1928
The first Five-Year Plan in the USSR
A context of radical transformation
In 1928, the Soviet Union, led by Joseph Stalin, embarks on an unprecedented economic transformation by adopting the first five-year plan. Weakened from the civil war and war communism, the USSR seeks to establish itself as a modern power. Stalin intends to break with the New Economic Policy (NEP) implemented by Lenin in 1921, which was deemed too liberal, in order to launch a real industrial revolution. The objective, summarized by the slogan « catch up and surpass, » is clear: to close the economic gap with Western capitalist countries, particularly Germany, France, and the United States.
The priorities of the first five-year plan
The first five-year plan (1928-1932) is based on centralized planning developed by the Gosplan, the Soviet planning agency that responds to the demands of the Politburo dominated by Stalin.
The choices are as much ideological as they are economic. The focus is on heavy industries, which receive 78% of industrial investments: coal, steel, cement, machine tools. The goal is to build the foundations of an autonomous and mechanized economy, capable of supporting both industrial development and military power, intended to ensure the dominance of the socialist political model embodied by the USSR at that time.
Main quantified objectives of the plan:
- Triple steel production
- Double coal production
- Quadruple electricity production
- Build industrial complexes like Magnitogorsk or the Kuznetsk combine
This proactive policy translates into a massive mobilization of human and material resources, often at the cost of extremely harsh working conditions. The effort is concentrated on specific areas, particularly energy and heavy industry, to the detriment of other sectors such as consumer goods.
Collectivization of land: a brutal lever of modernization
To finance and support this industrialization, Stalin imposes a generalized collectivization of agriculture. Decided in 1929, this measure aims to group agricultural lands into collective farms (kolkhozes) and state farms (sovkhozes), by abolishing private property. Between 1928 and 1933, the number of hectares cultivated by the kolkhozes increased from 1.4 to 75 million. Collectivization is presented by Stalin as a historical necessity to modernize agriculture and feed industrial cities, but it is also a pretext to eliminate the kulaks, peasant landowners considered class enemies.
In reality, collectivization profoundly disorganizes the rural world, causing millions of deaths by forcing populations to move or by forcibly settling them, as in Kazakhstan, which causes a drop in production. In Ukraine, in 1932-33, the 42% of production was drained from the Soviet state and led to resistance to collectivization. Stalin then used the weapon of hunger to repress the Ukrainian population, exported grain that could have fed them, and thus caused the death of nearly 4 million Ukrainians during the Holodomor.
Assessment
The first five-year plan shows impressive industrial results: the production of equipment and infrastructure is progressing strongly, and the USSR is asserting itself as an emerging industrial power. But this success comes at a considerable human and social cost. The Gosplan, responsible for coordinating planning, struggles to articulate the different sectors of the economy. The Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek would later emphasize the impossibility of effectively centralizing economic decisions in a complex society.
Despite the difficulties, this planning policy will endure: between 1928 and 1991, the USSR will experience a total of thirteen five-year plans. The first of these remains emblematic of a breaking era, where communist ideology and the desire for industrial efficiency reshaped the Soviet economy at the cost of heavy sacrifices.
FAQ
What was the first five-year plan in the USSR?
It was an economic planning program launched by Stalin in 1928 to rapidly industrialize the Soviet Union, prioritizing heavy industries.
What was the effect of land collectivization in the USSR?
It led to severe repression, a drop in agricultural production, and after the resistance from the Ukrainian population, a genocide orchestrated by the Stalinist regime that deliberately caused famine.
What role did the Gosplan play?
Gosplan was the body in charge of economic planning in the USSR. It set production targets for each sector but suffered from bureaucratic inefficiencies.