Why Was Their Conflict Bewteen the Workers and Stalin?
- Submitted by: EllieDade
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- Category: History: Russian
- Date Submitted: 12/05/2011 10:55 AM
- Pages: 5
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Stalin gained power in 1928 and with this he aimed to modernise Russia industrially in order to catch up with the western world that were incredibly ahead of Russia. He wanted to achieve a country that would be less dependent on others and be capable of producing armaments for defence. With the Communist party he believed that the way of developing an industry would be through State Planning, which consisted of the government deciding what would be produced, where it would be produced and how it was produced.
Part of Stalin’s solution to revolutionize Russia was ‘The Five Year Plan’. The plans set production targets, which industries had to reach. These targets were often extremely high, and almost impossible, however very good results were produced, hundreds of new towns were carved from nothing. The workers were inspired by the great task of transforming Russia and building a better life for their children. The hard workers were awarded and honoured and everyone was encouraged to compete against each other. However it wasn’t all sugar coated. The fear of being sent to labour camps and accused of sabotaged was forever looming over the workers and encouraged them all to work even harder. By 1940 it was a criminal offence to be absent from your work place more than twice, as Stalin couldn’t afford absentees. Workers also carried labour books, this was so managers could comment on the worker’s efforts and any bad comments could result in loss of food rations or imprisonment. You had no choice but to work hard. In Source 2 on page 88 we can see the targets of the production figures and then the production figures after the programme. In 1927 the production of coal was at 35 millions of tons, and after the first five year plan it almost doubled to 64 where the target was 75. The workers were under an enormous amount of pressure. I think this source is reliable because it was produced by the government, and it shows how the targets were not strictly met, however it...
Part of Stalin’s solution to revolutionize Russia was ‘The Five Year Plan’. The plans set production targets, which industries had to reach. These targets were often extremely high, and almost impossible, however very good results were produced, hundreds of new towns were carved from nothing. The workers were inspired by the great task of transforming Russia and building a better life for their children. The hard workers were awarded and honoured and everyone was encouraged to compete against each other. However it wasn’t all sugar coated. The fear of being sent to labour camps and accused of sabotaged was forever looming over the workers and encouraged them all to work even harder. By 1940 it was a criminal offence to be absent from your work place more than twice, as Stalin couldn’t afford absentees. Workers also carried labour books, this was so managers could comment on the worker’s efforts and any bad comments could result in loss of food rations or imprisonment. You had no choice but to work hard. In Source 2 on page 88 we can see the targets of the production figures and then the production figures after the programme. In 1927 the production of coal was at 35 millions of tons, and after the first five year plan it almost doubled to 64 where the target was 75. The workers were under an enormous amount of pressure. I think this source is reliable because it was produced by the government, and it shows how the targets were not strictly met, however it...