Stalin had set plans that had to be accomplished in five years. In these plans agriculture and industry were the key things that needed developing. Stalin said “we are about 50 to 100 years behind the rest of the world; we must cover this lost time in a good 10 years if we do not want to perish”. In Stalin's five year plans he aimed at building many factory's to make 100000 tractors to give to the peasants and weapons for the USSR to defend itself. In farming he wanted collectivization to be carried out.
In industry the USSR made huge progress even if it was not finished by the end of the five years. The people of the USSR were so excited about this and were so keen to see it finished that they worked day and night to try and accomplish their aims, even in poor conditions. The USSR was starting to become self sufficient in industry and had started making progress compared to the west. As the five year plans were moving ahead the time restrictions were shortened to four years putting more pressure onto the workers. The USSR was seen as a new place for workers, it was seen as a new opportunity for many people and as some sort of sanctuary for discriminated people. People from all over the world came to the USSR to work in the industries and to see how communism worked. Out of all the industries built none were as impressive as the Magnitorsk. The Magnitorsk was a very big metallurgic industry. It provided a lot of the metal required to many other industries. The five year plan became the new religion of the USSR, the industries its churches and the workers its priests.
In farming collectivization was used to get the necessary food to feed the workers in the central areas of the USSR, it wasn't as successful as the industries but it helped the development of the economy. Collectivization was the unification of all farms in an area to get bigger harvests. As the people were asked to join their land they were also asked to work together and to share their harvests. Stalin would collect what he needed and leave the rest for the peasants. The grain that was taken was used to feed the work force, but it was also used as a trade object. The USSR traded grain o other countries in exchange for equipment to build industries, or farming utensils such as tractors, or for metal for the construction of weapons and other objects the USSR saw fit to build.
Although the advance in industry was a crucial thing for the development of the Soviet Union, it was carried out very inefficiently and came at a cost. All the workers in the industries had never really learned how to properly use the machinery. The workers were given tools and told to work but they did not have a clue on how to do it. A very small percentage of the work force new what they were doing, the rest didn't. If the workers had been properly taught the five year plan would have probably succeeded within the limit of time. The conditions in which the workers were working in were very poor as were their wages. Overall the five year plans could have been more efficient if only more attention and more care would have been given.
The price the Soviet Union had to pay for farming was incredibly big in human life more than anything else. As collectivization was carried out many of the peasants were left with nearly nothing to feed themselves and their families. Starvation was spread throughout the USSR and many people died of starvation. Many reports of cannibalism were reported. Around 4-5 million peasants died of starvation. While the Stalin was selling grain for machinery and other things people were dieing.
Many people think that the USSR could not have survived if rapid industrialization had not been put into action with the five year plans, but the price it paid was very high. People say that if the NEP had prevailed the casualties would not have been so big and the growth of the Soviet Union would have been steadier and less damaging.
