Russian History

Reign of Stalin--Five Year Plans

First Five Year Plan

The five year plan was created in 1928 to expedite the industrialization of Russia and increase production of coal, steel and iron. Citing the growth and power other industrialized countries had achieved; Stalin created the five year plan in order to catch up with the rest of the industrialized world. The plan attempted to make the USSR self-sufficient by a state takeover of all firms and businesses. Each business or factory was required to meet a quota through a system called Collectivization. 

During the first five year plan dams, railroads, canals, mines and factories were built. Most of the structures were built using prison labor, which was economical as the prisoners had no choice. If prison workers ever ran out, Stalin could always go and arrest more people in order to expedite the construction. Stalin's terror tactics were implemented to not only strike fear in the hearts of men but as a virtually free form of labor. Workers were forced to work not only out of fright but would lose housing and food rations if unemployed. Stalin created a web of forced labor in order to expedite industrialization and make sure nothing fouled up his five year plan. However the tangled web he wove caused dissatisfaction among workers and in some cases slowed down production instead of increasing it. Modernization in agriculture was created by collective farms. The collective farms forced peasants to work on farms and hand over most of the crop to the government. The peasants had to live off whatever meager payment meted out to them by the government or feed on what was left of the crop. The "kulaks", rich peasants created by Land Reforms in 1906, were destroyed as a middle class from starvation or death. The Kulaks instead of the government imposed death chose to destroy their farms to rebel against the Soviet Union requisitioning their crops. Due to the extreme tactics used by Stalin, agricultural production failed to increase and instead, fell more than 10%.

Second Five Year Plan

The second five year plan created in 1932 aimed to triple coal, iron and steel output. The success of the second five year plan put an end to food rationing and the USSR became a major world economic power. There was a minor increase in the availability of consumer goods although due to increased output and minor problems in the collectivization the quality remained poor. 

Third Five Year Plan

The third five year plan (1938-1941) focused on the USSR and it's role in World War Two; due to the problems in mobilizing troops in World War One a special effort was made to ensure that Russia's transportation systems was running and efficient. Railways were extended and the output of army equipment was increased. The plan allowed the USSR to hold their ground during the Nazi invasion and be self sufficient after the war, however in order to increase production, quotas were increased as well causing more purges and disillusionment with the government.

Although successful at times the five year plans were largely unsuccessful because of the extreme militaristic tactics used to increase production. 

Instead of finding a better solution to expediting the industrialization of the Soviet Union, Stalin implemented more five year plans, the plans continued until the fall of the Soviet Union.

                   -by Maureen Cambridge