The Economy (1924 - 41): Industrialisation Flashcards
What did Stalin describe as creating a ‘war economy’?
Industrialisation
What did Stalin desire a strong industrial economy for?
To modernise itself and defend itself from invasion
What was industrialisation to be achieved through?
A series of Five Year Plans
How did urban workers initially respond to the Five Year Plans?
Enthusiastically
What were the Five Year Plans in theory?
Targets set by Stalin and his government. Officials had to meet these targets.
When was the first Five Year Plan?
October 1928 - December 1932
When was the first Five Year Plan introduced?
October 1928
What did the first Five Year Plan focus on?
The development of the iron, steel and machinery industry.
What was the target set in the first 5YP for COAL production?
110% increase in coal production by workers
What was the target set in the first 5YP for IRON production?
200% increase in iron production by workers
What was the target set in the first 5YP for Electric Power?
335% increase in electric power
When peasants fled the collective farms, by how much did urban areas increase in population per week?
50,000
Why were peasants fleeing collective farms for urban areas?
Due to the murder, exploitation, destruction and and starvation at the hands of the government under the mass collectivisation scheme.
What were the three targets set for workers during the first 5YP?
(1) A 110% increase in coal production
(2) A 200% increase in iron production
(3) A 335% increase in electrical power
Between which years did peasants flee the collective farms for urban areas?
1928-1932
What were the industrial improvements made to the heavy industry after the first 5YP?
Electricity production had trebled
Iron and coal production had doubled
Steel production increased by a third
What were the successes of the first 5YP?
(1) Electricity production had trebled
(2) Iron and coal production had doubled
(3) Steel production increased by a third
(4) Engineering industry developed
(5) New industrial complexes e.g., Kharkov and Magnitogorsk
(6) Self-sufficiency in the production of machine tools
What were the weaknesses of the first 5YP?
(1) Lack of central planning/co-ordination.
(2) Overproduction and wastage occurred.
(3) Underproduction. Many targets not met
(4) Pressure to produce enough parts = decline in quality, some products could not be used
(5) Material shortages
(6) Poor transportation. Railway system unable to cope
(7) Living standards worsened
When did the second 5YP take place?
January 1934 - December 1937
What were the successes of the second 5YP?
(1) Transport improved
(2) Communication improved
(3) Rapid Expansion of electricity production
(4) Recovery in footwear and food processing
Which industries benefited from the success of the second 5YP?
Chemical, Copper, Zinc Industries and Tin Mining
What were the weaknesses of the second 5YP?
House building, food-processing and woollen textiles continued to be ignored
What was different about the targets of the first and second 5YP?
The targets of the second 5YP was more realistic.
When was the third 5YP?
1938-1941
What were the successes of the third 5YP?
(1) Heavy industry i.e., engineering and machinery, grew
(2) Defence/armaments received more resource
What were the weaknesses of the third 5YP?
(1) Money funnelled into armaments rather, caused resource shortages for other industries.
(2) Consumer goods struggled.
(3) Fuel crisis
(4) Purging removed trained officials to deal with crisis
What is ‘Gigantomania’?
“Gigantomania is the production of unusually and superfluously large works,” on a large scale.
What was the purpose of Gigantomania works?
For Propaganda purposes - to show the superiority of socialism over capitalism
What were examples of Gigantomania works?
(1) Large industrial complexes
(2) Hydro-electric plants
(3) Farms
(4) Engineering works
What is an example of Gigantomania works?
Magnitogorsk - city which became the largest iron and steel works in the country
Baltic White Sea Canal - a ship canal which opened 1933. Disastrous waste of resources and manpower
What was the Stakhanovite movement?
A propaganda initiative. Alexander Stakhanov dug 102 tons of coal within 6hrs. Workers pressured to meet a similar quota.
How much did the urban population increase between 1929-1941?
It doubled
By the end of 1932, how much did former peasants much up of the industrial workers.
Half of them
What was blamed on ‘bourgeois specialists’ early in the first 5YP?
Mistakes, poor quality and underproduction.
Who were ‘bourgeois specialists’?
Managers, engineers and skilled technical staff from pre-1917. Also called ‘saboteurs’.
Who was blamed for mistakes, poor-quality and underproduction early in the first 5YP?
‘Bourgeois Specialists’
What was done to the ‘bourgeois specialists’ during the 5YPs?
They were put on show trials to publicise their betrayal and use them as examples to others. They were then imprisoned.
