Joseph Stalin

Stalins reasons for the implementation of the Economic Policies:

 

1. To turn the Soviet Union into a modern world power. (Self-sufficient and militarily strong socialist state)

2. To demonstrate the superiority of communism over capitalism (Western powers) by proving that a modern USSR could out produce the leading capitalist nations.

3. To improve the living standards of all Soviet citizens. In order to feed the population, Stalin required the soviet agricultural sector of the economy to be more efficient. He hoped to achieve this through the introduction of new methods of production especially through the increased use of machinery, mainly tractors. 

 

Stalin aimed to modernise USSR through a series of Five-year plans.

 

The Five Year Plans -  The First Plan 1928-1933.

 

1. Focused on heavy industry

   • E.g coal, steel, oil, gas.

   • New dams and hydro-electric plants were built to create the energy needed for the new industries – e.g Belomor Canal, on which 100,000 workers died.

   • Prioritising heavy industry created problems because there were huge shortage of consumer goods such as clothes.

2. Extraordinary targets set for workers.

   • Targets set by GOSPLAN (state planning commission)

   • Targets were set for every industry, each region, each mine and factory, each foreman and even every worker! This was thought necessary because most industrial workers were former peasants, who were used to working at their own speed.

   • Failure to meet targets resulted in an increase in the target and/or a wage cut!

   • Focus on targets meant managers were more interested in quantity than quality, so there was a lot of waste and a lot of accidents, as safety standards were ignored.

3. Workers were heavily regulated

   • Absenteeism or lateness was forbidden.

   • Workers who took time off were likely to be fined, or to lose their job – and therefore their houses.

   • From 1929 Factories operated 24/7 and workers took time off on a rota system.

   • From 1932 workers had to have official permission to change jobs or move area. This probably suggests that some workers were getting restless about the unachievable targets and trying to leave their jobs.

   • Wages actually decreased between 1928-1937.

4. Propaganda campaign urged workers to beat targets

   • Although the plan was scheduled to last 5 years, propaganda urged workers to complete targets in 4!

   • Stakhanovism campaign. Alexei Stakhanov was a minor who organized his team to cut 102 tons of coal in a shift – his target was 7 tons! (1934). He was used as propaganda. Workers who exceeded targets received a medal, or higher wages - Stakhanov workers could earn 1,500 to 2,000 rubles or more a month, as compared with the average monthly wage of 250 roubles. But by 1934, the government stopped promoting Stakhanovism, which suggests they knew such propaganda was ineffective.

5. Enormous increases in production

   • E.g coal increased from 35.4 million tons to 64.3m tons between 1928 and 1933 (see source 7), steel rose from 4 to 18 million tones

   • By 1938 had overtaken Britain and Germany in industrial output.

   • Islam was believed to hold back industrialization, so Muslim groups were heavily persecuted between 1928-32.

6. Expanding towns and cities

   • Towns created out of nothing such as Magnitogorsk in the Urals, which grew to 250,000 people.

   • Such rapid growth of towns created shortages – so rationing was introduced. Housing was also poor. Many families lived in 2 rooms. Petty crimes and hooliganism were fairly common in these cities.

   • Huge expansion in industry created shortage of skilled workers by 1932 so growth of industry had to slow down 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1932 Stalin announced the plan had achieved its targets a year early and the 2nd plan was announced!

 

The Second 5-Year Plan: 1932 (33) -1938

 

1. It continued to develop heavy industry but branched out into new areas. Have a look at the sources below to discover what those areas were. It may also help you to think about what was needed to build on the first 5-year plan!

2. The shortage of workers was addressed by encouraging women into work. By 1937 40% of the industrial workforce was women, compared to 28% in 1927. As a result, there was greater equality between men and women in Russia than other countries, and this was reinforced through propaganda, showing men and women as equal partners in the socialist struggle. But no women ever held high-office in Stalin’s government, and the state did encourage marriage and motherhood, and discouraged divorce and abortion, which Lenin had originally made more accessible in the early years of the revolution (although people still did this!)

3. Development of new industries was somewhat undermined by the purge of capitalists that had taken place since 1919 and the purge intellectuals that Stalin carried out in the 1930s (you have another information sheet on this). Foreign experts and engineers had to be recruited.

4. There was also a return to inequality in society; to improve production, managers, scientists and party bosses were given much higher standards of living as incentives – they earned more bonuses and had perks such as holidays in state-run resorts.

 

The Third 5-Year Plan: 1938-1941

 

1. Planned to produce more consumer goods, such as radios and bicycles, to raise the quality of life of Russian people. There was also a plan to improve the quality, rather than just the quantity, of goods produced.

2. In reality much industry was directed towards defence. Think about why this would be – what was happening that might make Russia feel threatened in this period?

3. Nevertheless, there were economic improvements: Rationing came to an end and free education and medicine were made available to more and more of the population.

4. Any economic growth was interrupted in June 1941 when the German army invaded Russia. The Russians managed to resist the German invasion single-handedly until June 1944 D-Day landings. Would they have been able to do this if there had been an invasion in 1928?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, in 1946 a 4th plan was announced, to help the Russian economy recover after the war, and it was a great success.