How successful were the Five-Year Plans? L/O – To evaluate

How successful were the Five-Year Plans? L/O – To evaluate the successes and failures of the Five-Year Plans

The First Five-Year Plan, 1928-32 Began on 1st October 1928. Concentrated on heavy industry (80% of investment) – coal, steel, iron, oil, cement, metals, timber and machine production. Overall production was planned to increase by 300%! Electricity production was planned to increase by 600%! Many workers were excited by the vision of creating a socialist economy and worked hard to fulfil each year’s targets.

The First Five-Year Plan - Successes Successes included: trebling electricity production, doubling coal and iron production and steel by over one third. Engineering industry was developed and huge new industrial complex’s were built like the city of Magnitokorsk. Over 1500 enterprises were developed across the USSR however there were many failures.

The First Five-Year Plan - Failures Many resources were diverted to heavy industry, meaning that consumer industries like clothing suffered from a lack of development. Many targets were not met – mainly due to targets being too optimistic but there was a lack of skilled workers, competition for sparse resources, waste and transport issues. A lot of resources also had to be diverted to collectivisation – ‘bourgeois specialists’ were blamed and arrested.

The Second Five-Year Plan – 1933-37 The First Five-Year Plan had caused many problems. The lack of planning meant that the railway system couldn’t cope with the increase in traffic. Forced collectivisation had also led to food shortages, rationing and even famine. Many workers changed jobs regularly and skilled workers were in short supply. The Second Five-Year Plan therefore tried to consolidate these problems. There was still a focus on heavy industry but targets were scaled back.

The Second Five-Year Plan – Successes The Second Plan was helped by the fact that huge projects started in the First Plan had come online – Magnitokorsk and the Dneiper Dam are two examples. By 1937 the USSR was self-sufficient in machine tool production. Heavy industry, chemicals and metallurgy also developed rapidly. New training schemes were also introduced and there was a bigger focus on transport and communications.

The Second Five-Year Plan – Failures There was still a problem with the lack of consumer goods – too many resources were being assigned to heavy industry. Oil production was also slow to increase. Similar problems of shortages, waste, bribery, corruption and over production were apparent. The Great Terror and Purges also meant that the economy was being deprived of valuable personnel – many were too scared to admit failure so mistakes were covered up.

The Third Five-Year Plan, 1938-41 Proposals to develop consumer goods and light industry suffered due to the growing threat of war. The Third Plan therefore focused on heavy industry and armaments. The Plan also only lasted 3 ½ years due to the invasion of the USSR by Germany in 1941. Consumer growth remained slow and iron/steel stopped growing. There was even a fuel crisis in oil.

The Fourth Five-Year Plan, 1946-50 During World War Two, the USSR lost nearly 100,000 collective farms, 5 million homes and over 17 million cattle. Railways, roads and bridges were also destroyed. Retreating German armies stripped industrial equipment and farming produce from the USSR. After the war, Britain and the USA refused to take massive reparations from Germany, therefore the USSR had to use its own resources to rebuild – another Five-Year Plan was needed.

The Fourth Five-Year Plan, 1946-50 Emphasis was placed on re-building heavy industry and on reviving agriculture. Collectivisation was still a priority. However there was a focus on civilian needs – new shops and homes were rebuilt. By 1946, 2.5 million people had been rehoused. By 1950, Stalin claimed that production levels were back to or higher than 1940 however agriculture was not completely collectivised.

The Fifth Five-Year Plan, 1951-55 This plan set lower targets than previous plans. The growing Cold War had resulted in increasing amounts of money being diverted into the defence industry, especially into Nuclear Weapons. Rationing had ended in 1947, and real wages rose steadily from 1948; by 1952, they had surpassed the 1940 levels. By the time of Stalin’s death in March 1953, the USSR had developed into one of the world’s leading industrial powers.

Questions 1. Use the notes from this presentation to complete the table below. Plan Aims of Plan Evidence of Success Evidence of Failure Evidence they were not well planned First Five Year Plan 1928-32 Second . 2. What were the main successes of the Five-Year Plans? 3. What were the main failures of the Five-Year Plans? 4. What evidence is there to suggest that the Five-Year Plans were NOT planned well?