Industrial and social developments in towns and cities

Question 1

What was the gosplan organisation?

Answer 1

state planning agency and was given role for establishing output targets for economic enterprise.

Question 2

what was a key problem for gosplan?

Answer 2

they suffered from a lack of reliable information e.g the price that exports might demand.

Question 3

What were the aims of the first 5 year plan?

Answer 3

• increase production by 300%
• focus on development of coal, iron, steel, oil and machinery
• boost electricity production by 600%.
• double the output from light industry such as chemicals

Question 4

What were the results of the first five year plan?

Answer 4

• received an enthusiastic response
• Stalin claimed targets had been met but in reality they weren’t.
• investment brought some impressive growth such as electricity trebled and coal and iron doubled
• new railways and engineering plants set up
• too few skilled workers and little effective central co-ordination for efficient development

Question 5

when was the second fiver year plan?

Answer 5

1933-37

Question 6

what were the aims of the second five year plan?

Answer 6

• continue the development of heavy industry
• promote the growth of light industries such as chemicals, electrical and consumer goods.
• develop communications to provide links between cities and other industrial areas.
• foster engineering and tool making.

Question 7

what were the results of the 2nd 5 year plan?

Answer 7

• the moscow metro opened in 1935 and the volga canal in 1937.
• the dnieprostoi dam producing hydro electric power.
• electricity production and chemical industries grew rapidly and new metals such as copper and tin mined for the first time.
• steel output trebled.

Question 8

what were the failures of the 2nd 5 year plan?

Answer 8

• oil production failed to meet its targets.
• still no appreciable increase in consumer goods.
• furthermore and emphasis on quantity rather than quality continued

Question 9

when was the the third 5 year plan?

Answer 9

1938-1942

Question 10

what were the aims of the third 5 year plan?

Answer 10

• place a renewed emphasis on the development of heavy industry
• promote rapid rearmament
• complete the transition to communism

Question 11

what were the results of the third 5 year plan?

Answer 11

• heavy industry main beneficiary
• resources diverted to reanament on which spending double from 1938 to 40
• therefor steel production stagnated and oil failed to meet their targets casuing fuel crisis
• biggest problem was the death of good managers, specialists, technicians following stalins purges.

Question 12

what the three main ‘showpiece projects designed to show the modernity of the Stalin state?

Answer 12

• the Moscow metro
• dnieprostroi dam
• the Volga canal

Question 13

what was the dnieprostroi dam?

Answer 13

largest hydro-electric power station on the dnieper river.

Question 14

what was the volga canal?

Answer 14

connected the muskva and the volga rivers. statue of Lenin built at the confluence of the river Volga and the canal.

Question 15

what was the moscow metro?

Answer 15

opened with one 11km line and 13 stations. first underground railway system of the USSR

Question 16

why did the USSR turn to foreign companies?

Answer 16

they provided the necessary expertise for the projects undergoing and they had very good managerial and technical skills.

Question 17

what was the moscow metro based on and what expertise they use?

Answer 17

based on london underground, british expertise

Question 18

what were the negatives of foreign workers helping the USSR

Answer 18

• often scapegoated when things when wrong
• secret police arrested numerous British engineers working in Moscow because they had gained and in depth knowledge of the cities geographical layout.

Question 19

what were the conditions for the workers ?

Answer 19

• drive for industrialization brought tougher workers measures e.g 7 day week, longer hours.
• wage differential introduced to reward workers who stayed in jobs. meant proletariat became more diverse
• ## stalins advancements reduced numbers of competing for jobs

Question 20

what was the stankoviet movement?

Answer 20

• emerged from a coal miner aleksi stankhov who was hailed as example of how hard work and determination may increase productivity.
• specifically he cut 102 tons of coal with pneumatic pic in 5 hrs 45 compared to a usual 14.
• became a way of forcing managers to support their workers to increase productivity.
• ideal propaganda to try and create new proletariat culture based on team work and hard work

Question 21

what were the main successes of the 5 year plan

Answer 21

• • helped tranform USSR into modern industrial economy
• increased economic growth and output
• huge growth in tanks aircraft’s and guns that were far superior to what anyone else was producing
• helped foster an opinion that communist system far superior to western capatalism.

Question 22

what were the main strengths of the economy by 1941?

Answer 22

• stalin helped lay the foundations for winning the 2nd world war by emphasizing heavy industry and rearmament.
• soviet industry was producing 230 tanks, 700 military tanks and more than 100,000 rifles per month.
• coal and oil production majorly stepped up in 3rd FYP.

Question 23

what were the main weaknesses of the economy by 1941

Answer 23

• economic development was uneven
• heavy industry had grown massively however consumer production had been cut back and consumer goods were scarcer then they had been under the NEP.
• qaulity of all goods were poor even though labour productivity had been increased.

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Question 24

what were the main strengths of society by 1941?

Answer 24

• stalin could claim to have made progress to true socialism.
• he had acquired much greater control over the people e.g secret police and the solkhov.

Question 25

what were the main weaknesses to society in 1941?

Answer 25

• Stalin had created a hierarchical society dominated by a privileged party estate.
• the peasants were at mercy of the collectives and the urban and rural working class were ruthlessly driven by their soviet masters.
• huge pressure put on management.