How Successful were Stalin’s Economic Changes? (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE History)

Stalin's economic policies in the USSR aimed to rapidly industrialise the country and build a socialist society. These policies, including the Five-Year Plans and collectivisation, had both successes and failures.

One success of Stalin's economic policies was the rapid industrialisation of the USSR. This industrialisation laid the foundation for the USSR to become a major world power. It allowed the USSR to survive the challenges of the Second World War.

Another success was the modernisation of agriculture through collectivisation. Collectivisation eventually increased agricultural productivity. This contributed to the USSR's ability to feed its growing urban workforce.

However, Stalin's economic policies also had significant failures and shortcomings. The rapid pace of industrialisation led to poor-quality products and shortages of consumer goods. Workers often faced harsh working conditions and low living standards. Collectivisation resulted in widespread famine and suffering.

The USSR increased its industrial output to levels comparable to the West. It was the second-largest producer of steel in 1940

By 1940, grain production increased to 95 million tons. In 1928, the USSR produced 73 million tons. New farming techniques and technology aided this

Stalin abandoned the third Five-Year Plan to focus on rearmament. The industrialisation allowed the USSR to rearm quickly and fight in the Second World War

Stalin succeeded in dekulakisation. He eliminated kulaks as a class by 1934

The state invested some money to improve living standards in industrial towns. By the third Five-Year Plan, there were some consumer goods for Soviet citizens

Industrial workers had more food. The USSR managed to export 1.69 million tons of grain in 1933. The profit of this was used to hire foreign experts and machinery

The Five-Year Plans focused on speed rather than efficiency. Making products quickly resulted in a large amount of waste. Products were often of poor quality when compared to Western products

The peasants had no choice but to collectivise. They protested by burning crops or killing livestock. As a result, nearly ten million kulaks were executed or removed from their land

Rapid industrialisation was dangerous. Workers died or became injured on state-funded projects. In the first five years of building Magnitogorsk, 10,000 people died

The pressure of collectivisation worsened agricultural conditions. Famines in Stalin's regime killed nearly 13 million people

Stalin used the Five-Year Plans as a political punishment. Prisoners in the GULAG system completed manual labour and had production targets. About ten million workers were deported from the USSR as political opponents

Peasants became reliant on the state. The state paid peasants poorly for their crops or gave them low wages. Peasants only had one acre of land for personal use. Before collectivisation, peasants had an average of 13.5 acres