1.2 The Five Year Plans and Industrial Change

Question 1

What were the Five year plans designed to achieve? (3)

Answer 1

• break away from NEP with its capitalist elements
• bring about rapid industrialisation to modernise economy and move towards socialism
• the move to nationalisation and state control would get rid of the despised Nepmen

Question 2

‘Socialism in one Country’ (2)

Answer 2

• slogan used to describe the policy of industrialising the USSR and moving towards socialism by using the resources of the Soviet Union
• put forth by Stalin, who was against Trotsky’s idea of world revolution before industrialising at home

Question 3

when was descision to abandon NEP and push for rapid industrialization made?

Answer 3

after the Fifteenth Party Congress in 1927

Question 4

The execution of the Five-Year Plans (7)

Answer 4

• plans aimed to use most advanced technology with emphasis on heavy industry to make USSR self-sufficient
• it reflected a massive military campaign, as the people were encouraged to: ‘storm’ and ‘conquer’
• Indusrialisation placed under Gosplan
• rapid extension of state over economy (people’s commisars coordinated branches of economy, party officials ensured orders from centre were carried out at factory level
• drive against the Nepmen, small businesses and shopkeepers often forced to join state cooperatives
• campaign against ‘bourgeois experts’ in factories
• was clear that the mixed economy of NEP was at an end

Question 5

Gosplan (3)

Answer 5

• State Planning Authority
• directed the Industrialisation during Five-year plans
• setting targets for industries

Question 6

Campaign against ‘bourgeois experts’ (5)

Answer 6

• campaign against the technical staff that had kept their positions because the state needed them
• policy was directed by government and built on the prejudices of the industrial workers
• the removal of the bourgeois experts would open up job opportunities to more loyal but less well-trained communists
• show trials against bourgeois experts in 1928
• the loss of this group of technical experts hindered the progress made under the five-year plans

Question 7

The First five year plan (timespan)

Answer 7

1928-32

Question 8

Gulags (3)

Answer 8

• chief administration of corrective labour camps
• system of forced labour camps with appaling conditions
• from 1929 to 1953, a total of about 18 million prisoners out of 180 million population passed through the system

Question 9

Elements of the First Five Year Plan (1928- 32) (9)

Answer 9

• concentrated on rapid growth in heavy industry
• consumer industries were neglected, which they justified by saying industrial infrastructure needed to be built up first before other sectors could flourish
• industrial expansion mostly due to making more efficient use of existing factories and equipment
• rapid growth in cities, but workers lived in squatter settlements
• shock-brigades were used
• rewards for model workers such as new flats and larger rations
• Government used slave labour to complete large building projects. these slaves were from Gulags and had to work in remote, cold regions such as Siberia
• factory managers faced with increasingly unrealistic targets and had to resort to ambushing resources meant for other factories and bribery (origins of USSR’s infamous corruption)
• in rush to fulfill targets, quality was often sacrificed

Question 10

shock-brigades (3)

Answer 10

• used by government during first five-year plan
• were made up of the best workers to set example
• most well known was Alekei Stakhanov

Question 11

White Sea Canal project (5)

Answer 11

• during first five year plan
• emplyed 180 000 prisoners by 1932
• during winter of 1931-32, 10 000 prisoners died
• completion of canal was portrayed as triumph by propaganda, but to reduce cost and speed up construction, depth of canal was reduces, making it useless except for small barges
• illustrates the attitude that human cost and quality were of no consequence as long as target was achieved

Question 12

What were the results of the Five Year Plans? (3)

Answer 12

• targets were already ambitious at start, but were also constantly raised to be ever more unrealistic
• goal became not just to fullfill target, but to overfullfill it
• although targets were rarely reached, achievements of the first 3 five year plans were impressive and transformed Soviet Union into a major industrial power with a modern but unbalanced economy

Question 13

Second five year plan (some of this also applies to third) (8)

Answer 13

• made more use of technical expertise
• results were impressive= production of coal and chemical industry made progress, oil industry dissapointing
• rapid growth in engineering industry and transportation
• although few met targets, there was enormous growth in heavy industry
• consumer industries suffered
• chaotic execution and planning were factors that limited achievements
• command economy led to failures because moscow-based planners had little understanding of local regions so many resources were wasted
• removing managers and technical experts through purges slowed economy

Question 14

Conclusion of five year plans (3)

Answer 14

• although soviet union made enormous economic progress, this progress was unbalanced
• slave labour meant that progress was achieved at great human cost
• health of wokers and natural environment damaged by industrialisation

Question 15

Third Five year plan (added)

Answer 15

• heavily focused on the defence industry due to growing international tensions