To What Extent were the Five-Year Plans of 1928-1941 Intended to Prepare the USSR for War?

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To What Extent were the Five-Year Plans of 1928-1941 Intended to Prepare the USSR for War?

The Five Year Plans were introduced by Stalin to help rapidly industrialise the Soviet Union. It gave the Governement an opportunity to implement economic policies into the country. There were many reasons why the Five-Year Plan was introduced, some of these reasons were intended to prepare the USSR for war, and other reaons had different intentions. The Five Year Plans that were spread over the years 1928-1941 were split into the First Five-Year Plan, the Second Five-Year Plan and the Third Five-Year Plan. Each of these plans dealt with all aspects of development such as consumer goods, industry, transport and communications and welfare, but each plan put emphasis on different areas.

The First Five-Year Plan was introduced in 1928 and lasted until 1932. This plan placed emphasis on the expansion of heavy industry such as coal, steel and iron ore, and was proved successful despite the unrealistic targets that were set. This part of the first plan can be said to have the intention of preparing the USSR for war because heavy industry helps build weapons, means of transport and arms which are all essential when fighting in a war. However, although this part of the plan was a successs, it resulted in many failures within certain sectors in the Soviet Union. An enormous amount of waste was produced and textiles and household goods were neglected. Food rationing and a shortage in fertlisers for agriculture meant that a lot of people suffered. Also, the fact that the Soviet Union tried to be as independent as possible by producing their own food for the country and not being so involved in trading and exporting goods from other countries, the suffering of agriculture proved to be damaging for the USSR preparing for war. This is because the USSR needed a healthy and strong country if they were to be involved in a war, so food levels needed to be high, and the first Five Year Plan did not do much to boost this sector. The Government justified this plan by saying that they needed to help build up industrial areas of the USSR such as factories and communications before other sectors could flourish.

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The years 1933-1937 saw the Second Five-Year Plan coming into effect. This plan was a more relaxed version of the fist plan with more organised planning and achievable targets. However, this plan placed alot more emphasis on defence, due to the rise of Hitler and his hatred of communism, so heavy industry continued to receive priority. Also, compared to the first plan, the second plan placed much more emphasis on consumer goods and incentives such as better wages and housing to keep the workers happy. So, this plan prepared the USSR for war better than the first plan in ...

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