3: Stalin's Three 5-Year Plans Flashcards

1
Q

1st plan

A

1928 to 1932
Focused on heavy industry (iron, coal, steel, oil) 80% of investment
1,500 enterprises opened

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2
Q

2nd plan

A

1933 to 1938
Focused on heavy industry but also more rounded economic growth (chemical + consumer goods) and transport infrastructure

1934 this changed after Kirov’s murder and purges of moderates to focus less on consumer goods and more on military

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3
Q

3rd plan

A

1938-1941
Same methods as 1st plan but applied to war production

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4
Q

Despite worse diets, harsh labour discipline, and overall worse working conditions, many workers…

A

Felt that the hardships they endured were essential for building socialism and defending the Revolution from capitalism enemies abroad

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5
Q

1st Plan successes (4)

A

Social mobility
Transformed Russia
Remarkable industrial output
Met goal for oil

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6
Q

1st Plan failures (4)

A

Large-scale fraud / didn’t meet all targets
Quantity over quality
Living and working conditions worsened
Black market grew

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7
Q

Magnitogorsk

A

Aimed to build steelworks and city from scratch
1/4 million workers (Stahkanovites, volunteers, prisoners) transported there
In the end, steelworks were built but not the city, working conditions were awful and ended up with mostly slave labour.

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8
Q

The economic growth per year during the 1st plan

A

14%

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9
Q

Fact showing how 1st plan outperformed any previous economic plan

A

Coal production
1913 - 29 million tonnes
1928 - 35 million tonnes
1932 - 64 million tonnes

The goal was 68, but still very impressive

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10
Q

When was the Stakhanovite movement?

A

1935
Aleksey Stakhanov
Mined 14× his coal quota

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11
Q

Who set the targets?

A

Gosplan
1/2 million bureaucrats
Little knowledge of industry so plans were unrealistic

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12
Q

Examples of stricter labour discipline

A

Absenteeism and being late was criminialised
Not meeting quotas risked being arrested as a “wrecker” or “saboteur”
Stalin introduced 7 working day week

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13
Q

Examples of Gigantomania

A

Dnieper Dam
Moscow Metro

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14
Q

Examples of foreign participation (why?)

A

Despite aim of self sufficiency
Henry Ford
American engineer led Dnipro Dam
Great Depression led some to believe capitalism had failed

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15
Q

Ideological reasons for 5 year plans

A

Socialism only possible in a highly industrialised country
To be less reliant on western imports

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16
Q

Economic reasons for 5 year plans

A

NEP had failed to industrialise Russia
Industry didn’t exceed levels of last years of Tsarism

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17
Q

2nd plan success

A

Steel output trebled (Magnitogorsk)
Moscow Metro opened 1935
Moscow-Volga Canal 1937
Improved living standards (at first)

18
Q

How did living standards improve during the 2nd plan?

A

Bread rationing ended in 1934 followed by other foods
Industrial wages increased in real terms

19
Q

2nd plan failures

A

Little coordination and hoarding to meet targets caused scarcity of resources
Fear meant nobody reported problems and lied
Shortages of essential items continued and housing still lacked amenities
Growing inequality (party members luxuries)

20
Q

Shoe shortage facts

A

State owned production
Poor quality, fell apart
1934 a queue of 6,000 formed

21
Q

Housing and amenities fact

A

In one district in Moscow there was no bathhouse for 650,000 people

22
Q

Party officials luxuries

A

Still worse off than average worker in Britain or America

23
Q

Defence spending during 2nd plan

A

1933 4% of total government expenditure, 1937 17%

24
Q

Defence spending in 3rd plan

A

1940 1/3 government expenditures
(double 1937 levels)

25
What was resources diverted away from during end of 2nd plan and 3rd plan?
Consumer goods
26
New military technology in 3rd plan
1939 construction of new aircraft factories But much was unusable
27
What did Stalin take personal control in 1941?
Defence industry
28
What ended the 3rd plan?
The Central Committee declared that all resources should be directed to war preparation. Stalin's intervention also ended Gosplan's responsibility.
29
Coal, oil, and steel during 3rd plan
Coal increased 1/3 (1937: 128 mil, 1940: 166 mil) Crude oil increased marginally Steel stagnated ##Footnote From 1937 to 1941 levels
30
What did the plans do to society?
Formed a quicksand society. Rapid social advancement, regularly switching jobs
31
How did Stalin combat the quicksand society?
1940 internal passports
32
What complicated the 3rd plan?
Stalin's purges Created chaos in Gosplan and general industry (many experienced managers purged)
33
Overall, the first three 5 year plans transformed Russia from a _____ to a _____ from ______ to ______.
Semi-capitalist rural society Highly industrialised, urbanised society 1928 to 1941
34
However, Stalin failed to _____, which meant the Russian economy as a whole remained hopelessly _____
Increase labour productivity Inefficient
35
Increase in labour force due to collectivisation
+ 20 million overall Overall doubled
36
Housing plan problems
50% shortfall
37
How many women entered the workforce?
10 million (2 incomes were now needed to sustain a family)
38
Workforce problems
1933 only 17% skilled 1931 avg coal worker switched job 3× per year
39
Overall 1928-41
10% annual growth rate Electricity ×10 Oil ×3 Coal ×5 Number of enterprises increased from 9,000 to 64,000 1930-40 production of tanks and aircraft ×28
40
Oil production during 1st plan
1928 - 11.7 1932 - 21.4 Goal - 19 mil tonnes