Directions of industrialization in the USSR. Industrialization - industrial revolution in the USSR. Proclamation of a course towards industrialization

18.11.2023

This article describes in some detail the beginning of the industrialization process in the USSR and the first five-year plan (1928 - 1932), examines the causes, course and features of these social phenomena, which played a key role in the development of the Soviet Union as a world state.

Industrialization and its necessity in the USSR

To build socialism, industrialization was a primary task. It was the development of the industrial sector of the national economy that provided the necessary independence of the Soviet system from “capitalist predators.” In addition, industrialization was the first source of the state's military potential. Also, according to the deep conviction of the Soviet party leadership, only developed industry will make it possible to organize and develop agriculture. For the above reasons, the first five-year plan arose in the USSR.

Industrialization was planned as a complex and diverse process of development of the industrial economy. New means of production (“Group A”) were to emerge at a colossally high rate.

The fact is that the inefficiency of the Soviet national economic system presented the country's leadership with a choice: either continue the NEP policy (in fact, give in to the capitalists), or begin to build a socialist economy, and in this way make a huge industrial leap towards a planned, centralized and shock system of the economy.

Course towards industrialization

The question of industrialization as a possible national course was first raised by I. Stalin at the party congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) in early December 1925. The main task of this process was understood to be the transformation of the Soviet Union from a state importing equipment and machinery into a state that could produce them itself. Some party members categorically did not support such a course, but such “opposition” was suppressed due to the interest in industrialization of Stalin himself, who dreamed of making the USSR one of the world leaders in production during the First Five-Year Plan.

In the spring of 1926, problems of industrial policy were discussed at a special internal party Plenum. Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR A. Rykov made a report on the relevance of industrialization, and all members almost unanimously supported him. The first five-year plan was outlined as the most optimal plan for the future of the country.

Industrialization plans in the USSR

It should be noted that the political discussions about industrialization, which took place so vividly in the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of Labor and Defense, had no practical benefit and only slowed down the inevitable process.

However, the plans according to which industrialization should proceed and the first five-year plan (1928 - 1932) were already being developed. Thus, the Chairman of the State Plan G. Krzhizhanovsky assumed that the industrialization process should take place in four stages:

Reconstruction of transport infrastructure.
Expansion of the extractive sector of the economy and the development of industrial crops in the agricultural industry.
Proper placement of state-owned enterprises.
Active development of the energy complex.

These processes did not have a clear sequence, but were intertwined with each other, but nevertheless were a single whole. With the help of such actions, according to the chairman, the USSR should move to a new qualitative phase of socialism, with all highly developed sectors of industry. The first five-year plan for industrialization must justify this plan.

Party directives

In mid-December 1927, the next congress of the CPSU(b) took place. It adopted directives for the further drawing up of a state five-year plan for industrial development. The congress noted that the results of the first five-year plan should ensure a developed socialist future for the entire country.

Based on the directives of the Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, government organizations began a more precise and specific industrialization plan, which provided for colossal industrial growth rates (from 130 to 140%).

However, plans are plans; the surrounding reality quite often gets in their way. So, in 1928, an economic crisis broke out in the USSR. Even a significant harvest in the countryside could not provide the country with the required bread quota. Grain exports were disrupted and deprived industrialization of the necessary foreign exchange support. Famine began to threaten large cities. Joseph Stalin, fearing riots, decided to take measures on surplus appropriation, propaganda of a “bright socialist future” and sending Bolshevik propaganda brigades to the villages.

In April 1929, the first five-year plan was finally formalized at the XVI Party Conference and confirmed by the Extraordinary Congress of Soviets the following month. The process of transformation of the USSR was launched. Construction of the first five-year plan was supposed to begin on October 1, 1929. Priority, naturally, was given to heavy industry, and the largest amount of capital was invested in it (78%). Large industry was supposed to increase more than 2 times, and the industries of group “A” - more than 3 times. The Soviet Union was supposed to transform from an agricultural country into an industrial one in 5 years. The main burden of the five-year plan fell on the peasants (the majority of the population); they not only had to fulfill the plan, but also provide industrial cities with food.

First soviet five year plan from its very initial stage, it significantly revived the country’s industrial sector, food became available to the population, and the standard of living increased slightly. But at the same time, urbanization broke out in the country, many peasants moved to the cities, thereby exacerbating the housing problem. The enterprises lacked specialists, but the first five-year plan in the USSR went according to plan.

Cultivating self-sacrifice and love of work

It was the intensive work of all segments of the population that was the main guarantee of successful industrialization. Therefore, the next party congress called for rationalizing production, maintaining discipline and initiative among workers and civil servants, and increasing labor consciousness.

Trade unions also played a role in raising labor morale. In December 1928, they issued a decree on increasing labor productivity. In mid-January 1929, Rabochaya Gazeta urgently proposed organizing a kind of roll call between enterprises on the achievements of the plan.

Pace is everything

At the next XVI Party Congress, which took place in the summer of 1930, V. Kuibyshev decisively stated that capital investments should be increased by 50% every year. And at the same time increase the pace of production itself by 30%. In this report, Kuibyshev threw out the legendary phrase “Pace is everything!” All the years of the first five-year plan passed under this slogan.

Thus, propaganda and agitation, which was actively supported by the party, became a kind of mass “disease”. But all these measures yielded a huge result - labor productivity literally soared compared to the previous year.

During the construction years of the first five-year plan, the number of students at workers' faculties increased significantly (from 60 thousand to 285 thousand). About 150 thousand ordinary workers were promoted to leadership positions. By the end of the Five Year Plan the country had become very rich in skilled workers.

Without any doubt, representatives of the Soviet intelligentsia were the support for specialist workers, both in enterprises and in government institutions. People of science were far from political struggle and assessed the situation not from philistine, but from objective positions, for which they often became opponents of the state apparatus. Many party officials blamed their mistakes on “bourgeois” specialists. Thus, in 1929, “class purges” of personnel began in the ranks of engineers, scientists and cultural figures.

Increased repression

Many valuable specialists came under repression. But I. Stalin understood the negativity of such a process. At a meeting of national economy workers on June 24, 1931, he ambiguously stated that such a policy would discredit the state and the party, so it should be immediately curtailed.

To record the working path and length of service of an employee, in 1932 the USSR introduced work books which have become mandatory. To reduce staff turnover in production, an innovative system of home registration was introduced. New labor laws were actively adopted, according to which, for absenteeism workplace the person was immediately fired or evicted from the apartment. The first five-year plan significantly strengthened the role government regulation in the Soviet Union.

Perhaps the most important source of industrialization was taxes and borrowing, as well as inflated prices, which often caused heated debate in society. But disputes were disputes, and all finances and enterprises were under state control, and it was officials who controlled prices for all Soviet products. The inner-party opposition repeatedly demanded price stabilization, but such proposals were unconditionally rejected. Only the positive results of the first five-year plan improved the current situation.

For the first year of the five-year plan direct taxation has almost doubled in all sectors of the national economy. At the same time, loans began to be actively issued, which were signed not only voluntarily, but forcibly in the full sense of the word. Which once again illustrates the fact that all social processes of industrialization were led not by the working people, but by party-state structures.

Therefore, the accelerated development of industry, which consisted in the production of means of production, and not directly goods and services, became a heavy burden that fell on the shoulders of industrial workers and peasants.

Construction of socialism

In 1933, the leadership of the USSR announced that the first five-year plan, which envisaged the development of the national economy in the Soviet Union, had been completed in four years and three months. According to official statistics, the total national income of the USSR increased by 60%, and the output of industrial means of production by 102%. The production of steel, oil, various equipment and other important types of industry has increased significantly. Production of light industry products increased by more than 73%. Total investment in industrial production During the construction of the first five-year plan, it increased 3.5 times.

All these indicators clearly indicate that the beginning of industrialization in the USSR, despite many difficulties, was carried out successfully.

Achievements of the first five-year plan in the USSR

Joseph Stalin summed up all the efforts at the 17th Party Congress, which took place in January 1933, and highlighted the colossal achievements of the first five-year plan, which became possible only thanks to the patience and efforts of the Soviet people.

Without a doubt, the industrialization of the USSR brought the state in the economic ranking of countries in the world from fifth place to second (after the USA) and to first in Europe, which is very significant for such a short period of time. The construction of the first five-year plan in the USSR brought the country many enterprises that still exist today.

Industrialization for such a young state as the Soviet Union was a necessary phenomenon. Its relevance was explained by the economic constraints of the USSR. Therefore, the main achievement of the first five-year plan is the economic independence of the country. The state became planned, centralized and focused on national labor. There were both positive and negative sides to this.

Next move economic processes repeatedly led to imbalance public life. Workers at enterprises constantly had to storm something, and, on the contrary, lose something. Meanwhile, unjustified labor resources were lost.

And indeed the feat of the Soviet man of that era was very great. He gave everything for the future of his country and himself, endured cruelty, hunger and the illiterate actions of his self-confident leadership.

A natural consequence of industrialization in the USSR was the growth in the number (about 23 million people) and role of the working class. But this did not give him the promised privileges. Wages were uneven, general equalization gave rise to passivity and lack of initiative.

Simultaneously with the rapid growth of the industrial complex, the military power of the Soviet Union also developed. During the years of the first five-year plan, huge factories were created where all modern types of weapons were produced. Tanks, artillery pieces and airplanes allowed the USSR to take its own position on all international issues.

Thus, the beginning of industrialization in the USSR was successful, just like the first five-year plan. It is quite difficult to briefly review such a complex social process, but its main features have been mentioned. It should only be noted that such phenomena, when an agricultural country becomes industrial in a few years, have no analogues in world history.

At the turn of the 1920-1930s. in the USSR there was a change in the model of economic development, which was expressed in two processes: industrialization and collectivization.

Industrialization- this is the process of creating modern heavy industry, large-scale machine production, i.e. the development, first of all, of metallurgy and mechanical engineering.

Industrialization itself began in Russia at the end of the 19th century. However, this process was interrupted first by the First World War and then by the revolution. Therefore, the Soviet Union seriously lagged behind Western countries in terms of economic development. This backwardness was supposed to be overcome during industrialization. Industrialization in the USSR was carried out in two stages:

Stage 1- 1926-1928 - reconstruction and re-equipment of old enterprises;

Stage 2- 1929-1937 - construction of new enterprises.

Goals of industrialization in the USSR:

Elimination of technical and economic backwardness;

Achieving economic independence;

Providing a technical base for agriculture;

Development of new industries;

Creation of a powerful military-industrial complex (MIC).

Industrial construction in the USSR was carried out within the framework of the so-called. five-year development plans or five-year plan First Five Year Plan- 1928-1932; Second Five Year Plan- 1933-1937; Third Five Year Plan began in 1938 and was supposed to end in 1942, but it was interrupted by the Great Patriotic War.

Industrialization in the USSR was distinguished by the following characteristic features:

1) Construction, first of all, of large enterprises producing means of production (i.e. equipment and machinery). Creation of the domestic automobile industry and electric power complex. Among the giant construction projects one should name: the Stalingrad, Kharkov and Chelyabinsk tractor plants, the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, the Gorky and Yaroslavl Automobile Plants, the Likhachev Automobile Plant (ZIL) in Moscow, the Dnepropetrovsk hydroelectric power station, etc. Much attention was also paid to the development of transport. Suffice it to recall the construction of the railway line connecting Turkestan with Siberia (Turksib), as well as the first in the USSR metro in Moscow.

Ivanovo in the late 1920s - 1930s. It also resembled a huge construction site. At this time, the Melange plant (one of the largest textile enterprises in the USSR), the Krasnoaya Talka plant, Ivtorfmash (the largest peat engineering plant in the USSR), and the chemical plant named after. Baturin, metalworking plant named after. Queen "Ivtekmash", artificial sole plant (ISU), furniture plant, cold storage plant, meat processing plant, confectionery factory "Krasnaya Zarya"

2) High rates of industrialization, which, first of all, became possible due to the unprecedented labor enthusiasm of the population, increased labor productivity, and the development of new technology. Stakhanov movement(named after the miner A.G. Stakhanov) for increasing labor productivity and better use of technology, covered in the 1930s. the whole country. For example, in the Ivanovo region, the first to respond to the Stakhanov movement were Vichuga textile workers - sisters Evdokia and Maria Vinogradov, weavers of the Ivanovo factory named after. F. Zinoviev T. Shuvandin and E. Gonobobleva, who instead of 6 began to service 20 mechanical machines.

3) Militarization of the economy, creation of a modern military industry;

4)Collapsing market relations . Industrialization was carried out team methods, there was a final rejection of the NEP;

5) Artificial and unjustified overestimation of plans industrial construction, which I.V. Stalin insisted on. As a result, 100% of the pre-war five-year plans could not be achieved. The starting year of the first five-year plan ended with exceeding the plan, and the second year of the first five-year plan ended with similar achievements. However, as the methods and forms of leadership that developed in the 1920s were eliminated. during the NEP, and replacing them with administrative-command management methods, which were accompanied by unreasonable economic point Due to revisions of five-year plan targets, increasingly large-scale failure to meet planned targets began.

6) Declining living standards of the population. The process of accelerated industrialization was inevitably associated with difficulties. It was carried out relying only on internal resources(both human and financial). During the first five-year plans, the standard of living of Soviet people decreased noticeably and the birth rate fell. There was a shortage of qualified personnel at construction sites and enterprises. This was due to the insufficient level of education and culture of the general population. Since the late 1920s. Until 1935, the USSR had a card system for the distribution of products and consumer goods, covering workers and office workers. The village was self-sufficient.

At the same time, it should be noted that the population steadfastly endured these difficulties, understanding the importance of industrialization. People saw new neighborhoods being built in towns and cities, which were proudly called “socialist cities.” Every Soviet person, seeing the “birth of a new world,” himself participated in its creation, believing that just a little more, and life would get better. This faith, of course, only grew with each newly built school, hospital, library, club, and cinema.

In 1935, cards were abolished - another victory; in 1936, a new Constitution was publicly discussed. The Soviet people were filled with pride for V. Chkalov and his comrades who flew across the North Pole. They admired the Papaninites, as before the Chelyuskinites, and watched the movie “Chapaev”. Radio, sound cinema, the first metro in the USSR in Moscow - everything was perceived by people as a victory and the final approval of the Soviet way of life, the ideals of socialism and gave impetus to the general movement forward.

A phenomenon of the 1930s. was that the so-called administrative-command economy was combined with the enthusiasm of millions of ordinary people, with boundless faith in the ideas of the October Revolution (or, as they said then, the Great October Revolution). Of course, a big role here belonged to ordinary communists, who every day purposefully and with extraordinary energy carried out organizational and ideological work among the masses. This contributed to the unification of people, cemented teams, and strengthened faith in Lenin’s ideas of socialist construction.

Of course, the people of those years, building plants, mines, factories, mastering new technology, perfectly saw and felt the brunt of the difficulties. Suffice it to recall the famine in the USSR of 1932-1933, which claimed several million lives, both in rural areas and in cities. Nevertheless, faith in a bright future forced us to tighten our belts and work for the good of our Motherland.

An illustrative example is the construction of the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works. Foreigners who visited this gigantic construction site were amazed at the courage and dedication of the Soviet people. They were perplexed to learn that almost none of the construction workers voluntarily take advantage of their days off and few leave work after their shift ends. Naturally, the tone at the construction site was set by the communists and Komsomol members, whose fighting spirit and organization united the team. Subbotniks and so-called “storms” have become the norm here. It is not surprising that Magnitostory became one of the brightest symbols of heroism during industrialization.

Against the background of the world economic crisis, which shocked the USA and Europe, the idea of a happy future in the USSR not only helped Soviet people endure difficulties, but also formed in them a special psychology of winners.

Main problem industrialization - the search for funds for its implementation. Industrial construction was financed from several sources: 1) government loans among the population; 2) profit from the state monopoly on foreign trade; 3) use of agricultural resources, which was the main reason collectivization and subsequent de-peasantization.

Traditionally, it is believed that industrialization was carried out mainly by siphoning resources from the countryside. Of course, there is a great deal of truth in this. Considerable funds, for example, came from direct overpayments by peasants associated with the difference in prices for industrial and agricultural goods. Thus, in addition to direct and indirect taxes that the peasantry paid to the state, there was a so-called “super tax” in the form of shortfalls in the price of agricultural products.

However, we should not forget that in the interests of finding funds for industrialization in the late 1920s. it was decided to use through the state budget also the income of other sectors of the national economy, the savings of the population accumulated during the NEP years (primarily in the form of internal loans). Thus, the mass subscription of the population to industrialization loans (the first loan was issued in 1927) yielded significant amounts. For example, in 1927-1928. with their help, the state received an additional 726 million rubles. (i.e. almost 50% of the funds allocated that year for investment in industry).

The Great Patriotic War interrupted the Third Five-Year Plan in its midst. The achievements of the first five-year plans became all the more significant. Largely thanks to the industrial potential created in the late 1920s - 1930s. The USSR was able to repel fascist aggression and win the Great Patriotic War.

In less than 13 years before the war, about 9 thousand plants, factories, mines, power plants, and oil fields came into operation in the USSR. Already in 1930 (for the first time in the history of our country), the production of means of production exceeded the production of consumer goods in volume. There was a revival and reconstruction of old industries - ship and locomotive construction, ferrous metallurgy, fell into complete disrepair after the Civil War. New industries were created practically from scratch: aviation, auto and tractor manufacturing, chemical industry, non-ferrous metallurgy etc. Construction of modern defense industry made it possible to strengthen the country's defense capability, which was very important in the conditions of the impending war. At the same time (in 1930) there was unemployment has been eliminated.

During the Second Five-Year Plan, the rise in labor productivity became a decisive factor in increasing production output. By 1937, labor productivity increased by 82% compared to 1933. During the Second Five-Year Plan, production intensification also increased significantly. The displacement of extensive methods is becoming distinctive feature this time. The industry was no longer losing money, as it had been until the mid-1930s. By the beginning of the third five-year plan, it had become generally profitable.

By 1937 The USSR has completely overcome its technical and economic backwardness compared to Western countries and became completely economically independent. During the Second Five-Year Plan, the USSR essentially stopped importing agricultural machinery and tractors (although it should be recognized that not all equipment produced in the USSR was of high quality). Stopped importing cotton. Costs for the purchase of ferrous metals from 1.4 billion rubles. during the first five-year plan they decreased to 88 million rubles. (1937). In 1936 specific gravity Imported products in the country's total consumption decreased to 1-0.7%. The trade balance of the USSR in 1937 became active and brought profit.

Thus, during the years of industrialization, the USSR turned from a country importing machinery and equipment into a state that independently produced everything necessary for the construction of a socialist society and maintained complete economic independence in relation to the surrounding capitalist countries. The once agricultural country has reached the level of the most developed countries in the world in terms of the structure of industrial production. In terms of the volume of industrial production of the USSR by the end of the 1930s. overtook Great Britain, Germany, France, taking second place in the world after the United States. And for the first time, the rate of industrial growth exceeded the development indicators of the American economy. At the same time, during industrialization, the number of the working class already amounted to 1/3 of the population of the USSR, and together with employees - more than 50% of the workers. As a result, millions of yesterday's peasants were involved in advanced industrial production, who became active participants in socialist construction.

Industrialization stimulated scientific and technological progress. If in the 1920s. priority was given to copying foreign models of equipment, then in the 1930s. own original designs began to appear. The USSR could implement such ambitious projects as the creation of a record aircraft, on which in 1937 the crews of V.P. Chkalov and M.M. Gromov flew from Moscow through the North Pole to the USA, setting world distance records. In the same year, a large-scale air expedition was undertaken to the Central Arctic with the organization of the world's first long-term drifting station, led by I.D. Papanin. On the eve of the Great Patriotic War, the first in Europe installation for accelerating elementary particles, the cyclotron, appeared in the USSR.

It should be noted that industrialization in the USSR occurred in a much shorter time frame, than in the USA, Great Britain, Germany, France, Japan. It must also be recognized that during the years of industrialization there were a cadre of workers, engineers, technicians, scientists, party and Komsomol workers was created, who grew up on the great construction projects of that time, which, having been hardened in extreme conditions, then ensured victory in the Great Patriotic War, prepared a breakthrough in astronautics, the deployment of scientific and technological revolution in the country, etc.

At the same time, the results of industrialization could have been even more impressive if it had not been for the situation that developed in the 1930s. administrative-command system in the USSR, accompanied by mass repressions. The tragedy consisted not only in the damage suffered by the directors and engineering corps, the personnel of the people's commissariats and numerous enterprises, but also in the decrease in the labor enthusiasm of the working groups and their creative activity.

The personality cult of J.V. Stalin certainly had a detrimental effect on the development of the USSR. The country's leaders have repeatedly resorted to direct deception of the working class and all working people. Reporting data on the results of the first five-year plans was deliberately distorted, which, if we take the real indicators, turned out to be unfulfilled in almost all sectors. By distorting information, Soviet leaders artificially supported faith in the infallibility of leader Stalin and “fueled” the enthusiasm of the masses.

It must be admitted that according to the results of the first five-year plans, the USSR, despite all the successes, never turned into industrial country. Only in the 1960s. The share of industry in the national income of the state exceeded the share of agriculture.

However, the USSR before the Great Patriotic War became a powerful agrarian-industrial state with a working class of 23 million, which defeated unemployment, overcame its technical and economic backwardness and dependence on imported industrial products.

At the same time, we should not forget that the achievements of industrialization, as well as collectivization, which will be discussed later, were accompanied by unjustified sacrifices among the population and colossal costs.

Industrialization

Industrialization- this is the process of creating modern heavy industry, large-scale machine production, i.e. the development, first of all, of metallurgy and mechanical engineering.

Stage 1- 1926-1928 - reconstruction and re-equipment of old enterprises;

Stage 2- 1929-1937 - construction of new enterprises.

Goals of industrialization in the USSR:

Elimination of technical and economic backwardness;

Achieving economic independence;

Providing a technical base for agriculture;

Development of new industries;

Creation of a powerful military-industrial complex (MIC).

Industrialization in the USSR was distinguished by the following characteristic features:

1) Construction, first of all, of large enterprises producing means of production (i.e. equipment and machinery). Creation of the domestic automobile industry and electric power complex. Among the giant construction projects one should name: the Stalingrad, Kharkov and Chelyabinsk tractor plants, the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, the Gorky and Yaroslavl Automobile Plants, the Likhachev Automobile Plant (ZIL) in Moscow, the Dnepropetrovsk hydroelectric power station, etc. Much attention was also paid to the development of transport. Suffice it to recall the construction of the railway that connected Turkestan with Siberia (Turksib), as well as the first in the USSR metro in Moscow.

3) Militarization of the economy, creation of a modern military industry;

4) Curtailment of market relations. Industrialization was carried out team methods, there was a final rejection of the NEP;

5) Artificial and unjustified overestimation of plans industrial construction, which J.V. Stalin insisted on. As a result, 100% of the pre-war five-year plans could not be achieved. The starting year of the first five-year plan ended with exceeding the plan, and the second year of the first five-year plan ended with similar achievements. However, as the methods and forms of leadership that developed in the 1920s were eliminated. During the time of the NEP, and their replacement with administrative-command management methods, which were accompanied by unjustified revisions of five-year plan targets from an economic point of view, an increasingly large-scale failure to meet planned targets began.

6) Declining living standards of the population. The process of accelerated industrialization was inevitably associated with difficulties. It was carried out relying only on internal resources (both human and financial). During the first five-year plans, the standard of living of Soviet people decreased noticeably and the birth rate fell. There was a shortage of qualified personnel at construction sites and enterprises. This was due to the insufficient level of education and culture of the general population. Since the late 1920s. Until 1935, the USSR had a card system for the distribution of products and consumer goods, covering workers and office workers. The village was self-sufficient.

A phenomenon of the 1930s. was that the so-called administrative-command economy was combined with the enthusiasm of millions of ordinary people, with boundless faith in the ideas of the October Revolution (or, as they said then, the Great October Revolution). Of course, the people of those years, building plants, mines, factories, mastering new technology, clearly saw and felt the brunt of the difficulties. Suffice it to recall the famine in the USSR of 1932-1933, which claimed several million lives, both in rural areas and in cities. Nevertheless, faith in a bright future forced us to tighten our belts and work for the good of our Motherland.

Against the backdrop of the global economic crisis that shook the United States and Europe, the idea of a happy future in the USSR not only helped Soviet people endure difficulties, but also formed in them a special psychology of winners.

The main problem of industrialization is finding funds for its implementation. Industrial construction was financed from several sources: 1) government loans from the population; 2) profit from the state monopoly on foreign trade; 3) use of agricultural resources, which was the main reason collectivization and subsequent de-peasantization.

However, we should not forget that in the interests of finding funds for industrialization in the late 1920s. it was decided to use through the state budget also the income of other sectors of the national economy, the savings of the population accumulated during the NEP years (primarily in the form of internal loans). Thus, the mass subscription of the population to industrialization loans (the first loan was issued in 1927) yielded significant amounts. The Great Patriotic War interrupted the Third Five-Year Plan in its midst. The achievements of the first five-year plans became all the more significant. Largely thanks to the industrial potential created in the late 1920s - 1930s. The USSR was able to repel fascist aggression and win the Great Patriotic War.

During the Second Five-Year Plan, the rise in labor productivity became a decisive factor in increasing production output. By 1937, labor productivity increased by 82% compared to 1933. During the Second Five-Year Plan, production intensification also increased significantly. The displacement of extensive methods becomes a distinctive feature of this time. The industry was no longer losing money, as it had been until the mid-1930s. By the beginning of the third five-year plan, it had become generally profitable.

By 1937 The USSR has completely overcome its technical and economic backwardness compared to Western countries and became completely economically independent. During the Second Five-Year Plan, the USSR essentially stopped importing agricultural machinery and tractors (although it should be recognized that not all equipment produced in the USSR was of high quality). Stopped importing cotton. Costs for the purchase of ferrous metals from 1.4 billion rubles. during the first five-year plan they decreased to 88 million rubles. (1937). In 1936, the share of imported products in the country's total consumption decreased to 1-0.7%. The trade balance of the USSR in 1937 became active and brought profit.

At the same time, the results of industrialization could have been even more impressive if it had not been for the situation that developed in the 1930s. administrative command system in the USSR, accompanied by mass repressions. The tragedy consisted not only in the damage suffered by the directors and engineering corps, the personnel of the people's commissariats and numerous enterprises, but also in the decrease in the labor enthusiasm of the working groups and their creative activity.

It must be admitted that according to the results of the first five-year plans, the USSR, despite all its successes, never turned into an industrial country. Only in the 1960s. The share of industry in the national income of the state exceeded the share of agriculture.

However, before the Great Patriotic War, the USSR became a powerful agrarian-industrial state with a working class of 23 million, having overcome unemployment, overcoming its technical and economic backwardness and dependence on imported industrial products.

At the same time, we should not forget that the achievements of industrialization, as well as collectivization, were accompanied by unjustified sacrifices among the population and colossal costs.

IndustrializationUSSR

By 1926 based on the NEP industrial development the country has reached pre-war levels. However, the USSR continued to lag significantly behind the developed capitalist countries. In general, the national economy was at the pre-industrial stage of development. if the Soviet state wanted to remain a subject of world politics, it not only had to complete industrialization, but do it as quickly as possible.

Various forms of implementing the long-term development strategy were proposed: a two-year plan, a four-year plan, a seven-year plan. Ultimately, we settled on a five-year cycle.

First Five Year Plan

During the years of the first five-year plan (1928/1929-1932/1933), the USSR was supposed to turn into an industrial-agrarian country. Over 5 years, electricity production should have increased almost 4.5 times. It was planned to put 42 new power plants into operation. Coal production was supposed to double. As the plan progressed, these figures were further increased. The party put forward the slogan “Five-Year Plan in Four Years.”

The country was covered construction sites. Reconstruction has begun industrial enterprises in Moscow, Leningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, Donbass.

Colossal funds were required for industrial construction. In an agrarian country, they could be taken, first of all, from the peasantry.

An additional tax was established on the peasantry, and forced loans among the population became widespread. Almost every worker was forced to give part of his earnings to the cause of industrialization. The largest source of income was the sale of vodka. The export abroad of bread, oil and oil products, timber, furs, and flax increased sharply. In particular, the export of commercial timber increased. These sources of funds continued to operate in the future.

In January 1933, the Soviet leadership announced the brilliant victory of the Five-Year Plan in 4 years and 3 months. It was a lie. Almost all the tasks of the five-year plan were failed. The quality of the products remained extremely low.

Nevertheless, Soviet industry made a huge leap in five years. 1,500 enterprises were built. Entire industries that did not exist before were created: automobile, tractor, petrochemical, aircraft manufacturing. From a country importing equipment, the USSR turned into a country producing industrial equipment. The country gained the opportunity to create modern types of weapons.

Second Five Year Plan

At the beginning of 1934, the second five-year plan (1933-1937) was approved. If during the years of the first five-year plan, as was believed then, the economic foundation of socialism was built, then the main task of the second five-year plan was to build a socialist society. The average annual increase in industrial production was supposed to be 16.5%, it was planned to complete the construction of giants of ferrous metallurgy: Magnitogorsk, Kuznetsk, Zaporozhye plants. In the eastern regions of the country it was planned to create bases for the coal, metallurgical, engineering, and chemical industries.

Fulfilling the tasks of the second five-year plan was associated with enormous difficulties. The country lacked skilled workers and engineers. Yesterday's peasants came to construction sites, factories, factories, and transport. Many of them did not have industrial skills and saw machines for the first time in their lives. Lack of qualified specialists and workers, low quality management decisions, adopted by semi-literate party officials and heads of state enterprises, led to chaos, confusion in production, frequent downtime, low discipline, absenteeism, and marriage. These shortcomings were compensated by a large workforce, low standard of living, the tendency of workers to perform overtime work, subbotniks, and the use of prison labor. During the Second Five-Year Plan, the standard of living of the urban population increased slightly. Very slowly, especially in small towns, such achievements of civilization as water supply, sewerage, central heating. Slowly developed public transport. The level of service in trade and healthcare remained low. During the second five-year plan, 4.5 thousand new industrial enterprises were built. Industrial production doubled. The private trader was almost completely driven out of the economy. The Communist Party concluded that socialism had won in the country.

Third Five Year Plan

During the third five-year plan (1938-1942), the task was set to catch up developed countries on industrial production per capita and begin a gradual transition from socialism to communism. Particular attention was paid to strengthening labor discipline. A number of government decrees subjected workers to criminal penalties for absenteeism and tardiness. The working day was extended, production standards were raised, piece rates were reduced, the length of the working week was increased, and transfers from one enterprise to another without the consent of the administration were prohibited. The state actually attached workers and employees to enterprises, which was tantamount to introducing elements of serfdom into the country. During the Third Five-Year Plan, special attention was paid to the military industry. Industrialization carried out in the late 20s and 30s changed the face of the Soviet Union. From 1928 to 1941 approximately 9 thousand large enterprises were built. New industries emerged. The production of aircraft, cars, tractors, combines, synthetic rubber, and various types of equipment intended for heavy industry and increasing military power was launched on a mass scale. Large industrial centers arose in the East, in previously uninhabited areas. The urban population has increased. From the patriarchal-peasant country, the country moved to the industrial stage of development. At the same time, manual labor prevailed in construction, agriculture. Light industry did not receive proper development. Very little attention was paid to the construction of roads, warehouses, and what is called economic infrastructure. At the end of the 1930s, there was less living space per city resident than before the revolution. Most lived in communal apartments, barracks, and basements. Infant mortality was high.

The development of Soviet industry was closely connected with the processes occurring in the country's agriculture.

Collectivization of agriculture:preasons and beginning

Having adopted a course for accelerated industrialization, the Soviet leadership was faced with the problem of funds and labor. Both could be obtained, first of all, from the peasantry. Naturally, it was not possible to transfer funds from the countryside to industry by setting low prices for agricultural products and high prices for industrial products without coercion. The peasants voluntarily did not hand over their grain to the state on unfavorable terms. The country periodically experienced food difficulties. The country's small, fragmented, technically weakly armed peasant economy was unable to provide for the growing urban population food products, and the rapidly developing industry with raw materials. Emergency measures against the peasantry, that is, the forcible confiscation of grain from them, carried out at the beginning of 1928 did not produce serious results. In 1929, there was a new decrease in grain supplies. It was impossible to carry out industrialization without fundamentally solving the agricultural problem. The ideas of cooperation among the Russian peasantry were actively developed by V.I. Lenin. He hoped for the possibility of a slow, gradual, voluntary process of agricultural cooperation. The logic and practice of socialist construction dictated fast and tough paces and methods.

Only the hardworking, highly qualified, wealthy peasantry, the kulaks, could resist forced collectivization in the countryside. In order to drive peasants into collective farms, it was necessary to eliminate this layer of the population.

The transition to a policy of collectivization and liquidation of the kulaks began in the summer of 1929, shortly after the adoption of the first five-year plan. By June of this year, 1 million peasant households were united in collective farms. By the end of 1929, there were already 4.5 million peasant households in collective farms. Kulaks were not allowed to be admitted to collective farms.

When carrying out collectivization, the parties and the state relied on the poor peasantry and farm laborers, the weakest, unskilled part of rural society. 35 thousand workers were sent to the village to implement the policies of the Communist Party. Komsomol youth were used en masse. They used deception (go to the collective farms and the state will provide you with everything you need), threats (the slogan was put forward: “Whoever does not go to the collective farm is an enemy of Soviet power”), violence (groups of Komsomol members, without the consent of the peasants, took their property to the collective farm yard) .

Each province, each district received the task of arresting and deporting a certain number of kulaks. Some of the peasants were shot. The bulk of the dispossessed were sent to sparsely populated, often almost uninhabitable regions of the country: to the Urals, Siberia, Kazakhstan, and northern regions. At the same time, they were not allowed to take clothes and things with them, and many were thus doomed to death. The property of the repressed went to the collective farm. They themselves worked in logging, in the mining industry, and a smaller part was used in agriculture.

The peasants, subjected to socialist restructuring, resisted. Mass slaughter of livestock began. The “red rooster” - arson, the favorite weapon of all peasant revolts in Russia - began to roam the villages. They burned not only collective farm property, but also their own property, following the principle: “Let the fire consume what you have acquired, but it will not go to you.” In some areas, peasants took up arms. From January to mid-March 1930 alone, more than two thousand anti-collective farm uprisings took place in the country. The country was brought to the brink of civil war. Under these conditions, the country's leadership was forced to make temporary concessions. It was recognized that serious mistakes were made in the matter of collectivization: the principle of voluntariness was violated, various local conditions were not taken into account, there was a run ahead in the matter of socialization of peasant property, abuses during dispossession.. There was a massive withdrawal of peasants from collective farms. If by March 1930 more than half of all peasant farms were collectivized, then by June less than a quarter of the farms remained on collective farms. In some areas, the withdrawal from collective farms was even more significant. However, after the harvest of 1930, the collective farm offensive resumed. Now, for the socialist reconstruction of the village, other, more “subtle” methods were used. Villages and villages whose population did not join collective farms were listed on “black boards.” The supply of goods to them and the issuance of loans were stopped. Individual farmers were driven from their plots to inconvenient, remote lands and were stifled by taxes. Thus, an individual owner paid a tax ten times more than a collective farmer, and a wealthy peasant - 140 times more.

Industrialization in a broad sense is understood as the process of transition of all sectors of the country's national economy, and primarily in industry, to large-scale machine production. In a narrow sense, Soviet industrialization of the 30s of the 20th century represents an accelerated increase in the energy, resource and factory capacities of the USSR economy, in order to overcome the catastrophic lag behind the industrialized West.

Socialist industrialization is usually associated with the implementation of the first five-year plans for the development of the socio-economic potential of the Soviet Union. The process of industrialization in the USSR still causes specialists in history, economics and political science to have conflicting assessments of the goals, methods, means and results of this outstanding phenomenon of the 20th century.

In order to get your idea of the process, you need to consider the source data, content and real results of Soviet industrialization.

Despite the embellishment of the achievements of the pre-revolutionary Russian Empire, the industrial potential did not fully satisfy many needs and was mainly under the control of foreign investors. The First World War and the Civil War partially destroyed even what existed. At the time of the formation of the USSR in 1922, the country's economy was in ruins and could not ensure the country's defense capability in a hostile environment.

The need for socialist industrialization of the USSR economy was finally realized by the ruling elite at the XIV Congress of the CPSU(b). The party forum was called the “industrialization congress” because it set a course for the complete achievement of economic independence of the USSR. Despite the fact that the resolutions considered the problem of industrialization only in general terms, the decisions of the congress were of exceptional importance. The course towards industrialization provided for an extremely accelerated pace of development of Soviet industry during the implementation of the plans of the first three five-year plans (1928-1932 and 1933-1937. The third, 1938-1942, was interrupted by the war).

Reasons for Industrialization

After the USSR reached the basic parameters by the mid-1920s economic indicators In 1913, the prerequisites for overcoming were identified:

The country's backwardness in the technical and economic field.
Technological and structural dependence of the domestic economy on the West, which significantly weakened the defense capability of the Soviet state.
Underdevelopment of the agricultural sector of the economy.

The prerequisites grew into the main reason for industrialization - the Soviet Union was supposed to turn from a country importing equipment and machinery into a country producing means of production.

Goals of industrialization

The historical situation surrounding the USSR determined the goals of the industrialization process:

The Soviet Union had to follow the path of sustainable scientific and technological development and technological breakthrough.
Creation of a full-fledged defense potential that provided all military needs to protect the country’s borders.
Development of new capacities in heavy industry and metallurgy.
Complete economic independence from other (more developed countries).
Improving the standard of living of the Soviet people.
Demonstration to the capitalist world of the advantages of socialism.

Achieving the set goals was supposed to ensure the USSR's exit from a state of abject poverty to a transition to a phase of growth and all-round prosperity.

Conditions for industrialization

The problems in the national economy were so obvious that it was necessary to tackle them immediately, despite the not very favorable conditions:

Economic development was hampered by the devastating effects of the Civil War.
Acute shortage of qualified personnel.
The country's own production of means of production has not been established; the economy's needs for machinery and equipment are met through imports.
Weakening, and in some cases complete absence of international economic ties.

Such conditions for industrialization were extremely unfavorable and required decisive measures from the Soviet government.

Sources of funds for industrialization

The process of radical transformation of the country's economy required enormous costs. The sources of financing and implementation of a set of industrialization measures were:

Transferring funds from light industry to the development of heavy industry;
transfer of material resources for the development of the agricultural sector to the industrial sector;
systematic internal loans from the working population;
monetization of the labor enthusiasm of the people (socialist competition, massive overfulfillment of the plan, Stakhanov movement, etc.);
income from international trade;
almost free labor force of the Gulag.

The West constantly changed its demands for payment for its supplies of machines and technologies, which sometimes led to catastrophic imbalances (the famine of the early 30s).

Industrialization methods

The industrialization initiated by the state government was supported by the unprecedented enthusiasm of the people. The command-administrative method of implementing all projects of economic transformation in the USSR dominated. Forced industrialization measures were carried out at an accelerated pace and with serious shortcomings. But this is the case when “quantity grows into quality.”

Progress of industrialization

First Five-Year Plan (1928 – 1932)

As a result of the activities to implement the first five-year plan, there was:

The construction of more than 1,500 industrial enterprises was carried out.
Doubled national income countries.
The construction of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Power Plant, the largest power plant in the world at that time, was completed.
Metallurgical production was commissioned in Lipetsk, Sverdlovsk (Uralmash), Chelyabinsk, Novokuznetsk, Norilsk and Magnitogorsk.
The production of tractors began in Stalingrad, Kharkov, Chelyabinsk and Nizhny Tagil.
Mass automobile production began at the GAZ and ZIS factories.
Construction of the White Sea Canal.
The construction of the Turksib (Turkestan-Siberian Railway) has been completed.
A new one has been created industrial area- Kuzbass.
Introduction of a 7-hour working day with the complete elimination of unemployment.
Reached 2nd place in the world in mechanical engineering, iron smelting and oil production, 3rd place in electricity production.

Second Five-Year Plan (1933 – 1937)

Over 4,500 large industrial facilities have already been built;
Construction of the White Sea Canal has been completed;
large-scale construction of the Moscow metro began (the first metro line was introduced in 1935);
massive construction of military factories;
comprehensive development of Soviet aviation.

Third Five-Year Plan (1938 – 1942)

Over 3 thousand industrial enterprises were commissioned.
The Uglichskaya and Komsomolskaya hydroelectric power stations began operating.
Novotagil and Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky metallurgical plants were built.
The products were produced by the Balkhash and Sredneuralsk copper smelters.
The oil refinery in Ufa came into operation.

What did the five-year plans give the country? Their importance for industrialization

Despite certain shortcomings, the successes of the first five-year plans are impressive.

Firstly, the USSR became an overall industrial country.

Secondly, on the eve of the war, according to various estimates, in the structure of the revenue side of the budget, revenues from industry ranged from 50 to 70%.

Thirdly, industrial growth was 2.5 times higher than in 1913.

Fourthly, the USSR took 2nd place in the world in terms of industrial volumes. Fifthly, the Soviet Union achieved complete state and military-economic independence.

Industrialization provided everything without which it is impossible to win a large-scale war.

Results of industrialization: positive and negative

Positive results	Negative results
9,000 new industrial facilities were commissioned.	The people suffered hardships due to the deterioration of light industry and being forced to borrow their funds from the state.
Creation of new industrial sectors: tractor, automobile, aviation, chemical and machine tool manufacturing.	Excesses with collectivization and impoverishment of the countryside.
Gross industrial volumes increased 6.5 times.	Difficult working conditions for workers and especially prisoners.
The USSR took 1st place in Europe and 2nd place in the world in terms of industrial volumes.	Completion of the formation of a command-administrative and planned economy
The USSR could independently produce all types of industrial products.	The creation of Soviet industry as the basis of a totalitarian state.
The country has urbanized, with the urban population growing to 40%.	Excessive volumes of grain exported abroad, natural resources and even cultural values.
A powerful layer of domestic engineering and technical intelligentsia has been created.	Growth of bureaucracy (the number of people's commissariats and departments has increased significantly).
Unemployment is completely a thing of the past.	Administrative arbitrariness.

Industrialization of the USSR - tough but timely transformations

In the 20s and 30s of the 20th century, the Soviet Union was really threatened by the loss of sovereignty. Only thanks to the tough and targeted policy of the highest authorities, the enthusiasm and the greatest effort of the Soviet workers, it was possible to make a powerful industrial breakthrough. The USSR became an independent economic and technical power, capable of providing itself with everything necessary for the reliable defense of its borders.