The launch of the first Five Year Plan (11) Flashcards
How did Stalin launch his programme for rapid industrialisation and when?
Through the first Five Year Plan, in 1928.
What were the main aims of the first Five Year Plan? (6)
1) Develop heavy industry (coal, iron and steel)
2) Boost overall production by 300%
3) Improve the transport system, especially railways.
4) Transform society and the economy by electrification; the target was to generate 6 times more electric power by 1933 than the total in 1928.
5) Feed the expanding industrial workforce through big increases in agriculture production.
6) Light industry was given low priority, but was still expected to double its output.
What happened to force managers and workers to devote maximum effort to the plan?
A tidal wave of propaganda to whip up enthusiasm.
What was there to be in terms of infrastructure?
There was to be massive new investment in the infrastructure, especially in railways and energy production.
Give an example of new industrial complexes being planned? (2)
1) The new “steel city” of Magnitogorsk, near Chelyabinsk, and Stalinsk, situated in the coal basin of Kuznetsk.
2) New tractor factories in Stalingrad on the Volga and Ukraine.
What was the propaganda like to boost moral of the plan?
The propaganda from the regime was often overblown and exaggerated but it nevertheless had a considerable impact.
What did Urban workers hope for from the plan?
Better employment prospects and higher living standards.
What had poor and “middle” peasants hope for?
That they would benefit from further land reform and the introduction of more modern methods.
What did the Stalin revolution provoke?
Opposition and pessimism.
what did many people in the party see the kulaks as?
The backbone of the agriculture economy; they were fearful that the harsh imposition of collectivisation would result in less food being produced.
What did many people in the party regard the plan as?
A high-risk gamble.
