successes and failures of soviet economy 1917-53

• How far do you agree that the failures of Soviet economic policy outweighed the successes in the years 1917-53? (20)
• Criteria for success


  • Output/ growth in different sectors
  • Overall growth rates - GDP
  • Agricultural growth
  • Employment rates
  • Trade
  • Development of infrastructure
  • Diverse economic base - variety of industry
  • Efficiency of economic activity/ quality of good produced
• Criteria by which the failures outweighed the successes

  • State capitalism had a detrimental effect on economy
  • Workers voted to give themselves pay rises, resulting in inflation
  • Managers often violently dismissed, those with expertise removed by workers seeking revenge
  • War communism caused food production to fall
  • Industry was at a visual standstill (production had fallen to 20% of 1913 level, and in some places had stopped altogether)
  • The banning of private trade, motivated by the communist ideology, resulted in the development of a black market and destroyed incentives to work - peasants weren't rewarded or paid for their labour
  • Money became worthless due to hyperinflation
• Criteria by which the failures did not outweigh the successes

  • The success of State Capitalism was that without this policy the economy would have collapsed and the Bolsheviks would have lost the civil war which is why Lenin introduced a transitional economic phase
  • Industrial output rose rapidly during the first 3 years of the NEP due to the repairing of roads and bridges that were damaged during the civil war. Also, putting existing factories back into production added to the success of NEP and set the USSR up for future development. Better harvests took place in 1922-23 due to the NEP
  • The first FYP (1928-32) led to efficient use of existing factories and there were large industrial centres built which became large cities e.g Magnitogorsk and Gorki which were built from scratch
  • The second FYP (1933-37) learnt from the first, it was planned more efficiently, new industrial centres started production with impressive results suggesting that the plans were successful as each plan was able to be adapted and changed to become more successful with greater production and new industries making progress
  • The third FYP(1938-war) allowed industrial centres to be developed in traditional areas such as Moscow and Leningrad but also in less developed areas such as Kazakhstan promoted even distribution on industrialisation through regional development
  • As a result from the FYP by 1937 industry was producing 4x the 1928 levels. Figures of economic growth easily surpassed those in the west which was facing economic depression
  • Success from the FYP was proven when the USSR was able to defend itself from Germany's attack and defeat the invading forces. Therefore the industry was deemed successful and was progressing in a short period of time
  • The transition from state capitalism to war communism succeeded in making the Soviet Union a more socialist state. Lenin improved and tried to prevent economic problems from 1918 by enforcing communism and to remove bourgeois attitudes, supported by the fact that people showed reluctance when war communism ended
  • Collectivisation enabled a flow of food and grain into the more urban areas e.g towns and cities. This allowed the growth of industry and an increase in those healthy and able to work
  • The fourth FYP (1946-50): The takeover of Eastern Europe boosted the economy. Also, reparations from the trade agreements meant that large amounts of machinery was seized from eastern germany. Industrial production recovered quickly by the use of slave labour from the gulags. Metal and heavy engineering were especially successful as economic targets were exceeded
  • The Fifth FYP (1951-55) military expenditure increased due to the cold war. The overall performance of the economy in the postwar period was impressive. From 1948 living standards began to improve and price reductions enabled the stabilisation of the economy. Real wages for urban workers recovered and were equal to that of 1928
  • After the German invasion the Soviet economy quickly improved faster than those in Europe, proving the FYP's were effective; for example, between 1943-1945 over 73,000 tanks and 94,000 aircrafts were produced
  • The period 1928-41 saw a 17% growth rate in heavy production and there was a four-fold increase in the production of steel and sixth-fold increase in coal production
• Failures of Soviet economic policy

  • The NEP replaced war communism but didn't raise production as much as government wanted- industrial production was only same as in 1913, Russian economy needed investment and needed modernising and expanding, NEP not producing enough money to fund industry; led to scissors effect (imbalance between agricultural and industrial goods, discouraging peasants from growing food for markets) - meant farmers couldn't afford industrial goods
  • First 5 year plan: new plants didn't make a difference to production until 1934; factory managers were faced with increasingly high targets meaning that quality was often sacrificed- used a wide range of enterprising methods, occasionally ambushing resources from other factories; no consumer goods; skill shortage impacted on production- only 17% of workforce in Moscow were skilled by 1933
  • Second and third 5 year plans: oil industry remained disappointing; consumer industries suffered- production of textiles declined during first 5 year plan and housing industry ignored
  • The second and third FYP's: official production figures did not match. For example, production of machinery exceeded targets but metal did not meet targets. There is an obvious connection between these two, this is odd and implies figures may have been altered to make achievements seem better. The 1937 purges during these plans led to a slow down in the economy as managers and technical experts were removed
  • Formation of collective farms where peasants would be grouped in larger farm units would create economies of scale- very easy to swap jobs; lack of expertise so quality wasn't great; expensive machines were wanted because no one knew how to install or repair them
  • Removal of Kulaks was damaging as they were often the most productive farmers; impact of fall in food production on countryside was pronounced because of rise in grain seized by government- aim of producing enough food for all towns
  • During collectivization there was excessive procurement of grain by the government which caused famine in Ukraine (5m died 1932-33). Collectivization resulted in 90kg less being produced per hectare than in NEP
  • 5YP's : central planning couldn't meet consumer needs in the future, goods were often low quality, poor communication between factories meant 40% of materials produced were being wasted. Housing was neglected and a poor standard of living ensued, 650000 people in one area of moscow were without baths