Learning Curve
HEROES & VILLAINS
Stalin & industrialisation > Was this a success?
Was industrialisation a success?
By 1939 Russian industrial production levels were far higher than they had been in 1928. The
USSR was able to play a major part in the defeat of Germany during World War 2 and
emerged as a superpower, ranked second only to the USA.
Centralised decision-making under the Five Year Plans was not always the most efficient way
to run an economy. However, particular successes were the improved supply of electricity and
the greater number of machines built. Almost all heavy industries enjoyed substantial increases
in production. There were many large-scale industrial and building developments, such as the
Dneiper dam, the Moscow metro and the steelworks at Magnitogorsk, Gorky and Kutznetsk.
Life for many ordinary Russians improved after 1917. They had city housing schemes, universal health care, pensions and sickness benefits. From 1934 onwards, it was compulsory for
children to receive eleven years of education. Illiteracy declined from about 50% in 1924 to
19% in 1939. The USSR was also largely free from the unemployment suffered in other
countries during the 1930s depression.
Much of the new wealth of the country was never seen by ordinary citizens. Most of it went to
the government to pay for more industrialisation, as well as for military and police costs and
the bureaucracy that kept control of the economy. There was little in the way of luxury
consumer goods and sometimes there were shortages in the necessities.
The reforms of agriculture that went hand-in-hand with industrialisation actually harmed
agricultural production. Collectivisation resulted in a famine in 1932-33, as well as the exile of
uncooperative peasants to labour camps where they lived in terrible conditions. Maybe 10
million peasants died as a result of Stalin's policies.
Were the means by which Stalin achieved his goals totally necessary? Does the end justify the
means?
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
Page 1
Learning Curve
HEROES & VILLAINS
Stalin & industrialisation > Was this a success?
Examine these sources to find out more:
Targets for heavy
industry, 1938
Inconsistencies in
Soviet production
figures, 1937
Report on production Article about wages
of consumer goods,
& standards of
1938
living, 1938
Stalin on the
success of the Five
Year Plan, 1933
Statistics on food &
livestock, 1928-32
Letter from a
British woman
living in the USSR
Table of world
gold production,
1938
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
Page 2
Learning Curve
HEROES & VILLAINS
Stalin & industrialisation > Was this a success?
Source 1
Statement about targets for heavy industry in the USSR, January 1938
(Catalogue ref: FO 371/22292)
Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
By how much did output in 1937 exceed output in 1936?
What reasons are given for missing the 1937 output target?
According to this statement, will they achieve the output target for 1938?
What conclusions about the success of the Five Year Plans can you draw from this source?
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
Page 1
Learning Curve
HEROES & VILLAINS
Stalin & industrialisation > Was this a success?
Source 1
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
Page 2
Learning Curve
HEROES & VILLAINS
Stalin & industrialisation > Was this a success?
Source 2
Extracts from a German newspaper article on inconsistencies in official Soviet
production figures, December 1937
(Catalogue ref: FO 371/22292)
Questions
1. According to this source, what was wrong with the 1937 Soviet production figures?
2. How would you describe the attitude of this source towards the Soviet government and its
reporting of production figures? Choose three phrases from the source to support your
answer.
3. What conclusions about the success of the Five Year Plans can you draw from this source?
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
Page 1
Learning Curve
HEROES & VILLAINS
Stalin & industrialisation > Was this a success?
Source 2
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
Page 2
Learning Curve
HEROES & VILLAINS
Stalin & industrialisation > Was this a success?
Source 3
Extracts on the success of the first Five Year Plan, from a summary of a speech given
by Stalin on 7 January 1933
(Catalogue ref: FO 371/17254)
Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
According to Stalin, what have been the successes of the first Five Year Plan?
Why did they move forward with the Plan so quickly?
How was the second Five Year Plan different to the first one?
How could you, as a historian, find out if Stalin's claims are true?
What conclusions about the success of the Five Year Plans can you draw from this source?
Stalin spoke at the assembly of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party
(Bolsheviks) and the speech was published in the Communist newspaper Pravda a few
days later. What do you think was the purpose of the speech?
7. The Foreign Office in Britain had this English summary of the speech by 12 January 1933.
Why do you think they were so keen to know how Stalin's Plans were working?
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
Page 1
Learning Curve
HEROES & VILLAINS
Stalin & industrialisation > Was this a success?
Source 3
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
Page 2
Learning Curve
HEROES & VILLAINS
Stalin & industrialisation > Was this a success?
Source 4
Figures on food and livestock, based on Soviet statistics, 1928-32
Questions
1. What do these statistics tell you about the success of collectivisation?
2. What other information would you need before making up your mind about the success or
failure of collectivisation?
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
Page 1
Learning Curve
HEROES & VILLAINS
Stalin & industrialisation > Was this a success?
Source 4
1 The number of livestock in the USSR (in millions)
Horses
Cattle
Pigs
Sheep and Goats
1928
33
70
26
146
1932
15
34
9
42
2 The amount of food sold in the towns and cities (in Kilograms)
Bread
Potatoes
Meat and lard
Butter
1928
250.4
141.1
24.8
1.35
1932
214.6
125.0
11.2
0.7
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
Page 2
Learning Curve
HEROES & VILLAINS
Stalin & industrialisation > Was this a success?
Source 5
British summary of a USSR newspaper report on the production of consumer goods,
1938
(Catalogue ref: FO 371/22293)
Questions
1. Why do you think children's beds were made out of scrap metal?
2. The USSR government decided how many consumer goods were produced. What factors
do you think the government took into account when deciding how much to produce?
3. By how much was the production of metal consumer goods behind target in the first 5
months of 1938?
4. What problems might this have caused for:
a. the government?
b. consumers?
c. factory managers?
d. factory workers?
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
Page 1
Learning Curve
HEROES & VILLAINS
Stalin & industrialisation > Was this a success?
Source 5
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
Page 2
Learning Curve
HEROES & VILLAINS
Stalin & industrialisation > Was this a success?
Source 6
Summarised translation of a journal article about wages and standards of living, 1938
(Catalogue ref: FO 371/22292, from S Schwartz in 'Sotsialisticheski Vestnik', 25 January
1938)
Questions
1. What trends does the table show?
2. Does the source suggest that wages and living conditions had improved for all workers in
the USSR?
3. Did it matter if Soviet workers benefited equally from changes? Explain your answer.
4. What conclusions about the success of the Five Year Plans can you draw from this source?
5. This source is a British summary of an article written for a European journal associated with
Russians in exile from the USSR. What are the advantages and disadvantages for a
historian using this source?
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
Page 1
Learning Curve
HEROES & VILLAINS
Stalin & industrialisation > Was this a success?
Source 6
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
Page 2
Learning Curve
HEROES & VILLAINS
Stalin & industrialisation > Was this a success?
Source 7
Extract about food from a letter written by a British woman, Mrs Morley, living in the
USSR in 1938
(Catalogue ref: FO 371/22286)
Questions
1. What problems did people face living in the Soviet Union in 1938?
2. Do you think that people in the countryside would have had the same problems as people
living and working in the cities?
3. According to this writer, had living conditions improved in the last few years? Do you think
her viewpoint is likely to be accurate?
4. What conclusions about the success of the Five Year Plans can you draw from this source?
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
Page 1
Learning Curve
HEROES & VILLAINS
Stalin & industrialisation > Was this a success?
Source 7
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
Page 2
Learning Curve
HEROES & VILLAINS
Stalin & industrialisation > Was this a success?
Source 8
The top of the world league table of gold production, January 1938
(Catalogue ref: FO 371/22292)
Questions
1. Where did the USSR come in terms of gold production compared to other countries in
1937?
2. What position was it in 1931?
3. What is the percentage increase of the USSR's gold production between 1931 and 1937?
4. How do you think the USSR increased its production of gold?
5. What conclusions about the success of the Five Year Plans can you draw from this source?
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
Page 1
Learning Curve
HEROES & VILLAINS
Stalin & industrialisation > Was this a success?
Source 8
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
Page 2