5 Year Plans Flashcards
Gosplan
A state planning agency to ensure that the economic objectives of the 5 year plans were met
Communist government’s control over Gosplan
They had the final say in how high the targets should be
Issue with Gosplan’s information
Lack of reliable information over the cost of imports and exports
Targets set by Gosplan
Very ambitious
Reason why targets were ambitious
Intended to force managers and workers to devote their maximum efforts to the programme
Why was there misinformation from the managers
Failure to achieve a target was deemed as a criminal offence, so those who administering the statistics ensured that targets showed significant improvement
Aims of the First 5 year plan
Boost production by 300%, develop heavy industry, boost electricity production and double the output from the light industry
Target of coal compared to actual total
75 million tonnes, when in reality 35.4 million was produced
Successes of the First 5 year plan
Despite no major targets being met, it saw impressive growth in heavy industry with coal and iron doubling and electricity doubling
Technological advancements mad because of First Five Year Plan
Engineering plants, HEP scheme and industrial complexes sprung up
Failures of the First 5 Year Plan
Non of the extremely ambitious targets were met
Living conditions got significantly worse, housebuilding and food processing were neglected and smaller works lost out to bigger factories
Second 5 Year Plan aims
Continue the development of the heavy industry, promote growth of the light industries, develop communications, and give more attention to consumer goods
Successes of the Second 5 Year Plan
Steel production trebled to reach its target production, coal production doubled, USSR was self sufficient in metal goods and machine tools by 1937
Technological advancements made from the Second 5 Year Plan
Moscow Metro 1935, Volga Canal 1937 and Dnieprostroi Dam was made the largest dam in Europe
Failures of the Second 5 Year Plan
Oil production failed to meet its target, no appreciable increase in consumer goods, more emphasis on quantity rather than quality
Aims of the Third 5 Year Plan
Promote rapid rearmament and complete the transition to communism
Successes of the Third 5 Year Plan
Heavy industry continued to grow, advances in machinery and engineering, spending doubled on rearmament between 1938 and 1940
Issue with spending so much on rearmament
Led to stagnation of other industries such as steel production
Failures of Third 5 Year Plan
Oil failed to meet targets leading to a fuel crisis, reduction in specialists and technicians following Stalin’s purged, plan was disrupted because of German invasion
Dates of the First 5 Year Plan
1928-32
Dates of the Second 5 Year Plan
1933-37
Dates of the Third 5 Year Plan
1938-42
Dneiprostroi Dam
A hydroelectric power station opened in 1932 which powered steel and aluminium production
Was one of the largest power plants in the world at the time
The Turksib Railway
A railway which connected Central Asia with Siberia which facilitated the transport of cotton and grain
Was built by nearly 50,000 workers
Moscow Metro
First underground railway system in the USSR which introduced massive campaigns to employ unskilled labourers to work on it
Moscow Volga Canal
A canal built by prisoners from the Dmitlag Labour camp which became the largest of its kind in 1934
Employed 200,000 prisoners
Magnitogorsk
A gigantic steel part and a town of 150,000 people created from nothing
Komsomolsk
A city generated from shipyard constructions and was built largely by the Communist Youth Organisation, Komsomol
How did Henry Ford help the USSR in industrialisation
He advised on the car industry, trained Russian engineers in the US and helped to design the car plant at Gorky
Foreign involvement on the Dnieprostroi Dam
Used experience gained from the construction of hydroelectric power stations in Canada
Prize awarded to American Engineers for the work on the Dnieprostroi Dam
6 American Engineers were awarded the ‘Order of the Red Banner of Labour’
Foreign involvement in the Moscow Metro
British consultants were used and based off the model of the London Underground
Removal of foreign intervention
Secret police arrested numerous British Engineers working in Moscow because they had an in-depth knowledge of the city’s geographical layout
Aleksei Stakhanov
A coal miner in the Don Basin who cut 102 tonnes of coal with his pneumatic pick in 5 hours and 45 minutes
Propaganda of Aleksei Stakhanov
He was declared a soviet hero and a given a large bonus and rewards
Seen as the model for all workers and sprung bout competition
