Explain why the 5 year plans were introduced at the end of the 1920’s?
At the end of the 1920’s it was clear to Stalin and most of the rest of the Communist party that Russia was not benefitting enough from the NEP and a new policy would have to replace it if they wanted a radical change. For many reasons these 5 year plans were enforced and within an incredibly short about of time Russia made their vulnerable country more economically and industrially powerful. These plans were enforced not only to replace the NEP but to make Russia the strong nation Stalin had envisioned and industrialise it further to compete alongside other threatening European nations.
The main obsession Stalin had was with power. Power to run his nation, and power in that nation to defend itself against others and possibly even spread to take over the rest of the world. Like Lenin he believed that the USSR should ‘overtake and outstrip the capitalist countries’ and with huge industrialisation he believed this would happen. There was a major threat from a lot of other industrial powers like Germany and the USA. Because these countries had a strong middle class society to drive much of their industrialisation Russia’s government had to lead the path for their own form of industrialisation. His ideological aim was to facilitate industrialisation in Russia quickly so that their workers could create iron, coal and steel factories in all regions which would provide material to make more products and buildings. Yet most of the work done went towards weaponry to protect the nation from other wars and the communists from another civil war.
As previously mentioned, another reason for Stalin’s 5 year plans was to get rid of the NEP. While the NEP was successful in recovering from the 1918-21 civil war it was not a good plan for introducing socialism or furthering industrialisation. It was simply away to recover from the crisis but now the five year plans set out would create a solid society...