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Historical Analysis
National Studies ~ Russia & Soviet Union 1917-1941

Between 1928 and 1941, Stalin’s economic transformation had a significant impact on
Soviet-society, he successfully transformed the economy whilst also severely impacting
living and working conditions of the Soviet people. Through his Five-Year Plans and policy
of Collectivisation, Stalin claimed that the industrialisation of the cities and the
modernisation of the ‘backward’ economy was absolutely essential to the future of the Soviet
Union, “either we do this or we’ll be crushed”1. Despite the growth of the Soviet Union's
gross industrial output and employment, the lower classes of society suffered. Stalin's
economic transformation had millions of victims and impacted every aspect of Soviet-life,
the can be seen through overpopulation of all major cities, a lack of social welfare,
overworked factory workers, and famine in Ukraine, South Russia and Kazakhstan2 during
the period of Stalin’s economic transformation.

A part of the Five-Year Plans was the policy of Collectivisation which was pursued most
evidently between 1929-19333, and as historian, Sheila Fitzgerald, points out “turned out to
be a very costly project”4. Between November 1929 and March 1930, the policy stripped
60% of all farms of their private ownership5. Collectivisation to a large extent impacted
peasants and fundamentally changed the way they lived and worked and altered their
agricultural routines, as emphasised by historian David Christian, “collectivisation affected
all peasants in some way or another”6. Grain procurement, low wages, grain production
quotas, dekulakization and loss of independence meant many peasants were not supportive of
the policy. The impact of this saw a surge of in-migration of peasants, in search of new work

1
Stalin, J. (1928). Speech Delivered at the Plenum of the C.P.S.U.(B.). Industrialisation of the country
and the Right Deviation in the C.P.S.U.(B.). Acc. 11/3/23
2
Service, R. (2005). Stalin: A Biography. Pan Books. p. 722
3
Lynch, M. (2005). Bolshevik and Stalinist Russia 1918-56. Hodder Murray. p. 81-82
4
Fitzpatrick, S. (1999). Everyday Stalinism: ordinary life in extraordinary times : Soviet Russia in the
1930s. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 9
5
Op. cit.
6
Christian, D. (1994). Power and Privilege: The Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and the Challenge
of Modernity. Longman Cheshire.

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and safety from the poorly run collective farms, to the larger city centres. At the introduction
of the First Five-Year plan in 1928, Moscow's population increased by 60%7 and between
1928-1932 the urban labour force increased by 12.5 million, 8.5 million of which were
previously peasants8. The urban population was increasing three times faster than the
development of housing9. Historian Orlando Figes referred to the rapid migration as a ‘human
flood’10 that caused the spread of diseases, low sanitation and pressures on food, fuel supplies
and housing; in some cases, four to five families were living in one room11. 80% of factory
workers in cities lived in Kommunalka12 which were communal apartments and were
cramped and unsanitary, as described by German Diplomat Gustave Hilger, “Factory
workers… who wanted to find a place to live in … had to live in earth shelters they dug out
in neighbouring hills”. Historian Alec Nove said this period of economic transformation was
the most severe “decline in living standards known in recorded time”13, which demonstrates
that Stalin’s economic transformation, including the policy of Collectivisation, to a
significant extent impacted the living conditions of Soviet society.

Between 1929-1931 the Five-Year Plans had a significant impact on wages of the Soviet
people. By 1931 the average income was about 50% of that in 192814 and workers were being
paid piece-rates. This change in wages impacted food consumption, with meat and lard
dropping from 24.8 kilograms per head in 1928, to just 11.2 kilograms in 193215. The only
consumer good the Soviet people increased consumption of was vodka, which by the
mid-1930s made up a fifth of total state revenues16. Adding pressure to the living conditions
of the Soviet people, historian Sheila Fitzpatrick states that the diversion of funds from
social-welfare to heavy industry, and the availability of the limited services were favoured
towards privileged key industries of work17. Rather than investing in housing for a growing

7
Hoffman, D. (1991). Moving to Moscow: Patterns of Peasant In-Migration during the First
Five-Year Plan. Slavic Review, 50(4), 847-857.
8
Manaev, G. (2020). The human cost of Soviet five-year plans. Russia Beyond. Acc. 6/3/23
9
Mikulenok, J. A. (2018). Housing Shortage in Soviet Russia in 1920s. Journal of History Culture
and Art Research, 7(5), 147-156. Acc. 6/3/23
10
Figes, O. (2014). Revolutionary Russia, 1891-1991. Pelican. Ch. 15
11
Lynch, M. (2005). Bolshevik and Stalinist Russia 1918-56. Hodder Murray. p. 81-82
12
Messana, P., & Pike, J. (2017, May 25). Housing / Kommunalkas. GlobalSecurity.org. Acc. 7/3/23
13
Nove, A. (1969). An Economic History of the U.S.S.R. Penguin Books. p. 206
14
Featherstone High School. (n.d.). RUSSIA, 1917-39 Key Topic1: The collapse of the Tsarist Regime,
1917 The Nature of Tsarist Rule. FHS History. Acc. 8/3/23
15
Op. cit.
16
Fitzpatrick, S. (2022). The Shortest History of the Soviet Union. Black Incorporated. p. 82
17
Fitzpatrick, S. (1999). Everyday Stalinism: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in
the 1930s. Oxford University Press, USA. p.10

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working population, and assisting the desperate famine-ridden nations, the welfare system
was used to promote industrialisation and caused the alienation of the peasantry and
exclusion of disabled and unemployed18. The workers in the Soviet Union were working hard
to industrialise and modernise the nation but at the same time were working harder to simply
live. To a significant extent the living and working conditions of society in the Soviet Union
were jeopardised by Stalin’s ambitious policies which focussed on increasing workers and
production.

The required grain quotas associated with Stalin’s economic policies had a particularly severe
impact on Ukraine. The man-made famine referred to as, Holodomor, between 1930-193219,
contributed to mass in-migration20 to city centres and mass deaths from starvation. It’s
estimated that 30,000 people were dying per day in 193021 from starvation and by 1932 the
number of deaths could have been up to 8.5 million22. Historian David Hoffman shares the
accounts of starvation and death, and the amount of homeless and orphaned children that
were starving, begging and stealing to survive23. “It’s clear that high ethnic-Ukrainian famine
mortality was the result of [Stalin’s economic] policy'' said Nancy Qian, a Professor of
Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences. The high incidence of death in Ukraine to a
large extent can directly be connected to Stalin’s economic policies.

Stalin’s economic transformation did to some extent positively impact Soviet society.
Historian Robert Service notes that the national income doubled between 1927-1928, and the
Soviet Union’s gross industrial output increased by 137%24. The increased output allowed the
Soviet Union to successfully industrialise and create new jobs. Historian Geoffrey Hosking
indicates that Stalin’s economic transformation enabled many Soviet’s to enter new industries
such as industrial management, administration, the government and working for the Party25.
The labour force increased from 11.3 million under the New Economic Policy, prior to
18
Caroli, D., & Williams, R. (2003). Bolshevism, Socialism and Welfare 1917 - 1936 (Vol. 48 No.1).
Cambridge University Press. p. 27
19
Gavrilyuk, P. (2018). Holodomor | Holocaust and Genocide Studies | College of Liberal Arts. Acc.
6/3/23
20
Ibid.
21
Novytsky, S. (2017). Collectivization and the Holodomor. Jackson School of International Studies.
Acc. 4/3/23
22
Figes, O. (2014). Revolutionary Russia, 1891-1991. Pelican. Ch. 15
23
Hoffman, D. (1991). Moving to Moscow: Patterns of Peasant In-Migration during the First
Five-Year Plan. Slavic Review, 50(4), p.851-852
24
Service, R. (2005). Stalin: A Biography. Pan Books. p.721
25
Hosking, G. A. (1992). A History of the Soviet Union, 1917-1991. Fontana. p. 208

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Stalin’s leadership, to 22.8 million26 during his economic transformation. Secondary

Stalin’s economic transformation and control was a “dictatorship over needs'' which aimed to
achieve its goals of industrialisation and modernisation with no concern of the severe damage
to the living and working conditions, the millions of lives lost to famine nor the overworked
and underpaid factory workers of the Soviet Union. Soviet society was to a significant extent
impacted as a result of Stalin’s economic transformation between 1928 and 1941. Society was
irrevocably altered as a result of Stalin’s Five-Year plans and policy of Collectivisation - the
cities were bigger, workers were working longer hours, exports from the Soviet Union
exponentially increased and many Soviet people feared for their lives and future.

26
Service, R. (2005). Stalin: A Biography. Pan Books. p.721-722.
27
Rigby, T. & Princeton University Press (1968). Communist Party Membership in the USSR
1927-67. 28(35), 401.
28
Gatrell, P., & Gatrell, P. o. E. H. P. (2005). Russia's First World War: a social and economic history.
Pearson/Longman. Ch. 11

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References

Britannica. (n.d.). Collectivization | Definition & Facts | Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved

March 7, 2023, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/collectivization

Caroli, D., & Williams, R. (2003). Bolshevism, Socialism and Welfare 1917 - 1936 (Vol. 48

No.1). Cambridge University Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44582738

Christian, D. (1994). Power and Privilege: The Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and the

Challenge of Modernity. Longman Cheshire.

Figes, O. (2014). Revolutionary Russia, 1891-1991. Pelican.

Fitzpatrick, S. (1999). Everyday Stalinism: ordinary life in extraordinary times : Soviet

Russia in the 1930s. Oxford University Press, USA.

Fitzpatrick, S. (2022). The Shortest History of the Soviet Union. Black Incorporated.

Gatrell, P., & Gatrell, P. (2005). Russia's First World War: A Social and Economic History.

Pearson/Longman.

Gattrell, P. (1992). Under Command: The Soviet Economy 1924-53 (Vol. 46 No. 3).

Routledge.

Gavrilyuk, P. (2018). Holodomor | Holocaust and Genocide Studies | College of Liberal

Arts. College of Liberal Arts. Retrieved. March 6, 2023

https://cla.umn.edu/chgs/holocaust-genocide-education/resource-guides/holodomor

Hoffman, D. (1991). Moving to Moscow: Patterns of Peasant In-Migration during the First

Five-Year Plan. Slavic Review, 50(4), 847-857. 10.2307/2500466

Hosking, G. A. (1992). A History of the Soviet Union, 1917-1991. Fontana.

Lynch, M. (2005). Bolshevik and Stalinist Russia 1918-56. Hodder Murray.

Manaev, G. (2020, October 15). The human cost of Soviet five-year plans. Russia Beyond.

Retrieved March 5, 2023, from

https://www.rbth.com/history/332851-soviet-five-year-plans-cost

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22184 March 2023 - 12 Modern History

Messana, P., & Pike, J. (2017, May 25). Housing / Kommunalkas. GlobalSecurity.org.

Retrieved March 7, 2023, from

https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/housing-kommunalkas.htm

Mikulenok, J. A. (2018). Housing Shortage in Soviet Russia in 1920s. Journal of History

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Nove, A. (1969). An Economic History of the U.S.S.R. Penguin Books.

Novytsky, S. (2017). Collectivization and the Holodomor. Jackson School of International

Studies. Retrieved March 4, 2023 from,

https://jsis.washington.edu/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/USSR_COLLECT

IVIZATION_HOLODOMOR.pdf

Rigby, T. & Princeton University Press (1968). Communist Party Membership in the USSR

1927-67. 28(35), 401.

Service, R. (2005). Stalin: A Biography. Pan Books.

Stalin, J. (1928). Speech Delivered at the Plenum of the C.P.S.U.(B.). Industrialisation of the

country and the Right Deviation in the C.P.S.U.(B.). Retrieve March 11, 2023 from,

https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1928/11/19.htm

Webb, K. (2018). Russia and the Soviet Union: 1917'1941 a National Study Student Book

with 4 Access Codes. Cengage Learning Australia.