Jose Alvarez IB 20th Century 3B
October 30, 2010 Mr. Hennessy

How successful were the five-year plans under Stalin?

During Stalin’s position as leader of the USSR in the 1930’s, there were a series of economic policies created by him that wanted to achieve industrialization at an advanced acceleration. These economic policies/plans were called five-year plans. Stalin had 3 major five-year plans which lasted in a total of 13 years approximately. These five year plans were to a good extent successful because it brought the advancement of heavy industries, new ways of production, and the expansion of military machinery for WWII as well as the course for the later consolidation of the USSR as a world power. The first five-year plan took place from 1928-1932.

The first five-year plan had as a goal to forget the NEP, and to bring industrialization to its highest point with the advancement of heavy industries. The targets and goals that Stalin had set were very high and seemed impossible, nevertheless the first-five year plan brought a boost to the industry in the USSR that it hadn’t been expected. The production of electricity in the country trebled. The output of coal and iron doubled. The USSR seemed to be starting a process of transition, that at first seemed very slow, but it would eventually put industry at its peak. Engineering industry expanded and led to the increasing output of machine-tools, turbines, engines, and machinery. The first-five year plan was the base for the following to come, so during this period, there was a creation of industrial complexes that would later consolidate in the second five-year plan. Tractor works were built in key points for industrialization in Russia, such were the case of Stalingard and Kharov. Stalin had a great idea of stating the goals of production high because this meant that a radical change in production would occur as well as a rapid acceleration of heavy industry production. The plan brought advancements in: oil, electricity, pig-iron, copper, cement, minerals, tractors, electric motors, generators, steel, lorries. As a result, 1500 enterprises opened. Although the goals that Stalin required weren’t met, the first-year plan did meet some of the regulations and meant the beginning of the industrial change in the USSR that would occur in the following plans.

The second five-year plan took place from 1933-1937 and brought a quicker expansion of heavy industry and new ways of production. Heavy industry was still the main goal in Stalin’s push for an industrialized Russia, but new industries showed acceleration as well. Electricity expanded quickly again because of the advance that the first plan created. Coal doubled its production. The second five year-plan brought the opening of new industries like transport and communication. There was a construction of railroads in order to link the cities to the main industrial centers. The use of the Dnieprostoi Dam was a huge advanced in Russia’s production and storage of resources. This dam used water as a source of energy and also as a storage of water. Electrical plants benefited the advance of machinery and engine production. By the end of the second-five year plan, the USSR was, on the majority, self-sufficient in machine production and metal-working. Stalin was achieving the industrialization expansion that the USSR had lacked the years before and during WWI. With the success in these areas of the industry, the plan seemed to help and improve a little the industries that were affected by the first plan. Consumer goods like food processing and footwear showed a recovery from the last 4 years. There was also an increase in bakeries, ice-cream production and meat-packing plants. The second five-year plan consolidated the heavy industry and the recovery of consumer goods.

The third and last five- year plan from 1938-1941 was only 3 years long because of the Russia’s intervention in WWII, however this plan brought the production of machinery and the advancements in war that Russia had lacked in WWI, as well as the continuous expansion of industry. This plan is the lowest in amounts of output in production; however the main focus of this plan was heavy industry for the production of machinery in the presence of war. There was an increasingly urgent need for production of armaments because WWII was expected to happen soon. Machinery and engineering had the biggest production in this last plan. Guns, tanks, weapons, airplanes, and machinery were produced instead of engines or turbines. This made Russia’s army and warfare heavier and the strongest that it had been in history. Stalin had put his focus in war, and not in the production and industrialization. Although this brought a decline in the output and production of industry and goods, it built the strongest army that Russia had ever seen, and it would play an important role in WWII.

The five-year plans, all three of them, brought a substantial growth in heavy industry, achieved numbers of production never imagined by the USSR and transformed the USSR into an industrial power. The increase of production from 1928 to 1941 records the success that Stalin had in the production of industry. Some of the clearer industries that reflect the success are: Electricity, which in 1928 had only 5 billion kwh and by 1941 it had over 48 billion kwh. Crude oil and coal had exponential growths as well as steel, minerals and machinery. Many historians argue that the five-year plans were unsuccessful because it left industries forgotten; such is the case of consumer goods and textile fabrics, others say that the economy wasn’t as strong or that the oil production didn’t reach its capacity, that the working conditions were still lame and that in some areas there was overproduction and underproduction of goods due to the uneven balance of the Russian territory. The five year-plans weren’t an absolute success but the plans definitely brought an industrial growth that Russia needed in order to advance. Some areas of the industry were left underdeveloped, but the main and the base of industry grew exponentially. Without the five-year plans, Russia would probably not have participated in WWII and as a result it wouldn’t be the major world power that was seen in the 20th Century as well as the 21st Century.