The Five-Year Plan

The New Economic Policies

With the changes underway for food production, Stalin turned his attention to the industrialization of the USSR. Stalin became concerned about the threat of Western nations, and the lack of ability to produce weapons necessary to defend the country. He took the early work of the economic committee, and put the force of punishment and terror behind it, to drive his plans forward.

A series of five-year plans were developed to take the predominantly agriculturally based country and turn it into an industrial powerhouse. It was to take much more than simply building new factories, roads, railroads and coal mines. The people required to work in these new industries and jobs would need to become educated and trained. The bulk of these new workers were to be peasants forced to move off their farms and into the factories.

Plans were developed in all areas of society and industry. As part of each plan, goals were established for industries, agriculture, energy, trade, railway construction and the education of the peasants to show the world the success of the revolution.

Success of the Plans

Output of heavy industry in millions of tonnes:

The Human Cost of the Plans

The Five-Year Plans did not occur without a tremendous cost to the Soviet people. To meet the goals of Stalin's plans, the workweek was changed from five to seven days. Workers were placed on rotational shifts to keep factories and mines producing to meet quotas. Little or no time was permitted for workers to be away from their jobs. If a worker skipped their job for more than one day, without good reason, they could be kicked out of their house and be fired.

To prevent workers from moving job to job, the secret police introduced internal passports for the country. This meant that anyone who lived in a town had to register with the police. If they wanted to move, they had to get permission from the police, who would refuse to allow movement for fear of not meeting production quotas. All workers had to carry a workbook that acted like a school report card for each individual. Inside the book was listed all previous jobs, problems and work offenses. This system tightly controlled the movement and job opportunities of a worker in the USSR. Yet, the plans moved forward because of the terror that Stalin could impose through the use of his secret police.

Although most people did not agree with the methods used to create an industrialized nation, young communist workers helped drive the plans forward. Dedicated communist workers called "shock brigades," attempted to drive production ahead by competing with each other, setting good examples, spying on their colleagues, and pressuring managers if they did not work hard enough. These workers received better food, housing and even special medals for their efforts.