Theme 2 Stalin

Question 1

Why did Stalin change his mind regarding NEP after 1926 in Foreign issues?

Answer 1

There was a strong chance of foreign invasion from 1927.
-British government raided Soviet trade mission in London.
-Chinese communists in Shanghai were ready to attack the USSR.
In response, many hoarded food.

Question 2

Why did Stalin change his mind regarding NEP after 1926 in Soviet production?

Answer 2

Soviet figures were below western economies in Europe. Stalin wanted to push with the 1st 5 year plan.
State control = government could direct economy to create adequate production and distribution.

Question 3

Why did Stalin change his mind regarding NEP after 1926 in Political issues ?

Answer 3

Nepmen and kulaks that had benefitted from the NEP would have to replaced as they were not ideologically communist.
Allowed Stalin to reinforce his own power as leadership by arguing NEP was holding back industrialisation of USSR.

Question 4

Why did Stalin change his mind regarding NEP after 1926 in A change in perception about the role of workers?

Answer 4

Clear that workers control over the economy was inefficient and less productive.
Showed that Lenin’s declaration was naïve and unrealistic.

Question 5

Did the policies of War Communism and NEP serve their purpose?

Answer 5

War communism successfully allowed the Bolsheviks to secure control from the Civil war at the dispense of extreme loss of life.
the NEP successfully recovered the economy.
Both fulfilled their aims.

Question 6

What were the Five-Year Plans designed to do?

Answer 6

To industrialise the country as they remained underdeveloped and old-fashioned from Lenin’s leadership.
To break away from the NEP and remove its capitalist elements

Question 7

How would the FYPs be carried out?

Answer 7

Used mass mobilisation of people and resources to modernise.
Placed under direction of Gosplan (state planning agency) that would set targets for industries to help modernise.

Question 8

What happened to the Nepmen and ‘bourgeois experts’ under the FYPs?

Answer 8

Five- Year Plans went against NEPMEN. Many forced into joining co-operatives.
Bourgeois experts used in State Capitalism were removed to open up job opportunities for loyal communists.
1928 - Bourgeois experts purged in show trial. Accused of “wrecking” and sabotaging.

Question 9

What were the aims of the First, Second and Third FYPs?

Answer 9

First (1928-32): Growth in heavy industry (coal, steel, iron). Consumer goods neglected due to need to industrialize.
Second (1933-37): continued from 1st but added a higher focus on military goods.
Third (1938 - 41 (Germany attack)): geared entirely for production of military against Germany.

Question 10

What evidence can be found of success of the First Plan?

Answer 10

Magnetogorsk = Large industrial cities were built entirely from manpower. Provided new jobs and helped economy. In 3 years, Magnetogorgsk grew to 250,000 inhabitants.
Alexei Stakhanov used as role model for coal production to motivate other workers. Rewards for hard work such as new flat/rations.

Question 11

What evidence of failure can be found of the First Plan?

Answer 11

-Large building projects failed. White Sea Canal built using slave labour between 1931-32. 10,000 prisoners died. Canal was useless anyway. Propaganda triumph.
-Unrealistic targets set by Gosplan meant that workers and factory managers used bribery and corruption to “fulfill” targets.
-Most produce made in plans were unsatisfactory condition. Quantity over quality. Many tractors made broke down within three days.

Question 12

What evidence of success can be seen in the Second and Third Plans?

Answer 12

• Coal production and chemical industry greatly increased
• Industry was moved around the country or better distribution in case of attack. e.g. in Ural Mountains.
• Machinery production greatly over fulfilled quota.
• Growth in the transport and engineering industry.
• 4x increase in steel production and 6x in coal production between 1928-41.
• Dnieper Dam successfully built. Provided power to the people.
• Footwear production increased

Question 13

What evidence of failure can be seen in the Second and Third Plans?

Answer 13

• Oil production remained low
• Low consumer goods
• Despite large increase in machinery, little metal produced. (faked statistics)

Question 14

Overall, how successful were the Five Year Plans between 1928 and 1941?

Answer 14

Showed the foreign superpowers that the USSR could fend for themselves.
Made an undoubtedly large step in fixing the economy by sacrificing the people. Slave labour heavily used and many were purged or send into slave labour.

Question 15

Why was collectivisation needed with reference to development of industry?

Answer 15

A modern economic base was needed to help defend the USSR against foreign powers. Industry could not develop without the development of agriculture to create sufficient food and resources. Food could also be exported for money or machines for industry.

Question 16

Why was collectivisation carried out in reference to ‘the economic case’?

Answer 16

Small individual farms were very inefficient compared to Europe. The groupings of farms through collectives meant they could share livestock and machinery and therefore make it more cost effective.

Question 17

Why was collectivisation carried out in reference to politics?

Answer 17

Helped extend the communist ideology to the countryside to reinforce the control of the party.
Gave the opportunity to remove the richer peasants “Kulaks” which were less ideologically communist as they benefitted from the NEP.

Question 18

How was collectivisation carried out?

Answer 18

Stages:
-15th party congress decided on voluntary collectivisation but was ended in 1928 due to food shortages. Forced to seize grain to feed people.
- “Liquidating the kulaks” Stalin removed any of the richer peasants as a class.
- Party officials sent to villages to influence people into signing up for collectives.
-MTS Stations

Question 19

What are MTS?

Answer 19

Machine and Tractor Stations
They were governmentally run establishments that supplied the farming machinery (such as tractors) to collective farms. They gave advice on farming and political lectures to teach the benefits of socialism and collectivisation.

Question 20

Peasant resistance to the collective farms?

Answer 20

-dekulakisation squads were used to remove those who did not join
- peasants set fire to their farms and killed their own livestock so as to not hand it into the state.
- “Kulaks” later began to be anyone who did not agree to join a collective.
- The OGPU deported some of those who did not join to remote locations and labour camps.

Question 21

What evidence is there of success in collectivisation?

Answer 21

• Not the greatest decline in food but not good due to grain seizure from the government.
• Achieved the ideological aim for collectives through working together on collective farms.

Question 22

What evidence is there of failure in collectivisation?

Answer 22

• Removal of Kulaks mean the removal of the more experienced and productive farmers.
• The burning of crops and murder of livestock impacted the supplies for the collectives.
• Number of Cattle halved between 1928 - 1933.
• Grain production fell from 73 million tonnes in 1928 to 67.6 million in 1934. Not enough to feed army and people.
• The people of rural USSR had severe famines.
• Holodomor (literally meaning murder by starvation) in Ukraine between 1932-33 had 3.9 million deaths. Resorted to cannibalism and eating own children.

Question 23

Economic successes during WW2?

Answer 23

-73,000 Tanks and 94,000 aircraft made during 1943-45 to aid the war.
-Some tinned meat was imported from Britain under Lend-Lease scheme.
- “Link System” in place for peasants to receive some of their excess profit from the collectives.

Question 24

Economic failures during WW2?

Answer 24

-Virtually no production of consumer goods.
-Steel production fell to only 12 tonnes in 1945 compared to 19 million in 1940.
-Agriculture struggled as able bodied men went coscript in the army.
-Grain fell from 95 million to 30 million between 1940 and 1942.
-25 million people homeless
-70,000 villages destroyed.

Question 25

What was the lend-lease scheme during WW2?

Answer 25

supplies sent from Britain with delayed payment.

Question 26

What were the priorities of the Fourth Five-Year Plan?

Answer 26

1946-50
Priority was to reconstruct as quickly as possible.
Many factories for wartime goods had to be turned back into civilian production.
Many industrial plants had to rebuild

Question 27

What were the successes of the Fourth Five-Year Plan?

Answer 27

• Russia had gained control over Western Europe
• Germany had to give them much machinery as reparations.
• Trade agreements signed with Eastern Europe which were one sided for the USSR’s benefit.
• The economy greatly recovered and was restored to pre-war levels quickly.
• Retraining programmes taught workers the basic skills needed for the jobs.
• Metal and heavy industry flourished

Question 28

What were the limitations of the Fourth Five-Year Plan?

Answer 28

• The machinery taken from Germany as reimbursement for the war was left to rust as it they could not figure out how to build them.
• Consumer industries remained to be neglected
• Lend-lease system ended
• Failure to adopt more modern methods with technology such as in plastics and chemicals.

Question 29

What were the priorities of the Fifth Five-Year Plan?

Answer 29

1951-55
-Continue the growth at a more realistic rate.
-Increase in Arms expenditure due to the the Cold War = military budget increased

Question 30

What were the successes of the Fifth Five-Year Plan?

Answer 30

-Soviet industry impressive
-Living standards began to rise after 1948. and —-Price reductions eased conditions
-Wages of workers reached level of 1928 in 1952.

Question 31

What were the limitations of the Fifth Five-Year Plan?

Answer 31

-Grand building project “The Volga-Don Canal” resulted in a huge canal that had little use. Displayed statues of Stalin.
- Resources that could have rebuilt the houses were used to rebuild Government buildings in Moscow.

Question 32

How was agricultural policy modified after WW2?

Answer 32

• Link System from the war was removed
• Taxes raised on private plots to reduce their importance
• Party once again controlled agricultural resources from MTS

Question 33

What problems did the agricultural sector still face throughout 1945-53?

Answer 33

-Agriculture remained low after the war.
- Imbalance in sexes as able-bodied men work in the towns or died in war. Villages only lived in by women and children.
- Lack of livestock meant people had to pull them themselves.
- Droughts and famines worsened conditions in rural USSR.
- Virgin Lands Scheme: tried make use of semi-desert regions by planting trees. Trees died.
- Grain figure in 1952 was below that of 1940