What was the impact of the Five Year Plans?

What was the impact of the Five Year Plans?

1. Economic

   • Positive
     • An expansion in heavy industry was introduced with the production of coal, steel and iron.
       • Infastructure was introduced with the establishment of the Moscow metro, Baltic-White sea canal and Magnitogorsk
         • The economy grew by 4-12% every year which was unusual because world was in great depression and would buy and trade with USSR.
   • Negatives
     • unrealistic targets made the five year plans poorly planned
       • This led to corruption, wastage and bottle necks. An example is the Shakty trial
         • The Five year plans neglected consumer goods and the chemical industry while the rest of the world was developing their chemical industry
           • Skilled managers were purged for not meeting unrealistic targets and therefore avoided promotions out of fear of being sent to the .

2. Political

   • Bolshevik party stronger because more people moved to the cities and became proletarians.

3. Social

   • Positives
     • There was an end to unemployment with women starting to to work
       • wages went up and hard workers were rewarded with priviledges.
         • workers had enough food
   • Negatives
     • There was a lack of housing
       • real wages were not increased and the cost of living was high
         • Women were assigned low paid and less skilled jobs and still had to uphold household duties
           • There was a climate of fear for all workers

4. Ideological

   • Negatives
     • Promotions and privledges given to workers gives a class difference in cities
       • The Stakhanovite Movement was propaganda to encourage workers to try harder
         • Peasants were still seen as second class citizens.
   • Positives
     • More proletarians
       • No private profit or businesses
         • No class differences

5. Military

   • Positive
     • Weapon factories were built East of the Ural Mountains to be protected from invasion
       • A siege mentality was created
   • Negatives
     • Weapons did not work becasue of Stalins infatuation with gigantomania
       • One gun between two soilders.

6. Stalin's Personal Power

   • No opponents
     • Able to set his own targets