industrial + social developments in towns + cities Flashcards
what was the gosplan?
the state planning agency, organised the process by which industry was transformed under the five year plans
what did the gosplan do?
drew up plans + set output targets for every economic enterprise according to party directives -> gosplan set very ambitious targets, if too ambitious party leaders would revise them
why was the process of setting targets difficult?
gosplan did not have reliable stats about the economy to base targets on, esp about imports + possible exports
what did enterprises do if they did not meet targets?
falsified their production figures as there were severe punishments
aims of the first five year plans (1928-32)
- develop heavy industry
- boost electricity production
- double the output from the light industry eg chemicals
successes of the first five year plans (1928-32)
- electricity production trippled
- coal + iron output double
- steel production increased by 1/3
limitations of the first five year plans (1928-32)
- no extremely ambitious targets met
- improvements in chemical industry lagged
- consumer industries badly neglected
aims of second five year plan (1933-37)
- continue growth of heavy industry
- boost light industry; chemicals, electricals, consumer goods
- develop communications
successes of second five year plan (1933-37)
- some large scale communication projects
- rapid growth in electricity production + chemicals
- new metals eg copper + tin
- steel output trebled
- coal production double
- USSR self sufficient in metal goods + machine tools by 1937
limitations of second five year plan (1933-37)
- oil production failed to meet its targets
- consumers were still short of some products
- while overall quantity increased, quality till tended to be very low
aims of third five year plans (1938-42)
- rented emphasis on heavy industry
- promote rapid rearmament
- complete the transition to communism
successes of third five year plans (1938-42)
- some strong growth in machine engineering
- defence industries developed exceptional models eg T-34 tank
- spending on rearmament doubled between 1938-40
limitations of third five year plans (1938-42)
- other areas stagnated after defence was prioritised
- oil production failed to meet its targets causing a fuel crisis
- lack of specialists due to Stalins purges
- German invasion of 1941 disrupted the plan, causing it to end early
what factors made the five year plans hard to achieve?
- never been tried before
- initial success happened in the context of Wall Street crash 1929 + Great Depression
- effectiveness of 3rd yr plans reduced bc of growing threat of nazi Germany which diverted finds into defence + rearmament
- stalins increasingly authoritarian + repressive regime, where any criticism of the system was likely to viewed as treason
what projects were created by the 5 yr plans?
- dnieprostroi dam
- Moscow metro
- Moscow voiga canal