The Social and Economic condition of the Soviet Union by 1941

Question 1

By 1941 what had Stalin’s Five Year Plans transformed Russia into?

Answer 1

into a highly industrialised and urbanised nation

Question 2

What happened to all Russian farms by 1941?

Answer 2

they had been collectivised

Question 3

What happened to the free market by 1941?

Answer 3

it was brought to an end

Question 4

IN 1926, what % of the population lived in towns compared to 33% in 1939?

Answer 4

17%

Question 5

In 1926 17% of the population lived in towns compared to 33% in 1939, what did this mean for the USSR by 1940?

Answer 5

the USSR had overtaken Britain in iron and steel production and was not far behind Germany

Question 6

Where in 1938 did Stalin deliver a speech for those working in higher education to highlight the way that the Stakhanovites had smashed up existing traditions?

Answer 6

at a reception in the Kremlin

Question 7

What 2 industries were vastly stepped up in the 3rd Five Year Plan?

Answer 7

oil and coal

Question 8

How many aircraft factories were constructed in 1939?

Answer 8

9

Question 9

Between 1938-1941, how much did spending on rearmament rise by?

Answer 9

from 27 billion roubles to 70 billion roubles

Question 10

On the eve of war, how many 
-tanks
-military aircraft 
-rifles
was Soviet industry producing every month?

Answer 10

• 230 tanks
• 700 military aircraft
• 10,000 rifles

Question 11

What was the % proportion of budget devoted to defence?
1933-
1937-
1940-

Answer 11

1933-3.4%
1937-16%
1940-32%

Question 12

After a brief rise of consumer production under the Second Five Year Plan, what happened by the Third Five Year Plan?

Answer 12

consumer production had been cut back and consumer goods were scarer than they had been under the NEP

Question 13

Even though labour productivity had increased as bureaucrats were set on figures and targets at the expense of all else, what happened to the little consumer goods that there were?

Answer 13

they were of very low quality

Question 14

What had bureaucracy hindered even though there were massive investments under the Five Year Plans?

Answer 14

hindered the implementation of economic success as the organisation at local level was vastly chaotic

Question 15

While the focus on heavy rearmament increased, what was soon apparent when war broke out?

Answer 15

deficiencies in both the quality and quantity of equipment and problems of supply

Question 16

in 1940, the USA produced 47 million tonnes of Steel, GB created 10 million tonnes while the USSR produced how much?

Answer 16

18 million tonnes

Question 17

In 1940, the USA produced 360 million tonnes of Coal, GB produced 230 million tonnes while the USSR produced how much?

Answer 17

164 million tonnes

Question 18

In 1928, there was 29 million cows, how many was there by 1940?

Answer 18

28 million

Question 19

in 1928 there was 73 million tonnes of grain produced, how much by 1940?

Answer 19

95 million tonnes

Question 20

in 1928, there was 5 billion kWh of electrical power produced, how much had this increased by 1940?

Answer 20

48 billion kWh

Question 21

In 1928 there was 0.7 million trucks, how many was there y 1940?

Answer 21

14 million trucks

Question 22

In 1928 there was 0 million washing machines, how many was there by 1940?

Answer 22

0 million

Question 23

In 1928 there was 58 million pairs of shoes, how many was there by 1940:?

Answer 23

211 million pairs

Question 24

By Soviet deffiniton, how had Stalin achieved true socialism?

Answer 24

as this meant social ownership of the means of production, collectively owned by the people, or rather by the state on the people’s behalf so that no profits were being made at other’s expense

Question 25

The State claimed that State ownership was a form of social ownership to protest the individual against what?

Answer 25

against the exploitation of profit-seeking capitalists such as capitalist countries whose economies were based on private enterprise

Question 26

What can be evaluated from the fact that Stalin achieved true socialism in that all industry was owned by the State, on the peoples behalf?

Answer 26

That in this sense, Stalin had carried through a highly successful economic programme and in doing so had furthered communist ideology

Question 27

From what year were peasants supervised by pARty officials who were attached to each Kolkhoz?

Answer 27

1929

Question 28

In 1929 how were peasants supervised ? (2)

Answer 28

• supervised by party officials who were attached to each Kolkhoz
• secret police units stationed at each Motor Tractor Station to check up on the rural population

Question 29

How were factory managers subject to controls of the Party?

Answer 29

they were demoted or even excecuted

Question 30

How were workers kept in line? (5)

Answer 30

• through labour books
• internal passports
• threat of denial of ration cards
• eviction from lodgings
• penal sentences for misdemeanours

Question 31

Rather than a classless society, what had Stalin helped to create?

Answer 31

a hierarchal society dominated by a privileged party elite

Question 32

While the peasants were at the mercy of the collectives, the urban and rural working classes were no longer exploited by capitalist employers but now instead ruthlessly driven by their what?

Answer 32

Soviet masters

Question 33

Instead of ‘withering away’, in accordance with the Marxist stage theory, what had the State become?

Answer 33

more formidable, extensive and brutal

Question 34

Why have critics of the USSR asserted that it was not a socialist state?

Answer 34

this is because social ownership did not exist for the good of the people but rather as a form of dictatorial or totalitarian power in which all activity was determined by unelected leaders without taking into consideration the needs of the individual

Question 35

As well last the destruction of the kulaks and the dislocation of Russia’s peasants, how were urban workers treated in the drive to industrialise?

Answer 35

with little regard

Question 36

What month and year was a decree issues making poor quality production in a criminal offence?

Answer 36

July 1940

Question 37

What did the decree in July 1940 mean for managers as making poor quality production now became a criminal offence?

Answer 37

this meant that managers had to now worry about quality as well as quantitative targets

Question 38

The decree of July 1940 which made it a criminal offence to make poor quality production was an interference which breached what?

Answer 38

the Central Committee directive of 1929 which stated that enterprises such as factories should be managed by one person, free from interference by the party organisation

Question 39

The low rations, poor housing and constant constant pressure was largely an offshoot from Stalin’s own determination to sacrifice the people for what?

Answer 39

in the interests of his economic vision

Question 40

For Stalin and his followers, what was just as important as building national strength?

Answer 40

the ideological motive for industrialisation

Question 41

What group did Stalin use to preach against ‘class enemies’ who were trying to hold up progress?

Answer 41

the Communist youth group, Komsomol

Question 42

The principle of central authority and the development of the command economy were to prove vital in the organisation of what?

Answer 42

of the Soviet War Effort

Question 43

What had made the Soviet labour force more ready to suffer for the greater good, enabling them to cope with the hardships of war?

Answer 43

the harshness of labour laws and the severity of working conditions in both town and country in the 1930’s

Question 44

Economic and social development by 1941 gave the USSR a much stronger basis for which to mount a defence and fight back than they would have been able to in 1928. However what was the limitations of the state?

Answer 44

the Third Five Year Plan was left incomplete and by 1941, the nation was still producing less grain than under the NEP.

Question 45

IN what year did Stalin give a radio broadcast of the war which highlighted his fear that the enemy would seize Russian territory and produce?

Answer 45

1941