History A-level Edexcel - Russia 1917-1991: from Lenin to Yeltsin - Theme 2:2b

Stalin's main economic aims

- rapid industrialisation

- collectivise agriculture

- centralised planning (gosplan)

- self-sufficiency

- strengthening communist regime

Five-Year Plans - Aims

- industrialise Russia by combining central planning with large-scale investment and catch up with West

- eliminate inefficiencies of NEP (Nepmen)

- move towards socialism

- produce necessary weapons for modern war

- Stalin to assert own authority

Nature and implementation of The Five Year Plans (1928-41)

-decision was made after 15th Party Congress (1927)

-Gosplan formulated production targets for every industry and managers responsible for meeting targets

- People's commissariats set up to coordinate different branches of industry

- campaign against Nepmen and 'bourgeois experts

- propaganda campaign to inspire workers to fulfil plans

- no attempt to ensure factories had resources necessary to reach targets

- command economy

First Five Year Plan (1928-32)

- concentrated on growth in heavy industry and centralising control of economy

- consumer industries neglected

Second Five Year Plan (1933-37)

- initially higher target sets for consumer goods but with the rise of Hitler, heavy industry prioritised

- building infrustructure

Third Five Year Plan (1938-41)

- arms production to meet threat of Germany

Achievements of Five-Year Plans (1928-41)

- heavy industry

- transport

- labour productivity

- rearmament

Achievements of Five-Year Plans explained

- heavy industry biggest success - achieved by building new factories and industrial towns created e.g. Magnitogorsk

- Moscow Metro opened in 1935 - people could travel around more easily

- Moscow-Volga Canal constructed 1932-37 - goods transportation more efficient

- First FYP labour productivity was low due to long hours, low pay and lack of incentive but increased in 1935 initiative as rewards system and high payments introduced

- productivity also increased due to Stakhanovite system

- more spent on rearmament and construction of military aircraft but shortages of materials

Consequences of FYP - 1st Plan

- existing factories and equipment used more efficiently

- industrial towns created e.g. Magnitogorsk

- model workers

- harsh conditions for workers, some sent to gulags

Consequences of FYP - 2nd and 3rd plan

- technical expertise utilised more

- coal production rose

- chemical industry progressed

- regional development of more remote areas

Problems with Five-Year Plans (1928-41)

- production issues

- shortage of consumer goods

- housing and living conditions declined

- political repression

- black market grew

Problems with Five-Year Plans - production issues explained

- low production quality

- waste of products produced - as plans didn't specify what materials should be used for, little coordination between factories, lack of transport in FFYP

- plans disorganised and undermined by Stalin's other policies (Stalin's terror, unrealistic targets, falsified data)

Problems with Five-Year Plans - consumer goods explained

- shortages because heavy industry prioritised, planners underestimated consumer needs and lack of sophisticated production techniques

- scarcity of consumer goods managed by rationing

- however footwear production and food processing increased

Problems with Five-Year Plans - housing and living conditions

- necessary housing for growing urban workforce not built

- bathhouses scarcer and most homes built during plan didn't have running water

- food rationing

- harsh working conditions - 7 day work week, long hours, lateness criminalised

- internal passports introduced in 3rd FYP

Problems with Five-Year Plans - black market

- caused by material shortages

- workers would steal goods for workplace and sell them (covered by falsifying paperwork)

Collectivisation (1928-41)

- small farms merged into larger ones

- farmland and resources taken over by state

Causes of collectivisation

- communist ideology

- increase agricultural output

- failures of NEP

- leadership struggle

- linked with industry

- economically efficient

Causes of collectivisation - communist ideology explained

- communists believed private property foundations of capitalism and source of inequality

- historically peasants wanted to own land they worked - implies an individualistic desire to make money (capitalist)

- help extend socialism to countryside

- getting rid of kulaks

Causes of collectivisation - failure of NEP explained

- agricultural production fell from 1926 during NEP as demand for farmed goods fell

- increased production in 1926 led to fall in prices as supply>demand, so decreased production in 1927 leading to food shortages and increased profits for farmers (kulaks)

Causes of collectivisation - the leadership struggle

- 1927 - Stalin+Bukharin defeated Zinoviev, Kamenev, Trotsky (these people had advocated for left wing policy of collectivisation and rapid industrialisation)

- their defeat meant left wing had no leader so Stalin moved to left to retain supporters and gain more support than Bukharin

Causes of collectivisation - linked with industry explained

- industrial development, need for war, could only happen if supported by agricultural productivity (as population would increase and would need more food, also needed more food to export to pay for foreign technology)

- mechanisation of agriculture so more labour available to work in cities

Causes of collectivisation - economically efficient

- larger units make use of machinery more viable and cost-effective

- machinery would increase food production

- machinery would allow for more workers available for industry

Process of collectivisation

- grain requisitioning and rationing (1928)

- dekulakisation

- collectivisation (1929)

- collectivisation halted (1930)

- collectivisation resumed (1931)

- all farms collectivised (1941)

Process of collectivisation - 1928 explained

- July 1928 - Stalin ended NEP by ordering Red Army and Cheka to requisition grain from peasants

- this grain used to feed workers and sell overseas

- rationing introduced

Process of collectivisation - dekulakisation

- peasants resisted requisitioning by hiding/damaging crops

- resistance dealt with by '25 thousanders', OGPU and Red Army

- Stalin claimed resistance was attack on socialism and initiated dekulakisation

- in theory meant to take farms and equipment but in reality was mass deportation and killing

Process of collectivisation - full collectivisation

- introduced 1929

- equipment taken from richer peasants and given to poorer peasants

- farms merged

- MTS (Machine Tractor Stations) - supplied farm machinery and advice

Consequences of collectivisation - short term (1929-34)

- destruction of soviet farming

- famine

- mechanisation

- grain procurement

- industrial growth

- Stalin consolidate power

Consequences of collectivisation - short term (1929-34) - explained

- peasants destroyed crops, animals, machinery

- grain production decreased due to dekulakisation and absence of incentives

- Holodomor - Ukrainian famine (1932-33) - Stalin seized grain and livestock

- machinery supply slow

- achieved enough food to feed towns and Red Army which helped industrial growth

- inadequate planning so poor instructions given and not enough machinery

Consequences of collectivisation - long term (1934-41)

- grain harvests smaller as collective farms less productive than private farms

- farming unable to meet WW2 demands of citizens and army - Soviets relied on US, rations fell

- succeeding in exerting party control over peasants (1920-mir abolished)

Impact of WW2 on Russia

- destroyed economic progress made during first 3 FYP's

- homelessness

- decline in industry

The Fourth Five-Year Plan (1945-50)

- investment in heavy industry

- led to extremely high levels of industrial growth

- focus on military spending

- Cold War (1946) caused expansion of military

- production of consumer goods increased but heavy industry prioritised so still scarce

- reconstruction focused on factories+historic cities rather than homes+towns

- low wages so more money for reconstruction and women forced to work as needed income

- 1945-50 - soviet economy fastest growing in world

Agriculture post WW2

- severe resource and worker shortages (1946-49)

- strict discipline on farms - private farming ended

- production still grew between 1947-53