

• expand heavy industries

• Develop chemical industries

• Improve transport links

• Some consumer goods

What were the successes of the 2nd FYP?

• big advances of heavy industry

• Gains made in chemical industry → fertiliser production

• New transport schemes complete → Moscow metro and canal

What were the weaknesses of the second FYP?

Despite promises, consumer industries received little investment

What were the main aims of the 3rd FYP?

Expand heavy industry

Armaments production

What were the successes of the 3rd FYP?

• 1/3 of government investment spent on defence (1940)

• 9 new aircraft factories were established

What were the weaknesses of the 3rd FYP?

• Stalin’s purges lead to arrest of many experienced factory managers & GOSPLAN officials

• Cut short by Nazi invasion (June 1941)

What was the Stakhanovite movement?

• he mined 102 tonnes of coal in 6 hours → 4x the output of a normal miner

• Rewarded with 1 months wages

• Workers promised rewards if they also exceeded targets

What were the consequences of the Stakhanovite movement?

• many people were encouraged to work harder

• Within a year, almost ¼ of workers were classified as Stakhanovites

• “Recordmania” occurred and managers spent a lot of time dealing with attempts to set new records

• Some didn’t like the pressure to work harder Within a

• In 1980s the communist party admitted it was a publicity stunt and that he’d had help

What were the successes of industrialisation?

• USSR was able to defend in ww2

• Became the 2nd most powerful nation

• Output of heavy industry rose

• Modern armament industry was created

• Increased the size of the working class

When were internal passports introduced and what were they for?

• 3rd FYP

• stop workers from moving from town to town in search of better paid jobs

What were the failures of industrialisation?

• millions of Kulaks died

• Few consumer goods around

• Agricultural output initially decreased

• Strict disciplines

• Peasants now working in factories didn’t know how to use the equipment

What was Magnitogorsk?

• a new city with unusually high levels of iron ore

• Workers lived in mud huts, wood shacks and tents

• Average worker stayed 82 days

Why was Magnitogorsk important?

• symbol of Soviet achievement

• Wouldn’t have been build without labour of 40,000 political prisoners

• A large amount of steel produced was of poor quality

What were the economic reasons behind Stalin’s policy of collectivisation?

• modernise the farming system

• most farms were small and divided

• Machinery like tractors and combine harvesters were rarely used

• Farm output in the 1920s was so low that food shortages were a constant problem

Why was collectivisation the solution to the economic problems?

• collective farms were much larger, with modern machinery

• The machinery would be provided by MTS’s

• Experts would teach peasants

• As a result there were big increases in food production

• Workers in towns and cities would be well fed

• Government would sell food abroad

• Fewer people needed to work on the land

What were the ideological reasons behind Stalins policy of collectivisation?

• believed the NEP was pushing the country in the wrong ideological direction

• This is because the NEP encouraged peasants to act like capitalists

  • They were allowed to own property

  • Could sell produce for profit

  • If rich enough, could employ landless labourers to work on their land

• Collectivisation resulted in the abolishment of private land ownership

• All produce goes to the state, peasants no longer motivated by the desire to make money

• Peasants learn to work together

• Collective farms had shared facilities

What were the political reasons behind Stalins policy of collectivisation?

• wanted to oppose the NEP as it was one way of gaining upper hand in power struggle against Bukharin

• Power for the communist party

• Had little control over the countryside

• Not enough party members to govern the vast area

• Lack of control scared communists, collectivisation was a way to enforce control

What was the grain procurement crisis?

• The government were unable to buy enough grain to feed urban workers

• The peasants had reduced grain production because of low prices being paid by the state

• Some farmers were withholding their grain from the market in order to push prices up

• Rationing in the cities and many party members turned against the peasants

How did the grain procurement crisis drive Stalins policy of collectivisation?

• Stalin travelled to the urals and west Siberia to supervise forced seizures of grain

• Collectivisation seemed to be a good permanent solution

What was the process of collectivisation like?

• peasants had no desire to collectivise

• Many peasants rebelled

• They disrupted collective farms had meetings and many set fire to their land

• There was nearly a civil war in the countryside

Who were the kulaks?

• a group of slightly wealthier peasants

• Worked hard under the NEP and made enough money to buy additional farmland and sometimes hire workers

Why did the kulaks oppose collectivisation?

• they had the most to loose

• They weren’t prepared to give up the land they had worked for as it was the only bit of ‘wealth’ they had

What happened to the kulaks?

• they were believed to be a dangerous class enemy

• They were forbidden from joining collective farms and were rounded up by dekulakisation squads

• Some were shot

• approx 2 million loaded into cattle trucks, transported to Siberia and imprisoned in forced labour camps

What was a kolkoze?

• collective farms made up of 50-100 families

What was life like on the kolkozes?

• peasants who worked on them were ‘outdoor workers’ and were paid a fixed wage

• Each run by a chairman, who was a communist party member

• Hours worked were set by the state

• State decided what was to be grown

• Badly paid

• Not allowed to leave to work in towns

• In 1935 some were given a small area of land for themselves

What were the Motor Tractor Stations?

• set up to rent out farm machinery to groups of collective farms

• 1940, one MTS to 40 collective farms

Weaknesses of MTS’s?

• never had enough tractors to meet demand

• Tractors often unreliable - badly built and then badly maintained

• ‘Mechanics’ were peasants who lacked the necessary skills

• Machinery was expensive

Failures of collectivisation

• MTS’s didn’t have enough machinery. What little they did have was expensive to hire and poorly maintained

• Dekulakisation had removed the most skilled and productive farmers

• Productivity was poor, peasants were unmotivated and did just enough to avoid being fined

• Peasants put most of their energy into their small private plots

How many people died in the Great famine?

Approx 4-5 million

What effect did the Great famine have on Ukraine?

Hardest hit region, over 2500 people convicted of cannibalism after eating dead bodies

Key features of the Great Famine

• animals killed in huge numbers

• Most experienced farmers deported

• New collective farms badly run because managers came from towns

• Food production fell rapidly

• Grain quotas rose to unrealistic levels

• When grain quotas weren’t met, Stalin saw it as deliberate sabotage and so help wasn’t given when the famine kicked in

Successes of collectivisation

• a guaranteed grain supply was secured to feed the towns

• Grain exported to help pay for industrialisation

• Peasants moved to towns and cities and became workers

• Communist party gained control over the countryside

• Private land ownership abolished

• Class divisions removed

How important was the removal of the kulaks as an effect of collectivisation?

• it removed the main people who objected it

• Meant the state lost its best farmers and motivated workers

• Millions sent to labour camps or shot

• Allowed for total control over the country

• Liquidated as a class enemy

How important were the MTS and their failure as an effect of collectivisation?

• unreliable and expensive tractors

• Poor mechanics due to dekulakisation

• Allowed for spying and communist propaganda