Economy under Stalin

Question 1

What was economic policy in 1925?

Answer 1

The 14th Party Congress called for ‘the transformation of our country from an agrarian into an industrial one, capable by its own efforts of producing the necessary means’.

Question 2

What was economic policy in 1927?

Answer 2

the 15th Party Congress announced the end of the NEP and beginning of 1 5YP, known as the ‘Great Turn’.

Question 3

What was Stalin’s Great Turn driven by?

Answer 3

Political desire to establish leadership
NEP failed to produce growth
War scare in late 1920s made them nervous of their reliance on imports.
It was a move towards true socialism
Suited Stalin’s personal style to have strong central control over the economy.

Question 4

How was corruption and faulty reporting built into the 5YPs from the outset?

Answer 4

The targets were unreachably high, and failing to reach them was deemed a criminal offence.
Those who failed to reach them were known as ‘wreckers’ and purged.

Question 5

What were the aims of the First 5YP?

Answer 5

Increase production 300%
Develop heavy industry
Boost electricity production 600%
Double light industry

Question 6

What was the outcome of the First 5YP?

Answer 6

Actually impressive growth.
Electricity output trebled
Coal and iron output doubled
Railways, engineering plants, hydro-electric generators and industrial complexes built.

Question 7

What was not achieved in the First 5YP, and why?

Answer 7

Chemical industry growth not met and house-building, food procession and consumer industries neglected.
Too few skilled workers and too little effective central coordination.

Question 8

What were the aims of the Second 5YP?

Answer 8

Continue development of heavy industry
Put new emphasis on light industry development
Develop inter-city communications
Boost engineering and tool-making.

Question 9

What were the ‘three good years’ of the Second 5YP?

Answer 9

1934-1936, when the Moscow Metro opened, the Volga Canal opened and the Dnieprostroi hydroelectric dam came into power.

Question 10

What was achieved in the Second 5YP?

Answer 10

Electricity production and chemical industries grew rapidly and new metals such as copper, zinc and tin were mined for the first time.
Steel output trebled and by 1937 the Soviet Union was virtually self-sufficient in metal goods and machine tools.

Question 11

What was the increased in % of GDP dedicated to rearmament from 1933-1937?

Answer 11

1933 - 4%
1937 - 17%

Question 12

What was not achieved in the Second 5YP?

Answer 12

Oil production failed to meet its targets and there was no real increase in consumer goods.
An emphasis on quality over quantity also prevailed.

Question 13

What were the aims of the Third 5YP?

Answer 13

Focus on development of heavy industry
Promote rapid rearmament
Complete the transition to communism.

Question 14

What was achieved in the Third 5YP?

Answer 14

Heavy industry grew, and spending on rearmament doubled 1938-1940.
There was strong growth in machinery and engineering, although this varied geographically.

Question 15

What was not achieved in the Third 5YP?

Answer 15

Steel stagnated, and oil failed to meet targets which caused a fuel crisis and a lack of raw materials due to transport issues.

Question 16

What was the biggest problem with the Third 5YP?

Answer 16

The dearth of managers, specialists and technicians following the Purges, a hard 1938 winter and the diversion of funds into rearmament. The plan finished early due to Barbarossa.

Question 17

What was agricultural organisation seen as?

Answer 17

A prerequisite for rapid industrialisation. Surplus grain was needed for export to enable the purchase of industrial equipment and feed the urban workforce but weren’t producing enough by 1927.

Question 18

What kind of agricultural system did Bolshevik ideology think was suitable?

Answer 18

A socialist system - critics of the NEP believed the system was working to the advantage of the peasants over industrial workers and the peasants were holding back true socialism,/

Question 19

What is collective farming?

Answer 19

Cooperative farming where all agricultural workers were employed on large factory farms, delivering quotas of grain and other food products to the State.

Question 20

What was the hoped for effect of collectivisation?

Answer 20

It would provide more efficient farming, give more opportunity for mechanisation, make grain collection easier and socialise the peasants.

Question 21

How is the 1926 harvest?

Answer 21

Only 50% of expected, with suspicions of hoarding for the rest.

Question 22

When and what was the Grain Procurement Crisis?

Answer 22

1927 - state collections are low and food crises in the expanding industrial towns threaten industrial development.

Question 23

What did the Grain Procurement Crisis lead to?

Answer 23

The ‘Ural-Siberian method’ of grain requisitioning, involving the forcible seizure of grain and closing down of markets.

Question 24

What were the Cheka used for in 1930?

Answer 24

Dekulakisation, they would identify, execute or deport kulaks which accounted for around 4% of households.

Question 25

What was the real impact of dekulakisation?

Answer 25

Around 15% of peasant households destroyed and 150,000 richer peasants forced to migrate north to poorer land.
Some tried destroying crops and livestock to avoid being labelled as kulaks.

Question 26

How many peasant households had been collectivised by March 1930?

Answer 26

58%

Question 27

What did the speed of collectivisation create?

Answer 27

Hostility such that a brief return to voluntary collectivisation was permitted after the harvest, but numbers immediately fell and by Oct 2930 only 20% of households were collectivised.

Question 28

When was collectivisation stage 2, and how did it differ from stage 1?

Answer 28

Began in 1931 and was a slower transition accompanied by the establishment of 2500 MTS’s to provide seed and provide machinery to kolkhozes. They also had a secondary purpose, they were NKVD-manned to ensure quotas were collected and control the countryside.

Question 29

What were the 4 biggest issues with collectivisation?

Answer 29

Dekulakisation removed 10 million of the best farmers
25-30% of livestock slaughtered 1929-33
Unrealistic procurement quotas led to peasants handing over all their grain.
Collectives poorly organised - lack of knowledge in the Party meant that the peasants didn’t have the necessary supplies.

Question 30

When did livestock numbers finally improve to pre-collectivisation levels?

Answer 30

1953

Question 31

When did grain output exceed pre-collectivisation levels?

Answer 31

1935.

Question 32

What decrees were passed in 1932?

Answer 32

Anyone who stole from a collective could receive 10 years jail time. Further decrees gave 10-year sentences for attempting to sell meat or grain before quotas were filled and internal serf passports introduced.

Question 33

What % of vegetables, meat and milk was produced from private plots during collectivisation?

Answer 33

52% vegetables, 70% meat and 71% milk.

Question 34

Overall, how successful was collectivisation?

Answer 34

The industrial workforce was fed and grain exports increased, and urban workforce increased due to defecting peasants.
Peasants had their way of life destroyed, and were forced to starve and die for economic socialisation.