...Assess the success of Stalin in implementing his economic policies in the Soviet Union. Stalin had decided by 1928 that the Soviet Union could not survive unless it rapidly modernized its economy, so he completely reshaped Soviet agriculture and industry through two main economic policies: Collectivization and the Five Year Plans. These policies had economic, political, and social successes and failures. Stalin’s main economic success was industrialization, achieved by his Five-Year-Plans. The aim of this policy was to establish a war economy by increasing industrial production. Stalin and Gosplan set ambitious targets for each year, and people were rewarded if targets were met, punished if not. By enforcing harsh punishments upon the peasants, Stalin was sure people would work harder than they thought was physically possible just to achieve set targets. In the first Five Year Plan (1928-1932), there was a huge increase in the production of heavy industry: oil production rose from 11.7 to 21.4 tonnes, coal production 35.4 to 64.3 m tonnes, steel production increased by one-third. New towns and new tractor factories were built to meet the needs of mechanized agriculture. In the second Five Year Plan (1933-1937), oil production rose to 28.5m tonnes, coal production to 128m tonnes. By 1937, the USSR was essentially self-sufficient in machine-making and metal-working. Transport and communications grew rapidly. In the third Five Year Plan (1938-1941), production continued...
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...Jake Cowley L6 IB History Assess the successes and failures of Stalin’s Economic Policy After Stalin had become the sole leader of the Soviet Union in 1929, he saw the need to introduce two new major economic policies, collectivization, and a series of five year plans. Both of these new economic plans were designed to boost Russia’s agriculture and industrialization within a short period of time, to catch up with the world leading powers, which were essentially Britain and the United States at the time. Stalin strongly believed that it was necessary to go to any lengths, which would soon include killing off thousands of peasants, to reverse the backwards economy of the time, to eventually overtake that of other countries. As the economy of Russia at the time, was in quite a terrible state. He believed he could do this by heavily focusing on agriculture and industry, to prepare Russia for a new age. Stalin’s new economic policies would soon prove to be a mix of successes and failures for both the economy and the people of Russia, each to different extents. Stalin’s first economic policy of the 1930’s was collectivization. This was the joining of private plots which had been previously divided amongst the peasants by the Tsar, in order to increase the amount of output production altogether. Although this might have seemed like a good idea to Stalin at the time, this economic policy proved to have more failures than successes. The collectivization of grain meant that...
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...How far do you agree that Stalin’s five year plans (1929-1941) improved the Russian economy? I strongly agree with the view that Stalin’s five year plans improved the Russian economy because of the significant growth in the Russian economy between this times in which the economy was growing at 14% a year. Stalin’s 5 year plans did improve the economy due to heavy industry increased the production of steel. Iron and coal, also by the end of the 5 year plans Stalin’s successfully increased production of vital things such as grain and wheat, the plans also geared and prepared Russia for war. However along with the many pros of the 5 year plans also came some cons, for example many people died within the duration of the plans up to 20 million people died because of his harsh policies during the course of these plans. The first five year plan started in 1929 the aim of this plan was to increase heavy industry all throughout Russia because Stalin believed as quoted that “we are 50 to 100 years behind the advanced countries, either we make this distance in 10 years or we be crushed” so following this his plan was to increase output of raw materials such as steel, iron and grain. To make sure this rapid industrialisation was to happen, Gosplan the supervised committee which controlled the various aspects of the USSR planned economy then employed 500,00 bureaucrats to set targets for every workshop, factory mill and mine, these target set were to unrealistic so because of the unrealistic...
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...1) Evaluate the success of the first Five Year Plan. The Five Year Plans were a sequence of national plans directed towards the Soviet Union’s economic advancements. The first Plan was created to initiate collectivization and rapid industrialization. The successes of Stalin’s first Five Year Plan included the high rate in factory distribution and the creation of the Soviet Union as a prominent industrial power. However, due to these successes the agricultural production was damaged as a result of Stalin’s collectivization, which lead to the starvation of many Kulaks, rebellion and widespread famine. 2) Assess the impact of collectivism on Soviet economics and society. Collectivism is a system in which private farms were eliminated, instead, the government owned all the land while the peasants worked on it. Stalin’s Five Year Plans were used to strengthen the Soviet Union domestically through financial independence and focused on industrialization as well as agricultural collectivization. Collectivization impacted the Soviet economics and society negatively because of the unpopularity within the peasant class and the Kulaks especially, mass slaughters of livestock and famine,...
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...When Stalin came to power in 1924 Russia was facing several economic problems. Firstly the industrial production was still very low after the hardships of WW1. Secondly a lot of food was needed for the growing industrial population and the export of food would also give an extra raise in economic growth. Stalin’s main policies to face these problems were the five year plans to increase industrial productivity and the collectivization of farms to increase agricultural productivity. In a speech 1931 he made the goals of his policies very clear, “We are 50 or 100 years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this distance in 10 years. Either we do it or we will be crushed”. The first five year plans were a great success, and by 1940 the USSR was comparable to many of the more advanced western countries concerning the export of heavy industrial products. The collectivization however were less of a success, even if production and export increased it caused great suffering to the Russian farmers and many animals were killed resulting in great famine in parts of the USSR. This model of economic policies would become the way of Russia and China until the late 1970s. At this time China was in a civil war crisis where the KMT turned out to be the dominant figure at first. The leader of the party Chiang Kai-shek was right-winged and favored the landowners before the peasants and no great economic reforms were made. Although the country was officially under KMT rule the Warlords...
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...economic policies of Stalin (5 Years Plan) and Mao (First 5 Year Plan & Three Red Banners) Study Outline : The first half of the 20th century saw the rise of some single-party states and the rise to power of some of the famous and controversial figures. Leaders of these states, such as Hitler, Mao and Stalin, not only influenced other countries around the world, but also changed their countries internally as well. In Russia and China, Stalin and Mao built themselves up as a great and god-like leaders, they promoted personality cult and also forced their countries to go under a series of reforms, especially in the aspect of economy. As both of them are leader of communist countries, their aim of economic policies are likely to be the same. However, there are still some differences to be seen. Now, I would like to compare the economic policies of the supreme leaders in the world history. Compare of Stalin and Mao .The conditions of Stalin and Mao are similar. Their countries both faced a hand-to-mouth existence at that time. In order to improve the livelihood of the people and to solid the rule of the communists, they both introduced economic reforms. However, their reforms were different from each other and brought different blessing to their countries. In their economic policies, they both undertook aggressive industrial reform programs to industrialize their countries, though Mao undertook an alternative to Stalin's heavy industry model. Stalin...
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...The period 1928 to 1933 marked a transition, perhaps the most decisive turning point in the history of the country of Russia. While the NEP system was not formally repudiated, official policies increasingly came to contradicts fundamental assumptions. The first five year plan (1928-1933) could be construed as a general success even though it did have its moment of failure. The first five year plan was introduced in Russia in an attempt to catch up with the more advanced west. As Stalin said 'We are fifty or a hundred years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this distance in ten years.' The focus of the first five year plan on heavy industry made huge strides in modernising industry and increasing output, in that 'Coal, iron, and the generation of electrical power all increased in huge proportion’s and Russia felt it could compete again on a scale with its western rivals. However, despite overarching economic development, many of the targets set by central panning didn't consider the quality of products or waste of materials and on reflection, highlight a number of fundamental flaws in the measurement of success of the first five year plan. Stalin's idea of collectivisation forced the peasants to move to a commune, share the livestock and equipment whilst having to give the government their share of the revenue. 'The government figured that new technology and new farming machines, would allow mass production of food without the large amount of workers that...
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...The USSR’s war economy was far from perfect; however, when war broke out it was more prepared for it than both Britain and Frances. This economic progress was due to the first two five year plans. The Nazi’s were unable to produce as much on a big enough scale to defeat the USSR. Other reasons also played a part in victory for the USSR during WW2. Such as the German tactical mistakes and the alliances the USSR had. The Soviet economy used similar methods to fight the war as it had during the Five-Year plans. There were some innovations though. In the early days of war, Stalin initiated a new policy of relocating the industry so that it would not fall into enemy hands. By November 1941 1523 factories had been taken apart and moved in Eastern regions of Russia. Central planning was also effective during WW2 as by 1942, 56% of the USSR’s national income was devoted to the war; this was a much high figure in comparison than Britain, Germany and America. The production of armament almost doubled between the year of 1941 and 1944, this was remarkable achievement to say a large amount of Russian territory was in German hands already. At the start of the war, Germany looked like an unstoppable force. Hitler’s ability to actually guide the war seemed inadequate as he rose to power and this led to failures. His decision to declare war on the USSR whilst already fighting a war against Britain was risky. Germany also launched an offence called Operation Barbarossa, which was launched later...
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...agricultural policies were unsuccessful, but the industrial policies were successful. This essay will measure success by the impact on the economy, for example whether the industrial change met or succeeded their targets. In 1953, Stalin died and Khrushchev succeeded him as leader of the Soviet Union. Between then and his fall from power, he had to legitimise his leadership, as well as introduce his policy of de-Stalinisation. In addition, Khrushchev wanted to reform failing policies, while still keeping to his successful policies. Brezhnev then succeeded Khrushchev as leader of the Soviet Union and then died in 1982. He wanted to move away from Khrushchev and consolidate his position as leader of the Soviet Union. To measure the success of these policies, this essay will focus on Khrushchev's Seven-Year plan, sovnarkozy and the Virgin Lands Scheme. In addition, this essay will also study Brezhnev's reforms of agriculture, his ninth Five-Year Plan and the Kosygin reforms. It can be argued that the economic policies of the USSR from 1953-82 were not successful under Khrushchev because of the failure of the Virgin Lands Scheme and the agricultural policies under Brezhnev. Under the Virgin Lands Scheme, 6 million hectares of new land was farmed, mostly by the Komsomol, expecting an output of 20 million tonnes. Only 120,000 tractors were provided for this scheme. The failure of the Virgin Lands Scheme was that the land was dry and not suitable for grazing, especially in places like...
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...Introduction In the past hundred years Russian history has been littered with Revolutions, from the 1905 Revolution to the fall of Communism in 1991. Throughout this time Tsars, Communists and Democrats have exercised different systems of government in order to stay in power or gain power by offering huge economic reforms in order to appease the masses or to keep most important sectors of society prosperous and content. Although historians would argue that in many of these cases change occurred for political reasons, it is equally as easy to argue, if not more so, that at the heart of every issue that caused or had the potential to cause revolution were underlying economic motives, either for the common man or the ruling elite. This on-going theme of economic concessions can be seen at various points throughout the past hundred years and proved a key factor to the longevity of the regimes in charge. The first such example of this post-1900 occurred after the 1905 Revolution. Despite The October Manifesto in 1905 which granted political freedoms, little of which benefitted the peasantry, It was Stolypin’s reforms as Prime Minister for Nicholas II that achieved most after the 1905 revolution, quelling the peasant threat that had emerged prior to the revolution and afterwards, much more so than the introduction of the Dumas - representative assemblies granted in the October Manifesto. Similarly Lenin’s New Economic Plan dealt with the ever increasing militant peasantry...
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...The Soviet economy after Stalin: how could Khrushchev de-Stalinise the Stalinist system? Author(s): Jonathan Davis Source: 20th Century History Review. 4.1 (Sept. 2008): p21. Document Type: Article Full Text: When Nikita Khrushchev came to power after Josef Stalin's death in 1953, the new Soviet leader hoped to restructure the USSR along less harsh Stalinist, lines. Khrushchev famously sought to de-Stalinise the USSR and part of his reforms saw him demand changes to an economy that had a less than successful agricultural sector and industries that prioritised heavy machinery over everything else. While some aspects of the Stalinist economy were regarded as successful and therefore continued (for example, heavy industry remained a priority), it was now recognised that other areas were in much need of improvement. Heavy industry had always been favoured over light industry and this led to a severe lack of consumer goods. The brutal methods used by the Stalinist government to collectivise the agricultural sector left millions of peasants bitter and resentful; the agricultural question remained one of the most difficult problems for leaders and policy makers. Moreover, the supposedly planned economy was, in places, more improvised than planned, causing numerous difficulties. Rectifying the problems in the Stalinist economy was crucial for Khrushchev, for the Soviet people and for the Soviet Union. The USSR had to maintain its position as a superpower during the Cold...
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...History 2084 Russia in War and Revolution How Can We Explain the Great Terror? The Great Terror, the watershed between Marxist-Leninism and true Stalinism, is usually defined as the period of almost indiscriminate repression spanning from the Moscow show trials of 1936-37 to the end of Yezhovchina in 1939. During the Terror hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Russian persons were arrested, detained, deported and/or executed on the strength of orders filtered down from above, with Joseph Stalin at the apex signing the executive command. Given the cult of personality, as well as the particular style of administrative bureaucracy, that had been fostered through the decades since the revolution it would not be unreasonable to conclude superficially that Stalin had orchestrated some grand, Machiavellian operation for the inculcation of his position at the head of the Communist hierarchy. However, to do so seems incongruous with the portrait of incompetence painted by his contemporaries (the Ryutin Platform and the general indictment by Lenin[1] springing immediately to mind) and the seemingly ad hoc nature of his policy decisions[2] (specifically, his situational swings between conservatism and radicalism in the 1920's that seemed to consider the ramifications of those policies as a secondary consideration to the quelling of political dissent[3]). While it seems probable that he was apt to consolidate his influence within the Party at any opportunity, the picture of Stalin-as-Cartoon-Villain...
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...of course in 2010. For each question there is a section from the guidance given to examiners for marking it, and a section from the examiner’s report on each question. Each page also contains a section where you can record what you have learned about answering each question. Tackling past questions is an excellent way of revising. You could be doing several things in any order: * Reading the examiner’s remarks; * Planning an answer to the question; * Using your notes to find the evidence you’ll need to answer each question; * Sending a plan to a friend for constructive criticism. Before you get going – please note the advice that the Chief Examiner has given to his exam markers for the last year: ------------------------------------------------- “Candidates are expected to demonstrate understanding of the issues in each of their selected questions over a period of at least a hundred years (unless an individual question specifies a slightly shorter period.) Candidates are reminded of the synoptic nature of the Unit. Answers are required to demonstrate understanding of the processes of historical continuity, development and change across the full breadth of the period studied”. ExamSeason | Government | Repression & Reform | Opposition | Agriculture | Industry | Condition of the Workers | Leadership | Turning Points (in government) | Strange Beasts | Specimen | *A | * | * | *A | *A | *A | | | | Jan 10 | * | | | * | | | *A | |...
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...How successful were the Five- Year Plans in transforming Russian industry in the years to 1941? Stalin made three five-year plans spanning from 1928 to 1941. He had very different aims for each of the plans and had some very optimistic targets for the achievements of these plans. An overriding theme of each of the plans was industry. Stalin wanted to restore Russia’s hold on industry and make it a great trading power once again. The five year plans were very successful in helping building up the Russian industry. They did this through many ways, each contributing in a different manner. The production of raw materials increased dramatically thought eh five-year plans and industry on a whole became a lot more efficient. This can be seen through statistics that show the production in tonnes. Such materials as; coal, iron and steel, all rose in production quite dramatically. Iron rose from 4.2 million tonnes to 6.2 million tonnes, coal from 29.1 million tonnes to 64.3 million tonnes and steel from 4.0 million tonnes to 5.9 million tonnes. These were huge increases at that time. For an country that was struggling as much as Russia was at that time, it was an achievement. Stalin had many initiatives to achieve a better industry. He put in place a reward scheme for workers if they helped reach the targets that were set. Workers were encouraged to work for these rewards. This strategy worked wonders as it increased the turn around in the factories as the workers were all working...
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...y Slide 1: Soviet Revolution Slide 2: 1905 - First Liberal Movements • ‘Bloody Sunday’: Workers wanted an improvement of their living conditions and claimed the necessity of a National Constituent Assembly. They went out to the front of the palace and showed their disagreement with the Tsar. • Tsar Nicholas II ordered his army to shoot against those people but, because of the population pressure, he had to create a parliament. Slide 3: The Parliament (Duma) had three parties: • The Constitutional Democratic Party – Kadett; • The Socialist Party – Mensheviks; • The Social Democratic Party - Bolsheviks. However, despotism remained in the Soviet regime and the Tsar controlled the parliament. Slide 4: 1917 - February Revolution • Kadett, with the population massive support, created a revolution. Again, Tsar ordered his army to shoot but, this time, they refused to do it. • Tsar’s army joined the revolution and the revolution won power against him. • It was implemented an interim government headed by Kadett. • Kadett intended to implement Liberalism. Slide 5: Monarchic Absolutist Regime -» Interim Government Slide 6: 1917 – October Revolution • Lenin returns from exile with the purpose to end with Liberalism and to impose Communism. • Lenin joins Trotsky and both lead a group of Bolsheviks that assault the parliament. • Through force, the Bolshevik Party dissolved the parliament (violence...
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