3: Stalin's Three 5-Year Plans

Question 1

1st plan

Answer 1

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

Question 2

2nd plan

Answer 2

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

Question 3

3rd plan

Answer 3

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

Question 4

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

Answer 4

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

Question 5

1st Plan successes (4)

Answer 5

Social mobility
Transformed Russia
Remarkable industrial output
Met goal for oil

Question 6

1st Plan failures (4)

Answer 6

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

Question 7

Magnitogorsk

Answer 7

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.

Question 8

The economic growth per year during the 1st plan

Answer 8

14%

Question 9

Fact showing how 1st plan outperformed any previous economic plan

Answer 9

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

The goal was 68, but still very impressive

Question 10

When was the Stakhanovite movement?

Answer 10

1935
Aleksey Stakhanov
Mined 14× his coal quota

Question 11

Who set the targets?

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Examples of stricter labour discipline

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Examples of Gigantomania

Answer 13

Dnieper Dam
Moscow Metro

Question 14

Examples of foreign participation (why?)

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Ideological reasons for 5 year plans

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Economic reasons for 5 year plans

Answer 16

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

Question 17

2nd plan success

Answer 17

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

Question 18

How did living standards improve during the 2nd plan?

Answer 18

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

Question 19

2nd plan failures

Answer 19

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)

Question 20

Shoe shortage facts

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Housing and amenities fact

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Party officials luxuries

Answer 22

Still worse off than average worker in Britain or America

Question 23

Defence spending during 2nd plan

Answer 23

1933 4% of total government expenditure, 1937 17%

Question 24

Defence spending in 3rd plan

Answer 24

1940 1/3 government expenditures, which was double 1937 levels

Question 25

What was resources diverted away from during end of 2nd plan and 3rd plan?

Answer 25

Consumer goods

Question 26

New military technology in 3rd plan

Answer 26

1939 construction of new aircraft factories
But much was unusable

Question 27

What did Stalin take personal control in 1941?

Answer 27

Defence industry

Question 28

What ended the 3rd plan?

Answer 28

The Central Committee declared that all resources should be directed to war preparation. Stalin’s intervention also ended Gosplan’s responsibility.

Question 29

Coal, oil, and steel during 3rd plan

Answer 29

Coal increased 30%
Crude oil increased marginally
Steel stagnated

From 1937 to 1941 levels

Question 30

What did the plans do to society?

Answer 30

Formed a quicksand society.
Rapid social advancement, regularly switching jobs

Question 31

How did Stalin combat the quicksand society?

Answer 31

1940 internal passports

Question 32

What complicated the 3rd plan?

Answer 32

Stalin’s purges
Created chaos in Gosplan and general industry (many experienced managers purged)

Question 33

Overall, the first three 5 year plans transformed Russia from a _____ to a _____ from ______ to ______.

Answer 33

Semi-capitalist rural society
Highly industrialised, urbanised society
1928 to 1941

Question 34

However, Stalin failed to _____, which meant the Russian economy as a whole remained hopelessly _____

Answer 34

Increase labour productivity
Inefficient

Question 35

Increase in labour force due to collectivisation

Answer 35

+ 20 million overall
Overall doubled

Question 36

Housing plan problems

Answer 36

50% shortfall

Question 37

How many women entered the workforce?

Answer 37

10 million

(2 incomes were now needed to sustain a family)