5-Year Plans and Its Role in Russian History between 1924 and 1945 - Essay Example

 5-Year Plans and Its Role in Russian History between 1924 and 1945 Introduction Many historians and researchers argue that Stalin's Five Year Plans ushered the Soviet Union into the class of a global economic giant and also laid the foundations for Communism to be consolidated. Clearly, the Five Year Plans paved the way for many changes that occurred in the Soviet Union and made it a force in global politics. Most scholars examine the Five Year Plans in three parts: there is the first Five Year Plan (1928 – 1932) which gave priority to leadership and government structure whilst the second Five Year Plan (1933 – 1937) focused on the building of manufacturing and heavy industry (Chubarov, 2001). A third Five Year Plan was also launched in 1938 to double the 1937 levels, however, this came to a premature end in 1941 when the Soviet Union entered the Second World War and the focus changed from industrialization and national growth to weapon production to support the Soviet military. In effect, the three Five Year plans brought holistic and comprehensive changes to Stalin's Russia which moved the former backward agrarian country to the class of dominant world powers. This paper examines important elements and components of the three Five Year Plans and their impact on Russian history between 1924 and 1945. Background The Five Year Plans of Stalin was a move from the backward peasantry that existed under the Tsarist regime to a modern industrialised nation under the new Communist regime (Sladkovski, 1966). The overthrow of the Tsarist regime in 1917 and the Russian Civil War led to the complete collapse of Russia's already backward systems. In 1921 when the Bolshevik consolidated power, Lenin introduced War Communism where communes were filled with the concept of a proletariat state where the working class and commoners were to work for the betterment of the society without a bourgeois class who were seen as rich business owners who exploited the commoners. In his vision, the society was to remain classless and everyone was to work for the betterment of the society without being exploited, according to the Marxist theories. Lenin introduced the New Economic Policy to stimulate economic activity in trade, manufacture and agriculture (Bonnell, 1999). The New Economic Policy of Lenin blended Capitalism with Socialism (Life Magazine, 1943). It permitted peasants to sell surplus foods on the open market (Life Magazine, 1943). After the death of Lenin in 1924, Stalin took over and one of the things he did was to abolish the New Economic Policy. Stalin's Motivation and Vision When Stalin took over power, he took drastic steps to reorganise the Soviet economy and social order. In doing this, Stalin built on some elements of Lenin's ideas and this include: 1. A single party state 2. Single official ideology 3. Manipulation of legality and 4. Promoting state's economic dominance (Service, 2005). The plans were meant to consolidate important elements of the Soviet Union in order to attain the following ends. Stalin therefore used all the opportunities and power at his disposal to do so by launching the Five-Year Plans which created a framework within which the country strove to attain the four ends that were identified from the era of Lenin. By the era of 1929 and 1930, the Soviet Union was heavily reliant on technology from the United States and Germany (Jacobson, 1994). Russia needed structures to become self-dependent. In doing this, there was the need for the country to have the the right structures. One of them was to be able to manufacture its own inputs in areas like steel production and in primary research. Thus, Stalin needed to come up with the right structures and the right command structures to carry out the struggle and purges of 'class enemies' and 'foreign enemies' of the Soviet people. In the fifteenth Party Congress of the Communist Party held between the 2nd and 19th of December 1927, Stalin said the following: “Bearing in mind the possibility of a military attack, it is essential in elaborating the Five-Year Plan to devote maximum attention to the most rapid development of those branches of the economy in general and industry in particular on which the main role will ensure the defence and economic stability of the country in war time” (Jacobson, 1994 p266). This means that Stalin sought to improve the military capability of the Soviet Union and the rapid development of the economy and industry. This was meant to defend and promote self sufficiency and promote the growth of the Soviet Union. Also, in the struggle for control of the Soviet Union, which involved Stalin and Zinoviev, Stalin was able to ensure that the regional party leaders understood the benefits of his industrialisation plans (Fitzpatrick, 2008). Due to this, in a party congress, the party members stated emphatically that “give us a factory in the Urals and to hell with the rights! Give us a power station and to hell with the rights!” (Fitzpatrick, 2008). Clearly, Stalin was able to get the popular support of the party officials and this enabled them to get a united front to deal with the needs of the country and to promote the massive industrialisation of the country. Stalin's vision was to promote the self sufficiency of the country and to promote the state dominance of the country and enhance the Communist principle of the nation. In order to attain the military power, industrialisation and economic development of the Soviet Union, Stalin saw it worthy to institute the Five Year plans to attain all these objectives within a definite timeframe. After the success of the first Five Year Plan, two more five year plans were launched to build on the early achievements. Collectivisation, Industrialisation and the Gulags Lenin's original plan was to expand Communism to different nations and different parts of the world. This led to the formation of Communist International popularly known as Commintern. The unit was meant to promote Communist ideas in foreign nations and establish Communist governments in nations around the world. Logically, the only way that this could be through proper funding and a strong economic background. This is because without a health Soviet economy, there was absolutely no way that nations would want to adopt Communism. Also, without enough money, Communism could not be spread and the Commintern system could not be replicated in different parts of the world. Stalin therefore adopted the first Five Year Plan to create the right structures to build the economy and to enhance the industrial and military capabilities of the country. This plan included a definite end and a definite set of actions that the nation had to work towards. This was meant to promote the important elements and structures of the new order. Through this, industrialisation, collectivisation and the Gulags had to be created to ensure that the country became equipped for the challenges ahead. Industrialisation By July 1928, there were 97 foreign companies that operated industries in the Soviet Union (Jacobson, 1994). Out of this, there were 31 German companies, 14 American companies, 10 British companies and 6 French companies that ran these industries in Russia (Jacobson, 1994). Due to this, there was the need for the Soviet Union to build state-owned entities otherwise the foreign industries would exploit the economy. Since Communism sought to nationalise industries and promote state dominance, Stalin saw an urgent need to expand the industrial base of the country. Stalin attained this end by converting the contracts of these companies. This was done through the granting of concessions and technical aid contracts that were to enhance Soviet infrastructure systems rather than get them to exploit the Russian public by manufacturing and selling to the public. Through this, the Soviet industrial base was meant to be empowered to become self sufficient rather than reliant on foreign companies. This led to the transfer of technology which built structures in the economy that were meant to promote the economic development of the industrial base of the country. The foreign investors responsible for bringing technology to the Soviet industrial base were given long term government guaranteed credit for foreign purchases (Jacobson, 1994). Between 1930 and 1931, the Soviet government made important contributions to the Soviet industrial sector. Due to this, the Soviet government paid for the self sufficiency of the technological base and also paid for the necessary materials and equipment overseas in order to keep the industries running. Also, the first Five Year Plan was presented as a very dominant and important element of the Soviet economy. Due to this, the various authorities were given the power and right to ensure that people worked to attain the industrialisation of the country in a short time. This led to great difficulties and factory directors and government officials who were accused were given harsh treatments and others were purged. This meant that the industrialisation of the economy was to be put ahead of individual inefficiencies and weaknesses (Jacobson, 1994). The first Five Year Plan led to the creation of new giant construction projects and this led to the creation of engineering plants, steel production plants and auto production plants that came to full production in 1932. The Financial News of July 9 1934 announced that Russia was demanding more steel goods from Britain for further development and this led to the production of locomotives and heavy products (Popkova, 2008). Russia imported over 30,000 tonnes of steel from Britain and became the largest manufacturer of steel products in Europe and was to remain at the top for a long time. Collectivisation Stalin recognised that the success of the industrialisation of the country depended strongly on the success of agriculture (Fitzpatrick, 2008). Due to this, Stalin moved to make reforms about agriculture. The attempts made by Witte and the Tsarist era ministers were strongly linked to the need to exploit the ex-serfs and due to that, the peasants were highly unproductive and could not possibly assist in the modernisation of the Soviet Union. Also, Lenin failed to put the sufficient controls over peasants. This is because Lenin focused more on the elimination of the bourgeois in the society. In other words, Lenin focused on the super rich who were making profits at the expense of the masses. However, Stalin saw the need for ensuring strong and firm control over the masses. He believed that collectivisation of agriculture was superior to individual peasant farms. Also, the peasant farmers had the potential to sabotage the Communist agenda by hoarding products and producing less (Fitzpatrick, 2008). Due to this, Stalin saw the need to control the peasants and the farming system of the Soviet Union. Collectivisation was therefore integrated into the first Five Year Plan. In 1928, Collective farms (Kolkhozy) accounted for just 1.2% of the total sown area of the Soviet Union (Fitzpatrick, 2008). State farms were about 1.5% whilst 97.3% of the total sown land was under individual peasant farmers (Fitzpatrick, 2008). This showed that the country was exposed to sabotage and the demands of many peasant farmers. Through the Five Year Plans, a structured system was instituted whereby the various peasant farmers entered collectivised farming agreements. Through these agreements, rural households shared their lands, livestocks and assets and they produced for the Soviet industries. The cooperatives of the rural farmers enabled them to produce more to feed the growing working class and also enough for export. This was meant to structure and to keep a high degree of control over the actions and activities of the rural farming class. When Stalin realized that the richer farmers were not ready to collectivise, he declared a war on the Russian countryside and this led to the killing of thousands of such persons. A famine that resulted from these disagreements led to the starvation of between five and seven million people (Perry, 2010). Gulags & Social and Ethnic Minority Issues The Japanese assertion of authority over Manchuria led to the the need to awaken development in Siberia and the Far East. The need to consolidate the eastern frontiers of Russia was identified by Witte who encouraged people to settle in the Russian east and give government incentives for settlement in Siberia at the turn of the 20th Century. According to Manneh, the population of the whole Siberia and the East which was about the size of Western Europe was just 2.5 million (1996). Due to this, Stalin identified the need to consolidate the Eastern frontier by encouraging settlements there and also keep a strong military presence in eastern Russia. Although the first Five Year Plan of 1928 – 1932 led to the development of institutions and infrastructure, the need to consolidate the East was completed in the second Five Year Plan between 1933 and 1937 when Japan was asserting itself militarily in the region. Stalin responded by situating as many as 350,000 military ground forces in the east of the Soviet Union (Manneh, 1996). This was complemented by 2,000 aircrafts in the region to protect the eastern boundary. The Five Year Plan also created the justification for promoting the settlement of people in the east of the Soviet Union. This is because there was the need to exploit natural resources from the east, particularly timber and also promote the establishment of communities in that part of the Soviet Union. This led to the creation of Gulags that were meant to create labour camps in the east. The Gulags were to nurture and keep a consistent flow of workers in the east to keep a substantial population in the region and also get the raw materials there. The Gulags were meant to keep criminals and political prisoners in a labour and corrective centre which worked like a correctional facility and forced labour camp. The labour camps held between 200,000 and 800,000 prisoners in the between 1932 and 1935 (Manneh, 1996). These numbers grew until there were over 2 million people in these camps in 1940. The Stalinist Five Year Plans focused on women, minorities and religious lives. In terms of women, there were new laws that promoted their right to work and also enhanced civil rights and allowed women to get independent (Todd and Walker, 2011). This allowed women to get employment in industries and the civil service. Also, Stalin's policy of Russification was entrenched in the Five Year Plans. Many ethnic minorities were to learn Russian and Russian expatriates were sent to non-Russian parts of the Soviet Union (Lace, 2002). There was the suppression of religious life and purges promoted conformity between 1929 and 1941 whilst cultural restrictions were placed on music, film and theatre (Roger, 2009). This led to the imposition of a distinct Soviet culture that was somewhat artificial and imposed upon the people (Rogers, 2009). Effects of the Five Year Plans The Five Year Plans came up with clear results for the economy. In 1928, industrial production was just around 26% of pre-war level, however, at the time the second Five Year Plan was implemented in 1932 industrial productions had seen a 202% increase of the 1928 levels (Sladkovski, 1966). The heavy industry increased by 44.5% at the middle of the situation and 53% at the end of the first Five Year Plan. This shows that there were significant increases in production levels in the areas of energy and industry. Also, the first Five Year Plan increased the engineering plan of 450% above the 1927 level and 1000% of pre-war figures (Sladkovski, 1966). The Soviet Union's voice became larger in global economy and due to the military might of the Soviet Union, they signed non—aggression pacts with neighbouring lands. Another area where the Five Year Plans worked significantly were in the area of energy production. As a matter of fact, the capacity of energy production were set to double in all the three five-year plans and this led to the rapid industrialisation and development of the Soviet Union. The chart below gives a gist of the increases in energy production   1927 1932 1937 Coal 35 million tons 64 mt (75 mt target) 128 mt (152 mt target) Oil 12 million tons 21 mt (22 mt target) 29 mt (47 mt target) Iron Ore 5 million tons 12 mt (19 mt target) unknown Pig Iron 3 million tons 6 mt (10 mt target) 15 mt (16 mt target) Steel 4 million tons 6 mt (10 mt target) 18 mt (17 mt target) mt = millions of tons Figure 1: Targets and Results of the Energy & Steel Production Levels [Source: History learning Site, 2011] Another aspect of the first Five Year Plan is that it set the framework for the compression of work meant to be done in a century in just ten years (Mok, 1931). After the Five Year Plan, the infrastructure base for further development was created and this grew significantly and was transposed to the wider community. This led to the creation of forced work and rapid industrialisation of the Soviet Union in the next decade. Also, the Five Year Plans led to the rapid urbanisation of the Soviet society. Many people living in rural areas around the Soviet Union moved into urban centres like Moscow and Leningrad to seek better conditions of life and to work in the industries (Bloomburg, 2004). This set the pace for further development and modernisation of the country in the next years that came. The Five Year Plans had huge social costs. There were thousands of middle class farmers who were killed due to their sabotage of Stalin's core plans. A famine that ensued between 1931 and 1933 because of Stalin's plan led to the death of five to seven million people. Estimates also show that about 170,000 slave labourers were sent to the Gulags in the early 1930s to work in undesirable parts of Russia (Thackeray, 2007). This grew up to about two million in the 1940s. This shows that there were serious human rights abuses and so many lives were lost due to the implementation of the five year plans of Stalin. However, the positive sides of the social reforms included laws that banned some unfair practices against women in Muslim parts of the Soviet Union like abolishing polygamy and bride money as well as increasing the marriage age (Todd and Walker, 2011). Also, employment rights to women caused an increase in the number of employed women from 2.7 million in 1928 to 13 million in 1939 (Todd and Walker, 2011). Also, a third of all engineers were women by 1939 whilst 79% of doctors were women. 43% of the industrial workforce were women in 1940. In the period of the first Five Year Plan, the new family law of 1926 consolidated the rights of women and allowed women to get more independent in unions. It is therefore conclusive that women were liberated and emancipated significantly through the Five Year Plans. Women gained a high degree of equality and this meant that some of them had rights that predated many Western nations where women were still second class citizens. Russification ensured that a common culture and system existed in the Soviet Union by 1941 and this helped the further growth of the socio-cultural system (Lacey, 2002). Those who did not want to conform were given harsh treatments which helped to promote a unified cultural system (Lacey, 2002). Conclusion. Russia was a very backward country with a limited industrial and infrastructure base as well as an unproductive agricultural system steeped in peasantry. The old problems with the old Tsarist regime and the backwardness that existed in Russia was serious and when Lenin took over, the country's economy was at the verge of collapse. Lenin's New Economic Policy was to transform the Soviet Union to a country ran by state capitalism where the proletariat and working class was given a better lifestyle ahead of the bourgeois and individual capitalists. However, Stalin sought to use the Five Year Plans to abolish all the gaps in Lenin's system by eliminating social class and creating a true totalitarian society. The Five Year Plans were to promote self sufficiency and eliminate waste and enhance the real essence of a classless society. The Five Year Plans was meant to promote technology transfer and also build the blueprints for industrial growth and industrial boom. This involved giant constructions and the promotion of engineering training and engineering projects. Also, the urgency of the Five Year Plans gave Stalin and his government the powers to run a police state that weeded out inefficiencies and got the masses to work hard enough to attain a century's worth of results in a decade after the first Five Year Plan. This led to the creation of collectivisation to block the inefficiencies and possibility of sabotage by small individual rural farmers. Also, the Gulags were set up to consolidate power in the east of the Soviet Union and also establish a military presence at the east of the country to prevent the expansion of Japan's military power in the region. The Five Year Plans showed direct and verifiable increases in technology and industry. The next ten years of the Five Year Plan led to a rapid and unprecedented growth in the country's industry base, military capacity and economic strengths. This led to urbanisation and the growth of the Soviet work force. This paper concludes that the three Five Year Plans between 1928-1941 were together the most important factor in Russian history between 1924 and 1945. It put in place the foundations for the rapid industrialisation and modernisation of the country in an unprecedented level. The Five Year Plan built on the old trends and mistakes in the Tsarist and Leninist regimes of the country in order to link the country to modern trends and systems. References Bloomberg, D. (2004) The Jewish World in the Modern Age Jerusalem: KTAV. Bonnell, V. E. (1999) Chonography of Power: Soviet Political Posters Under Lenin and Stalin San Diego: University of California Press. Chubarov, A. (2001) Russia's Bitter Path to Modernity London: SAGE Publications Fitzpatrick, S. (2008) The Russian Revolution Oxford: Oxford University Press. History Learning Site (2011) Stalin [Online] Available at: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Stalin.htm Accessed: December 1, 2012. Jacobson, J. 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(2011) History for the IB Diploma Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Thackeray, F. W. (2007) Events that Changed Russia After 1855 Darby, PA: Greenwood Publishing. Read More