First Five Year Plan (1928 - 32)

Question 1

What were the main features?

Answer 1

First phase - to criticise old bourgeoisie experts who had been in charge of industry during NEP.
Purging manager class - Shakhty trial (1928) began this process - bourgeois managers accused of industrial sabotage, spying, being counter revolutionary
Focus on heavy industry

Question 2

What were the successes?

Answer 2

Coal and iron production doubled
Steel production increased by a third
electricity trebled

Question 3

What were the weaknesses?

Answer 3

Consumer goods and housing neglected
Targets ridiculously high - Martin Macualay described it ‘as if maths had ceased to function’. - bribery, corruption, waste, factories ambushing raw materials intended for other factories.
Chemical target not met
Struggled to make enough money to meet needs
Weaknesses of transport system - factories running out of raw materials, goods stockpiled in warehouses waiting for distribution.

Question 4

What did the First Five Year plan coincide with?

Answer 4

The great depression, meaning that prices were falling everywhere.

Question 5

Dates of the First Five Year Plan?

Answer 5

1928-1932