The Third 5-Year Plan 1938-41

Question 1

What were the dates of the Third 5-Year Plan?

Answer 1

1938-41

Question 2

What were the 3 overall areas of success of the Third 5-Year Plan?

Answer 2

• Rearmament
• Heavy Industry
• Worker Discipline

Question 3

What was successful in rearmament during the Third 5-Year Plan?

Answer 3

• total investment in rearmament doubled between 38-40

- 1939 - 9 new aircraft factories constructed

Question 4

What was successful in heavy industry during the Third 5-Year Plan?

Answer 4

• coal production: 128m tonnes 1937- 166m tonnes 1940

- Crude oil production: 29m tonnes 1937 - 31m tonnes 1940

Question 5

How was worker discipline successful during the Third 5-Year Plan?

Answer 5

internal passports introduced - stop workers from travelling round Russia to find higher-paid jobs

Question 6

What were the 3 main areas of failure during the Third 5-Year Plan?

Answer 6

• administration
• heavy industry
• consumer goods

Question 7

How did administration fail during the Third 5-Year Plan?

Answer 7

• Stalins purges removed the most experienced economic planners and industrial planners
• Gosplan never able to publish complete version of plan due to purges
• Therefore plan execution chaotic

Question 8

How did heavy industry fail during the Third 5-Year Plan?

Answer 8

• purges of industrial managers

- led to stagnation in production of steel - remained at 18m tonnes

Question 9

How did consumer goods fail during the Third 5-Year Plan?

Answer 9

• food rationing introduced
• impossible to buy consumer goods e.g. refrigerators - could not store fresh food
• 1941 - 1 shop/ 476 people

Question 10

Why had development of the economy been uneven?

Answer 10

• heavy industry grown massively

- consumer goods scarcer than under NEP, diet worse, new specialised equipment industries growing slowly