1928

The first Five-​​Year Plan in the USSR

In 1928, Stalin launched his First Five-​​Year Plan to speed up the process of industrialisation in the Soviet Union so that it could compete with output levels in developed capitalist economies. Stalin’s priority was heavy industry and he ordered the collectivisation of all farmland, a measure which he hoped would accelerate the mechanisation of agricultural production.

The plan produced mixed results. Industrial growth in the capital goods sector came at the expense of the rural populations. Agricultural collectivisation failed to boost farm yields, while a large portion of agricultural output was requisitioned in order to finance industrial investment, leading to food shortages and famine in the countryside.

The USSR subsequently implemented 12 more plans in the period up to 1991.

The Soviet Gosplan (central planning committee) was notably criticised by Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek, who stressed that it was impossible to centralise the management of all different sectors of production.