Industrialization
Industrialization is the process of creating a modern heavy industry, a large machine production, i.e., the development, first of all, of metallurgy and mechanical engineering.
Actually, industrialization 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 the Western states in terms of economic development. This backwardness was supposed to be overcome in the course of 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.
The goals of industrialization in the USSR:
Elimination of technical and economic backwardness;
Achievement of economic independence;
Summing up the 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 that produce the means of production (i.e., equipment and machinery). Creation of the domestic auto industry and electric power complex. Among the construction projects - giants should be called: Stalingrad, Kharkov and Chelyabinsk tractor plants, Magnitogorsk metallurgical plant, Gorky and Yaroslavl automobile plants, the Likhachev automobile plant (ZIL) in Moscow, the Dnepropetrovsk hydroelectric power station, etc. Great 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.
2) High rates of industrialization, which, first of all, became possible due to the unprecedented labor enthusiasm of the population, the increase in 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 Vichug textile workers were the first to respond to the Stakhanov movement - the sisters Evdokia and Maria Vinogradov, the weavers of the Ivanovo factory named after. F. Zinoviev T. Shuvandina and E. Gonobobleva, who instead of 6 began to service 20 machine tools.
3) Militarization of the economy, the creation of a modern military industry;
4) Curtailment of market relations. Industrialization was carried out command methods, final rejection of the NEP;
5) Artificial unjustified inflated plans industrial construction, which I.V. Stalin insisted on. As a result, 100% of the fulfillment of the pre-war five-year plans could not be achieved. The starting year of the first five-year plan ended with overfulfillment of 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 their replacement by administrative-command methods of management, which were accompanied by economically unreasonable revisions of the five-year plans, an increasingly large-scale non-fulfillment of planned indicators began.
6) Decline in the standard of living of the population. The process of implementing forced industrialization was inevitably associated with difficulties. It was carried out relying only on internal resources (both human and financial). During the years of the first five-year plans, the standard of living of Soviet people dropped noticeably, and the birth rate fell. There was a lack of qualified personnel at construction sites and enterprises. The insufficient level of education and culture of the general population affected. From the end of the 1920s. Until 1935, the USSR had a rationing system for the distribution of products and consumer goods, covering workers and employees. The village was self-sustaining.
At the same time, it should be noted that the population steadfastly endured these difficulties, realizing the importance of industrialization. People saw how new neighborhoods were 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 belief, of course, only increased with each newly built school, hospital, library, club, cinema.
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, people of those years, building factories, mines, factories, mastering new equipment, perfectly saw and felt the brunt of the difficulties. Suffice it to recall the famine in the USSR in 1932-1933, which claimed several million lives, both in the countryside and in the cities. Nevertheless, faith in a bright future made me tighten my belt and work for the good of the 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 builders voluntarily use the weekend and few leave work after the end of the shift. Naturally, the tone at the construction site was set by the communists and Komsomol members, whose fighting spirit and organization rallied the team. Subbotniks and so-called "assaults" have become the norm here. It is not surprising that Magnitostorey has become one of the brightest symbols of the heroism of the times of industrialization.
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 the Soviet people endure hardships, but also shaped their special psychology of winners.
The main problem of industrialization is the search for 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) the use of agricultural resources, which was the main reason collectivization and subsequent dispossession.
Traditionally, it is believed that industrialization was carried out mainly by pumping resources from the village. Of course, there is a lot of truth in this. Considerable funds, for example, were provided by direct overpayments of peasants related to 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 "surplus 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 incomes of other sectors of the national economy, the savings of the population accumulated during the years of the New Economic Policy (primarily in the form of internal loans). Thus, the mass subscription of the population to industrialization loans (the first loan was made in 1927) yielded significant sums. The Great Patriotic War interrupted the Third Five-Year Plan in its full swing. The more significant were the achievements of the first five-year plans. Largely due to the created industrial potential 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 9,000 plants, factories, mines, power plants, and oil fields were put 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 terms of volume. There was a revival and reconstruction of old industries - ship and steam locomotive building, ferrous metallurgy, fallen into disrepair after the Civil War. New branches of production were created practically from scratch: aircraft, auto and tractor construction, chemical industry, non-ferrous metallurgy etc. Construction of a modern defense industry allowed to strengthen the country's defense, which was very important in the context of the impending war. At the same time (in 1930) there was eliminated unemployment.
During the years of the second five-year plan, the rise in labor productivity became the decisive factor in increasing output. By 1937, labor productivity had increased by 82% compared to 1933. The intensification of production also increased significantly during the years of the second five-year plan. The displacement of extensive methods becomes a hallmark of this time. Industry no longer made a loss, as it had until the mid-1930s. By the beginning of the third five-year plan, it had become generally profitable.
By 1937 The USSR completely overcame its technical and economic backwardness compared with Western countries and became completely economically independent. During the years of the second five-year plan, the USSR essentially stopped importing agricultural machinery and tractors (although it must be admitted that not all equipment manufactured in the USSR was of high quality). Stopped importing cotton. The cost of acquiring ferrous metals from 1.4 billion rubles. during the years of the first five-year plan were reduced to 88 million rubles. (1937). In 1936 specific gravity imported products in the total consumption of the country decreased to 1-0.7%. The trade balance of the USSR in 1937 became active and made a 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 retained complete economic independence in relation to the surrounding capitalist countries. Once an agrarian country, it has reached the level of the most developed countries of the world in terms of the structure of industrial production. In terms of industrial output 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 in terms of industrial growth, it surpassed the indicators of the development of the American economy. At the same time, in the course of 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 workers. As a result, millions of yesterday's peasants were drawn into advanced industrial production and became active participants in socialist construction.
Industrialization stimulated scientific and technical progress. If in the 1920s priority was given to copying foreign models of technology, then in the 1930s. began to appear their own original designs. 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 over the North Pole to the United States with the establishment of world distance records. In the same year, a large-scale air expedition to the Central Arctic was undertaken with the organization of the world's first long-term drifting station headed by I.D. Papanin. On the eve of the Great Patriotic War, the first in Europe installation for dispersal of elementary particles, the cyclotron, appeared in the USSR.
It should be stated that industrialization in the USSR took place in a much shorter time, than in the USA, Great Britain, Germany, France, Japan. It must also be recognized that during the years of industrialization there were created cadres of workers, engineers, technicians, scientists, party and Komsomol workers who grew up on the great construction sites of that time, who, having 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 developments that took place in the 1930s. administrative-command system in the USSR, accompanied by mass repressions. The tragedy consisted not only in the loss suffered by the directors and engineering corps, the cadres of the people's commissariats and numerous enterprises, but also in the decrease in the labor enthusiasm of the workers' collectives, their creative activity.
It must be admitted that, according to the results of the first five-year plans, the USSR, despite all the successes, did not turn into an industrial country. Only in the 1960s. the share of industry in the national income of the state exceeded the share of agriculture.
Nevertheless, the USSR before the Great Patriotic War became a powerful agrarian-industrial state with 23 million working class, who 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, were accompanied by unjustified casualties among the population and colossal costs.
Industrialization in the USSR: plans, reality, results
Introduction
industrialization soviet political
Industrialization(from lat. industria - diligence, activity), the process of creating large-scale machine production in all sectors of the national economy and especially in industry.
Industrialization ensures the predominance of industrial production in the country's economy, the transformation of agrarian or agricultural industrial country into the industrial-agrarian or industrial.
The nature, pace, sources of funds, goals and social consequences of industrialization are determined by the prevailing in a given country. industrial relations.
The position of any country depends on the degree of its economic development. In the second half of the 1920s, the most important task of economic development for the USSR was the transformation of the country from an agrarian into an industrial one, ensuring its economic independence and strengthening its defense capability. An urgent need was the modernization of the economy, the main condition of which was the technical improvement of the entire national economy.
1. The need for industrialization
The economic history of any industrial country confirms that the rise of heavy industry, or its rise after the devastation caused by war, requires enormous funds, large subsidies, loans. Soviet Russia could provide for itself only by its own efforts. Especially with greater joy V.I. Lenin informed the participants of the IV Congress of the Communist International (November-December 1922) that the state's trading activities under the NEP made it possible to accumulate the first "capital" - "twenty million gold rubles."
No doubt, the amount of investments was very small. But, firstly, it already existed, and secondly - and Lenin emphasized this especially - "it is intended only to raise our heavy industry." We had to save on everything, even on schools (by the way, Lenin said these words in the same report where he spoke about the accumulated twenty million). However, the country that was the first to dare to overthrow the exploiters and start the construction of socialism alone in an environment of devastation had no other way.
The saved funds went to the revival of large enterprises that had fallen into decay, to the restoration of transport, and to the construction of power plants. In 1922, Kashirskaya GRES, designed to serve Moscow, was one of the first to be put into operation.
In the course of the restoration of large-scale industry, proletarian solidity grew stronger, the number of activists, conscious participants in the struggle for an increase in production, who were imbued with a sense of responsibility for the fate of the whole country, grew.
The policy of price reduction, carried out in 1924-1925. on the basis of reducing the cost of production, expanding production, reducing overhead costs, improving the work of the trading apparatus, it strengthened the position of state industry and helped it successfully compete with private capital in servicing the mass consumer - peasants and workers. As the restoration of large-scale industry was completed, it became increasingly clear that the further advancement of large-scale industry required an increase in expenditures not so much on repair and reconstruction, but on new construction.
Gradually (at first, on a very limited scale), a process of expanding the scale of new construction began to take shape. Power plants were built, the first steps were taken to establish a domestic auto industry, tractor production, and the aviation industry. There was no doubt, however, that in order to move on to large-scale construction, to the mass creation of new factories, mines, power stations, oil fields, etc. not only huge funds are needed. An energetic, purposeful activity of the state was required, connected with a general revision of the investment policy, with a radical change in the national economic proportions.
Determining the main direction of the industrialization policy, the party also took into account such a specific moment as the presence of a capitalist encirclement. The construction of socialism, which initially unfolded within the framework of one country, was sharply complicated by the active desire of the bourgeois world to discredit the Soviet experience by any means, to frustrate the "Bolshevik experiment", to push the USSR onto the path of capitalist existence. Hence the need to strengthen the defense capability of the USSR.
The tasks of strengthening the defensive power of the Soviet state were all the more responsible and complex because the Red Army lagged behind the armed forces of the capitalist states in terms of technical equipment. Overcoming the backlog to a large extent rested on the weakness of the domestic military industry.
In December 1925, at the 14th Congress of the Communist Party, the question of the industrialization of the country was considered. The congress discussed the need to transform the USSR from a country importing machinery and equipment into a country producing them. For this, it was necessary to develop production to the maximum, ensure the economic independence of the country, and also create a socialist industry based on improving its technical equipment.
Industrialization was the key task of socialist construction. The development of industry guaranteed the relative economic independence of the socialist state from the capitalist powers; it was the basis for the creation of a military complex. Also, “large-scale machine industry,” Lenin emphasized, “is capable of organizing agriculture,” thereby changing the class composition of the petty-bourgeois population in favor of the working class.
Industrialization was seen as a multifaceted process of creating an integrated economy with a more accelerated pace of development of production, means of production.
The restoration of the destroyed economy presented the Soviet leadership with an alternative; either continue the NEP (New Economic Policy) and build socialism with the hands of the capitalists, or embark on a systematic, centralized, shock and nationwide industrial breakthrough.
The past year 1925 was celebrated at the congress rapid growth the national economy as a whole with its approach to the pre-war level and the growth of its individual sectors: industry, agriculture, transport, foreign trade, domestic trade, credit system and banks public finance etc. Within the national economy, with all its diversity constituent parts(subsistence peasant economy, small commodity production, private economic capitalism, state capitalism and socialism), the share of socialist industry, state and cooperative trade, nationalized credit and other commanding heights of the proletarian state is sharply increasing.
Thus, there is an economic offensive of the proletariat on the basis of a new economic policy and the advancement of the USSR economy towards socialism. State socialist industry is increasingly becoming the vanguard of the national economy, leading the national economy as a whole.
The congress notes that these successes could not have been achieved without the active participation of the broad working masses in the general work of building socialist industry (campaigns to raise labor productivity, production conferences, etc.).
At the same time, however, the special contradictions of this growth and the specific dangers and difficulties that this growth determines develop. These include: the absolute growth of private capital with a relative decline in its role, especially private merchant capital, which shifts its operations to serve the countryside; the growth of kulak farms in the countryside, along with the growth of the latter's differentiation; the growth of a new bourgeoisie in the cities, which is striving to unite economically with the merchant-capitalist and kulak farms in their struggle to subdue the bulk of the middle peasant farms.
Proceeding from this, the congress instructs the Central Committee to be guided in the field of economic policy by the following directives:
a)put at the forefront the task of ensuring in every possible way the victory of socialist economic forms over private capital, strengthening the monopoly of foreign trade, the growth of socialist state industry and drawing, under its leadership and with the help of cooperation, an increasing mass of peasant farms into the mainstream of socialist construction;
b)ensure economic independence for the USSR, protecting the USSR from turning it into an appendage of the capitalist world economy, for which purpose to steer a course towards the industrialization of the country, the development of the production of means of production and the formation of reserves for economic maneuvering;
in)based on the decisions of the XIV Party Conference, to promote in every possible way the growth of production and trade in the country;
G)use all resources, observe the strictest economy in spending state funds, increase the speed of turnover of state industry, trade and cooperation in order to increase the rate of socialist accumulation;
e)to develop our socialist industry on the basis of an advanced technical level, but in strict accordance both with the capacity of the market and with the financial possibilities of the state;
e)promote in every possible way the development of Soviet local industry (district, district, province, region, republic), stimulating in every possible way local initiative in organizing this industry, designed to satisfy the most diverse needs of the population in general, the peasantry in particular;
and)to support and push forward the development of agriculture along the lines of raising agricultural culture, developing industrial crops, improving farming technology (tractorization), industrializing agriculture, streamlining land management and giving every possible support to various forms of collectivization of agriculture.
2. Goals and plans for industrialization
Back in 1926, Stalin declared that industrialization was the main path of socialist construction. Stalin did not want to rule bastard Russia. A great leader needed a great power. He sought to create above all a great military power. Thus, the strategy of forced development was adopted. This program was based on the choice of one priority direction in the development of the economy - heavy industry.
Basic goals:
a) elimination of technical and economic backwardness;
b) achieving economic independence;
c) creation of a powerful defense industry;
d) priority development of basic industries.
In the development of industrialization, the emphasis was not on the gradual replacement of imports of industrial products, but on the concentration of all available resources in the most advanced sectors: in energy, metallurgy, chemical industry, mechanical engineering. These sectors were the material basis of the military-industrial complex and, at the same time, industrialization by industry.
In 1930, commercial credit was liquidated, and centralized (through the State Banks) lending was switched over. Many taxes are replaced by one - turnover tax.
3. Means and sources for industrialization
The first source in the late 1920s was the robbery of the peasantry. Stalin declared that in order to ensure the rapid pace of industrialization, the country could not do without a supertax on the peasantry, which paid something like a tribute.
Bukharin stated in his speech: Sources may be different. They could be wasting the resources we had on issuing paper money with the risk of inflation and commodity hunger, in the transformation of the peasants. But this is not stable; it may threaten to break with the peasantry. IN AND. Lenin pointed out other sources. First of all, the maximum reduction of all unproductive expenses, which are huge in our country, and an increase in labor productivity. Not emission, not consumption of stocks, not taxation of the peasantry, but a qualitative increase in the productivity of labor for the whole people and a resolute struggle against unproductive expenditures - these are the main sources of accumulation.
State plan headed by G.M. Krzhizhanovsky proposed a different project. Industrialization should take place in 4 stages:
· development of the extractive industry and the production of industrial crops;
· reconstruction of transport;
· industrial stage based on proper placement industrial enterprises and the rise of agriculture;
· extensive development of the national economy on a broad energy base.
Main sources:
1.GRAIN EXPORT. The largest revenue for the export of grain was obtained in 1930 - 883 million rubles. Export a large number bread in 1932-1933, when the country was on the cards, brought a total of 389 million rubles, and the export of timber almost 700 million rubles. Only the sale of furs in 1933 made it possible to earn more money than for the exported grain (and after all, grain was bought from the peasants at a very low price).
.LOANS FROM PEASANTS. In 1927 - 1 billion rubles.
.In 1935 - 17 billion rubles.
.GROWTH OF PRICES FOR WINE AND VODKA PRODUCTS, the sale of which was expanding: by the end of the 20s, the income from vodka reached 1 billion rubles. and about the same gave the industry.
.EMISSION. Growth money supply, not provided with goods, continued on a large scale until the end of the 1st five-year plan. Issue increased from 0.8 billion rubles. in 1929 to 3 billion rubles.
4. First five-year plan (1929-1932)
The main task of the introduced planned economy was to build up the economic and military power of the state at the highest possible pace, at the initial stage it came down to the redistribution of the maximum possible amount of resources for the needs of industrialization. The first five-year plan (October 1, 1928 - October 1, 1933) was announced at the XVI Conference of the AUCP(b) (All-Union Communist Party) (April 1929) as a complex of carefully thought out and realistic tasks. This plan, immediately after its approval by the Fifth Congress of Soviets of the USSR in May 1929, gave grounds for the state to carry out a number of measures of an economic, political, organizational and ideological nature, which elevated industrialization to the status of a concept, the era of the "great turning point". The country had to develop the construction of new industries, increase the production of all types of products and begin to produce new technology.
First of all, using information and communication technologies (propaganda), the party leadership ensured a massive mobilization in support of industrialization. Komsomol members, in particular, received it with enthusiasm. Millions of people selflessly, almost by hand, built hundreds of factories, power plants, laid railroads, subways. Often had to work in three shifts. In 1930, the construction of about 1500 facilities was launched, of which 50 absorbed almost half of all capital investments. A number of gigantic industrial structures were erected: DneproGES, metallurgical plants in Magnitogorsk, Lipetsk and Chelyabinsk, Novokuznetsk, Norilsk and Uralmash, tractor plants in Volgograd, Chelyabinsk, Kharkov, Uralvagonzavod, GAZ, ZIS (modern ZIL), etc. In 1935 The first stage of the Moscow Metro with a total length of 11.2 km was opened.
Particular attention was paid to the industrialization of agriculture. Thanks to the development of the domestic tractor industry, in 1932 the USSR refused to import tractors from abroad, and in 1934 the Kirov Plant in Leningrad began producing the Universal tractor, which became the first domestic tractor exported abroad. In the ten pre-war years, about 700 thousand tractors were produced, which accounted for 40% of their world production.
The domestic system of higher engineering and technical education was urgently created. In 1930, universal primary education was introduced in the USSR, and compulsory seven-year education was introduced in the cities.
In 1930, speaking at the 16th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Stalin admitted that an industrial breakthrough was possible only through the construction of “socialism in one country” and demanded a multiple increase in the five-year plan targets, arguing that the plan could be overfulfilled in a number of indicators.
Since capital investment in heavy industry almost immediately exceeded the previously planned amount and continued to grow, money emission (that is, the printing of paper money) was sharply increased, and during the entire first five-year plan, the growth of the money supply in circulation more than doubled the growth in the production of consumer goods, leading to higher prices and shortages consumer goods.
In parallel, the state moved to a centralized distribution of the means of production and consumer goods belonging to it, the introduction of command-administrative management methods and the nationalization of private property were carried out. A political system emerged based on the leading role of the CPSU(b), state ownership of the means of production, and a minimum of private initiative.
Results of the first five years.
The first five-year plan was associated with rapid urbanization. The urban labor force increased by 12.5 million, of which 8.5 million were from the countryside. The process continued for several decades, so that in the early 1960s the urban and rural populations became equal.
At the end of 1932, the successful and early completion of the first five-year plan was announced in four years and three months. Summing up its results, Stalin said that heavy industry had fulfilled the plan by 108%. During the period between October 1, 1928, and January 1, 1933, the production fixed assets of heavy industry increased 2.7 times.
On the created industrial base, it became possible to carry out large-scale rearmament; during the first five-year plan, defense spending rose to 10.8% of the budget.
5. Second Five-Year Plan (1933-1937)
In the course of work on the second five-year plan, which already covered 120 branches of industry against 50 branches in 1928-1932, it became clear that by no means all of its drafters had a realistic idea of the real difficulties of the further growth of the Soviet economy and those circumstances on which their successful overcoming. A demand was put forward to continue the accelerated development of heavy industry, and at a rate higher than during the period of the first five-year plan. Congress of the CPSU(b), held at the beginning of 1934, specifically considered the draft of the new five-year plan and brought complete clarity to the understanding of the essence and specifics of industrial development USSR in 1933-1937 People's Commissar for Heavy Industry G.K. Ordzhonikidze criticized those who proposed to further expand the scope capital construction and release essential funds production. G.K. Ordzhonikidze introduced an amendment to the draft resolution of the congress, which received unanimous support: the average annual growth rate of industrial output for the second five-year period was set at 16.5% against 18.9 according to the Gosplan's estimates.
In a fundamentally new way, the congress raised the question of the correlation between the growth rates of industrial production, means of production and consumer goods. The accelerated development of heavy industry in previous years made it possible in a short time to create the foundation for the technical reconstruction of all branches of the national economy. Now it was necessary to complete the construction of the material and technical base of socialism and ensure a significant rise in the people's well-being. The average annual growth rate of means of production was determined at 14.5%.
By laying the foundations of heavy industry by the beginning of the second five-year plan and achieving a noticeable predominance of industrial output over gross agricultural output. The Communist Party did not consider the task of industrializing the USSR to be completely solved. At the XVII Congress, in accordance with the materials of the January (1933) joint Plenum and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the very fact of the transition of the country to industrialization was emphasized and it was directly spoken about the continuation of the industrialization policy during the years of the second five-year plan. In contrast to the previous period, when the course towards creating the foundations of heavy industry was dominant, now the center of gravity shifted to the plane of the struggle to complete the technical reconstruction of the entire national economy, to strengthen the import independence of the first and then still the only proletarian state in the world.
The fundamental feature of the industrialization of the USSR during the years of the second five-year plan was that the entire grandiose program of new construction, the completion of technical reconstruction as a whole had to be carried out with a relatively low increase in the number of workers and employees. Within the framework of the entire national economy, an increase of 26% was planned, including in large-scale industry - by 29%. At the same time, the congress approved the task of raising labor productivity in industry by 63% against 41% in the first five-year plan. Thus, the directive was adopted that labor productivity "become a decisive factor in the fulfillment of the planned program for increasing output in the second five years."
During the years of the second five-year plan, 4.5 thousand large industrial enterprises were built. Among them: Ural machine-building, Chelyabinsk tractor, Novo-Tula metallurgical and other plants. Dozens of blast furnaces, mines, power plants. The first metro line was laid in Moscow. The industry of the Union republics developed at an accelerated pace. Ordzhonikidze, who became chairman of the Supreme Economic Council in 1930, called for realism and advocated a reduction in a number of tasks. It was then, in the mid-1930s, that the slogan "Cadres decide everything" entered our everyday life. Primary (4-grade) education was introduced as compulsory only in 1930. Even in 1939, every 5th person over 10 years old still could not read and write.
Specialists with higher education there were about 1 million people. Personnel grew rapidly. The youth were in leadership positions. Communists and Komsomol members rallied the team, were a vivid symbol of the heroism of the times of industrialization. (Magnitostroy was headed by 26-year-old Yakov Gugel). People believed in victory and that the production would not suffer, they worked with enthusiasm, sometimes seven days a week and for 12-16 hours in a row.
There was construction beyond the Arctic Circle. For example, a metallurgical plant in Norilsk, mines in Vorkuta, as well as railways. The required number of volunteers for this construction was not found. And then dozens of camps with hundreds of thousands of prisoners appeared in the right places. Their labor built the Belomorkanal, the Kotlas-Vorkuta railway. They were called enemies of the people, they were turned into such a labor force that does not require any costs, is easily commanded and transferred.
The Stakhanov movement became an example of new trends, a course towards the development of advanced technology. Massive innovation in the middle of the second five-year plan confirmed its promise. The rise grew until 1937. It was then that the double meaning of the slogan "Cadres decide everything" was revealed. Stalin's repressions on industrial workers hit in the late 1920s. Kalinin, Molotov, Kaganovich reported on massive sabotage in almost all areas of industrialization. The arrests began. Violation of the law, repressions, arbitrariness turned the administrative-command administration into an administrative-punitive one.
Other measures have also been taken:
Heavy industry was switching to self-financing; succeeded in minimizing money issue; the country almost stopped importing agricultural machinery and tractors; cotton imports, the cost of acquiring ferrous metals from 1.4 billion rubles. in the first five-year plan were reduced in 1937 to 88 million rubles. Export made a profit.
Results of the second five-year plan.
The national economic plan, scheduled for 1933-1937, was completed ahead of schedule - in four years and three months. The decisive role in achieving such a high result was played by the working class, primarily those of its detachments that were employed in the industrial sphere of production - in industry, construction, and transport.
Over the entire period of the second five-year plan, labor productivity in the industries of group "A" increased by 109.3%, that is, it more than doubled, slightly exceeding the planned targets, which were also considered tense. Among those who overfulfilled the tasks were machine builders and ferrous metallurgy workers, the latter even surpassed the successes of machine building workers: they achieved the highest increase in industry - 126.3%. Impressive were the shifts in reducing the cost of industrial production of the industries of group "A".
The successes of the light industry looked much more modest. On the whole, the light industry did not cope with the plan for increasing labor productivity, although progress was significant in relation to the first five-year plan.
A fundamentally important result of the implementation in 1933-1937. industrialization policy was to overcome the technical and economic backwardness, the complete conquest of the economic independence of the USSR. During the years of the second five-year plan, our country essentially stopped importing agricultural machinery and tractors, the purchase of which abroad in the previous five-year plan cost 1,150 million rubles. The same amount of money was then spent on cotton, now also removed from imports. The cost of acquiring ferrous metals dropped from 1.4 billion rubles in the first five-year plan to 88 million rubles in 1937. In 1936, the share of imported products in the country's total consumption fell to 1-0.7%. By the end of the second five-year plan, the trade balance of the USSR became active and made a profit.
6. Third Five-Year Plan (1938-1942, frustrated by the start of the war)
The Third Five-Year Plan was held in conditions when a new one was beginning World War. Defense appropriations had to be sharply increased: in 1939 they accounted for a quarter of the state budget, in 1940 - already up to one third, and in 1941 - 43.4 percent.
The creation of a powerful industrial potential then took place in the conditions of ever-increasing restrictions on Soviet democracy. It came to repression, which hit the industry no less than the Red Army. The tragedy was not only in the damage suffered by the directors and engineering corps, the personnel of the people's commissariats and numerous enterprises. The labor intensity of collectives decreased, the creative activity of millions of workers and employees decreased. And this at a time when fascist aggression was becoming more real day by day.
If for the first two five-year plans the main task was to catch up with the developed countries in terms of industrial production, then for the third five-year plan the task was put forward to catch up with them in industrial output per capita, which was 5 times lower.
The main attention was now paid not to quantitative indicators, but to quality. Emphasis was placed on increasing the output of alloyed and high-quality steels, light and non-ferrous metals, and precision equipment. During the years of the five-year plan, serious measures were taken to develop the chemical industry and chemicalization of the national economy, to introduce comprehensive mechanization, and even the first attempts were made to automate production. For three years (until 1941) the volume of production increased by 34%, which was close to the planned figures, although they were not achieved. In general, the pace of economic development was rather modest. It was felt that the gains are given by a huge tension. One of the main reasons was that the administrative system and directive planning could give good results in the construction of new enterprises where manual labor predominated. When industrialization began to come to an end, the AKC, having exhausted its capabilities, began to falter. The new technological level increased the requirements for the balance of all sectors of the economy, for the quality of management and for the workers themselves. The unresolvability of these problems gave rise to failures in the economy.
The political situation in Europe testified to the approach of war, so the third five-year plan became the five-year period of preparation for war. This was expressed as follows. First, instead of giant enterprises, it was decided to build medium-sized backup enterprises in various parts of the country, but mainly in the east. Secondly, military production grew at an accelerated pace. According to official data, the average annual growth rate of military production was 39%. Thirdly, many non-military enterprises received military orders and mastered the production of new products, switched to their production to the detriment of civilian products. Thus, in 1939, the production of tanks doubled, and armored vehicles, 7.5 times, compared with 1934. Naturally, this led to a reduction in the production of tractors, trucks, and other peaceful products. For example, in 1939 Rostselmash fulfilled its annual task by 80%, but at the same time the plan for military production by 150%. It is clear that he produced few agricultural machines. Fourthly, new construction, and for 1938-1941. about 3 thousand new large plants and factories were put into operation, it went mainly in the east of the country - in the Urals, Siberia, and Central Asia. These areas by 1941 began to play a significant role in industrial production. In addition, during the years of the third five-year plan, the foundations of industrial infrastructure were laid here, which made it possible in the most difficult first months of the war to evacuate industrial enterprises from western regions and put them into operation as soon as possible, which would be simply impossible without the existing industrial facilities, railways, power lines, etc. The most important problem the third five-year plan remained the training of qualified personnel. The system of training workers in production through a network of courses and circles of technical study that had taken shape during the years of the second five-year plan no longer fully satisfied the rapidly growing needs of industry for qualified personnel.
Therefore, on October 2, 1940, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, a system for training state labor reserves was created. It was envisaged that up to a million young men and women would be admitted annually to vocational and railway schools, FZU schools and their maintenance at the expense of the state. After graduation, the state had the right to send young workers at its discretion to any of the industries. Only in Moscow, 97 schools and schools of trade and educational institutions for 48,200 students and 77 vocational schools with a two-year training period were opened. The country's institutes and technical schools continued to train workers of higher and secondary qualifications. By January 1, 1941, there were 2401.2 thousand graduates in the USSR, which was 14 times higher than the level of 1914. And, nevertheless, despite the undoubted successes in this area, the needs of the economy were not satisfied to the proper extent. The quality indicators left much to be desired. So, in 1939, only 8.2% of workers had an education of 7 classes or more, which had a negative effect on the pace of mastering new technology, on the growth of labor productivity, etc. Approximately the same picture was in relation to the ITR. By 1939, out of 11-12 million employees, only 2 million had a diploma of higher and secondary specialized education.
Thus, despite certain successes in the training of personnel for industry, their shortage continued to be felt. Labor productivity grew slowly (approximately 6% per year), and the pace of development of some industries slowed down. The average annual growth rate of industrial production, according to individual experts, amounted to 3-4%. Why has the pace of development slowed down? Administrative system planning and management could give good results in the initial period of industrialization in the construction of enterprises in which manual labor prevailed.
The economic development of the country in the 1930s took place in difficult emergency conditions, which depended on both internal and external factors. Constantly during this period, the threat of war from the Western countries was escalated. Therefore, as we have already noted, the goals and nature of the pre-war five-year plans, and especially the third, were connected with the need to strengthen the country's defense capability. There was an accelerated development of industry to modernize and increase the production of military equipment, often to the detriment of civilian products.
And, nevertheless, despite the difficulties, shortcomings and distortions caused by the dominance of the administrative-command system and excessive centralization, the economy of the USSR continued to successfully develop and gain momentum. The success of this development has been quite impressive.
7. Results and results of industrialization in the USSR
During the pre-war five-year plans in the USSR, a rapid growth was ensured production capacity and production volumes of heavy industry, which later allowed the USSR to win the Great Patriotic War. The build-up of industrial power in the 1930s was considered one of the most important achievements of the USSR within the framework of Soviet ideology. Since the late 1980s, however, the question of the actual scale and historical significance industrialization became the subject of discussions concerning the true goals of industrialization, the choice of means for its implementation, the relationship of industrialization with collectivization and mass repression, as well as its results and long-term consequences for the Soviet economy and society.
Despite the development of the production of new products, industrialization was carried out mainly by extensive methods, since as a result of collectivization and a sharp decline in the standard of living of the rural population, human labor was greatly depreciated. The desire to fulfill the plan led to an overexertion of forces and a permanent search for reasons to justify not fulfilling overestimated tasks. Because of this, industrialization could not feed on enthusiasm alone and required a number of coercive measures. Beginning in 1930, the free movement of labor was prohibited, and criminal penalties were introduced for violations of labor discipline and negligence. Since 1931, workers have become liable for damage to equipment. In 1932, the forced transfer of labor between enterprises became possible, and the death penalty was introduced for theft of state property. On December 27, 1932, the internal passport was restored, which Lenin at one time condemned as "tsarist backwardness and despotism." The seven-day week was replaced by a continuous working week, the days of which, having no names, were numbered from 1 to 5. Every sixth day was a day off, set for work shifts, so that factories could work without interruption. The labor of prisoners was actively used. All this became the subject of sharp criticism in democratic countries, and not only from the liberals, but primarily from the social democrats.
Industrialization was largely carried out at the expense of agriculture (collectivization). First of all, agriculture has become a source of primary accumulation, due to low purchase prices for grain and re-export at higher prices, as well as due to the "surplus tax in the form of overpayments on manufactured goods." In the future, the peasantry also ensured the growth of heavy industry with a labor force. The short-term result of this policy was a drop in agricultural production: for example, animal husbandry was almost halved and returned to the level of 1928 only in 1938. economic situation peasantry.
The working people brought the country to the ranks of the first world powers, with their selfless work created a solid foundation for its industrial and defense might.
In terms of absolute volumes of industrial production, the USSR in the late 1930s took second place in the world after the United States. Moreover, the growth of heavy industry was carried out at an unprecedented pace. So, in 6 years from 1929 to 1935, the USSR managed to raise pig iron smelting from 4.3 to 12.5 million tons. It took the USA 18 years to do this.
Why was it possible to create industrial technology in the USSR, because here, unlike the West, there was neither a market economy nor civil society?
First, the industrial transformation in the USSR was of a secondary nature. Since it was carried out much later than in developed countries, newly built and reconstructed enterprises used equipment and technology exported from abroad, as well as methods of organizing labor.
Secondly, the industrial type of production may initially be formed in certain sectors of the economy. In Stalin's industrialization, emphasis was placed on the priority development of heavy and defense industries.
Thirdly, industrial technology was created to extract surplus value from wage labor and served as a means of capitalist exploitation. It alienated a person from his work just as much as the despotic Stalinist state. The Stalinist model essentially reproduced early industrial capitalism under a socialist flag.
Fourth, an important feature of Soviet society until the 1970s was its aspiration to the future, its readiness to endure fear and terror, to submit to strict discipline and inhumane technology in the name of a brighter future for their children and future generations in general.
Thanks to these circumstances, industrialization was completed. It had a certain similarity with the imperial model of modernization. Thus, the need for a “jump” was explained by a military threat, which was quite real from the second half of the 1930s.
List of used literature
1.Lelchuk V.S. Industrialization of the USSR: History, Experience, Problems. M.: Politizdat, 1984. - 304 p.
.History of industrialization of the USSR. 1926-1928 Documents and materials. Publishing house - SCIENCE. 1969 Ch. edition: M.P. Kim; L.I. Yakovlev
.History of industrialization of the USSR. 1929-1932 Documents and materials. Publishing house - SCIENCE. 1970 Ch. edition: M.P. Kim; L.I. Yakovlev
.History of industrialization of the USSR. 1933-1937 Documents and materials. Publishing house - SCIENCE. 1971 Ch. edition: M.P. Kim; L.I. Yakovlev
.Industrialization of the Soviet Union. New documents, new facts, new approaches. Ed. S.S. Khromov. In 2 parts. Moscow: Institute Russian history RAS, 1997 and 1999.
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Industrialization in a broad sense is understood as the process of transition of all branches of the national economy of the country, and primarily in industry, to large-scale machine production. In a narrow sense, the Soviet industrialization of the 30s of the 20th century is an accelerated build-up of 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 social and economic potential of the Soviet Union. The process of industrialization in the USSR still causes conflicting assessments among specialists in history, economics and political science in terms of goal-setting, methods, means and results of an outstanding phenomenon of the 20th century.
In order to form your own idea of the process, it is necessary to consider the initial data, the content, and the real results of Soviet industrialization.
Despite embellishing the achievements of pre-revolutionary Russian Empire, the industrial potential did not fully meet many needs and was mainly under the control of foreign investors. The First World War and the Civil War partially destroyed even what was there. At the time of the formation of the USSR in 1922, the country's economy was a ruin and could not ensure the country's defense capability in a hostile environment.
The need for socialist industrialization of the economy of the USSR was finally realized by the ruling elites 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 the economic independence of the USSR. Despite the fact that in the resolutions the problem of industrialization was considered only in common sense The decisions of the congress were of exceptional importance. The course towards industrialization provided for a super-accelerated pace of development of Soviet industry during the implementation of the plans for the first three five-year plans (1928-1932 and 1933-1937. The third, 1938-1942, was interrupted by the war).
After by the mid-1920s the USSR reached the economic indicators 1913, the prerequisites for overcoming were identified:
The prerequisites developed into the main reason for industrialization - the Soviet Union had to turn from a country importing equipment and machinery into a country producing means of production.
The historical situation around the USSR determined the targets of the industrialization process:
The achievement of the set goals was to ensure the USSR's exit from the state of glaring poverty to the transition to a phase of growth and all-round prosperity.
The problems in the national economy were so obvious that they had to be tackled immediately, despite the not very favorable conditions:
Such conditions for industrialization were extremely unfavorable and required decisive measures from the Soviet government.
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:
The West constantly changed its demands for payment for its supplies of machinery and technology, which sometimes led to catastrophic imbalances (the famine of the early 1930s).
The industrialization initiated by the state power was supported by the unprecedented enthusiasm of the masses. The command-administrative method of implementing all projects of economic reforms in the USSR dominated. Measures of accelerated industrialization were carried out at an accelerated pace and with serious shortcomings. But this is the case when "quantity grows into quality."
As a result of the activities for the implementation of the first five-year plan was:
With certain shortcomings, the successes of the first five-year plans are impressive.
First, the USSR became an industrial country as a whole.
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, the growth of industry 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 gave everything without which it is impossible to win a large-scale war.
Positive results | Negative results |
|---|---|
9,000 new industrial facilities have been put into operation. | The people suffered hardships due to the deterioration of the work of light industry and the compulsion to borrow their funds from the state. |
Creation of new industrial branches: tractor, automobile, aviation, chemical and machine-tool building. | Excesses with collectivization and the impoverishment of the countryside. |
Gross industrial volumes increased by 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. | Creation of the Soviet industry as the basis of a totalitarian state. |
The country has become urbanized urban population rose to 40%. | Excessive volumes of grain export abroad, natural resources and even cultural values. |
A powerful layer of domestic engineering and technical intelligentsia was created. | The growth of bureaucracy (the number of people's commissariats and departments has increased significantly). |
Unemployment is completely gone. | Administrative arbitrariness. |
In the 1920s and 1930s, the Soviet Union was in real danger of losing sovereignty. Only thanks to the tough and purposeful policy of the highest authorities, the enthusiasm and the greatest exertion of the forces of the Soviet working people, was it 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.
Synopsis on the history of Russia
one). Definition: industrialization is the process of creating large-scale machine production in all sectors of the economy and, first of all, in industry.
2). Background of industrialization. In 1928, the country completed the recovery period, reached the level of 1913, but the Western countries have gone far ahead during this time. As a result, the USSR lagged behind. Techno-economic backwardness could become chronic and turn into historical.
3). The need for industrialization. Economic - large-scale industry, and first of all group A (production of means of production), determines economic development country in general, and agricultural development in particular. Social - without industrialization, it is impossible to develop the economy, and, consequently, the social sphere: education, healthcare, recreation, social security. Military-political - without industrialization it is impossible to ensure the technical and economic independence of the country and its defense power.
four). industrialization conditions: the consequences of the devastation have not been completely eliminated, international economic ties, there is a lack of experienced personnel, the need for machines is met by imports.
5). Goals, methods, sources and timing of industrialization. Goals: the transformation of Russia from an agrarian-industrial country into an industrial power, ensuring technical and economic independence, strengthening defense power and raising the welfare of the people, demonstrating the advantages of socialism. Sources: internal loans, siphoning funds from the countryside, income from foreign trade, cheap labor, the enthusiasm of the working people, the labor of prisoners. Methods: state initiative supported by enthusiasm from below. Command-administrative methods dominate. Terms and rates: Short terms of industrialization and shock rates of its implementation. The growth of the industry was planned - 20% per year.
6). Beginning of industrialization. December 1925 - The 14th Party Congress emphasized the absolute possibility of the victory of socialism in one country and set a course for industrialization. In 1925, the restoration period ended and the period of reconstruction of the national economy began. 1926 - the beginning of the practical implementation of industrialization. About 1 billion rubles have been invested in industry. This is 2.5 times more than in 1925. In 1926-28. large-scale industry doubled, and gross industry reached 132% of the 1913 level.
7). Negative aspects of industrialization: commodity hunger, ration cards (1928-1935), decline wages, lack of highly qualified personnel, population migration and exacerbation housing problems, difficulties in setting up new production, massive accidents and breakdowns, as a result - the search for the perpetrators.
eight). Pre-war five-year plans. During the years of the first five-year plan (1928/1929 - 1932/1933), adopted by the 5th Congress of Soviets in May 1929, the USSR turned from an agrarian-industrial country into an industrial-agrarian one. 1500 enterprises were built. Even though the first five year plan turned out to be significantly underfulfilled in almost all indicators, the industry made a huge leap. New industries were created - automobile, tractor, etc. Industrial development achieved even greater success during the years of the second five-year plan (1933-1937). At that time, the construction of new plants and factories continued, and the urban population increased sharply. At the same time, the proportion of manual labor was large, light industry did not receive proper development, and little attention was paid to the construction of housing and roads.
Main directions of economic activity: the accelerated pace of development of group A, the annual increase in industrial output - 20%. the main task- the creation of a second coal and metallurgical base in the east, the creation of new industries, the struggle to master new technology, the development of an energy base, and the training of qualified specialists.
The main new buildings of the first five-year plans: Dneproges; Stalingrad, Kharkov and Chelyabinsk tractor plants; Krivoy Rog, Magnitogorsk and Kuznetsk metallurgical plants; automobile plants in Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod; canals Moscow-Volga, Belomoro-Baltiysky, etc.
labor enthusiasm. The role and importance of moral factors were great. Since 1929 mass socialist competition has developed. Movement - "five-year plan in 4 years". Since 1935, the "Stakhanov movement" has become the main form of socialist competition.
9). The results and significance of industrialization.
Outcomes: 9,000 large industrial enterprises equipped with the most advanced technology have been put into operation, new industries have been created: tractor, automobile, aviation, tank, chemical, machine-tool building. Gross industrial output increased 6.5 times, including group A - 10 times. In terms of industrial output, the USSR came out on top in Europe and second in the world. Industrial construction has spread to remote areas and national outskirts, the social structure has changed and demographic situation in the country (40% of the urban population). The number of workers and engineering and technical intelligentsia increased sharply. Funds for industrial development were taken by robbing the peasantry driven into collective farms, forced loans, expanding the sale of vodka, exporting grain, oil, and timber abroad. The exploitation of the working class, other sections of the population, prisoners of the Gulag has reached an unprecedented level. At the cost of enormous exertion of forces, sacrifices, predatory waste of natural resources, the country entered the industrial path of development.
After the civil war, the Russian economy, in the modern "Obama" language, "was torn to shreds." Truly torn and broken. And the NEP only somewhat stabilized the problem of providing the country's population with food and consumer goods, but it caused a sharp increase in class contradictions in the countryside due to the growth in the number of kulaks and aggravated the class struggle in the countryside to open kulak uprisings.
Therefore, the VKP(b) party took a course towards the development of the country's industrial production in order to obtain an opportunity for independent solution of the national economic problems facing Russia, which had been destroyed by a long-term war. And a fast decision. That is, the party headed for the industrialization of the country.
Stalin said:
“We are 50-100 years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this distance in ten years. Either we do it or we will be crushed. This is what our obligations to the workers and peasants of the USSR dictate to us.
Industrialization is the socio-economic policy of the Bolshevik Party in the USSR, from 1927 to the end of the 30s, the main goals of which were the following:
1. Elimination of the technical and economic backwardness of the country;
2. Achievement of economic independence;
3. Creation of a powerful defense industry;
4. The priority development of a complex of basic industries: defense, fuel, energy, metallurgical, machine-building.
What ways of industrialization existed by that time and which ones were chosen by the Bolsheviks?
From Stalin's statements about industrialization:
1.“Knows the various ways of industrialization.
England industrialized due to the fact that she plundered colonies for tens and hundreds of years, collected "additional" capital there, invested them in her industry and accelerated the pace of her industrialization. This is one way of industrialization.
Germany accelerated her industrialization as a result of the victorious war with France in the 70s of the last century, when she, having taken five billion francs of indemnity from the French, poured them into her industry. This is the second way of industrialization.
Both of these methods are closed to us, because we are a country of Soviets, because colonial robberies and military seizures for the purpose of robbery are incompatible with the nature of Soviet power.
Russia, old Russia, rented out extortionate concessions and received extortionate loans, trying in this way to gradually get out onto the path of industrialization. This is the third way. But this is the path of bondage or semi-bondage, the path of turning Russia into a semi-colony. This path is also closed to us, because we did not wage a three-year civil war, repelling all and sundry interventionists, so that later, after the victory over the interventionists, we would voluntarily go into bondage to the imperialists.
There remains the fourth path of industrialization, the path of own savings for the cause of industry, the path of socialist accumulation, which Comrade repeatedly pointed out. Lenin, as the only way to industrialize our country.
(“On the economic situation and policy of the party”, vol. 8, p. 123.)
2. “What does it mean to industrialize our country? This means turning an agrarian country into an industrial country. This means setting up and developing our industry on a new technical basis.
Nowhere else in the world has a vast backward agrarian country been transformed into an industrial country without plundering the colonies, without plundering foreign countries, or without large loans and long-term credits from outside. Remember the history of the industrial development of England, Germany, America, and you will understand that this is exactly the case. Even America, the most powerful of all capitalist countries, was forced to spend as much as 30-40 years after the civil war in order to establish its industry at the expense of loans and long-term credits from outside and to rob the states and islands adjacent to it.
Can we take this “tested” path? No, we cannot, because the nature of Soviet power does not tolerate colonial robberies, and there is no reason to rely on large loans and long-term credits.
Old Russia, tsarist Russia, went to industrialization in a different way - by concluding enslaving loans and giving out enslaving concessions to the main branches of our industry. You know that almost the entire Donbass, more than half of St. Petersburg industry, Baku oil and a whole series of railways, not to mention the electrical industry, were in the hands of foreign capitalists. It was the path of industrialization at the expense of the peoples of the USSR and against the interests of the working class. It is clear that we cannot take this path: we did not fight the yoke of capitalism for this, we did not overthrow capitalism in order to voluntarily go under the yoke of capitalism.
Only one path remains, the path of our own savings, the path of economy, the path of prudent management of the economy in order to accumulate the necessary funds for the industrialization of our country. There are no words, this task is difficult. But, despite the difficulties, we are already resolving it. Yes, comrades, four years after the civil war we are already resolving this problem.
(“Speech at a meeting of workers of the Stalinist railway workshops of the October Road”, v.9 p.172.)
3. “There are a number of accumulation channels, of which at least the main ones should be noted.
Firstly. It is necessary that the surplus accumulation in the country should not be dissipated, but collected in our credit institutions, cooperative and state, as well as in the form of internal loans, with a view to using them for the needs, above all, of industry. It is clear that investors should receive a certain percentage for this. It cannot be said that in this area things were in any way satisfactory with us. But the task of improving our credit network, the task of raising the prestige of credit institutions in the eyes of the population, the task of organizing the business of internal loans undoubtedly stands before us as the next task, and we must resolve it at all costs.
Secondly. It is necessary to carefully close all those paths and cracks through which part of the surplus accumulation in the country flows into the pockets of private capital to the detriment of socialist accumulation. To do this, it is necessary to conduct such a price policy that would not create a gap between wholesale prices and retail prices. All measures must be taken to reduce retail prices for industrial and agricultural products in order to stop or at least reduce to a minimum the leakage of surplus accumulation into the pockets of the private owner. This is one of the most important issues of our economic policy. From here comes one of the serious dangers both for our accumulation and for the chervonets.
Thirdly. It is essential that certain reserves be set aside within industry itself, in each of its branches, for depreciation of enterprises, for their expansion, for their further development. This is a necessary, absolutely necessary thing; it must be moved forward at all costs.
Fourth. It is necessary that certain reserves be accumulated in the hands of the state, necessary for insuring the country against all kinds of accidents (lack of crops), for nourishing industry, for supporting agriculture, for developing culture, etc. It is now impossible to live and work without reserves. Even the peasant, with his small farm, cannot now do without certain supplies. Moreover, the state of a great country cannot do without reserves.
(“On the economic situation and policy of the party”, vol. 8, p. 126.)
Means for industrialization:
Where did the Bolsheviks get money for industrialization?
1. Funds were withdrawn from agriculture and light industry;
2. Funds came from the sale of raw materials (Oil, gold, timber, grain, etc.);
3. Some treasures of museums and churches were sold;
4. The private sector was taxed up to the complete confiscation of property.
5. By reducing the standard of living of the population, due to rising prices, the introduction of a distribution card system, individual government loans, etc.
6. Through the enthusiasm of workers building for themselves new world without the exploitation of man by man.
7. Through the most powerful propaganda and agitation of new forms and new, collectivist methods of organizing labor.
8. By organizing an advanced Stakhanovist movement both in industrial production and in agriculture.
9. By introducing state awards for labor achievements.
10.By developing the system of free social benefits and state guarantees for working people: free education and free medicine for all groups of the population, free nurseries, kindergartens, pioneer camps, sanatoriums, and so on and so forth.
And again Stalin's words about the foundations of industrialization in the USSR:
“So, is the industrialization of our country possible on the basis of socialist accumulation?
Do we have sources of such accumulation sufficient to ensure industrialization?
Yes, it is possible. Yes, we have such sources.
I could refer to such a fact as the expropriation of landlords and capitalists in our country as a result of the October Revolution, the abolition of private ownership of land, factories, factories, etc., and their transfer to public ownership. It scarcely needs to be proved that this fact is a fairly solid source of accumulation.
I could refer, further, to such a fact as the annulment of tsarist debts, which removed billions of rubles of debt from the shoulders of our national economy. It should not be forgotten that in leaving these debts we had to pay annually several hundred millions of interest alone, to the detriment of industry, to the detriment of our entire national economy. Needless to say, this circumstance has brought great relief to our accumulation.
I could point to our nationalized industry, which has been restored, which is developing, and which is producing some of the profits necessary for the further development of industry. It is also a source of accumulation.
I could point to our nationalized foreign trade, which yields some profit and therefore constitutes a certain source of accumulation.
One could refer to our more or less organized state internal trade, which also yields a certain profit and thus represents a certain source of accumulation.
One could point to such a lever of accumulation as our nationalized banking system which yields a certain profit and nourishes our industry to the best of our ability.
Finally, we have something like the state power, which manages the state budget and which collects a small fraction of money for the further development of the national economy in general, our industry in particular.
These are basically the main sources of our internal accumulation.
They are interesting in the sense that they give us the opportunity to create those necessary reserves, without which the industrialization of our country is impossible.
(“On the economic situation and policy of the party” vol. 8 p. 124.)
For, according to Stalin, the rapid rate of development of industry in general and the production of means of production in particular is the fundamental principle and key to the industrial development of the country, the fundamental principle and key to the transformation of our entire national economy on the basis of advanced socialist development.
At the same time, we cannot and must not curtail heavy industry for the sake of the all-round development of light industry. Yes, and light industry cannot be developed to a sufficient extent without the accelerated development of heavy industry.
("XV Congress of the CPSU (b)" vol. 10 p. 310.)
The result of industrialization was:
1. Creation of a powerful industry in the country;
From 1927 to 1937 over 7,000 large industrial enterprises were built in the USSR;
2. The USSR took the 2nd place in the world in terms of industrial production after the USA.
3. The USSR created its own powerful defense industry, new for Russia.
4. In the USSR, on the basis of powerful industrial production, it also began to develop powerfully branch science, defining the technical level of technologies developed and used in industrial production.
5. The USSR became the birthplace of technical astronautics, having created in the country a new, world branch of production, space industry, significantly ahead of the United States in this direction.
The results of the industrialization of the USSR were stunning not only for the inhabitants of the USSR, but for the whole world. After all, the former tsarist Russia in an unusually short time became a powerful, industrially and scientifically developed country, a power of world significance.
As you can see, Stalin turned out to be right in making a completely collapsed Russia, out of Russia plows and bast shoes, an advanced industrial power with the shortest working day in the world, the world's best free education, advanced science, free medicine, national culture and the most powerful social guarantee of workers' rights. countries
However, in today's Russia, everything is done differently than Stalin did in the USSR, and we have Russia with a barely glimmering industrial production, completely collapsed agriculture, a dead science, a poor, barely making ends meet population, but with countless billionaires of its own.
So who was right in choosing the path of Russia's development, the Bolsheviks or the current democrats? In my opinion, the Bolsheviks! After all, not a single word of Stalin about the industrialization of Russia has not yet become outdated.
