Russia 2 Essay Plans

How far would you agree that the Five-Year Plans had transformed the Soviet economy by 1953?

Pearson

Heavy industry - broadly agree

Industrial output rose dramatically

>>Steel - 4 million tons in 1928, 18.3 million tons in 1940

Not complete transformation in that inefficiencies remained

Light industry - don't agree

Not a focus, people had to turn to the black market

>>Under Fourth Five-Year Plan, only 12% of investment was in light industry

>>Only 10,000 televisions in 1950 - compare to UK where 350,000 households had a television set

Agriculture - don't agree

Transformed in that farms were collectivized

Most important transformation is agriculture

Grain output did not rise as much as possible

Collectivisation alienated peasants which mean agriculture could not be fully transformed

How far, in the years 1953-85, did the priorities for Soviet industry and agriculture change?

Q3 2016 AS

Consumer industries gained greater priority under both Khrushchev and Brezhnev

Agriculture was prioritised under Khrushchev but not Brezhnev

1972 - started importing large amounts of grain

Military-industrial complex remained a large priority

Despite Khrushchev's attempts to decrease military spending

Reform was a priority for Khrushchev, but not Brezhnev

Was the failure of Khrushchev's industrial reforms the main reason for economic problems in the USSR in the years 1964-82?

AS SAMS

Khrushchev failed to implement long-lasting reforms to decentralise the economy

Brezhnev allowed stagnation

Opposed Kosygin reforms

Agriculture declined

1972 - started importing grain

Inefficient workforce

How far was Brezhnev responsible for the economic decline of the USSR in the years 1964-85?

A-Level SAMS

Brezhnev

Reluctance to fully address economic problems

Watered down the Kosygin reforms

HOWEVER he did invest more in consumer goods, leading to an improvement in the standard of living

And he did implement some reforms

Inherent flaws within a command economy

Didn't consider supply and demand - leading to wastage e.g. 400,000 tractors built each year, 20% were never used

HOWEVER Brezhnev could have better addressed this and decentralised the economy

Problems within the workforce

Low productivity due to lack of incentives

Alcoholism - estimated 20 million in the 1980s

HOWEVER this was a symptom, not a cause o the decking economy, and Brezhnev could have better addressed it

Hugh military expenditure

How successful were government policies in promoting industrial development in the USSR in the years 1928-64?

A-Level SAMS

How far did the economy improve in the years 1921-64?

Hodder

Were the failures of collectivisation the main reason for the economic difficulties faced by the Soviet Union in the years 1929-41?

AS 2017 Q2

Failures of collectivisation

Grain output fell

Alienated the peasantry - sabotage

Eliminating kulaks got rid of the most efficient workers

Priorities of the Five Year Plans

Heavy industry over light industry

Quantity over quality

Inefficient workforce

Purges

Third Five-Year Plan faced difficulties

Experienced administrators were purged

How accurate is it to say that the introduction of the NEP represented the most significant economic development for the Soviet Union the years 1917-28?

NEP

Ideologically significant - pragmatism

Significant because it allowed the economy to improve

However it's less significant in that it didn't allow the economy to improve beyond 1913 levels

Less significant as it was short term, replaced by the First Five-Year Plan in 1928

War Communism

Significant in terms of its negative impacts

>>Alienated peasantry, caused uprisings - threat to Communist rule

>>Famine - high human cost

Can argue that it was less significant as it only lasted 3 years, but the massive negative effects of the policy outweigh this

Lenin's Initial Reforms - 'state capitalism'

Ideologically significant - nationalisation, workers' control, redistribution of land

Less significant in that it was soon replaced with War Communism, not able to observe economic improvements because of the policy

Did have a long lasting impact - creation of Vesenkha, Narkomprod

CONCLUSION

all were flawed, short-term - minimising the significance of all of them

War Communism was most significant - the only policy with a massive human cost and that led to major opposition to Bolshevik rule