Another way to develop Russia was introduction of targets and strict discipline. There was state planning organization called Gosplan that set targets for the industry. In 1928 the targets for First Five Year plan were published. Stalin used Propaganda and his cult of personality to ensure people were following his rule. Religion of any kind was banned to make him the ultimate god of Russia. People who achieved large output like Alexander Stakhanovite were examples for workers to follow and produce similarly high output. Stalin campaigned against the equalization of wages and adjusted them to fit with the responsibilities and skills of the particular job, so that workers would be contented. Managers and workers were responsible for their work. If the rules weren’t followed, a harsh punishment would follow that could include execution or imprisonment. Stalin used forced labor to support the production of ambitious projects. These often included Gulag prisoners. 12 percent of timber was produced by Gulag population and mined of the nation’s gold. Thus by efficient organization of workers and discipline, Russia’s heavy industry was well developed and its output of raw materials.
Since 1928 to 1941, Russia’s heavy industry, economy and resources developed on enormously large scale. During the five-year plans, huge projects were completed that were to play a significant role in Russia’s future success. Some of the successful once include Dneiper dam, hydroelectric power station or Moscow metro. Agricultural machinery was improved for collective farms, making them more efficient in output production. A huge iron and steel plant was built at Magnitogorsk that had a significant impact on the heavy industry. Industry in Urals was developed to extract Asia’s rich mineral resources. New train network was developed, which aided the transport of raw materials. Between 1928 and 1941. 8,000 new enterprises were built. Since 1928 to 1940, Gross National Product rose from 100 to 203 in 1940. Coal, Steel, Oil and Electricity widely increased. Russia wouldn’t be able to withstand the violence of the Nazi blitzkrieg without this kind of rapid industrialization, especially the improvement in the production of military resources. Its state of 1920s wouldn’t be strong enough against the attack. We can see that Russia lost World War One, but as a result of the Industrialization, it won World War Two against Germany.
There were some negative results of Russia’s development as well, which need to be considered. Collectivization was very unpopular among the rural population of Russia, as it required many to give up their plot of land, which they spent their whole life developing in producing crops. Those refusing were denounced as Kulaks and progressively exterminated. About 1 million families were kulaks and many were killed. Other people, who refused to hand in their stock, were forced to give it in to the OGPU officials during Grain Enforcement raids. As a result famine took place during 1932 to 1934. About 4-5 million people died. Another negative results were the enormous murders Stalin carried out during Purges, so that his system of government and plans were unquestionably accepted. Millions were killed, many even without proper trail. Twice as many people died as during Hitler’s holocaust. Part of making Russia a major power thus involved an enormous human cost.
Resources were many times severely squandered, which brought about a negative side effect on the economy in the short run. There was a drop in the number of animals, as many people decided to kill their animals as a means of rebelling against the state. For example, from 70.5 million of cattle in 1928, the number dropped to 49.3 in 1935. During Kulak extermination, many well-skilled farmers and business men were killed which again adversely affected the economy. Many projects were inefficient and unsuccessful, like Belomor Canal where the ships were too shallow to pass through. Most Russians were no better off at the end of 1941 than they were in 1928, mainly because of lack of focus on consumer goods and more on heavy industry. There wasn’t anything for them to buy with the money they earned. Quantity was more important than quality and efficiency dropped, which made Russia much less competitive with the West, when the Iron Curtain was pulled off. Bureaucracy destroyed the individual’s initiative. Reasons needed to be more legitimate, as to why targets were not met than to think of ways overcoming them. Becoming an industrial power by 1941 therefore involved many ways in which the effort was hindered or even delayed.
All in all, I was able to identify several ways and results in which Stalin transformed Russia into an industrial power by 1941. Most of the ways involved changing the whole system to communist ideology, in both agriculture and heavy industry sector. The achievements were great, even though many targets weren’t met and there was a lot of inefficiency. Most importantly, Russia was prepared for a war with Germany and a start to compete with world powers. However, all this involved a terrible human cost. Whether this was worth it or not is opened for discussion.
by
jmojto006 (student)
