The Russian heavy industries were far below average, and Stalin felt that developing these industries were important. The factories would be able to churn out machinery for farming, which would increase productivity and allow more workers to join the working force. Not only that, these factories would be able to change their products into war machinery. Tanks, weapons and aeroplanes could be produced at these factories. The large supplies of iron and steel, for example, which would otherwise have been used to make machinery meant for agricultural uses, could then be used for war machinery. This would be a sufficient backup for machines to defend Russia if the West decided to attack.
Collectivisation was applied in 1928 and supposed to be at a moderate pace. Of course, as with all theories, it never happened in practice. In 1929 Stalin sped up the process because peasants refused to share their labour and would rather burn their crops and kill their animals instead of selling food to the government. The government had to apply force to make them join the collectives. Those who resisted were severely dealt with. At the same time, Stalin dealt with the rich class of peasants, the kulaks. The peasants of "higher class" had to be eliminated. Stalin ordered these kulaks to hand over their land, houses and property to the government. Their crops, labour and machinery were to be distributed among the collectives. They were, however, not allowed to join the collectives and millions if these peasants were sent to labour camps or executed. Most kulaks and destroyed their property, machinery, crops and animals so that the government would not be able to use it. In a bid to increase collective membership, peasants were granted incentives to join the collectives in 1930. Stalin introduced the machine tractor station in Russia, where collectives could borrow machinery and increase their productivity in return for payment in the form of crops.
The five years plan was achieved in four years, and not five as scheduled. There was a huge expansion of energy production as new factories and towns needed power. Dams were created and other big projects improved Russia. Roads, railways and canals were constructed. Russia was able to increase manufacturing and therefore made more than enough preparations for war in future.
However, the Five Year Plan was not all that successful. The exhausting demands placed on the workers meant that millions of them lived in harsh conditions, working on the big projects in Russia. The state tightened its control on the workers. The percentage of workers and people that go to school was treated extremely harshly. The large emphasis on heavy industries meant that consumer goods were high in demand. Shops were empty, clothing was in short supply and many household items were unavailable. The lack of consumer products was one example of the fall in the standard of living. Because of the huge population of people going into the cities from the countryside, there were insufficient medical facilities, houses and schools. Workers were poorly paid.
Collectivisation was also part of the Five Year Plan, but it was less successful than industrialisation. It did not fulfil its targets under the Plan and grain production even declined from 1928 to 1932. This caused more hunger later on. Even though up to 7 million peasants died, the government still saved grain to sell to other countries to earn foreign currency to be used for investment in industry. Grain production recovered a lot, but the life stock took till 1953 to regain its 1928 level due to all the killings earlier. Collectivisation was a huge success as it made Russia's agriculture more efficient. The huge amount of mechanisation involved, the efficiency meant that many peasants left their farms and went to work in the industrial labour sector.
According to Stalin, the Plan was also a success because they were able to rid themselves of the kulaks and move towards communism. Also, collectivisation put an end to private ownership of land. Land was nationalised and allowed peasants to own a small plot of land as an agreement, to win their support. The state could now exercise more control over the peasants with the collectives.
The main reason for the purges was because Stalin felt insecure. People were questioning his leadership, his methods and his policies. Many people were unhappy with the harshness of his Five Year Plans. He also faced criticism from within the party. Politicians who were overly critical of Stalin were at risk, but a few took their chances.
Sergei Kirov was one such man. He had been one of Stalin's closest supporters on the Politburo and was, in 1934, the party boss of Leningrad. At the 1934 Party Congress, Kirov switched sides and began criticising Stalin and his harsh policies. Fearless ones warmly thanked Kirov as they agreed, while other less daring ones remained silent. Stalin's position in the Central Committee was under siege, as Kirov pulled in the highest number of votes while Stalin got the lowest. He only managed to stay in as there were just as many vacancies as there were candidates. As such, Stalin decided to take action against Kirov who was emerging as a potential rival for leadership of the Party. On 1st December 1934, Stalin had Kirov assassinated. On the same day, Stalin passed a law that ordered anyone accused of terrorism and plots against the government was to be arrested and executed immediately after conviction. This law gave Stalin the chance to carry out the Great Purges properly and easily without any problem.
Stalin used this 1934 law to launch a massive purge of all the people, including Communist Party members and top government officials, who were potential rivals or threats to him, those who criticised his policies and even the innocent few. Stalin held show trials for those party members who opposed him. These trials were meant for the people to see and serve as a warning to any people planning to oppose Stalin. They were held in Moscow and were filmed at times to show in other parts of Russia, so that the people in those places would also receive the same precautionary warning.
By 1937 the purging had spread to the armed forces. Russia's most famous general Tuchachevsky and other generals were arrested and killed. By 1939, 3 out of 5 marshals and about half of the military officials had been purged.
The Great Purges had affected Russians all over as they lived in constant fear that they would be arrested and jailed, tortured or shot. It was common for ordinary citizens to accuse their neighbours or even family members of criticising Stalin so as to project a patriotic and loyal image of them in the hope that they would not be killed. In this way, all sectors of society were affected. People of every religion and background were purged. Over 10 million people were sent to labour camps where they often died, while a million were executed.
In conclusion the effect of the five year plans that had on Russia and its people was very bad. Stalin used clever methods to get a good outcome. He used methods such as collectivisation, and the purges to get things in right order. He threatened and killed many innocent people to persuade more people to understand his policies. His targets were high and he did get very near to get them achieved but at the end It made things worse. Joseph Stalin killed many innocent people he physically and mentally weakened Russian citizens by fear. Stalin’s way of persuasion was very articulate and manipulative to the people of Russia. He achieved it in a secretive manner. This theoretically did not make Russia better in industry, agriculture or money because he threatened and killed many people which caused chaos in Russia.
