Stalin

Question 1

What is a command economy?

Answer 1

An economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods take place according to the economy.

Question 2

How were the targets for the command economy decided?

Answer 2

Targets were set by the central planning agency (Gosplan). These targets were often unrealistic but censorship, propaganda, and exaggeration were used to encourage people to work.

Question 3

What were the five year plans?

Answer 3

Stalin’s solution to what he saw as Russia’s key problem.

Question 4

What was the aim of the first five year plan?

Answer 4

1928 - 32

Neglected consumer goods in favour of heavy industry. It tried to build up infrastructure of factories and plants.

Question 5

What was the aim of the second five year plan?

Answer 5

1933 - 37
It initially set higher targets for consumer goods, but became increasingly focused on defense and, therefore, heavy industry.

Question 6

What was the aim of the third five year plan?

Answer 6

1938 - 41

Heavy industry and arms production.

Question 7

What was the aim of the fourth five year plan?

Answer 7

1945+

Reconstruction, reconverting and rebuilding factories.

Question 8

What were the four main drives for the five year plan(s)?

Answer 8

• To eliminate inefficiencies
• To industrialise and catch u to Western countries.
• To improve the military (Germany was growing too strong).
• To assert Stalin’s authority

Question 9

What were the successes of the Five Year plans?

Answer 9

• Heavy industry increased.
• Transportation improved, Moscow’s first trail line (1935) and canal’s improved
• Stalin raised payments and rewards for most productive workers.
• Became a military force.

Question 10

What were the failures of the Five Year Plans?

Answer 10

• Materials going to waste
• Materials being of poor quality
• 1/3 of Government spending was on rearmament.
• Working conditions were poor.
• Purging of industrial planners and economic planners, third five year plan never finished.
• Shortage in consumer goods
• Poor housing
• Unrealistic targets
• Black market thrived

Question 11

What was collectivisation?

Answer 11

A process in which small farms were merged into large farms of anything between 20 and 150 families.
Peasants were forced to give the land to the state to form ‘collective farms’. Both land and resources were shared.

Question 12

Why did Stalin introduce collectivisation?

Answer 12

• To replace the NEP system:
  It would, in theory, solve the agricultural fall, replace the inefficiencies (NEP men) and remove any capitalist elements from the Soviet Union.
• Stalin would gain more prestige:
  It would mean he gained control, removed Kulaks who were making money from the NEP system and leave behind Lenin’s influence.
• There was an urgent need to industrialise.
  Agriculture in the Soviet Union was inefficient compared to the West. So by creating an efficient agriculture system it would help fund industry.

Question 13

What were the features of collectivisation?

Answer 13

• Dekulakisation
  Removing rich farmers and removing opposition.
• Collective farming merging
  Taking resources and equipment while also sharing knowledge/experience. Merging 10-50 families.
• Unpopular measures
  Grain requisitioning and rationing.

Question 14

What were the short term consequences of collectivisation?

Answer 14

• Famine:
  Ukrainian farmers unable to meet targets so Stalin removed grain and livestock, a government-created famine formed. Used it to remove opposition in Ukraine - 5 million deaths.
• Agriculture vs Industry:
  Agriculture was sacrificed for the benefit of the industry. It was used to fund industry.
• Destruction of Soviet Farming:
  Peasants did not want to hand their farms over to the government so they destroyed them, 60 million sheep and goats destroyed.
• Mechanisation:
  Allowed farmers to hire tractors from tractor stations. 75,000 tractors had minimal impacts.
• Grain Procurement:
  in 1933 the government took 22.6 million tones of grain from peasants.

Question 15

What were the long term consequences of collectivisation?

Answer 15

• Grain harvests:
  Collective farms produced less than privates farms.
  Private farms produced 410 kilos per hectare while collective farms only produced 320.
• Private farms:
  7% of farms remained private.
  They produced double the milk and meat of collective farms.
• Agriculture during WWII:
  Soviet government relied on the US for farming imports. Almost 1/5 of calories consumed came from the US.