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Chelyabinsk was an industrial city which flourished under Stalin.

Russia: 1924-1941 - The Five Year Plans

Discover how Stalin used ambitious Five Year Plans to transform Soviet industry and agriculture, setting strict targets that changed factories, farms and everyday life across the USSR.

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Fascinating Fact:

The First Plan increased output of coal, steel, and electricity. However, quality was often poor and official figures were frequently exaggerated.

In GCSE History, the Five Year Plans are studied as a key part of Stalin's rule. You will explore why rapid industrial growth was seen as vital, how targets were set and enforced, and what impact these changes had on workers and the Soviet economy between 1928 and 1941.

Key Terms

Five Year Plan: A state programme that set production targets for industry and other sectors over a five year period in the Soviet Union.
Gosplan: The central planning agency that drew up targets and coordinated the different parts of the Soviet planned economy.
Heavy industry: Large scale industries such as iron and steel works, engineering plants and power stations that were prioritised in the plans.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What were Stalin's Five Year Plans?

Stalin's Five Year Plans were government programmes that set strict targets for factories and other sectors in order to modernise the Soviet economy quickly and strengthen the country.

Why did Stalin introduce Five Year Plans in the USSR?

Stalin introduced Five Year Plans because he believed the USSR needed to industrialise rapidly to defend itself from possible foreign enemies and to catch up with more advanced countries.

How successful were the Five Year Plans overall?

The plans greatly expanded industry and helped create a more modern economy, but they also involved harsh working conditions, shortages and serious disruption to the lives of ordinary Soviet citizens.

Try These Related Quizzes

1 .

Which central organisation in Moscow set and enforced targets for industrial production throughout the USSR?

GOSPLAN

SOVNORM

ECONOPROD

PRODNORM

These targets had legal force. Failure to meet the norm could be punished - perhaps by imprisonment in a labour camp that was part of the GULAG in Eastern Siberia. Exceeding the target risked being set a much higher target in future plans

2 .

Which feature of Moscow's public transport network was built from 1935, and soon became one of the showpieces of the Five Year Plans?

The inner and outer ring roads for increasing motor traffic

An overground railway network linking all of Moscow's existing railway termini like the Kievskaya Vokzal

An underground railway system, called the Moscow Metro

A ferry service on the River Moskva to convey thousands of commuters to and from work

Improved public transport had long been needed in the capital, as industry developed and new residents flocked to the suburbs

3 .

Magnitogorsk was a new industrial town. Of which mineral product did it become the largest plant in the USSR?

Copper

Steel

Aluminium

Tin

Minerals of all kinds were required, especially those involved in armaments and vehicle construction

4 .

The Belomor Canal was a major transport undertaking. Between which two Russian seas was it dug?

The Black Sea and the White Sea

The White Sea and the Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea and the Black Sea

The Caspian Sea and the Black Sea

Russia's various coastlines and substantial rivers encouraged canal building, which often involved huge numbers of workers in fatal industrial accidents

5 .

Stalin dealt with criticisms of the pace and large targets of his First Five Year Plan by pointing out in a speech of October 1931 how far behind other industrial countries the USSR was. How many years did he think the Soviet Union needed to make up in order to catch up with the USA and Germany?

50-100

100-150

150-200

0-50

Stalin saw the USSR as in a race to overtake states like Germany, from whom he always expected an eventual attack

6 .

A coal-miner, Alexei Stakhanov, in a six hour shift during 1935 managed to dig 102 tonnes of coal. Thereafter he became a celebrity, enjoying huge privileges, and encouraging other workers throughout the USSR. By how many times had he exceeded his production norm in that initial feat?

Stakhanov was extremely useful for propaganda purposes, although some writers have said that he never really existed

7 .

Chelyabinsk was another industrial city which flourished under Stalin. Near which mountain range is it situated, where the mineral deposits had not been thoroughly exploited until Stalin's time?

Urals

Carpathians

Caucasus

Rhodopes

Stalin began to unlock Russia's mineral wealth, especially by ordering mining in great river basins like the Donbass and in Russia's extensive mountain ranges

8 .

Railways' existing track was modernised. Which established line had no less than 7,000 kilometres of track renewed?

The Leningrad to Moscow line

The Trans-Siberian Railway

The line from Baku to Archangelsk

The railway line between Omsk and Krasnoyarsk

Many of Russia's railways had been built during the nineteenth century, often involving French investment. By the 1930's many of them needed upgrading

9 .

The proportion of the Russian population living in towns was 17% in 1926. What was the percentage in 1939?

23%

33%

45%

57%

Russia's population experienced a shift to urban living from the countryside, as former peasants - not required in the new collective farms - moved into the growing cities in search of work

10 .

In which year did the Third Five Year Plan end, curtailed by the invasion of Soviet Russia by Hitler's Germany?

1940

1941

1942

1943

Invasion meant that the achievements of the Plans would be put to the test. Stalin always expected an eventual Nazi attack, and he wanted the USSR to be ready for it

Author: Edward Towne