Economic developments

Question 1

Give two reasons why Stalin want to industrialise and modernise the USSR as quickly as possible?

Answer 1

A country not industrialised was a weak country - to fight a modern war a well developed industrial base was required to produce the huge quantities of weapons was needed
Wanted to make USSR much less dependent on western manufactured goods - to achieve this a heavy industrial plant was needed

Question 2

Give three other reasons why Stalin want to industrialise and modernise the USSR as quickly as possible?

Answer 2

Stalin believed that socialism could only be achieved in a highly industrial state where the majority of the population were workers
Stalin needed to prove to himself and other leading Bolsheviks that he was the successor and equal of Lenin
Stalin wanted to catch up with the west ( in terms of standards of living as well as militarily)

Question 3

What did Stalin introduce three of between 1928 and 1941?

Answer 3

Five-Year plans

Question 4

What was his primary aim in the five year plans?

Answer 4

To industrialise Russia by combining central planning with large-scale investment

Question 5

How far behind Britain and USA did he claim that the SU was and how quickly did he believe he could catch up?

Answer 5

100 years behind

Believed through planning the SU could catch up in 10 years

Question 6

What did soviet economists do?

Answer 6

Hoped to eliminate the shortcomings of the NEP and wanted to eliminate Nepmen who made money through trade instead of through production

Question 7

Why did Stalin argue that the plans were necessary?

Answer 7

Due to the failings of the NEP - it had hoped to revive existing soviet industry but had not led to the development of new factories

Question 8

How did the plans reflect Soviet militant concerns?

Answer 8

Stalin and many others in government feared that Germany would invade the soviet union so defending Soviet territory would require modern industry to produce the weapons necessary to fight a modern war

Question 9

How did Stalin want to assert his own authority?

Answer 9

The Five-Year Plans were more ambitious than any of Lenin’s schemes for transforming the SU - it would therefore demonstrate that Stalin was initiating a new phase of building socialism

Question 10

When were the first, second and third Five-Year Plans?

Answer 10

1. October 1928-December 1932
2. January 1933-December 1937
3. January 1939-June 1941

Question 11

Why were the first and third plans cut short?

Answer 11

The first plan had problems with it

The third ended prematurely when Germany invaded the SU

Question 12

What happened to agriculture between 1928 and 1941?

Answer 12

It was collectivised

Question 13

What was collectivisation?

Answer 13

A process by which small farms were merged into large farms of anything between 20 and 150 families
Ownership of farmland and resources were taken over by the state

Question 14

What were two main reasons for collectivisation?

Answer 14

Communists wanted to abolish private property and replace private farming with state-run farming to end capitalism and inequality
By collectivising farms, the Communists hopes that peasants would see the superiority of the socialist methods and embrace communism whole-heartedly

Question 15

For what two other reasons was collectivisation put in place?

Answer 15

By 1928 there were clear signs that the NEP was failing- agricultural production fell and left-wing communists claimed that kulaks were deliberately holding back the construction of socialism
Stalin’s opposition to the NEP was a key reason why he assumed the leadership of the party in the policy disputes of the 1920’s

Question 16

How was collectivisation introduced?

Answer 16

In a series of phases - in 1928 Stalin did not propose full-scale collectivisation however as his new policies won support within the communist party he became bolder and in late 1929 he ordered collectivisation to be stepped up

Question 17

Why was slowing down of collectivisation required by 1930?

Answer 17

It increased so rapidly that he claimed the initial targets had been over fulfilled by more than 100%

Question 18

In 1924 what was the economy based on?

Answer 18

The continuation of the NEP as the great compromise of 1921 had swerved away of war communism towards a partial return of free markets and private economy activity achieving a degree of economic stability - many saw this as the way forward

Question 19

What happened between 1927 and 1929?

Answer 19

There was a dramatic shift in economic policy called ‘The Great Turn’ - the NEP was abandoned as the regime committed itself with rapid industrialisation whatever the costs and previous policies towards the peasantry were scrapped to make way for brutal enforcement of collectivisation of agriculture - marked the end of the Leninist state and start of Stalinism

Question 20

What had inhibited Russia’s previous attempts to industrialise starting pre 1917?

Answer 20

The industrial economy was badly hit by the impact of the war and the civil war - there was some recovery after 1921 but it was slow despite Veshenka and Gosplan

Question 21

What were the other problems of the Russian economy before the great turn?

Answer 21

Production was weakened by strikes, managerial inefficiency and low levels of mechanisation
Officials blamed nepmen for obstructing central planners and factory managers blamed government officials for demanding unrealistically low prices

Question 22

What were the problems of industrialisation closely linked to?

Answer 22

Agriculture and collectivisation - the regime required sufficient food to supply the needs of industrial workers and wanted to surplus grain to pay for industrial investment

Question 23

Did the Kolkhozes and Sovkhozes achieve what was needed?

Answer 23

Growth of collective farms was extremely slow - even by 1928 less than 5% of the peasant population were working on collective farms and there was little enthusiasm for them among the peasants.

Question 24

When had collectivisation existed from?

Answer 24

1918 to a limited extent - it was a key aspect of communist ideology

Question 25

What were the two types of collective farm?

Answer 25

Kolkhoz - peoples farm - similar to peasant communes in tsarist Russia with around 75% of families working as brigades in a farm cooperative
Sovkhoz - state farm (often operating on land confiscated by the state from estate owners) that was given to landless peasants who became state controlled workers

Question 26

What were three reason for the great turn?

Answer 26

Weakness in industrial management - more efficiency needed to increase production (problems of industry and agriculture closely intertwined - both types of workers faced harsh conditions, shortages etc
Drive to industrialisation perceived as too long, by 1927 NEP failing to produce the growth that made leading communists expected - wanted to increase military strength and develop self sufficiency
Huge grain crisis winter of 27-28 , amount of grain purchased by gov was down 25% on previous year (grain prices low so peasants were concentrating on other goods which they could get higher prices) many blamed peasants for hoarding grain until price was high

Question 27

What were two other reasons for the great turn?

Answer 27

Many in the party wanted to revert to true communist ideology in managing the economy and for true socialism developing industry was essential to remove reliance on peasants - needed state control over production
Stalin’s attitude to economic policy also changing, having previously supported NEP he now wanted to be more radical maybe as economic circumstances needed a solution or maybe he was now secure enough to push for what he wanted

Question 28

What was the evolution in economic policy 1925-27

Answer 28

1925 - 14th party congress called for the transformation of the country from agrarian to industrial, capable of its own efforts
1926 - NEP was maintained although concerns were raised as more investment was needed to drive industry
Dec 1927 - 15th party congress there was an announcement of end of NEP and the beginning of the first of the five year plan for rapid industrialisation - known as the Great Turn

Question 29

What were the aims of the first five year plan?

Answer 29

Develop heavy industry (coal, iron, steel, oil etc)
Boost overall production by 300%
Improve the transport system (especially railways)
Transform the economy and society through electrification (target was to generate six times more electrical power by 1933 than 1928)
Feed the expanding industrial workforce through big increase in agricultural production
Light industry (chemicals, household good etc) was given low priority but was still expected to double its outputs

Question 30

What did the ambitious targets intend to do?f

Answer 30

Force managers and workers to devote maximum effort to the fulfilment of the five year plans - the launch of the plan was accompanied with a tidal wave of propaganda to whip up enthusiasm - full of grand predictions for future success

Question 31

What did Stalin claim when launching the first plan?

Answer 31

Targets would be met by mass enthusiasm of workers, there was to be huge investment in infrastructure e.g. railways, vast new industrial complexes were planned e.g. Magnitogorsk and plans were made for new tractor factories Stalingrad on the Volga and Kharkiv in Ukraine

Question 32

Why was Magnitogorsk not socialist?

Answer 32

Used foreign experts - asked the US steel company how to copy American technology

Question 33

What was the initial enthusiasm to the first plan?

Answer 33

There was enthusiasm and high expectations in many sections of society - many party members were pleased to see a commitment to radical social change and an end to the compromises of the NEP - propaganda had an impact
Urban workers hoped for better employment prospects and higher living standards
Many poor and middle peasants were led to hope they would benefit from further land reform and the introduction of more modern methods

Question 34

Why did the first five year plan provoke opposition from the start?

Answer 34

Many in the party saw the Kulaks as the backbone of the agricultural economy and were fearful that the harsh imposition of collectivisation would result in less food being produced
Many of those managing industrial production were already critical of the adverse impact of central planning so weren’t convinced a emphasis on central planning would solve the problems of industry so saw the policy as a high risk gamble

Question 35

How was the decision to collectivisation reached?

Answer 35

Not a single decision - collective farms already a feature of soviet agriculture but there were few - intense debates within the party 1927-1929 culminated in the decision to push through a massive acceleration of collectivisation to be imposed by force if necessary

Question 36

What were the two sides of the collectivisation debate in the party?

Answer 36

Many in the party would have liked to see a massive expansion of state farms but the few existing state farms were unproductive and very unpopular with the peasantry
Bukharin saw helping the peasants as key to economic success - they needed incentive to produce more so he thought prices should be allowed to rise encouraging peasants to sell more. His supporters (Bukharanists) included many party members some of which were academic experts in the Institute of Red Professors
Bukharin’s opponents wanted faster progress towards modernisation and the growth of industry and they regarded the peasants as an obstacle to achieving this.

Question 37

What three interrelated factors were behind the drive towards collectivisation?

Answer 37

The grain procurement crisis in the winter of 1927 to 1928
The need for increased food supplies to support the expansion of the industrial workforce for the Five Year Plan
An ideological conviction that collectivisation was the right socialist path to follow and the ‘rich peasants’ were an obstacle in the way of progress

Question 38

How did Stalin deal with the grain procurement crisis?

Answer 38

Focused special attention on west Siberia and the Urals where the harvest had been generally good but grain procurement was down 1/3 on the previous year
His officials and police went across the region closing free markets using the criminal law to stop speculation and pressurising local officials to seize grain - this provoked opposition from peasants leading to harsher measures

Question 39

What did Stalin decide about the success of his actions in Siberia and Urals?

Answer 39

It had been effective and he was willing to use this as his weapon of choice in the battle of grain procurement. Officials not ready to use this harsh approach were criticised including by Bukharin

Question 40

What happened to Bukharin?

Answer 40

By summer of 1929 his political position was weakening and he found himself outvoted more often in Politburo and CC
In October the Bukharinists lost the majority they previously held in the Moscow party
By November Stalin felt strong enough to make direct attacks on B charing him with ‘right deviation’

Question 41

During 1929 how did forced collectivisation gain momentum?

Answer 41

Popular with many party members and local officials
Molotov particularly active in issuing central directives in the summer and there was a chain reaction between these directives and enthusiasm from local officials
The CC introduced a policy of sending 25,000 industrial workers into the countryside to accelerate the development of collective farms`

Question 42

In December 1929 what did Stalin announce at the party congress?

Answer 42

His readiness to impose forced collectivisation without any restraint - ‘to smash the kulaks as a class’

Question 43

What was the chronology of the defeat of Bukharinists surrounding collectivisation?

Answer 43

1927 Dec - Concerns in the party about the grain procurement crisis
1928 Jan - Stalin demands extraordinary measures for grain crisis
1928 Apr - Bukharinists outvoted in Politburo pn agricultural policy
1928 Nov - B attacked by Stalin for ‘right deviation’
1929 Apr - First 5 year plan launched at party congress
1929 Nov - B removed from Politburo
1929 Dec - Stalin’s war against Kulaks speech at party congress

Question 44

Where did Magnitogorsk come from?

Answer 44

In 1928 a soviet delegation travelled to Cleveland to discuss with experts at the US steel company how to copy the best American technology to build a new steel city as a showpiece of soviet industry
The Magnitaya area in western Siberia was chosen because of its vast reserves of iron ore - it was to be called Magnitogorsk

Question 45

What impact did the great turn have on the party?

Answer 45

Impacted debates and power struggles within the party - During 1928-29 the clash of opinion between Stalin and Bukharin intensified and relations between the two former allies broke down completely