1. USSR ECONOMIC PLANNING
SOCIAL STUDIES 30
USSR ECONOMIC PLANNING

2. SOVIET ECONOMICS
ARTICLE 2 OF SOVIET CONSTITUTION – ‘THE ECONOMIC LIFE OF THE USSR IS DETERMINED & DIRECTED BY THE STATE ECONOMIC PLAN’
STATE OWNED VIRTUALLY ALL LAND
STATE A GIGANTIC GOVERNMENT MONOPOLY
STATE CONTROLLED
TRANSPORTATION,
FINANCE,
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION,
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
90% OF RETAIL STORES

3. ECONOMY POST 1917 REVOLUTION
LENIN APPLY MANY OF MARX’S ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES
WAR COMMUNISM
NATIONALIZED PRIVATE PROPERTY, FACTORIES, NATURAL RESOURCES & LAND
GAVE WORKERS CONTROL OVER FACTORIES
PEASANTS GIVE UP SURPLUS FOOD TO WORKERS

4. LENIN’S NEW ECONOMIC POLICY
1921- STATE RETAINED CONTROL OVER IMPORTANT INDUSTRIES, BUT ALLOWED SMALL-SCALE PRIVATE ENTERPRISES & PEASANTS COULD SELL CROPS TO CONSUMERS

5. STALIN’S FIVE YEAR PLANS
TROTSKY VS. STALIN
TROTSKY WANTED TO SPREAD COMMUNISM GLOBALLY & STALIN WANTED TO BUILD IT UP IN SOVIET UNION
STALIN UNCHALLENGED LEADER BY 1928
25 MILLION FARMS
ABOUT 1 MILLION KULAKS FIGHT WITH STALIN

6. FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN FOCUSED ON INDUSTRIALIZATION
EXPAND HEAVY INDUSTRY SO COULD PROVIDE
INDUSTRIAL MACHINERY,
TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES,
MILITARY WEAPONS
ELIMINATE PRIVATELY OWNED FIRMS
CREATE STATE & COOPERATIVE FARMS
ELIMINATE PRIVATE ENTERPRISE
BECOME SELF-SUFFICIENT

7. IMPACTS OF FIRST FIVE YEAR PLAN
USSR RANKED 4TH IN WORLD IN INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT
INDUSTRIAL WORKERS WENT FROM 3 TO 6 MILLION
PRODUCING MORE PIG IRON THAN GB
OIL PRODUCTION X2
ELECTRIC POWER INCREASED 550 %
MACHINERY PRODUCTION GREW BY 400%
NEW INDUSTRIES EMERGED – SYNTHETIC RUBBER, PLASTICS & AVIATION
CONSUMER GOODS IGNORED
POOR FACTORY & HOUSING CONDITIONS
FACTORY MANAGERS LIED ABOUT QUOTAS
BUSINESSMEN DEPRIVED OF CIVIL RIGHTS
INDOCTRINATED PEOPLE

8. COLLECTIVE & STATE FARMS
COLLECTIVE FARMS- LG SCALE, GOVT MANAGED FARMS CREATED BY COMBINING SMALLER PEASANT HOLDINGS.
PEASANTS LIVED ON FARM & WORKED TOGETHER
STATE FARMS- GOVT OWNED MECHANIZED FARMS CREATED BY STALIN TO TEST NEW AGRICULTURAL METHODS
(RIGHT) ‘KEEP KULAKS OUT OF COLLECTIVE FARMS’

9. GOVT PRICE CONTROLS
GOVT SET LOW PRICES ON SCHOOLBOOKS, CHILDREN’S CLOTHES
HIGH PRICES ON UNDESIRABLE ITEMS SUCH AS VODKA
REDUCE INCOME GAP = LOW PRICES ON FOOD & CLOTHING
HIGH PRICES ON LUXURY GOODS = CERTAIN FOODS & CARS

10. LONG TERM PLANNING LONG RANGE PLANNING UPTO 20 YRS
5-7 YR PLANS SET MORE SPECIFIC GOALS
COMMUNIST PARTY DETERMINED GOALS
GOSPLAN – CENTRAL PLANNING AGENCY THAT WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR INFORMING REGIONAL MINISTRIES ABOUT WHICH PRODUCTS WERE NEEDED & IN WHAT QUANTITIES

11. PROS & CONS OF CENTRAL PLANNING
PRO- GOVT DETERMINED WHICH GOODS THE COUNTRY NEEDED – ALLOWED FOR MORE EQULITY IN DISTRIBUTION
CON- IF MADE BAD DECISION, EFFECT COULD BE DISASTEROUS
CON-SLOW TO RESPOND TO UNFORESEEN CHANGES = SURPLUS & SHORTAGES
INDIVIDUAL INITIATIVE & INNOVATION LIMITED
CON-DIFFICULT DECIDING WHAT TO PRODUCE – NO PROPER SURVEYS

12. kulaks
Scapegoats
1930- ‘we must smash the Kulaks, eliminate them as a class’-Stalin
Take the Kulak land, machinery and livestock
Food & clothing confiscated by military
Many kulaks destroyed what they had
1/3 of cattle gone
½ of sheep and goats gone
¼ of horses slaughtered
Agriculture production down
5 & 10 million dead

13. Keep kulaks out of collective farms

14. GLASNOST
A policy of openness that allowed increased freedom of expression of political opinions within the Communist Party and the USSR under Gorbachev

15. PERESTROIKA ECONOMY AGRICULTURE TECHNOLOGY CONSUMPTION
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
DEMOCRATIZATION
CULTURE

16. COUP - 1991 Gorbachev under house arrest
Yeltsin want to continue with capitalism but speed it up
Helps Gorbachev

17. 1991 COUP REACTIONARIES Communist hardliners want to go back to past
Take over white house