Chapter 14 - Industrial and social developments in towns and cities 1929-1941 Flashcards
When was the first 5YP launched?
1928
When was the Dnieprostroi Dam completed?
1932
When was the second 5YP launched?
1933
When was new emphasis placed on armaments production?
1936
When was the Moscow-Volga Canal completed?
1937
When was the third 5YP launched?
1938
What doubled in 1940?
Armaments spending
What/who organised the Five Year Plans?
Gosplan (the State Planning Agency)
What did Gosplan do?
Drew up plans and set output targets for each economic enterprise in accordance with Party directives
Why were Gosplan’s targets usually very ambitious?
If Party leaders didn’t consider them ambitious enough, they would be revised upwards
Why was the process of setting targets for the 5YP’s difficult?
Gosplan did not have reliable statistics about the economy (especially imports and possible exports) to base them on
Why did enterprises falsify their production figures?
There were severe punishments for missing targets
Overambitious planning assumptions never got corrected
What did Regional Party bosses compete for?
For their regions to be given the most resources and assigned the most prestigious new projects
Aims of the first 5YP
- Develop heavy industry
- Boost electricity production
- Double the output from light industry e.g. chemicals
Successes of the first 5YP
- Electricity output tripled
- Coal and iron output doubled
- Steel production increased by 1/3
Limitations of the first 5YP
- None of the extremely ambitious targets were met
- Improvements in the chemical industry lagged behind
- Consumer industries were badly neglected
Aims of the second 5YP
- Continue the growth of heavy industry
- Boost light industry: chemicals, electricals, consumer goods
- Develop communications
- Foster engineering
Successes of the second 5YP
- Some large-scale communication projects
- Rapid growth in electricity production and chemicals
- New metals (e.g. copper and tin) mined for the first time
- Steel output tripled
- Coal production doubled
- The USSR was self-sufficient in metal goods and machine tools by 1937
Limitations of the second 5YP
- Oil production failed to meet its targets
- Consumers were still very short of some products
- Quantity increased but quality still tended to be very low
Aims of the third 5YP
- Renewed emphasis on heavy industry
- Promote rapid rearmament
- Complete the transition to communism
Successes of the third 5YP
- Some strong growth in machinery and engineering
- Defence industries developed exceptional models e.g. the T-34 tank
- Spending on rearmament doubled 1938-40
Limitations of the third 5YP
- Other areas stagnated after defense was prioritised
- Oil production failed to meet targets, causing a fuel crisis
- Lack of specialists due to Stalin’s purges
- The German invasion of 1941 disrupted the Plan, causing it to end early
What was a fundamental problem with the plans?
Stalin’s increasingly authoritarian and repressive regime, where any criticism of the system was likely to be viewed as treason
What happened during the first 5YP?
The 1929 Wall Street Crash
What world event impacted all of the 5YP’s?
The Great Depression
1929-39
The Dnieprostroi Dam
A dam generating hydro-electric power, built on the Dnieper river in Ukraine
When was the Dnieprostroi Dam constructed?
Between 1927 and 1932
Why was the Dnieprostroi Dam significant?
One of the largest power stations in the world at the time
How did the Dam impact Soviet electricity?
Increased Soviet electric power by 500% after 5 extra generators were installed in the second 5YP
What did the Dam power?
Aluminium and steel production in new nearby industrial cities
When was the Moscow Metro constructed?
1932-1937
A project of the second 5YP
What was the significance of the Metro?
The first underground railway system in the USSR
Aimed to showcase the achievements of the socialist state, with chandeliers, marble walls and intricate mosaics
What was the purpose of the Metro?
Designed to help Moscow deal with rapid industrialisation as peasants moved from the countryside to the city
When was the Moscow-Volga Canal constructed?
1932-37
The Moscow-Volga Canal
A 128km canal connecting the Moskva River to the Volga River
Who built the Moscow-Volga canal?
~200,000 prisoners from the Dmitlag labour camp
~22,000 died
What was Magnitogorsk?
A gigantic steel plant and town of 150,000 people, purpose-built in the Urals, away from the USSR’s western borders
What was Komsomolsk?
A heavy plant and several shipyards in east Russia, built to open up this area to development
How was Komsomolsk built?
Constructed by volunteer labour from the Komsomol and prison camp labour
What was the Komsomol?
The Communist youth organisation
Why were foreign companies recruited to help with industrial development?
To provide the expertise needed to develop new industries, and to plan and construct the new industrial centres and showpiece projects
How were foreign companies involved in the construction of the Moscow Metro?
The Metro was designed by British specialists recruited from the London Underground
How were foreign companies involved in the car industry?
Henry Ford advised the USSR, trained Soviet engineers in the USA, and helped to design the car-plant at Gorky
How were foreign companies involved in the construction of the Dnieprostroi Dam?
The project used experience from Canadian and US engineers
6 American engineers were awarded the ‘Order of the Red Banner of Labour’ in recognition of their ‘outstanding work’
What attracted Westerners to work in the USSR?
The relatively high wages and prestige of working on the mega-projects (especially during the Great Depression)
What are two examples of the dangers of working in the USSR as a Westerner?
- The secret police arrested several British engineers working on the Moscow Metro on suspicions of spying; the OGPU was concerned about their detailed knowledge of Moscow’s geography
- Engineers for the Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Company were given a show trial and deported in 1933 (end of the role of British business in the USSR)
Who were Stakhanovites?
Workers who exceeded their targets and were held up as examples for others to follow
Who were the Stakanovites named after?
Aleksei Stakhanov, a coal miner who exceeded his mining target by a huge amount
He was declared a Soviet hero and rewarded with a bonus and awards
Why were Stakhanovites not always popular with managers?
Their efforts meant production targets were raised
What was the Stakhanovite movement?
A propaganda campaign based on improving worker productivity for the good of the USSR, not individual gain
Why were Stakhanovites not always popular with other workers?
They made them look bad and meant higher targets
How did the Party react to Stakhanov?
It promoted the Stakhanovite movement and introduced Stakhanovite competitions in different industries
Stakhanovites recieved material benefits from their employers
What was revealed about Stakhanov in 1988?
His original heroic effort had been stage-managed and several others had helped him achieve his target
What could happen if managers tried to reduce the pressure on their workers?
They could be accused of wrecking (sabotage)
What happened if managers exceeded their targets?
They received a bonus
What happened if managers failed to meet their targets?
They could be put on trial, imprisoned or executed
What changed for managers in 1936?
Factories had to pay for their own materials, labour and fuel out of profits from sales
Led to careful (creative) accounting
Bribery and corruption widespread within the system
What were managers responsible for applying in the workplace?
State regulation, e.g. regarding work norms and absenteeism
These weren’t popular with workers and led to protests
What percentage of the workforce was female by 1940?
43%
What allowed mothers to work?
State provision of nurseries, creches and child clinics
What caused women to enter the workforce
Price increases meant they needed to help earn the income needed to sustain their families
What effect did the second 5YP have on female employment?
The Party ordered managers to employ more women in heavy industry
Managers continued to give the best-paid, highest-skilled jobs to men and were reluctant to allow women to get training to improve their skills
How much did women earn in comparison to men in 1940?
Around 40% less
What were the working hours brought in to achieve the first 5YP?
long working hours, 6+ days a week
What were labour books?
Books that, from 1938, recorded workers’ employment, skills and any disciplinary issues
When did absenteeism become a crime?
1940
What could absenteeism result in?
Dismissal, eviction from housing and loss of benefits
When did measures to toughen up on absenteeism appear?
1930-33
What was illegal/a criminal offence in the workplace?
ILLEGAL:
Strikes
CRIMINAL OFFENCE:
Damaging machinery
Leaving work without permission
Where did most city workers live?
Crowded communal appartments with few amenities and little privacy
What effect did Stalin’s purges have on workers?
The purges removed white-collar workers and intellectuals, creating opportunities for workers to advance their careers
How did wages change in 1931?
Wage differentials were introduced that meant that those who worked hard over long hours were rewarded for their efforts
Four ways some workers benefitted
- Far more opportunities for progression than under tsarism
- Training programmes widely available to improve skills
- Wage differentials
- Wage increases after the second 5YP
How did the Soviet economy grow between 1928 and 1940?
5-6% per year
An impressive result, especially in the context of a global recession
5 successes of the 5YP’s
- The growth of the economy
- The USSR became a major industrial power
- Heavy industry showed impressive growth and light industry started to deliver more consumer goods
- They created opportunities for ordinary workers to develop new skills and progress in their careers, increasingly for women as well as men
- They fostered a sense of pride in the communist system and what it could achieve
What were the social downsides of the 5YP’s?
- Deteriorating living conditions
- Working conditions that were dominated by strict labour discipline
What was the effect of fear of missing targets?
It created an environment of bribery and corruption, and a focus on quantity rather than quality
What were the downsides of the labour used to achieve the 5YP’s?
- Used prison camp labour
- Collective farms were paid very low prices for very high quotas of grain (even in times of food shortage and famine)
