4.2 Industrial Developments Flashcards
When was the First Five Year Plan?
1928-1932.
What were the aims of the First Five Year Plan?
To increase production by 300%
To focus on the development of coal, iron, steel, oil and machinery
To boost electricity production by 600%
To double the output from light industries such as chemicals
What was the outcome of the First Five Year Plan?
Despite claims by enthusiastic reporters that targets were reached in 4 years, none of the targets were reached.
Electricity nonetheless trebled, coal and iron output doubled and steel increase by 1/3.
New railways and industrial complexes sprung up.
However, the target for the chemical industry was not met.
House-building and food processing was neglected.
When was the Second Five Year Plan?
1933-1937.
What were the aims of the Second Five Year Plan?
To continue the development of heavy industry.
To promote the growth of light industries (chemicals, electricals and consumer goods).
Develop communications to provide links between cities and industrial areas.
Foster engineering and tool-making.
There was a greater emphasis put on rearmament after 1936 (4% -> 17% of GDP).
What were the successes of the Second Five Year Plan?
Successful through its “three good years” (1934-36)
The Moscow Metro was opened in 1935, the Volga Canal in 1937 and the Dnieprostroi Dam which was built in 1932 was extended with 4 more generator.
Electrical and Chemical facilities increased in size and copper, zinc and tin were mined for the first time.
Steel output trebled, coal doubled and by 1937 the Soviet Union was self-sufficient in metal goods and machine tools.
What were the failures of the Second Five Year Plan?
Oil production failed to meet its quota.
There was still no increase in consumer goods.
There was still the emphasis on quantity over quality, much like the First Five Year Plan.
When was the Third Five Year Plan?
1938-1942.
What were the aims of the Third Five Year Plan?
There was a particular focus on the defence sector, with the threat of the Nazis rising.
To place a renewed emphasis on the development of heavy industry.
To promote rapid rearmament.
To complete the transition into communism.
What were the successes of the Third Five Year Plan?
There was strong growth in machinery and engineering and resources were increasingly diverted to rearmament. (The spending on rearmament doubled between 1938 and 1940).
What were the failures of the Third Five Year Plan?
Steel production stagnated, oil still failed to meet targets which led to a fuel crisis and industries found them short of raw materials.
There was also a lack of good managers, specialists and technicians following Stalin’s purges.
The plan was also disrupted and finished early after the German invasion of 1941.
What was Magnitogorsk 1929?
This was a city built with the intention of showcasing socialism in action. To show the switch to a country of metal rather than agriculture.
It consisted of a gigantic steel plant and a town of 150,000 people and was built around a huge reserve of iron ore.
Workers lived in communal barracks under imposing figures of Lenin and Stalin.
What was the Dnieprostroi Dam?
Construction began on deserted land in 1927, opened in October 1932.
It increased Soviet electric power fivefold and provided electricity for several aluminium and high quality steel production plants in the surrounding area.
It was the largest hydro-electric powerstation on the Dnieper river and one of the largest in the world
What was the Volga Canal?
A canal that connects the Muskva and Volga rivers and was built between 932-1937 by 200,000 gulag prisoners from the Dmitlag labour camp.
22,000 died during the construction of the dam.
A 25m tall Lenin statue was built at the confluence of the canal and the Volga river.
What was the Moscow Metro which opened in 1935?
It was the first underground railway system in the USSR, opening with one 11km line and 13 stations.
It was constructed as part of the Second Five Year Plan and was an ambitious architectural project designed to prove that a socialist metro could surpass capitalist designs.
