Industrialization plans. Stalinist industrialization of the USSR

Features of industrialization in the USSR, the first five-year plan, social problems the first five-year plan, the second five-year plan, the situation of the workers, the Stakhanov movement, the results of the first five-year plans.

Features of industrialization in USSR.

Industrialization was proclaimed by the party at the end of 1925 as the primary task for the development of the Soviet economy. At the same time, its main goals were defined: the elimination of the technical and economic backwardness of the country; achieving economic independence; creation of a powerful defense industry; development of basic industries (fuel, metallurgical, chemical, mechanical engineering).

All countries began industrialization with light industry. This made it possible to accumulate funds for the development of heavy industry. The USSR, guided by the interests of defense, began with heavy industry. Western countries drew the main funds for industrialization from outside: the robbery of colonies, unequal trade exchange with other countries, military contributions, foreign loans. In the USSR, industrialization could be carried out only at the expense of internal reserves. Raw materials were intensively exported from the country, food - bread, butter, sugar, the consumption of which by the population was sharply limited. They exported oil, gold, timber, sold the treasures of museums and temples. The centralized distribution of resources played a decisive role. This decision was prompted not only by experience civil war, but also Marxist attitudes about the advantages of a planned socialist economy.

First five years.

In May 1929, at the V All-Union Congress of Soviets, the first five-year plan for economic and social development USSR. Already in December 1929, Stalin put forward the slogan "Five-year plan in four years!". All targets were revised and significantly increased. Millions of people with great enthusiasm worked almost for free at the construction sites of the five-year plan. Competition under the slogan "Let's take a year from the five-year plan, we will complete the five-year plan in four years" unfolded throughout the country.

It was not possible to complete the tasks of the first five-year plan, but a significant step forward was made. The production of heavy industry products increased 2.8 times, machine building - 4 times. The Dneproges, Magnitogorsk and Kuznetsk metallurgical plants, large coal mines in the Donbass and Kuzbass, Stalingrad and Kharkov tractor, Moscow and Gorky automobile plants came into operation, traffic was opened on the Turkestan-Siberian railway. New branches of industry arose in the country: aircraft, tractors, electric power, chemical, etc. The successes of mechanical engineering turned the USSR from a country importing industrial equipment into a country producing equipment.

On the assembly line the first cars of the Moscow Automobile Plant. early 30s. 20th century

Social problems of the first five-year plan.

To fulfill the plans, a huge number of work force. Unemployment was eliminated in a short time. In 1930, the last labor exchange was closed in the USSR. However, at the construction sites of the five-year plan, mostly unskilled labor was used, and there was an acute shortage of engineering and technical personnel. Often, the team could not master the equipment for a long time and start production at the new plant. The number of higher and secondary technical educational institutions. Evening departments began to be created at institutes, industrial academies and factories-technical colleges. The best young workers were sent to study on vouchers from party and Komsomol organizations. The campaign was held under the slogans "The Bolsheviks must master the technology!", "Technology in the period of reconstruction decides everything!". During the years of the first five-year plan, 128,500 specialists with higher and secondary education were trained, and about half of them were yesterday's workers.

Along with the impressive achievements of the first five-year plan, serious shortcomings were revealed, primarily in the social sphere.

From the appeal of M. N. Ryutin “To all members of the CPSU (b)”

The adventuristic pace of industrialization, entailing a colossal reduction in the real wages of workers and employees, unbearable open and disguised taxes, inflation, rising prices and a fall in the value of gold coins ... led the whole country to a deep crisis, monstrous impoverishment of the masses and famine both in the countryside and and in cities...

M. N. Ryutin - candidate member of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, secretary of the Krasnopresnensky district party committee of Moscow.

In 1930, the State Planning Committee of the USSR issued an order to include the labor of prisoners in the planned economy. For this purpose, the Main Directorate of Camps (GULAG) was created as a subdivision of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs. Most of the important objects of the first five-year plans were built by the hands of prisoners, including the White Sea Canal, which connected Beloe and Baltic Sea. 100 thousand prisoners were digging a huge ditch almost without the use of any equipment. The construction of the canal cost 4 times cheaper than economists expected.

Forced labor was used in logging, mining, and construction sites. So-called sharashkas arose, where engineers and scientists worked in their specialty while in prison.

Second five-yearplan.

triumphantly announcing early execution the first five-year plan, Stalin recognized that now there was no need to "spur the country" and it was possible to somewhat reduce the pace of industrial construction.

XVII Congress of the CPSU(b) approved the second five-year development plan National economy for 1933-1937 It provided for a reduction in the average annual growth rate of industrial output from 30 to 16.5%. The growth of light industry had to exceed the development of heavy industry.

The Second Five-Year Plan turned the country into an industrial, economically independent power. By the end of 1937, the output of the entire industry had grown 2.2 times as compared with 1932, and 4.5 times as compared with 1928. Over 80% of all industrial output was provided by newly built or reconstructed enterprises, the number of which was replenished by such giants as the Ural and Kramatorsk heavy engineering plants, the Chelyabinsk tractor and Ural car building plants, metallurgical plants "Azovstal" and "Zaporizhstal", aviation plants in Moscow, Kharkov, Kuibyshev. For 10 years, at the cost of incredible efforts and hardships, the USSR overtook the leading states of Europe in its industrial power.

The position of the workers. Stakhanovite movement.

The second five-year plan was declared the time of the "turn to man". "Man is the most valuable capital," "cadres decide everything," Stalin proclaimed. On January 1, 1935, food cards were abolished, and the impressive results of the second five-year plan aroused hope for a further improvement in life.

However, the abolition of the cards did not improve the situation of the workers. Commercial prices were abolished and uniform prices were introduced that were significantly higher than the former, "normalized" prices at which workers paid for food by ration cards. Workers in compulsory order had to subscribe to a state loan in the amount of two to four weeks' earnings. This money went to the needs of industrialization. Housing fees were low, but living conditions did not improve, the population of cities constantly increased. The workers lived, as a rule, in communal apartments or barracks without any amenities.

The workers wanted to live better, first of all, by achieving high results in labor. The Stakhanovite movement can to a certain extent be considered a reflection of this aspiration. In August 1935, non-party miner Alexei Stakhanov cut down 102 tons of coal per shift instead of 7 tons according to the norm. Stakhanov's initiative was taken up by other miners and spread to many branches of industry. Newspapers reported on the achievements of N. A. Izotov, A. Kh. Busygin, E. V. and M. I. Vinogradovs, and others. Production rates in industry were increased by 15-20%. The earnings of the Stakhanovites in 1935 ranged from 700 to 2000 rubles. per month. They enjoyed significant privileges, they were awarded orders, they became part of the elite Soviet society.

Not all workers viewed the Stakhanovists with approval. Many disliked experiments that led to an increase in production rates, hours of work, a significant difference in wages. They expressed their dissatisfaction with the frequent change of place of work, the low level of labor and production discipline, hooliganism and drunkenness were not uncommon. The government responded with increased repressive measures. In December 1938, a decision was made to introduce work books required for presentation upon admission to work. Back in 1932-1933. the passport system was introduced in cities and workers' settlements. In accordance with the law of 1931, the volume of social benefits was placed in direct dependence on the continuity of experience at the enterprise. Absence from work was severely punished: the perpetrators were immediately fired, deprived of food cards, evicted from their living space. In the future, all these measures were significantly tightened.

Results of the firstfive-year plan.

The growth rates of heavy industry during the years of the first five-year plans were 2-3 times higher than in Russia before the First World War. By absolute volumes industrial production USSR in the late 1930s. ranked second in the world after the United States. Lagging behind developed capitalist countries in industrial output per capita. The average annual growth rate of industrial production was the highest in the world - from 10 to 17%. The USSR has become a country capable of producing any kind of industrial product and doing without importing essential goods. Created in the 30s. economic potential made it possible on the eve and during the war years to deploy a diversified military-industrial complex, whose products surpassed the best world samples.

But the leap in the development of heavy industry was bought at the price of lagging behind other sectors of the economy, primarily light industry and the agricultural sector, the over-centralization of economic life, the limiting scope of market mechanisms, the complete subordination of the producer to the state, and the ever wider use of non-economic coercion measures.

During the years of the first five-year plans, the USSR made a giant breakthrough in its development. In terms of absolute volumes of industrial production in the late 30s. he came in second in the world. However, the standard of living of the population remained one of the lowest among developed countries.

Source of the article: A.A. Danilov's textbook "History of Russia". Grade 9

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In the second half of the 1920s, the most important task economic development was the transformation of the country from an agrarian to an industrial one, ensuring its economic independence and strengthening its defense capability. An urgent need was the modernization of the economy, the main condition of which was the technical improvement of the entire national economy.

Industrialization is the process of accelerated development of industry, primarily heavy industry, the transformation of the country's economy from agrarian to industrial. In the USSR in the late 1920s and in the 1930s, industrialization was carried out at an accelerated pace due to the excessive exploitation of the population.

Industrialization - a set of measures for the accelerated development of industry, adopted by the CPSU (b) in the second half of the 20s to the end of the 30s. Proclaimed as a party course by the XIV Congress of the CPSU (b) (1925), carried out mainly by transferring funds from Agriculture: first, thanks to the "price scissors" for industrial and agricultural products, and after the announcement of a course to speed up industrialization (1929) - through surplus appropriation. A feature of Soviet industrialization was the priority development of heavy industry and the military-industrial complex. Special attention was given to the development of such industries as metallurgy, engineering, energy. In total, 35 industrial giants were built in the USSR, a third of which were in Ukraine. Among them are Zaporizhstal, Azovstal, Krammashstroy, Krivorizhbud, Dneprostroy, Dnipalyuminbud, Kharkov Tractor Plant, Kyiv Machine Tool Building Plant, etc.

Proclamation of a course for industrialization

industrial development In the mid-1920s, the USSR reached the pre-war level (1913), but the country lagged significantly behind the leading Western countries: much less electricity, steel, iron, coal and oil were produced. The economy as a whole was at the pre-industrial stage of development. Therefore, the XIV Congress of the CPSU (b), held in December 1925, proclaimed a course towards industrialization.

The goals of industrialization in the USSR

The main goals of industrialization in the USSR were proclaimed:

ensuring the economic self-sufficiency and independence of the USSR;

elimination of the technical and economic backwardness of the country, modernization of industry;

creation technical base for the modernization of agriculture;

development of new industries (mainly heavy);

strengthening the country's defense capability, creating a military-industrial complex;

stimulating a steady increase in labor productivity and, on this basis, raising the material well-being and cultural level of the working people.

Features of Soviet industrialization

The main features of Soviet industrialization:

the main sources of accumulation of funds for industrialization were: "pumping" funds from the countryside to the city; from light and food to heavy industry, increase direct and indirect taxes; internal loans; release paper money not backed by gold; expanding the sale of vodka; an increase in the export of oil, timber, furs and grain abroad;

the actual unpaid labor of workers and especially peasants became the sources of industrialization; the exploitation of many millions of Gulag prisoners;

ultra-high rates of industrialization, which were explained by the leadership of the USSR by the need to strengthen the country's defense capability in the face of a growing external threat;

priority was given to the development of military enterprises, the militarization of the economy;

attempts by the Soviet leadership headed by I. Stalin to demonstrate to the whole world the advantages of socialism over capitalism;

large-scale transformations were carried out on a gigantic territory, and this, with extraordinary urgency, raised the question of developing infrastructure (roads, bridges, etc.), the state of which in many respects did not meet the needs;

the development of the production of means of production was significantly ahead of the production of consumer goods,

in the course of industrialization, an anti-religious campaign was carried out, churches were robbed for the needs of the Soviet economy;

the labor enthusiasm of people was exploited; the introduction of mass "socialist competition".

First Five Year Plan

The first five-year plan adopted by the PKP (b) in 1928 became the initial draft of the Stalinist military-communist assault. The five-year plan began in the same year (1928/1929-1932/1933 pp.). its main task was to "catch up and overtake the Western countries" in the economy. The most important was the development of heavy industry. The plan provided for its growth by 330%.

In 1928-1929. the gross output of Ukrainian industry increased by 20%. At that time, the Soviet economy was still feeling the impulses of the NEP, which ensured high growth rates. The successes of the first year of the five-year plan in the USSR, against the backdrop of a deep economic crisis that engulfed the capitalist world in 1929, created in the leadership of the USSR the illusion of the possibility of a sharp leap from economic backwardness to the ranks of industrialized states. Such a breakthrough required an extraordinary effort of forces.

The November plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks in 1929 decided to "accelerate the development of engineering and other branches of large-scale industry at any cost." Plans for 1930-1931. a 45% increase in industry was envisaged, which meant “storming”. It was an adventure doomed to fail.

The failure to fulfill the plan of the First Five-Year Plan was quite natural. Therefore, when its results were summed up, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of the Soviet Union (would) forbade all departments to publish statistical data on this subject.

Despite the development of the production of new products, industrialization was carried out mainly by extensive methods, since as a result of collectivization and a sharp decline in the standard of living of the rural population, human labor was greatly depreciated. The desire to fulfill the plan led to an overexertion of forces and a permanent search for reasons to justify not fulfilling overestimated tasks. Because of this, industrialization could not feed on enthusiasm alone and required a number of coercive measures. Starting in 1930, the free movement of labor was prohibited, criminal penalties were introduced for violations labor discipline and negligence. Since 1931, workers have become liable for damage to equipment. In 1932, the forced transfer of labor between enterprises became possible, and the death penalty was introduced for theft of state property. On December 27, 1932, the internal passport was restored, which Lenin at one time condemned as "tsarist backwardness and despotism." The seven-day week has been changed to a continuous one. working week, whose days, without names, were numbered from 1 to 5. Every sixth day was a day off, set for work shifts, so that factories could work without interruption. The labor of prisoners was actively used.
The response to the growing negative attitude towards industrialization and the policy of the leadership of the CPSU (b) on the part of society, and especially part of the communists, was political repression. Even at the July Plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks in 1928, Stalin put forward the thesis that "as we move forward, the resistance of the capitalist elements will increase, the class struggle will intensify." In practice, this resulted in a campaign against sabotage. "Wreckers" were blamed for failures in efforts to meet the targets of the plan. The first high-profile trial in the “saboteurs” case was the Shakhty case, after which accusations of sabotage could follow the company’s failure to fulfill the plan, which led to the falsification of statistics.

The main social consequence of industrialization and collectivization was the formation of a massive multi-million core of industrial workers. Total population workers grew from 8-9 million in 1928 to 23-24 million in 1940. On the other hand, employment in agriculture declined significantly: from 80% in 1928 to 54% in 1940. The released population (15-20 million people) moved into industry.

The policy of accelerated industrialization plunged the country into a state of general, as in war, mobilization and tension. The choice of a forced strategy presupposed a sharp weakening, if not complete elimination, of the commodity-money mechanisms for regulating the economy and the absolute predominance of the administrative and economic system. This variant of economic development contributed to the growth of totalitarian principles in political system Soviet society, dramatically increased the need for wide application administrative-command forms of political organization.

1. In 1929, a radical change occurred in the economic development of the USSR - the leadership of the USSR abandoned the continuation of the NEP policy and returned to administrative-command methods in the economy. Industrialization and collectivization began. The entire economy of the country became rigidly centralized and began to develop according to the plan (“five-year plans”). The beginning of the "radical change" was preceded by heated discussions about the fate of the NEP and further economic policy in the leadership of the Bolshevik Party and the Soviet state. They became especially acute during the NEP crisis of 1926-1929.

Two different approaches to further economic development have emerged:

- N.I. Bukharin (supported by Rykov and Tomsky): to continue the New Economic Policy and gradually achieve improvements in all spheres of life;

- I.V. Stalin: urgently stop the NEP, focus the efforts of the entire state on one thing, first of all, heavy industry.

The point of view of I.V. Stalin regarding the bet on the development of heavy industry was justified by the fact that:

- heavy industry (metallurgy, engineering, resource-extracting industries) will make the country industrial and reduce the gap from developed countries;

- heavy industry will become the economic foundation of a powerful socialist state and "pull along" the rest of the economy;

- heavy industry will form the basis of the military-industrial complex, which was extremely important because of Russia's presence in a hostile imperialist environment.

Later, on January 30, 1931, in his speech at the First All-Union Conference of Workers industrial enterprises I.V. Stalin will say: “We are 50 to 100 years behind the advanced countries, we must overcome this distance in 10 years. Either we do it or we will be crushed."

2. After heated discussions, the point of view of I.V. Stalin. In 1929, the NEP was terminated and a course was set for industrialization. Since the centralized development of heavy industry was incompatible with small-scale and handicraft agricultural production, at the same time a course was taken towards the collectivization of agriculture.

The turning point in economic policy led to significant changes in the leadership of the country:

— A.I. Rykov, who replaced V.I. Lenin as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (government) of the USSR and being his official successor, was removed from the post of Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars in 1930;

- at the same time, the entire Bukharin group was removed from their posts, including N. Bukharin himself and I. Tomsky, who were declared "right deviators";

- in 1929 L. Trotsky was expelled from the USSR;

- in 1930, V.M. became the new Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars. Molotov is a staunch supporter and key ally of I.V. Stalin at that time;

- "the year of the great turning point" (1929) is considered the time final victory in the 5-year struggle for power in the USSR I.V. Stalin and his group.

3. Features of the economic policy that the Soviet leadership began to pursue since 1929 after the collapse of the NEP.

- super-centralization of the entire economic life of the country;

- carrying out economic development according to 5-year plans, which are called "five-year plans".

The over-centralization of the economy consisted in:

- elimination of trusts, the private sector of the economy, and other attributes of the NEP;

- the creation of a powerful and extensive administrative-command system - central offices, branch commissariats, various committees;

- the transformation of the State Planning Commission, created back in 1921 as a coordinating body, into one of the "headquarters" of the economy, which determined the entire economic life;

- the transformation of the VKP(b) party itself into an administrative body for managing the economy, into the main supporting structure of the entire administrative-command system.

The State Planning Committee, the party, the Council of People's Commissars, and numerous other bodies developed 5-year plans every 5 years, which described in detail what needed to be done (built), in what time frame and how to implement these projects. In the period 1928 - 1941, which went down in history as the "period of the first five-year plans", three five-year plans were held in the USSR:

- The first five-year plan (began even before the "great turning point"): 1928 - 1932;

- Second Five-Year Plan: 1933 - 1937;

- Third Five-Year Plan: 1938 - 1941.

- (in the post-war period, eight more five-year plans and one seven-year plan were held in the USSR).

4. The main task of the First Five-Year Plan (1928-1932) was to lay the foundation for Soviet heavy industry. During this period:

— more than 1,500 industrial enterprises were built;

- including the main "giants" of the Soviet industry - Ural-mash, Zaporizhstal, Rostselmash, Kharkov Tractor Plant (KhTZ), Stalingrad Tractor Plant, Nizhny Novgorod car factory(future GAZ), Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ), Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, Novokuznetsk Iron and Steel Works;

- Power stations were built railways, canals (Dneproges, Turksib, Belomor-Baltic Canal), other infrastructure facilities.

Such a boom in industrial construction in record time was not observed either during the development of capitalism in Tsarist Russia, or in the Soviet post-war era. Despite the enormous difficulties, the need to often build by hand, everyday inconveniences, the tasks of the First Five-Year Plan were fulfilled, and the five-year plan was completed in 4 years and 3 months. Both the result itself and the fact that it was achieved by almost free labor became a sensation for the whole world. In fact, this super-task was accomplished thanks to:

- the selfless labor of millions of Soviet workers who were under the hypnosis of the strongest ideological influence;

- round-the-clock work, seven days a week, party and economic leaders;

- pumping forces and means from other sectors - agriculture and light industry, their desolation, hunger;

— the use of covert forced labor.

5. The use of hidden forced labor has become the most important additional resource for the Bolsheviks in carrying out accelerated industrialization.

This resource was obtained by creating a large army of prisoners in the USSR, and using their free labor in the construction of facilities:

- at the beginning of industrialization, on June 27, 1929, the Politburo decided to deploy a network of correctional camps;

- in 1930, the Main Directorate of Camps was created at the OPTU - GULAG;

- as of May 1, 1930, there were approximately 271 thousand prisoners in the USSR, located in approximately 300 NKVD and OGPU camps;

- by March 1, 1940, the number of camps of all kinds doubled and they contained about 1 million 700 thousand people;

- about 40% of all prisoners were convicted under political articles;

- the state deliberately pursued a policy of condemning large masses of people for minor reasons (for example, being late for work, stealing spikelets, anti-Soviet statements, etc.) and then using them as free labor at industrial construction sites;

- in the period 1929 - 1941. thus, more than 20 million people (every eighth inhabitant of the USSR) passed through the Gulag system, who were sent to build factories, railways and canals (about half of the objects of the first five-year plans were built by prisoners).

Another forced administrative measure in order to maintain the emergency regime of the Soviet economy was the introduction in 1929 of a food rationing system.

6. The main task of the Second Five-Year Plan (1933 - 1937) was to achieve maximum labor efficiency at newly built enterprises. This task, as well as the tasks of the First Five-Year Plan, was solved by using non-economic methods of stimulation.

In 1935, the Stakhanov movement began in the USSR. Ancestor this movement Donetsk miner Aleksey Stakhanov is considered to have mined coal 14.7 times more than the daily norm in one work shift. This case was widely covered in all Soviet newspapers. Following Stakhanov, a whole series of similar labor exploits began, which were also covered by the press. In different parts of the country, workers, miners, and other advanced workers appeared one after another, who fulfilled 10, 15, 20 or more norms per day and competed with each other. These cases developed into the Stakhanov movement, which became widespread. Many workers worked selflessly, wanting to be like Stakhanov and the Stakhanovists, who were popular at that time.

Despite the fact that the feat of Stakhanov was falsified (Stakhanov overfulfilled the plan by 2.5 times, not 14, and the result of the work of a whole brigade of several people was presented as the result of the "labor feat" of one A. Stakhanov), the Stakhanov movement became powerful incentive shock work. Along with this, other non-economic incentives were used - socialist competition, a passing red banner, etc. Along with this, administrative and punitive measures were taken to maintain discipline and the quality of labor:

- in 1933, criminal liability was introduced for the release of low-quality products;

- along with this, criminal liability is introduced for being late for work.

Like the First, the Second Five-Year Plan was completed. Its main result was the rapid growth of industrial production in the country.

7. In 1938, the Third Five-Year Plan began in the USSR. One of its main goals was the construction of enterprises of the military-industrial complex and the production of military products:

- military enterprises of various profiles are being built throughout the country (often these enterprises were secret or "camouflaged" as civilian ones, for example, a tank plant - under a tractor, etc.);

- The production of military aircraft, tanks, and other types of weapons has been launched.

The usual course of the Third Five-Year Plan was interrupted on June 22, 1941, by the treacherous attack of Nazi Germany and its allies on the USSR.

8. Despite this, in 1929 - 1941, during the first three five-year plans of industrialization, the economy of the USSR achieved impressive results:

- the USSR for the first time in history came out on top in Europe and in second place in the world (after the USA) in terms of the level (quantity) of industrial production;

- The USSR became one of the four most industrialized countries in the world (together with the USA, Germany and Great Britain), which could independently produce industrial products of any complexity;

- the foundations were laid for one of the strongest military-industrial complex in the world, without which the USSR (agrarian Russia) would hardly have been competitive in the war with Nazi Germany and the coalition of its allies;

These results were achieved in record time.

9. At the same time, the price for such a rapid industrial breakthrough was:

- the decline of agriculture and light industry;

- very low and primitive level the lives of the vast majority of Soviet citizens (as a result of the fall of the light industry that produces household goods, more than 10 years of almost free labor);

- mass famine in certain areas as a result of the undermining of agriculture (the famine of 1933 in Ukraine and the Volga region);

- mass " Stalinist repressions”, as a result of which millions of citizens, on insignificant charges, were imprisoned and turned into “slaves to the construction of socialism”.

Industrialization is a process of radical restructuring of the country's economy, aimed at creating and building up industrial potential. Industrialization is an inevitable condition for the transformation of an agrarian country into a powerful, industrialized state.
In the Soviet Union, this process took place in the shortest possible time - from 1929 to 1940.

Causes of industrialization in the USSR.
Crisis of the New Economic Policy (NEP). The NEP, proclaimed by the Bolsheviks immediately after the end of the Civil War, contributed to the revival of the economy in post-war years. But by the end of the 1920s, the NEP, having fulfilled its tasks, was unable to bring the country's economy to a new level. In 1928, in most economic indicators, the Soviet Union reached the indicators Russian Empire sample pre-war 1913, and in some industries surpassed. For example, the volume of production in mechanical engineering in 1928 was 80% higher than in 1913, electricity production amounted to 5 billion kW against 1.9 billion kW, 1.8 thousand tractors were produced, which were not produced in the Russian Empire at all. However, even these growth rates did not meet the needs of the country.
Economic security of the USSR. In the late 1920s, the Soviet Union continued to be in a political and economic blockade. There was a sharp question about economic security country based on self-sufficiency in manufactured goods. But the USSR continued to be a country with a predominantly agricultural sector of the economy, and was forced to turn to the foreign market to purchase industrial goods.
Military security of the USSR. The First World War did not resolve the contradictions between the powers, but only postponed them for a short period. A new world war was inevitable. And the USSR, included in the sphere of world politics, would be its participant. But new war demanded a developed industry, which was simply not the case in the USSR during the NEP period. The historically important issue that was still before the Russian Empire was not resolved - the industrial development of the country, the creation modern economy corresponding to the status of a world power. Industry growth rates in pre-revolutionary Russia was not enough to lead modern war. For example, during the three years of the war, 28,000 machine guns were produced in Russia, 280,000 in Germany, and 326,000 in France. Aircraft engines were not produced in Russia at all and 3.5 thousand aircraft were built on foreign-made engines, while in France 48 thousand aircraft were produced during the same period. Not in the best way the armament situation was in Soviet Russia in the 1920s, which was a direct consequence of underdeveloped industry.

The progress of industrialization.
Industrialization in the USSR was carried out on the basis of five-year plans (five-year plans). The plan of the first five-year plan, 1929-1932, was completed in 4 years and 3 months. The plan of the second five-year plan, 1932-1937, was not fulfilled. The Third Five-Year Plan was left unfinished due to the outbreak of the war. Therefore, summing up the results of industrialization in the USSR, it is customary to operate with indicators for 1940.
Industrialization in the USSR was not aimed at making a profit, but at creating conditions, a base, for the stable growth of industry in the coming years. To do this, first of all, enterprises of the “A” group were created - the production of means of production: energy, metallurgy, mining, transport and machine tool building. This laid the foundation for the development of industry in the USSR for decades to come.
Another feature of the transformation of the Soviet Union into an industrial superpower was the lack of foreign loans and investment. In conditions of foreign policy isolation, they simply had nowhere to come from. The USSR carried out industrialization at the expense of internal reserves. But this does not mean that there was no cooperation with industrialized countries. On the contrary, the USSR actively attracted foreign specialists, bought means of production, and, most importantly, technology. In this he was helped by the economic crisis that occurred in Western countries in the early 1930s. During the crisis, Western companies willingly cooperated with the USSR. With the involvement of foreign specialists and technologies, such major industrial enterprises as DneproGES, MMK, tractor plants in Stalingrad and Chelyabinsk, the Nizhny Novgorod Automobile Plant and others were built.

Results of industrialization in the USSR.
General results. For ten years, the Soviet Union made an unparalleled breakthrough in the development of industry. From 1929 to 1940, more than 8.5 thousand large enterprises were built. Among them are such giants as: DneproGES, Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Plant, Stalingrad, Chelyabinsk and Kharkov Tractor Plants, Nizhny Novgorod Automobile Plant, Zaporizhstal, Azovstal, Uralmash, Krivoy Rog and Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plants and many others. The Moscow and Leningrad metros were put into operation.
The growth rate of industrial production was three times higher than in the Russian Empire at the beginning of the century.
This allowed the USSR to become not only an industrial power, but also to become a leader among industrialized countries. So, in 1937, in terms of absolute volumes of industrial production, the Soviet Union ranked second in the world, second only to the United States. True, lagged behind Germany, Great Britain and France in terms of production per capita. In the same 1937, the share of imports of manufactured goods was only 1% of consumption. Thus, the problem of economic independence was solved. The country provided itself with the necessary goods. Moreover, the USSR itself exported the products of its factories. For example, having abandoned the import of tractors in 1932, in 1934 the Soviet Union itself began to export tractors of its own production.
One of the results of industrialization in the USSR was the creation of new industries - machine tool building, aircraft building, automotive industry, the production of tractors, bearings, and instrument making.
GDP growth, during the years of the first five-year plans, was 6% annually. And industrial production grew every year by 11 - 16%.
Results of industrialization in the USSR for the defense industry. One of the tasks of industrialization was to ensure the country's defense capability. In fact, the defense industry was created anew. This made it possible from 1939 to begin a large-scale rearmament of the army. Unfortunately, it was not completed by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War - there was not enough time. But during the war itself, it was the industrial potential of the USSR that made it possible to establish mass production of weapons and ammunition, in as soon as possible reorganize industry for military production.
Results of industrialization in the USSR for agriculture. The main results of industrialization for agriculture were:
- mechanization of agricultural production. With the beginning of the mass production of tractors and other agricultural equipment in the early 1930s, agriculture received a powerful impetus for development through mechanization. From 1929 to 1940, more than 700 thousand tractors were produced in the USSR (40% of their world production). In the countryside, an infrastructure was created for the use and maintenance of this equipment - Machine and Tractor Stations (MTS). Accordingly, mass training of specialists was organized - tractor drivers, mechanics, drivers, etc.
- mass migration of the rural population to the cities. It was both a consequence of collectivization and industrialization. Actually, the massive influx of free labor from the countryside, and only during the years of the first five-year plan such migration of the population amounted to about 12 million people, created favorable conditions for successful industrial construction. Mechanization agricultural production freed up a lot of workers who found a use in the course of industrialization. In total, from 1928 to 1940, about 35 million people moved from the countryside to the city. However, until the early 1960s, the proportion of rural residents was more than 50% of the total population.
Results of industrialization in the USSR in the social sphere. Industrialization in the USSR directly affected public life:
- science and education. In the course of industrialization, completely different tasks were set before education than in the 1920s - it was not easy to eliminate illiteracy (the ability to read and write), but to train qualified specialists. To this end, in 1930, a universal elementary education, and for the urban population - a mandatory seven-year (in rural schools, a mandatory "seven-year" was introduced in 1934). In 1932 a ten-year system of secondary education was introduced. In 10 years, from 1929 to 1939, the number of secondary school students tripled - from 13.5 million to 31.5 million.
At the same time, the system higher education, its purpose was to train domestic engineering personnel. Thus, by 1937 the number of higher educational institutions had increased by 7.7 times in comparison with 1914.
It was in the 1930s that the foundations of Soviet science were laid, which very soon became one of the most advanced in the world.
- standards of living. At the end of the 1920s, in connection with the curtailment of the NEP and the restructuring of the economy, the standard of living of the population decreased, and a shortage of consumer goods arose. In 1929 introduced card system distribution of goods, extending not only to products. But by the mid-1930s, there was already quite enough goods and products, and the growth of wages, especially in industry, made these goods affordable for the population. In 1936 the card system was abolished. By the end of the 1930s, the level of consumption of goods and services by the population was higher by more than 20% than 10 years ago.

In general, industrialization in the USSR achieved its goals.
Without carrying out industrialization in such a short time, the political and economic independence of the USSR would not have been achieved. The Soviet Union managed to close the gap with world powers in just 11 years, which, without exaggeration, is an economic miracle.

Comparing the past and the present is necessary to improve the future, while it is desirable not to repeat the mistakes of the ancestors. The USSR is once a mighty superpower that made a significant contribution to the development of society in its time. Five-year plans were one of the cornerstones of the life of Soviet citizens. According to their results, historians can judge the industrialization of the country, compare the achievements of the past and the present, find out how far our generation has gone technologically and what else is worth striving for. So, the topic of this article is the five-year plan in the USSR. The table below will help to structure the acquired knowledge in a logical order.

First Five-Year Plan (1928-1932)

So, it began in the name of building socialism. The country after the revolution needed industrialization in order to keep up with the leading European powers. In addition, only with the help of a forced build-up of industrial potential could it be possible to rally the country and bring the USSR to a new military level, as well as to raise the level of agriculture throughout the vast territory. According to the government, a strict and irreproachable plan was needed.

Thus, the main goal was to build up military power as quickly as possible.

The main tasks of the first five-year plan

At the XIV Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, at the end of 1925, Stalin expressed the idea that it was necessary to turn the USSR from a country importing imported weapons and equipment into a country that itself could produce and supply all this to other states. Of course, there were people who expressed an ardent protest, but it was suppressed by the opinion of the majority. Stalin himself became interested in making the country a leader in the very first five-year plan, putting metallurgy in first place. So, the process of industrialization had to go through 4 stages:

1. Revival of transport infrastructure.
2. Expansion of economic sectors related to the extraction of materials and agriculture.
3. Redistribution state enterprises by territory.
4. Changes in the work of the energy complex.

All four processes did not take place in turn, but were intricately intertwined. Thus began the first five-year plan for the industrialization of the country.

It was not possible to realize all the ideas, however, the production of heavy industry increased almost 3 times, and mechanical engineering - 20 times. Naturally, such a successful completion of the project caused quite natural joy for the government. Of course, the first five-year plans in the USSR were hard for people. A table with the results of the first of them would contain the following words as a slogan or subtitle: "The main thing is to start!"

It was at this time that many recruiting posters appeared, reflecting the main goal and identity of the Soviet people.

The main construction projects at that time were coal mines in the Donbass and Kuzbass, the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works. Thanks to this, it was possible to achieve the financial independence of the USSR. The most prominent building is the DneproGES. The year 1932 was marked by the end of not only the first five-year plan, but also the most important construction for heavy industry.

The new power by leaps and bounds strengthens its status in Europe.

Five Year Plan Number Two (1933-1937)

The second five-year plan in high circles was called the "five-year plan of collectivization" or "public education." It was approved by the VII Congress of the CPSU (b). After heavy industry, the country needed the development of the national economy. This area has become main goal second five-year plan.

The main directions of the second five-year plan

The main forces and finances of the government at the beginning of the "five-year plan of collectivization" were directed to the construction of metallurgical plants. Uralo-Kuzbass appeared, the first current of the DneproGES started up. The country did not lag behind in scientific achievements. So, the second five-year plan was marked by the first landing at the North Pole of the Papanin expedition, the polar station SP-1 appeared. The subway was under construction.

At this time, great emphasis was placed on among the workers. The most famous drummer of the five-year plan is Alexei Stakhanov. In 1935, he set a new record by completing the norm of 14 shifts in one shift.

Third Five-Year Plan (1938-1942)

The beginning of the third five-year plan was marked by the slogan: “To catch up and overtake the per capita production of the developed.”

Directions of the third five-year plan

By the beginning of 1941, almost half (43%) of the country's capital investments went to raising the level of heavy industry. On the eve of the war in the USSR, in the Urals and in Siberia, fuel and energy bases developed rapidly. It was necessary for the government to create a "second Baku" - a new oil production area, which was supposed to appear between the Volga and the Urals.

Particular attention was paid to tank, aviation and other plants of this kind. The level of production of ammunition has increased significantly and artillery pieces. However, the armament of the USSR still lagged behind the Western one, in particular from the German one, but they were not in a hurry with the release of new types of weapons even in the first months of the war.

Fourth Five-Year Plan (1946-1950)

After the war, all countries had to revive their production and economy, the USSR managed to do this almost completely at the end of the 40s, when the fourth term began. The five-year plan did not imply an increase in military power, as before, but the revival of a society lost in all spheres of life during the war.

The main achievements of the fourth five-year plan

In just two years, the same level of industrial production as before the war was reached, even though the plans for the second and third five-year plans put forward harsh work standards. In 1950, the main production assets returned to the 1940 level. When the 4th Five-Year Plan ended, the industry grew by 41%, and the construction of buildings - by 141%.

The new DneproGES was put into operation again, all the mines of Donbass were restored. On this note, the 4th five-year period ended.

Fifth Five-Year Plan (1951-1955)

During the Fifth Five-Year Plan, the atomic weapon, appears in Obninsk, and at the beginning of 1953, N. S. Khrushchev took the post of head of state instead of I. V. Stalin.

The main achievements of the fifth five-year plan

Since capital investments in industry doubled, the volume of output also increased (by 71%), in agriculture - by 25%. Soon new metallurgical plants were built - Caucasian and Cherepovets. The Tsimlyanskaya and Gorkovskaya HPPs were featured in full or in part on the front page. And at the end of the fifth five-year plan, science heard about atomic and hydrogen bombs.

Finally, the first and Omsk oil refineries were built, and the rate of coal production increased significantly. And 12.5 million hectares of new lands came into circulation.

Sixth Five-Year Plan (1956-1960)

More than 2,500 major enterprises were put into operation when the sixth five-year plan began. At the end of it, in 1959, a parallel seven-year plan began. The national income of the country has risen by 50%. Capital investments at this time doubled again, which led to the extensive development of light industry.

The main achievements of the sixth five-year plan

The gross output of industry and agriculture increased by more than 60%. Gorkovskaya, Volzhskaya, Kuibyshevskaya were completed, and by the end of the five-year plan, the world's largest worsted plant was built in Ivanovo. Active development of virgin lands began in Kazakhstan. The USSR finally got a nuclear missile shield.

The world's first satellite was launched on October 4, 1957. Heavy industry developed with incredible efforts. However, there were more failures, so the government organized a seven-year plan, including the seventh five-year plan and the last two years of the sixth.

Seventh Five-Year Plan (1961-1965)

As you know, in April 1961, the first man in the world flew into space. This event marked the beginning of the seventh five-year plan. The national income of the country continues to grow rapidly and increases by almost 60% over the next five years. The level of gross industrial output increased by 83%, agriculture - by 15%.

By mid-1965, the USSR was at the forefront of coal mining and iron ore, as well as for the production of cement, and this is not surprising. The country was still actively developing heavy industry and the construction industry, cities were growing before our eyes, and cement was needed for strong buildings.

Eighth Five-Year Plan (1966-1970)

The five-year plan did not involve the production of materials, but the construction of new buildings and factories. Cities continue to expand. Leonid Brezhnev takes over as head of state. During these five years, many metro stations appeared, the West Siberian and Karaganda metallurgical plants, the first automobile plant VAZ (output: 600 thousand cars per year), the Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric power station - the largest station in the world at that time.

Active housing construction solved the problem of deprivation (the echo of the war still reverberated in big cities). At the end of 1969, more than 5 million residents received new apartments. After the flight of Yu. A. Gagarin into space, astronomy made a big leap forward, the first lunar rover was created, soil was brought from the Moon, the machines reached the surface of Venus.

Ninth Five-Year Plan (1971-1975)

During the ninth five-year plan, more than a thousand industrial enterprises were built, the gross volume of industrial production increased by 45%, and that of agriculture - by 15%. The automotive industry is actively developing, cars and railways are being repaired. Capital investments exceeded 300 billion rubles a year.

Development of oil and gas wells in Western Siberia led to the construction of many enterprises, the laying of oil pipelines. Since, with the advent of a large number of factories, the level of the employed population also increased, the sign “Drummer of the Ninth Five-Year Plan” was established (for difference in labor and production).

Tenth Five-Year Plan (1976-1980)

The active increase in national income and industrial output begins to decline. Now the country does not need a huge growth of enterprises, but the stable development of all industries is always necessary.

Oil production came to the fore, so in five years a lot of oil pipelines were built, stretching across Western Siberia, where hundreds of stations deployed their work. The number of working equipment has increased significantly: tractors, combines, trucks.

Eleventh Five-Year Plan (1981-1985)

An extremely turbulent time began for the USSR. Everyone in the government felt the coming of the crisis, for which there were many reasons: internal, external, political and economic. At one time, it was possible to change the structure of power without abandoning socialism, but none of this was produced. Because of the crisis, the people occupying the leading positions of the state were replaced very quickly. So, L. I. Brezhnev remained secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU until 11/10/1982, Yu. V. Andropov held this position until 02/13/1984, K. U. Chernenko - until 03/10/1985.

Gas transportation from Western Siberia to Western Europe continues to develop. The Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod oil pipeline, 4,500 km long, was built, crossing the Ural Range and hundreds of rivers.

Twelfth Five-Year Plan (1986-1990)

The last five-year plan for the USSR. During her time, it was planned to implement a long-term economic strategy, but the plans were not destined to come true. At this time, many received the badge of the shock worker of the twelfth five-year plan: collective farmers, workers, specialists from enterprises, engineers ... It was planned (and partially implemented) to organize the production of light industry.

Five-year plans of the USSR: summary table

So, we briefly listed all the five-year plans in the USSR. The table presented to your attention will help to systematize and summarize the above material. It contains the most important aspects for each plan.

However difficult these plans may be, the results of the five-year plans show the perseverance and courage of the people. Yes, not everything was done. The sixth five-year plan had to be "extended" at the expense of the seven-year plan.

Although five-year plans were difficult in the USSR (the table is a direct confirmation of this), the Soviet people steadfastly coped with all the norms and even overfulfilled their plans. The main slogan of all five-year plans was: "Five-year plan in four years!"