There is a lot for the Communists to do here and Stalin has set a lot of targets. This means it will be hard for them to complete all tasks. People might not want to change the way they live especially in the countryside where they have worked like this for hundreds of years. In reality it seems like it is impossible for Stalin to achieve all these goals in such a short time. Also industrialisation and collectivisation are reliant upon each other in that the factories need to produce tractors to make farming more efficient and mechanised but the factories need workers from the countryside before they can produce tractors efficiently. If one fails so does the other so it is going to be very hard for this to be a success.
But Stalin did manage to industrialise and collectivise. He did this by taking lots of measures to ensure their success. Stalin built new cities from practically nothing so more industry would develop and to exploit the natural resources Russia has. For industrialisation he introduced GOSPLAN. GOSPLAN was an organisation which ensured that industrialisation was up to dare and was working properly. GOSPLAN worked using this method: Set overall targets for an industry, then set targets for each region, then a target for each mine, factory etc. Then the manager of the factory or mine would set targets for individual foremen. The foremen (people who look over other people like a supervisor) then set targets for each shift and even each worker. This allowed the government to be in control of the whole economy and it allows the communists to punish those who aren’t working hard and reward those who are. The Communists also brought in ‘Bourgeois Specialists’ who were advisors from other countries (especially British and American engineers) and also ‘Ford’ helped the car industry build 140,000 cars. Instead of worker committees there would now be single managers in their place and they would be responsible for meeting the factories targets. This allowed the communists to reward the managers who were doing well or punish the ones who weren’t.
Stalin also controlled the ordinary workers strictly. He got them to work for him by using a mixture of fear, repression and rewards. Stalin banned all Trade Unions, introduced ‘the Show trials’ which were trials for people who had fallen behind their target, Stalin allowed no freedom of movement, He introduced Labour Camps, and put severe punishments on being late or off work. Stalin also forced people to work for him. Most of the heavy work was done by forced labour. The main source of this labour was peasants, Kulaks and Jews.
But Stalin did not only punish the workers. He promised the working force a better life so many younger workers were inspired and worked with great enthusiasm. Stalin also awarded awards and honours to those workers who worked hard. From this developed ‘Shock Brigades’ and ‘the Stakhanovite Movement’ which were both dedicated to doing hard work. There was also a wage increase. Workers were paid to how skilled they were and how much they were producing but this went against Communism.
Stalin also introduced the 5 Year Plans which would develop industry and run the economy through centralised state planning. There were two five year plans which were completed and also a third which had to be stopped. The 5 Year Plans basically set targets and helped people to realise what they were aiming for.
In the countryside in order for Collectivisation to take place the State took direct control of agriculture and collectivised it. This meant that the peasants would put their lands together to form larger joint farms but they could also keep small plots for personal use. Animals and tools were also pooled together and the farms would be run by committees. Also the MTS (Motor Tractor Service) were provided by the communists to make tractors available and make farming easier. The Kolkhoz (collectivised farms) would produce 90% of their crop for the state who would then share out the profits and 10% to feed the peasants. Many peasants refused to collectives so party officials were sent out to the countryside that was called the 25,000ers (this was because there were 25,000 sent out) and forced those peasants who refused to collectivise. The officials were helped by the red army and the secret police.
The main group of peasants to rebel were the Kulaks, the more prosperous peasants, and they simply refused to hand over anything and refused to becoming workers of the state so ‘De-Kulakerisation’ took place. This basically meant kill a few Kulaks and send the rest off to labour camps. This will set an example to the peasants who will think about rebelling and will also get rid of the smarter peasants who are most likely to start a rebellion or are likely to take a lead in one.
Using these methods it is likely that Stalin will achieve his goals. They allow him to control everything that is going on and punish the people who aren’t going to do what he wants. This means that people will not dare question Stalin so everything will run because of terror. Even though Stalin will complete his goals, these methods will bring up great hate about him so will bring him make it more likely for a revolution to happen or for another person to take his place as Communist leader.
In my opinion the industrialisation of Russia was a success. There is evidence of this all around. During the first five year plan the number of industrial workers doubled, the output of heavy machinery increased, coal and iron doubled their output, electricity production doubled, 1500 new industrial plants and were built in very remote areas to bring in production Russia’s natural resources, over 100 new, major towns were built out of basically nothing and between 1934-1937 steel production grew by 950%. This is a huge success as everything industrial has rose. In the second five year plan communications were improved with railways and motorways, 4,500 new factories, mines and power stations were built, industrial output went up 120%, the production of farm equipment, especially tractors and fertilisers increased by huge amounts, The Dnieper Dam, The Moscow-Volga canal and the Moscow underground were all built and by 1937 total industrial production was about 4 times higher than it had been in 1928. This again is a huge success, everything has improved and with things like the underground everyone around the world will be impressed with Communism.
In the countryside there was also success with the completion of Collectivisation. Production levels increased because of the now collectivised farms, this meant that Stalin’s ideas were a success and they did actually produce more than singular farms. Also Communists controlled the countryside preventing any future rebellion, there was enough food to feed the towns even in the shortage of 1932 and there was enough surplus of food to sell to other countries for industrialisation to take place. Thanks to these and the industrial success, support for Communism and Stalin grew greatly.
Although there was many success in Stalin’s policies there are a lot of failures too. In industrialisation the poor quality and the lack of consumer goods produced was horrible. There were hardly any consumer goods to buy in the first place and the ones that were sold were of poor quality. Also of poor quality were the goods which Russia was producing. All of the machinery which Russia produced was produced relatively quickly therefore was no to a high standard. Another failure was the betrayal of Communist ideas, the more skilled of a worker you were the more you got paid – this was against everything Communism stood for. Even though Russia did manage to make itself an economic and military power it still didn’t manage to reach its goals. In 1937 the target for electricity was 38.0 thousand million kilowatts but Russia only managed 36.2, the target for coal in million tons was 125.5 but only 128 was accomplished, oil missed its target by 16.5 million ton and pig iron missed its by 1.50. This meant that Russia didn’t actually achieve what Stalin wanted so you could argue industrialisation was a failure.
Collectivisation had a few failures as well. The propaganda that was shown to the people obviously didn’t work as there were rebellions and riots everywhere. Also the peasants refused to give their things up so slaughter their animals and let their crops rot. Some would undress and surround their animals in an attempt to stop the madness. The peasants also refused to work once they were collectivised. Another failure was the fact that all the best farmers were taken out because of de-Kulakerisation. This meant less grain and crops were produced and also the quality of the crop dropped. Another failure of both industrialisation and collectivisation was the human cost of the policies
The human cost of the polices was very large. The living conditions the workers in the city had to live in were horrendous. Factories were built before houses which were just built in between if any were built. Most people lived in houses provided by the state which prevented homelessness. However this created an overcrowding problem and many people ended up sleeping in tents. In Moscow only 54% of households had over one room. Consumer goods were scarce and of poor quality. The working conditions on the large construction projects were appalling with many deaths and accidents. The workers were always working in dangerous conditions. Wages were also an issue. Wages fell between 1928 to 1937. Food was extremely basic also with just grain and crop being supplied. Strict discipline was also introduced in the factories which in most cases meant not many breaks and a lot of work.
In the countryside over 13 million peasants died from famine, a lot of which came from the Ukraine. Also the almost all of the Kulaks were killed or sent off to labour camps where they were tortured and made to work for many hours on end. Many of the rebellious peasants were tortured or killed also.
In conclusion I would say that Stalin’s economic policies were a success. They achieved their main aim which was to win the next war which they did against Germany in World War 2. Stalin created a super power out a laughing stock in 10 years. But with some many people dying it is hard to call the whole thing a success. I would call Collectivisation a success and a failure as Russia managed to produce more grain than before but 13 million people died from a man made famine which is a terrible amount. Industrialisation I would call a success as Russia was now an industrial super power and it involved far less deaths than Collectivisation.
