Industrialistaion

Question 1

What was the reason for Stalins rapid industrialization?

Answer 1

They had fallen behind other countries by 50-100 years and Stalin did not want to get beaten due to Russias backwardness

Question 2

What challenges did gosplan face?

Answer 2

Regional party leaders competed to argue with Gosplan as to why their region has first call on resources and suffered from a lack of reliable information(cost and prices of imports)/ faced the difficulty of planning for many variable and changing commodities

Question 3

What was the focus of the first FYP

Answer 3

Coal, oil, steel and pig iron (million tones) focus on development of heavy industries and capital goods, machinery, increase production by 300%, double output of light industry eg chemicals and boost electricity production by 600%

Question 4

How honest was the management of centralized economy?

Answer 4

‘Over enthusiastic’ reports by local officials when in reality none of the major targets were met

Question 5

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a centrally planned economy?

Answer 5

Dis- too few skilled workers and too little effective central coordination for efficient development
Adv- the publicity surrounding its launch provoked an enthusiastic response

Question 6

How successful was the first FYP

Answer 6

Investment bought some impressive growth however- elect output trebled, coal an iron doubled, steel increased 1/3, railways, engineering plants and hEP schemes/ industrial complexes sprung up. Targets not met for chemical, house building, food processing and other consumer industries despite Stalins claims

Question 7

Focus of second FYP

Answer 7

-continue development of heavy industry
-promote the growth of light industries eg chemical, electrical and consumer goods
-develop communications to provide links between industrial areas and cities
-foster engineering and tool making
Eg ateention to consumer goods with heavy industry as main focus

Question 8

What do the second FYP achieve in the three ‘good years’

Answer 8

Some success- Moscow metro 1935, Volga Canal 1937,dneiprostroi dam 1932 for hydro electric power, q1electric and chemical production grew ‘rapidly with new metals being mined eg zinc and copper,steel output trebled and coal production doubled by 1937, Soviet Union self sufficient in metal and machine goods- later goals of rearment rose from 4% to 17% by 1937

Question 9

How successful was 2nd FYP

Answer 9

Oil production failed and still no appreciable increase in consumer goods- quantity over quality
1st- coal target 75 was but only achieved 64.4 where as target for 2nd coal was 152.5 and achieved 128
Where as 1st- steel 10.4and 5.9 where as 2nd 17 achieved 17.7
Output of armament rose by 300%

Question 10

Louis Fischer and John Scott’s accounts of industrialisation

Answer 10

Workers are bieng overworked and suffocated due to the heavy labor and everywhere is being industrialized as if like prisons set to achieve Stalins wishes
People of all ages were encouraged through poor conditions or made to work, everyone had to show interest in the scheme of industrialisation

Question 11

What was focus of the 3rd FYP

Answer 11

Needs of the defense sector, in light of growing threat that nazi Germany posed to ussr
-renewed emphasis on development of heavy industry
-promote rapid rearmament
-complete transition to communism

Question 12

What problems did the 3rd FYP face

Answer 12

Distrusted by approach of war in 1941 and many resources had to be diverted to rearment where spending was doubled between 1938 to 40 and had adverse effects on other areas
Death of good managers, specialists and technicians following Stalins purges with a hard winter in 1938 where they needed defense

Question 13

What was the significance of dneiprostroi dam?

Answer 13

Largest hydro-electric power station and 4 more generators added increasing soviet electric power fivefold in 1932. Industrial centers grew due to its power eg zaporizhia as it provided for several aluminum production plants and steel high quality plants

Question 14

What was significant about Turksib

Answer 14

Designed to create a working class in the steppes and semi-deserts of Central Asia
Costly and built by nearly 50,000 workers
Line Facilitated the transport of cotton from Turkestan to Siberia and cheap Siberian grain from Russia to Fermanagh valley

Question 15

Moscow metro significance

Answer 15

First underground system in ussr and extended in 1938
Part of 2nd FYP and focused on urbanization with influx of peasants in cities in 1930s
Drew resources and specialist from all of ussr with massive recruitment campaigns for unskilled laborers
Reflected ‘a radiant future’that the ussr considered through use of artists and architects
11km and 13 stations rigninally

Question 16

Moscow Volga canal significance

Answer 16

Connected Moskva and Volga rivers
Built by prisoners from a camp which grew to be the largest (Dmitlag labor camp)
200,000 prisoners employed and 22,000 died - achieved quotas had 600 g of bread a day, did not 400g, punished 300g
One of tallest statues of lenin built here

Question 17

Magnitogorsk significance

Answer 17

Industrial city in the Urals with the intent of showcasing socialism
Gigantic steel plant and a town of 150,000 people created
Workers lived in communal barracks beneath imposing pics of lenin and Stalin, subject to constant lectures and political discussions

Question 18

Komsomolsk significance

Answer 18

Industrial city in Far East of Russia to showcase socialism
Result of gov decision in 1931 to construct a shipyard on river Amur to open up the area
Largely built using volunteer labor from communist youth organization Komsomol
Also used penal labor from camps in the area
End of 1930s, several shipyards and heavy plant completed and city became a regional center for industries eg metallurgy, machinery oil refining and ship building

Question 19

Give examples of foreign expertise that was utilized for Stalin’s vast industrial projects

Answer 19

-Henry Ford advised on the car industry, training Russian engineers in the USA and helping to design the car-plant at Gorky
-the dneiprostroi dam project used the experience gained from the construction of of hydro-electric power stations in Canada and, in 1932, six American engineers.
Awarded the ‘order of he red banner of labor’
-Walter Rukeyser a consultant engineer helped to develop the asbestos industry at ‘asbest’in urals
-delevopment of Moscow Metro relied on construction of engineers in Britain

Question 20

Why did some foreign leaders choose to travel to the UsSr from the west to work on the new industrial plants? How welcomed were these foreign laborers

Answer 20

Moved to work on the new and upcoming plants due to the depression, communism presented as an attraction to some foreigners who genuinely believed they were contributing to a new world order.
Some foreigners wer looked at with suspicion and used them as a scapegoat if things went wrong- secret police arrested many British who were helping due to the gained knowledge of Moscow’s layout and workers for metrovck were deported and arrested in 1933- n more British businesses in the ussr

Question 21

How successful was Stalin in creating a ‘socialist economy’ in the years 1929 to 1941?

Answer 21

There was very little economic progress made,

Question 22

What was Alexsei Stakhanov alleged to have achieved

Answer 22

Cut 102 tones of coal with his pneumatic pick in 5 h and 45 mins- aug 1935

Question 23

What impact did the stakhanov movement have on workers and managers and the relationship between workers and managers

Answer 23

Became a way of forcing management to support their workers so as to increase their production - some workers were jealous or criticized for not being as enthusiastic

Question 24

What pressures did directors and managers of regional enterprises face

Answer 24

Managers had to ensure that the output targets set by regional administrators were met - fulfilling quotas while having limited control ver their own resources, prices, wages and other costs. If targets were not met they could be put on trial, imprsoned or killed
Also had to deal with protesting workers and forcing work norms- accusations of sabotage if not met, sometimes accused of sabotage for not suppling sufficient resources or tools all while consumer demand was growing
Living and working conditions were poor and missing days from work could lead to evictions, damaging machinery or leaving early could result in convictions, wages low and had to meet quotas, purges, often prison camp inmates were given the hardest labor-inevitably killing them

Question 25

What does ‘wrecking’ mean

Answer 25

Acts perceived as economic or industrial sabotage, such as failing to meet aconomic targets or lowering moral in the workplace (failing to uphold Stalins propaganda)

Question 26

What does ‘proletarianisation’ mean

Answer 26

Turning the mass of the population into urban worker, ridding society of selfish capitalist attitudes and developing a cooperative mentality

Question 27

What were the working conditions of industrial workers like

Answer 27

Far from ‘socialist paradise’ with a seven day working week and long hours

Question 28

Which would you rather have been in the ussr in the 1930s, an urban manager or an urban worker

Answer 28

Urban manger due to the only need of pushing workers to complete their quotas.There was no extraneous work needed from the managers, they just needed to be harsh and stick to the rules th government provided for hem unlike the urban workers ho depended more on the poor wages and living situations provided along side their hard and continuous work

Question 29

What was significant about the Belomor Canal

Answer 29

Many workers were physical unable to reach the goals and actually froze to death throuhtout the process. Worker ended up freezing to death due to such harsh conditions

Question 30

Was Stalin right when he said ‘life has become better, Cmrades, life has become more joyous’

Answer 30

No, due to such harsh conditions and regulations put on not only urban workers but also managers, it became nearly impossible to survive within Russia.

Question 31

What was shenotdel

Answer 31

The women’s section of the secretariat of the central committee of the communist party

Question 32

How did he increase in female employees indirectly help in the accumulation of capital for further industrial growth

Answer 32

Went into the lowest paid jobs with least known skills needed therefore they I’d not have to be paid as much as the men nor taught skills despite doing the same workload. Reduced need for Rutherford housing development, some hired into heavy industry,

Question 33

How far did the status of women change as a result of industrialisation

Answer 33

Women were often SAd but party made ore of an effort to enroll in programmers for training and made women’s entries easier - women still earned 40 percent less yet 43% of industrial workforce was women by 1940

Question 34

How did the Soviet economy grow between 1928 and 1940

Answer 34

Grew 5-6% each year- 1FYP gained heavy industry, industrial workforce doubled, urban population increased from 26-56, increase in consumer goods

Question 35

How far did life change for urban workers between 1928 and 1940

Answer 35

1934-36 - ‘three good years’ with an increase in consumer goods. Productivity and wages rose while prices fell. However this was soon interrupted by the approach of war

Question 36

What were the successses and failures of the three FYPs for soviet society

Answer 36

• huge growth in armament industry
  -workers given better conditions until war hit
• -shortage of skilled labor
  -lack of extraction of oil
  Soviet occupation of Poland in 1939 and Baltic states in 1940 added to the ussrs economic potential
  Belief that communist system was superior to western capitalism
  -soviet economy grew 5-6% a year
  Poor quality products
  -economic growth and increased output
  Ussr became a major industrial power
  -gains in heavy industry eg engineering
  —growth in construction and transportation
  -workforce doubled and urban population increased

Question 37

What were the successes and failures of the 3 FYPs for the communist party

Answer 37

Party achieved somehow what it had set out to do as the plans advanced proletarianistaion of the Russian people and transformed the basis of soviet economy
-developed pride and belief of the communist system being superior to western capitalism