leonid brezhnev set up a five year plan for the operation of the soviet union.
leonid brezhnev set up a five year plan for the operation of the soviet union.
who set up a five year plan for the operation of the soviet union?
leonid brezhnev
prior to launching the first soviet five-year plan, the soviet union had been facing threats from external sources as well as experiencing an economic and industrial downturn since the introduction of bolshevik rule. the first war threat emerged from the east in 1924. a war scare arose in 1927 when western nations, like great britain, began cutting off diplomatic relations with the soviet union. this created fear among the soviets that the west was preparing to attack the soviet union again; during the russian civil war, foreign powers had occupied portions of russian territory. the fear of invasion from the west left the soviets feeling a need for rapid industrialization to increase soviet war-making potential, and to compete with the western powers. at the same time as the war scare of 1927, dissatisfaction grew among the peasantry of the soviet union. this dissatisfaction arose from the famine of the early 1920s, as well as from increasing mistreatment of the peasants. also during this time the secret police (the ogpu) had begun rounding up political dissenters in the soviet union. all these tensions had the potential to destroy the young soviet union and forced joseph stalin to introduce rapid industrialization of heavy industry so that the soviet union could address external and internal threats if needed.
first five-year plan
the central aspect of the first soviet five-year plan was the rapid industrialization of the soviet union from october 1928 to december 1932, which was thought to be the most crucial time for russian industrialization. lenin himself before the time of his death, knew the importance of building a transitional state to communism and was quoted saying "modern industry is the key to this transformation, the time has come to construct our fatherland anew with the hands of machines." rapid growth was facilitated starting in 1928 and continued to accelerate because of the building of heavy industry, which in turn raised living standards for peasants escaping the countryside. the bolsheviks' need for rapid industrialization was once again out of the fear of impending war from the west. if war were to break out between the soviet union and the west, the soviets would be fighting against some of the most industrialized nations in the world. the rapid industrialization would inhibit fears of being left unprotected if war between the soviets and the west were to occur. to meet the needs of a possible war, the soviet leaders set unrealistic quotas for production. to meet those unrealistic needs, the facilities had to be constructed quickly to facilitate material production before goods could be produced. during this period 1928-1932, massive industrial centers emerged in areas that were highly isolated before. these factories were not only for war production, but to produce tractors to meet the needs of mechanized agriculture. the stalingrad tractor plant was built with the help of western allies and was meant to play a major factor in the rapid industrialization of russia. these isolated areas included magnitogorsk, dnieper, and nizhny novgorod. magnitogorsk, the largest of the rapid industrialized areas of russia, was founded in 1743, but became more prevalent in the early 1930's by stalin. his plan was to make it a one-industry town. the city would become the largest steel producer in russia and was meant to rival production that was being seen in the u.s. at the same time. during this era of soviet history, heavy industry was supposed to experience a 350% increase in output. the soviet union's achievements were tremendous during the first five year plan, which yielded a fifty-percent increase in industrial output to achieve this massive economic growth, the soviet union had to reroute essential resources to meet the needs of heavy industry. 80% of the total investment of the first five-year plan, was focused heavily on the industrial sector. programs not necessary to heavy industry were cut from the soviet budget; and because of the redistribution of industrial funding, basic goods, such as food, became scarce. the fact that the great depression was driving down the price of grain and other raw materials, which is most likely a result of collectivization. the soviet union then decided that the workers necessary for further industrialization should be given most of the available food. from this rapid industrialization a new working class emerged in the soviet union. this new society was to be an industrial working class, which could be considered much of the population with the purpose of becoming a technologically advanced industry. during this time the industrial workforce rose from 3.12 million in 1928 to 6.01 million at the end of the plan in 1932. behind the urals, a book by john scott posed the question of the paranoia felt by the workers in these factories during the first five year plan. forced labor became the norm because of propaganda scaring the workers by fear of the second coming of the great purge.
first five-year plan