The Stalin era: the Five-Year Plans and industrial change, 1928-41 Flashcards
What did Stalin launch in 1928 which transformed the economy?
‘revolution from above’
What did Stalin’s revolution end?
The NEP
What did Stalin’s revolution introduce?
A command economy
What is a command economy?
Where all resources are owned by the government or central authority, who decides what to produce, how to produce it and who for.
What was the key thing introduced through Stalin’s FYPs?
Industrialisation
Who were Stalin’s FYPs formulated by?
Gosplan
Who were Gosplan?
Organisation responsible for economic planning in the Soviet economy
What did Gosplan do for the FYPs?
Set targets for every factory, mine and workshop in the Soviet Union
The FYPs were accompanied by massive propaganda which was designed to do what?
Inspire workers to support the new system
Stalin argued he had created a ‘planned economy’.
Why was this not true?
His ‘plans’ were essentially a list of targets.
No attempt made to match resources to country’s needs.
What is Stalin’s economy better understood as?
Command economy; where government controls production
What were some of the reasons for Stalin introducing the FYPs?
Ideology
Economics
Military
Political
What was Stalin’s ideological reason for introducing the FYPs?
Wanted to abolish the Capitalist market and lay the economic foundation for Socialism.
What was the economic reason for Stalin introducing the FYPs?
The NEP had failed to lead to further industrialisation
What was Stalin’s military reason for launching the FYPs?
Argued that Russia had to industrialise in order to prepare for war with capitalist nations
What was the political reason for Stalin introducing the FYPs?
By abolishing capitalism, Stalin won the support of the Party’s left-wing.
What was Stalin’s primary economic aim for the FYPs?
Build up heavy industry
What did the government do the build up heavy industry?
Invested heavily in building new iron and steel factories and establishing new coalmines and oil wells.
What did Stalin do to build up heavy industry?
From 1936, Stalin prioritised rearmament.
Did not focus on consumer goods to maximise resources for military and heavy industry
Did Stalin’s first 3 FYPs succeed in industrialising the Soviet Union?
Yes
What was the biggest success of the first 3 FYPs?
Heavy industry
Why was heavy industry the biggest success of the first 3 FYPs?
Electricity output increased almost ten-fold (10x)
Coal and steel production went up almost 5x
Was a 3x increase in oil production
What evidence shows that Stalin’s policies led to the growth of the transport infrastructure?
1935-The Moscow Metro’s first train line opened
1937-The Moscow-Volga Canal opened
What happened to labour productivity during the First FYP?
Extremely low
