Economic Developments, 1945-64

• Russians hoped for a better quality of life after the hardship and suffering experienced in wartime. The Five-Year Plans returned.
• Russia wanted to rebuild the economy after the 1945. They wanted to rearm for the Cold War.
• Heavy industry and defence were given priority in the Five-Year Plans.
• Consumer goods and infrastructure were ignored areas in the Five-Year Plan.
• The War destroyed 1,710 towns and 70,000 villages.
• The War destroyed 30,000 factories. 100,000 collective farms had stopped working.
• Factories and steel works were rebuilt after 1945. Mines reopened.
• Coal and steel production passed 1940 levels post-war.
• The atomic bomb was tested by Russia in 1949. This showed that the Soviet Union was catching up with the US.
• The new Five-Year Plan was achieved with longer hours and harsh discipline.
• Prison camps provided unpaid labour for the workforce. The population of prison camps rose from 500,000 to 1 million between 1945 and 1950.
• Peasants continued to be squeezed of their resources in the countryside.
• The state took 70% of peasants' grain. This was an issue because they could barely feed themselves.
• Peasants paid low prices for grain. Grain exports increased so industrial workers and the military could be fed.
• Famine took place again in the countryside in 1946-47. Over a million people died.
• Khrushchev recognised living standards needed to be raised. He needed to tackle poverty.
• A housing shortage was present in Russia. Khrushchev wanted to bring a material advancement to Russia that previous leaders promised.
• Khrushchev increased grain payments for peasants. He cut taxes.
• The Virgin Lands scheme wanted to solve chronic food shortages. Uncultivated land in Siberia and Kazakhstan would be developed to do this.
• 300,000 people were mobilised to go East and become pioneers of the Virgin Lands scheme. Most of these people were young party enthusiasts.
• The Virgin Lands schemed appeared to be initially successful. Grain production rose 75% between 1954 and 1958.
• An issue with most of the uncultivated land in the Virgin Lands scheme was that it was on the edge of deserts. It was subject to drought.
• An issue with the soil used in the Virgin Lands scheme was that it wasn't properly prepared or fertilised.
• The top soil used in the Virgin Lands scheme became arid. It was subject to wind erosion.
• The planning of the Virgin Lands scheme could be described as poorly. It was implemented too hastily.
• Management of the Virgin Lands scheme could be described as ineffective and inefficient.
• Volunteers suffered with poor housing during the Virgin Lands scheme. Many drifted back to the comfortable city life as enthusiasm waned.
• The Soviet Union had to import large amounts of grain from North America in 1963 to avoid famine.
• Khrushchev recognised the need for modernisation within Russia's industry. Technological development was emphasised.
• Khrushchev wanted the Soviet Union to "catch up with and overtake America". He wanted to prove the ideology of communism worked.
• Investment increased in the industrial resources of oil and natural. Consumer goods production increased.
• Russia's economy was growing faster than the US economy by the late 1950s. The Soviets launched the first ever satellite into orbit in 1957.
• Soviet prestige increased in 1961 because Russia launched the first man to space in history. The name of this man was Yuri Gagarin.
• Producers gained more control from Khrushchev's reorganisation of management. 11,000 factories were transferred from central government to regional government.
• Regional devolution measures strengthened the Communist Party. This came at the expense of economic ministries in Moscow.
• Khrushchev's control was strengthened by devolution. Increasing costs in defence and space caused slow growth in the early 1960s.
• Edward Acton believed the growth in agricultural production left behind "the stagnation of Stalinism".