Five-year plans of the Soviet Union
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The Five-Year Plans for the National Economy of the USSR (Russian: пятилетка, Pyatiletka) were a series of nation-wide centralized exercises in rapid economic development in the Soviet Union. The plans were developed by the Gosplan based on the Theory of Productive Forces that was part of the general guidelines of the Communist Party for economic development. Fulfilling the plan became the watchword of Soviet bureaucracy. (See Overview of the Soviet economic planning process) The same method of planning was also adopted by most other communist states, including the People's Republic of China, and India's pro-Soviet government in the 1950–60s. In addition, several capitalist states have emulated the concept of central planning, though in the context of a market economy, by setting integrated economic goals for a finite period of time. Thus are found "Seven-year Plans" and "Twelve-Year Plans".
Several five-year plans did not take up the full period of time assigned to them (some were successfully completed earlier than expected, while others failed and were abandoned). The initial five-year plans were created to serve in the rapid industrialization of the Soviet Union, and thus placed a major focus on heavy industry. Altogether, there were 13 five-year plans. The first one was accepted in 1928, for the five year period from 1929 to 1933, and completed one year early. The last, thirteenth Five-Year Plan was for the period from 1991 to 1995 and was not completed, as the Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991.
Background
Joseph Stalin inherited from Vladimir Lenin, and retained, the New Economic Policy (NEP). In 1921, Lenin had persuaded the 10th Party Congress to approve the NEP as a replacement for the War Communism that had been set up during the Russian Civil War. In War Communism, the state had assumed control of all the means of production, exchange (trade), and communication. All land had been declared nationalized (by the Decree on Land, finalized in the 1922 Land Code which also set collectivization as the long-term goal), although the peasants had been allowed to work the land they held, with the production surplus to their needs being bought by the state on the state's terms (the peasants cut production, whereupon food was requisitioned); money gradually came to be replaced by barter and a system of coupons.
Under the NEP, the state controlled all large enterprises (i.e. factories, mines, railways), as well as enterprises of medium size, but small private enterprises, employing fewer than 20 people (mostly tradesmen and shopkeepers) were allowed. The requisitioning of farm produce was replaced by a tax system (a fixed proportion of the crop), and the peasants were free to sell their surplus (at a state-regulated price) - although they were encouraged to join state farms (Sovkhozes, set up on land expropriated from nobles after the 1917 revolution), in which they worked for a fixed wage like workers in a factory. Money came back into use, with new bank notes being issued, backed by gold.
The NEP had been Lenin's response to a crisis. In 1920, industrial production had been 13% and agricultural production 20% of the 1913 figures. Between February 21 and March 17, 1921, the sailors in Kronstadt had mutinied. In addition, the Russian Civil War, which had been the main reason for the introduction of War Communism, had virtually been won and so controls could be relaxed.
In the 1920s, there was a great debate between Bukharin, Tomsky, and Rykov on the one hand, and Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev on the other. The former group considered that the NEP provided sufficient state control of the economy and sufficiently rapid development, while the latter argued in favour of more rapid development and greater state control, taking the view, among other things, that profits should be shared among all people, and not just among a privileged few. In 1925, at the 14th Party Congress, Stalin, as he usually did in the early days, stayed in the background but sided with the Bukharin group. However, later, in 1927, he changed sides, supporting those in favour of a new course, with greater state control.
The Plans
Each five-year plan dealt with all aspects of development: capital goods (those used to produce other goods, like coal, iron, and machinery), consumer goods (e.g. chairs, carpets, and irons), agriculture, transportation, communications, health, education, and welfare. However, the emphasis varied from plan to plan, although generally the emphasis was on power (electricity), capital goods, and agriculture. There were base and optimum targets. Efforts were made, especially in the Third Plan, to move industry eastward to make it safer from attack during World War II.
The First Plan, 1928–1932
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Stalin introduced the first plan in 1928, and its success in achieving its goals was declared ahead of schedule, in 1932. Stalin made his motivation in formulating the plan clear when he stated, in a speech to factory managers in February 1931, that Russia was "fifty or a hundred years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this distance in ten years. Either we do it, or they will crush us."
The First Five-Year Plan emphasized heavy industry to lay the foundations for future industrial growth. Stalin argued that if rapid industrialization did not occur then Russia would be at risk from aggressive foreign, capitalist countries, which, was a very accurate prediction as it turned out, if not for the five year plans it is doubtful that the Soviet Union would have defeated Nazi Germany in the Second World War. The five year plans did have some remarkable results. For instance, coal and iron production both quadrupled their output, electric power production increased and 1500 new industrial plants were built. The First Five-Year Plan ended up being a success in the welfare of Russia, the lifestyle for poorer people improved and it was catching up in time with other countries. However, there was also a great deal of suffering for many peasants. Prisoners were forced into work at Gulags, or labor camps, and the chances of freedom were slim.
During this period, Stalin pursued the policy of "collectivization", destroying the agrarian sector of the country's economy and imprisoning, torturing and murdering millions of farmers (referred to collectively as "kulaks" and labeled "enemies of the State") which led to a widespread famine and abject poverty for millions and millions of citizens right at a time when the Great Depression was creating tremendous stress for the world economies, a condition the new Soviet system was ill-equipped to manage even before the collectivization began. The policy of political persecutions in the face of economic failures became the hallmark of authoritarian communist and socialist regimes around the world, as dismal economic performance was being masked with a very active campaign of terror aimed at "class enemies", though the definition of class enemies was continually extended until all citizens were at risk of being labeled class enemies.
The Second Plan, 1933–1937
Because of the success of the first plan, the government went ahead with the Second Five-Year Plan in 1932, although the official start-date for the plan was 1933. The Second Five-Year Plan gave heavy industry top priority, placing the Soviet Union not far behind Germany as one of the major steel-producing countries of the world. On top of this communications, especially railways, became faster. As was the case with the other five-year plans, the second was not uniformly successful, failing to reach the recommended production levels in such crucial areas as coal and oil. The second plan employed incentives as well as punishments and the targets were eased as a reward for the first plan being finished ahead of schedule in only four years. Women were encouraged to participate in the plan as childcare was offered to mothers so they could go to work and not need to worry about their children.
During this time, the new Soviet system of government continued to evolve as different solutions were applied in an attempt to revive the agrarian sector of the country's economy, but these efforts were largely unsuccessful because almost all of the farmers had already been evicted, imprisoned and systematically murdered as the political persecutions shifted into high gear, culminating in the Great Purge. The sum total of The Second Five-Year Plan was a deterioration of the standard of living because the focus of "planners' preferences" replaced consumer preferences in the country's economy, with an emphasis on military goods and heavy industry, so that is what the economy provided. The people paid the price because very little attention was applied to consumer goods of any kind.
The Third Plan, 1938–1941
The Third Five-Year Plan ran for only 3 years, up to 1941, when Russia entered the Second World War. As war approached, more resources were put into developing armaments, tanks and weapons.
The first two years of the Third Five-Year Plan proved to be even more of a disappointment in terms of proclaimed production goals. Even so, the value of these goals and of the coordination of an entire economy's development of central planning has been undeniable. For the 12% to 13% rate of annual industrial growth attained in the Soviet Union during the 1930s has few parallels in the economic history of other countries. Since Russia's economy had always lagged behind the rest of Europe, these increases appeared all the more dramatic. Additionally, this high rate of growth was continued after World War II, as much devastation needed to be repaired, and continued into the early fifties, after which it had gradually declined. [citation needed]
The Fourth and Fifth Plans, 1946–1950 and 1951–1955
After the Second World War, the emphasis was on reconstruction, and Stalin in 1945 promised that the USSR would be the leading industrial power by 1960.
Much of the USSR at this stage had been devastated by the war. Officially, 98,000 collective farms had been ransacked and ruined, with the loss of 137,000 tractors, 49,000 combine harvesters, 7 million horses, 17 million cattle, 20 million pigs, 27 million sheep; 25% of all capital equipment had been destroyed in 35,000 plants and factories; 6 million buildings, including 40,000 hospitals, in 70,000 villages and 4,710 towns (40% urban housing) were destroyed, leaving 25 million homeless; about 40% of railway tracks had been destroyed; officially 7.5 million servicemen died, plus 6 million civilians, but perhaps 20 million in all died (cf. 250,000 from the US). In 1945, mining and metallurgy were at 40% of the 1940 levels, electric power was down to 52%, pig-iron 26% and steel 45%; food production was 60% of the 1940 level. After Poland, the USSR had been the hardest hit by the war. Reconstruction was impeded by a chronic labour shortage due to the enormous number of Soviet casualties in the war. Moreover, 1946 was the driest year since 1891, and the harvest was poor.
The USA and USSR were unable to agree on the terms of a US loan to aid reconstruction, and this was a contributing factor in the rapid escalation of the Cold War. However, the USSR did gain reparations from Germany, and made Eastern European countries make payments in return for the Soviets having liberated them from the Nazis. In 1949, the Comecon (Council for Mutual Economic Aid) was set up, linking the Eastern bloc countries economically. One-third of the Fourth Plan's capital expenditure was spent on Ukraine, which was important agriculturally and industrially, and which had been one of the areas most devastated by war.
By 1947, food rationing had ended, but agricultural production was barely above the 1940 level by 1952. However, industrial production in 1952 was nearly double the 1941 level.
The Sixth Plan, 1956–1960
Another Plan to improve industry was carried out in 1956 by Nikita Khrushchev, following Stalin's death in 1953. Some of Khrushchev's policies included nationalization, the Virgin Lands Campaign, creation of a minimum wage and the production of consumer goods which raised the living standards of the Russians in return.
The Seventh Plan, 1959–1965
The progress of the Soviet Union slowed considerably during this period.
The Eighth Plan, 1968–1971
The Eighth Plan was an important plan which led to the amount of grain being exported doubled
The Ninth Plan, 1971–1975
Some 14 million tonnes of grain was imported by the USSR. Détente and improving relations between the Soviet Union and the United States allowed for more trade.
The Tenth Plan, 1976–1981
Leonid Brezhnev declared the slogan "Pyatiletka of Quality and Efficiency" for this period.
The Eleventh Plan, 1981–1985
During the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, the country imported some 42 million tons of grain annually, almost twice as much as during the Tenth Five-Year Plan and three times as much as during the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1971-75). The bulk of this grain was sold by the West; in 1985, for example, 94 percent of Soviet grain imports were from the nonsocialist world, with the United States selling 14.1 million tons. However, total Soviet export to the West was always almost as high as import, for example, in 1984 total export to the West was 21.3 billion rubles, while total import was 19.6 billion rubles.
The Twelfth Plan 1986–1990
- See also: Perestroika
The last, 12th plan started with the slogan of uskoreniye, the acceleration of economical development (quickly forgotten in favor of a more vague motto perestroika) ended among a profound economical crisis in virtually all areas of Soviet economy and drop in production.
The 1987 Law on State Enterprise and the follow-up decrees about khozraschyot and self-financing in various areas of the Soviet economy were aimed at the decentralization of the planned economy.
The Thirteenth Plan 1991
This plan only lasted about one year due to the dissolution of the Soviet union in 1991. The plan would have lasted into 1995 if Soviet Union had not been dissolved.
Honors
A minor planet 2122 Pyatiletka discovered in 1971 by Soviet astronomer Tamara Mikhailovna Smirnova is named in honor of Five-Year Plans of the USSR.[1]
See also
- Five-year plan for similar plans in other countries
- Soviet calendar
- Eastern Bloc economies
References
- ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (5th ed.). New York: Springer Verlag. p. 172. ISBN 3540002383.
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