Five Year Plans & Industrial Change 2

Industrialisation and Gosplan

Stalin was the nickname of Joseph Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili. It meant ‘man of steel’. The NEP was not industrialising Russia fast enough for the Communist leadership. In 1927, the first Five-Year Plan was announced to drive forward the process of industrialisation.

Abandonment of the NEP

The 1927 war scare (between Russia and European powers) caused concerns about industry because Russia would have needed the industrial capacity to produce weapons in order to compete with the capitalist West.
Stalin also believed that if the Soviet Union was going to survive as a major power, it needed to industrialise rapidly.
Stalin saw industrialisation as a way for him to win the power struggle within the party.
- Abandoning the NEP was also popular with the workers.

Gosplan

Gosplan was the committee responsible for delivering the 5 year plans. It had existed since 1920 but now became more important.
It set targets for factory managers and workers and worked to ensure they were achieved. Five thousand new factories were created between 1928 and 1937.

The success of five year plans

The first two Five-Year Plans were completed each within 4 years. This was a great success.
The first focused on heavy industries, whilst the second looked to use resources more efficiently, and to provide consumer goods.

Stakhanovite Movement

Aleksey Stakhanov was the son of peasant from Ukraine. There was a story that in August 1935 he managed to mine 102 tons of coal in under 6 hours. This was 14 times more than his quota.
He was held up as an example to other workers, and became a national hero.
He travelled the country and appeared on the cover of Time magazine in the west.
He received two Orders of Lenin and the Order of the Red Banner.

Stakhanov as propaganda

In reality, Stakhanov had assistants to help him in this work, and he had better equipment.
- In practice, those who tried to copy him disrupted the smooth running of their factories in pursuit of personal gain.
He was used by the Soviet Union as an example of a Soviet worker.

Historical assessment

Stephen Kotkin (1999): Stakhanovism was rife in the Soviet Union. 'Turning work into sport seems to have captured the imagination of an emerging soviet working class.'
- By December 1936 more than half of the workers at Magnitogorsk were shock workers or Stakhanovites.
- One man said 'working at the blooming mill is a contagious disease' in reference to the addictive nature of meeting and exceeding targets.
- The regime would try and raise productivity by making neighbouring factories compete.

The Successes and Failures of Industrialisation

There were both successes and failures of industrialisation and the five year plans.

Successes

Workers gained more power and influence in the communist system, and workplaces became more organised.
Production levels in industry increased dramatically from 1928 to 1939.
Electricity supply and machinery production in particular were key successes.
The Dnieper Dam and the Moscow Metro were built, serving as visual symbols of Russian engineering.

Failures

It became harder to find a place to live, and targets grew higher and higher.
The First Five-Year Plan set entirely unrealistic goals: a 250% increase in overall industrial development and a 330% expansion in heavy industry.

Outcome

Heavy industry grew enormously, and sparked the development of industrial cities like Magnitogorsk.
Unemployment virtually vanished, and the country was able to re-arm.
- As there were more industrial workers the popularity of the regime grew.

1Communist Government in the USSR, 1917-85

1.1Establishing Communist Party Control, 1917-24

1.1.1The Creation of a One-Party State

1.1.2Government under Lenin

1.1.3Centralisation of Power

1.1.4End of Topic Test - Establishing Control

1.1.5A-A* (AO3/4) - Establishing Control

1.2Stalin in Power, 1928-53

1.2.1The Elimination of Opponents

1.2.2The Purges of the 1930s

1.2.3End of Topic Test - The Elimination of Opponents

1.2.4Stalin's Power Over the Communist Party

1.2.5Stalin's Power During & After the Communist Party

1.2.6End of Topic Test - Power Over the Communist Party

1.2.7A-A* (AO3/4) - Stalin in Power

1.3Government, 1953-85

1.3.1Changes in Leaders' Control of the State

1.3.2Khrushchev's Attempts to Reform Government

1.3.3End of Topic Test - Government 1953-85

1.3.4Stability & Stagnation, 1964-85

1.3.5End of Topic Test - Stability & Stagnation

1.3.6A-A* (AO3/4) - Government 1953 - 85

2Industrial & Agricultural Changes

2.1Towards a Command Economy

2.1.1Nationalisation of Industry, Communism & the NEP

2.1.2End of Topic Test - Towards a Command Economy

2.2Industry & Agriculture in the Stalin Era

2.2.1Five Year Plans & Industrial Change

2.2.2Five Year Plans & Industrial Change 2

2.2.3End of Topic Test - Five Year Plans

2.2.4Agricultural Collectivisation & its Impact

2.2.5Recovery from War after 1945

2.2.6End of Topic Test - Collectivisation & Recovery

2.3Changes in Industry & Agriculture, 1953-85

2.3.1Light Industry, Chemicals & Consumer Goods

2.3.2Investment in Agriculture & Virgin Lands

2.3.3Attempts at Reform after 1964

2.3.4End of Topic Test - Industry & Agriculture

2.3.5A-A* (AO3/4) - Industry & Agriculture

3Control of the People, 1917-85

3.1Media, Propaganda & Religion

3.1.1State Control of Mass Media & Propaganda

3.1.2Attacks on Religious Beliefs & Practices

3.1.3Attacks on Religious Beliefs & Practices 2

3.1.4End of Topic Test - Media, Propaganda & Religion

3.1.5Cults: Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev

3.1.6A-A*/ - Media, Propaganda & Religion

3.2The Secret Police

3.2.1Attacks on Opponents of the Government

3.2.2The Roles of Yagoda, Yezhov & Beria

3.2.3Andropov & Late Opposition to Soviet Rule

3.2.4End of Topic Test - Secret Police

3.3The State & Cultural Change

3.3.1Proletkult, Avant-Garde & Socialist Realism

3.3.2Nonconformity from the 1950s

3.3.3End of Topic Test - State & Cultural Change

3.3.4A-A* (AO3/4) - Control of the People

4Social Developments, 1917-35

4.1Social Security

4.1.1Full Employment Benefits

4.1.2Housing & Social Benefits

4.1.3Khrushchev, Brezhnev & Stable Society

4.1.4End of Topic Test - Social Security

4.2Women & Family

4.2.1Changing Status of Different Groups

4.2.2Changing Attitudes to Family

4.2.3Changing Attitudes to Family 2

4.2.4End of Topic Test - Women & Family

4.3Education & Young People

4.3.1Growth of Primary, Secondary & Higher Education

4.3.2Reduction of Illiteracy

4.3.3State Control of the Curriculum

4.3.4End of Topic Test - Education & Young People

4.3.5A-A* (AO3/4) - Social Developments

5Historical Interpretations

5.1What Explains the Fall of the USSR, 1985-91?

5.1.1Economic Weakness

5.1.2Attempts at Economic Reform

5.1.3Failure To Reform The Communist Party & Soviet Gov

5.1.4Impact of Reforms

5.1.5End of Topic Test - Economic Reform

5.1.6Impact of the Nationalist Resurgence

5.1.7Impact of the Nationalist Resurgence 2

5.1.8End of the USSR

5.1.9Gorbachev & Yeltsin's Responsibility

5.1.10End of Topic Test - Nationalist Resurgence

5.1.11A-A* (AO3/4) - Explaining the Fall of the USSR

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