Industry and agriculture in the Stalin era.

• Name all the economic polices emplaced in the soviet government from 1924-1953

  • 1928 July - Emergency economic measures introduced ending the NEP
  • 1928 October: First 5-Year-Plan Introduced
  • 1929 December - Start of compulsory collectivisation of Soviet farms
  • 1933: Second 5-Year-Plan
  • 1938: Third 5-Year-Plan
  • 1945 December: Introduction of the fourth 5-Year-Plan
  • 1951: Fifth 5-Year-Plan
• What is a 'command economy'?

  An economy where all industries and firms are nationalised and state-owned.
• Describe the events between 1924 and 1928 that led to the creation on the command economy

  • 1924: Industrial production was 45% of its figure in 1913
  • 1926: Much of the pre-war economy had been restored
  • 1927: A raid by the British government on the others of the soviet trade mission in London. Peasants hoarded food in response to fear of an invasion.
  • 1928: The decision had been made to extend state control and implement a command economy as the best way to bring about rapid industrialisation.
• What did Stalin want to do to the economy?

  Industrialise the country, bring about rapid industrialisation to modernise the economy and move towards socialism.
• How did Stalin's policy link to the idea of 'socialism in one country'?

  Self-sufficiency & Patriotism.
• First Five Year Plan

  • Dates: 1928-1932
  • Aims: Rapid growth in heavy industry, such as coal, steel and iron
  • Actions: Used ideas of Preobrazhensky. New plants were built. Industrial centres were built.
  • Outcomes: Plants weren't useful until 32'. 250,000 lived in industrial centres by 1932. Only 17% of work force were skilled.
  • Success: Output increased
  • Failures: Quantity was often sacrificed. Consumer goods and light industry was neglected.
• Second Five Year Plan

  • Dates: 1933-1937
  • Aims: Set higher targets for consumer goods - Moved towards defence & heavy industry near the end (WWII)
  • Actions: More use of technical expertise. New Industrial centres. Used remoter areas of USSR.
  • Outcomes: Economic achievements were substantial. More consumer goods. Chemical industry made progress.
  • Success: 17% growth rate. Coal production rose.
  • Failures: Unbalanced growth. Oil industry was disappointing
• Third Five Year Plan

  • Dates: 1938-1941
  • Aims: Arms Production. Defence industry of growing international tension - due to WWII
  • Actions: Development of more arms testing
  • Outcomes: More Heavy Industry production.
  • Success: Increase output of growth from the coal & steel production
  • Failure: 10,000 prisoners died on the White Sea Canal Project during WWII
• What was Stalin's aim for agriculture?

  For agriculture to be more efficient and productive.
• Why did Stalin move towards collectivisation?

  • Link with Industry - Fear of invasion of power meant that they needed to industrialise
  • The Economic case for collectivisation - Very inefficient, peasant farmers
  • Political case for collectivisation - Control was weak in countryside.
• What was decided at the December 1927 at the Fifteenth Party Congress?

  A programme of voluntary collectivisation.
• What did Local Party officials to do?

  Go into villages to announce the organisation of a collective farm (Kolkhoz).
• What were 'Kolkhoz'?

  Collective Farms.
• What does MTS stand for? What was there purpose?

  Machine and tractor stations. They were meant to supply farm machinery like tractors to the collectives.
• What was the response to collectivisation?

  Violent opposition from a larger number of peasants.
• What did the 'dekulakisation quads' do?

  • Dealt with opposition.
  • Eliminated wealthy peasants.
  • Forced collectivization.
• How were the secret police involved?

  They round up kulaks and deported them to remote parts of the country.
• What other methods were taken to curb resistance?

  Resistors were bombed out of existence by the air force.
• What were the outcomes by 1932?

  • 1932: 62% of peasant households had been collectivised.
  • 1937: 93% of peasant households had been collectivised.
• What were the results of collectivisation?

  • Fall in food production
  • Famine
  • Fall in agriculture
• Explain the Holodomor

  Murder by starvation. Stalin's actions against Ukraine during the process of enforced collectivisation.
• Who was Alexei Stakhanov?

  A coal miner from the Donbass region who could mine 15 times the average amount of coal.
• Fourth Five Year Plan

  • Dates: 1946-1950
  • Aims: Bring about economic reconversion and reconstruction as quickly as possible. (recover from WWII)
  • Actions: Factories had been converted to the production of wartime goods needed to be converted back to civilian production
  • Outcomes: Improved a lot of industry. Increased food output
• Fifth Five Year Plan

  • Dates: 1951-1955
  • Aims: Achieve continued growth
  • Actions: Large amounts of resources were diverted into the building of projects
  • Outcomes: More industrial output. Improved living standards. Regulated wages and prices.