Communist Russia under Stalin, 1928 - 1939.

COMMUNIST RUSSIA UNDER STALIN, 1928 – 1939

Stalin’s Economic Aims
Main Features of a Centrally-Planned Command Economy
The Five Year Plans and Industry
The Results

Stalin wanted the USSR or Russia to become more powerful than other countries. To do this he had to modernise the USSR’s economy by a programme of rapid industrialisation. This means developing industry to such an extent that a country that mainly depends on agriculture or farming is changed into one which mostly depends on industry. Stalin said that the USSR was 50 or 100 years behind the advanced countries. He aimed to catch up with and surpass them within ten years. Russia’s industry was recovering from the effects of war, but even then, production from heavy industry was low compared with other countries. Stalin felt it was necessary to catch up with the West because the West that hated Communism threatened the USSR. To survive an attack from the West, the USSR had to rapidly expand its heavy industries: coal, iron, steel and power. This would allow the USSR to expand and strengthen its military. Rapid industrialisation was also necessary for the county’s defence was surrounded by countries whose governments hated Communism: Iran, Romania, Finland and Poland. Stalin believed that making the USSR Socialist would make it a richer and stronger country. To become a strong industrial economy, the agricultural sector had to be modernised and made more efficient so it could produce enough food to support an expanding urban workforce. An efficient agricultural sector was also necessary to raise the money needed for Stalin’s rapid industrialisation. A way had to be found the vastly increase the USSR’s agricultural output so the surplus could be sold overseas and the money used for investment in industry, for instance, to buy industrial machinery for the factories. An efficient agricultural sector was also necessary so that fewer workers would be needed on the farms. Rapid industrialisation could only take place if more workers transferred from the rural countryside to work in the factories and industries. Rapid industrialisation would also achieve two political results. Firstly, it would increase support for the Communists because the workers were the Communists’ greatest supporters. Secondly, it would eliminate any remaining opposition to the Communists; in particular, it would get rid of a class of rich peasants, the kulaks. A truly Socialist society was a classless one. Thus rapid industrialisation would transform the USSR into a Communist or Socialist country.

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During this period Russia’s economy was completely transformed. It became a Communist economy. This meant that the state rigidly controlled and planned all economic activity. This was done through Gosplan, the State Planning Commission. A large number of ministries or government departments were established. These issued orders or instructions: commands that were passed down to the local factories, businesses and farms. Gosplan drew up a series of plans known as the Five Year Plans. There were three Five Year Plans. These set targets or goals that industries and agriculture had to achieve. In practice the emphasis was on over-fulfilling – achieving more than the set targets, rather than only meeting them. Such a system discouraged individual initiative. For instance a factory manager received his instructions (commands) and simply carried them out. The state or government controlled the resources it needed to achieve the economic targets. Factories, mines, transports and farms were owned by the state. The government exercised tight control over the labour force. Ordinary workers were harshly disciplined. There were heavy punishments for poor workmanship and absence. The state told workers where to work. Millions of peasants were directed into the towns and cities to work in the factories and mines. Heavy industries were given priority. Consumer industries were almost totally neglected. Agriculture was reorganised for the benefit of industry.

Each plan had particular objectives and targets so that the overall aims of transforming Russia into a powerful industrialised country could be achieved. The first Five Year Plan 1928 – 1932 aimed to expand and modernise existing industries, establish new industries and relocate industries in the west further eastward so they would be more secure from a possible attack by the West. Unrealistic targets were set: a 250% increase in total industrial output and a 350% increase in heavy industry. The plan concentrated on heavy industry. The second Five Year Plans 1933 – 1937 aimed to build on the first plan as well as give more attention to improving the quality of goods. The targets were still very high but more realistic than before. The second plan was carried out more smoothly as the unskilled workers were becoming more competent and the state increased its control of the labour force. The third Five Year Plan 1938 – 1942 was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and the German invasion of Russia in 1941. At first the plan put most emphasis on consumer industries such as clothing, footwear and household appliance but with the threat of war it concentrated very heavily on defence industries as Stalin wanted to modernise and expand Russia’s military.

Even though the official government figures were greatly exaggerated, the plans did achieve quite spectacular results. Stalin declared that the first two plans achieved their targets in four, not five year's. Most historians dispute this, though they acknowledge that the plans were remarkably successful. By the end of the 1930s Russia had become a great industrial nation. By 1940 it had overtaken Britain, a leading industrial country, in iron and steel production. Massive projects using a huge labour force led to the creation of three new industrial centres east of the Ural Mountains - secure from the West. Two notable examples are the iron and steel works at Magnitogorsk (Urals) and Komsomolsk (Siberia). There was a huge expansion in energy production as the new factories and towns required more energy. The Dnieper Dam (Donbass) was Europe's largest hydroelectric dam. It produced electricity, provided irrigation for the surrounding farmland and made the Dnieper River more easily accessible for shipping. Other major projects led to the improvement of Russia's communications system. Roads, railways and canals were built linking mines with the factories and the factories to the main centres of population. The 500-km Belomar Canal from the White Sea to the Baltic Sea was constructed almost entirely without machinery. The USSR was better able to defend itself in a long war as a result of the plans. Factories produced iron and steel that could be used for manufacturing tanks, planes and weapons. However the Five Year Plans were not entirely successful. They placed enormous demands on the people. The unrealistically high targets meant millions of workers lived in extreme hardship, working on the vast projects in the interior of Russia. The state tightened its control over the work force. For instance in 1937 workers found guilty of absenteeism were dismissed and deprived of their living accommodation which meant, in effect, starvation. The emphasis on heavy industry meant Russia's economy was unbalanced. There was a serious shortage of Consumer goods. Shops were empty; clothing was in short supply and what was available was dull and badly made; many basic household items were unavailable. The lack of consumer goods was one example of the fall in the standard of living. Because of the huge movement of people into the cities, there were not enough houses, schools and medical facilities. The workers in general were poorly paid. However by the mid- to late- 1930s things did improve as better education, medical care and paid holidays became more widely available. Worker productivity Russia was able spectacular results directed millions of unskilled workers, especially peasants from the countryside, to the various projects. Russia had a vast pool of human labour. But the amount that each worker produced compared to his counterpart in other industrial countries, was low. Overall, from the government's point of view the Five Year Plans were a great success. Russia was transformed into an industrial power. Its economy was transformed into a Communist economy. The state controlled the resources and the people.