The Industrialisation of Soviet Russia Volume 4: Crisis and Progress in the Soviet Economy, 1931-1933

The profound economic crisis of 1931-33 undermined the process of industrialisation and the stability of the regime. In spite of feverish efforts to achieve the over ambitious first five-year plan, the great industrial projects lagged far behind schedule. These were years of inflation, economic disorder and of terrible famine in 1933. In response to the crisis, policies and systems changed significantly. Greater realism prevailed: more moderate plans, reduced investment, strict monetary controls, and more emphasis on economic incentives and the role of the market. The reforms failed to prevent the terrible famine of 1933, in which millions of peasants died. But the last months of 1933 saw the first signs of an industrial boom, the outcome of the huge investments of previous years. Using the previously secret archives of the Politburo and the Council of People's Commissars, the author shows how during these formative years the economic system acquired the shape which it retained until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Front Matter....Pages i-xviii The 1931 Plan....Pages 1-10 The Industrial Conference, January 30–February 4, 1931....Pages 11-17 The Struggle for the Plan: January–June 1931....Pages 18-64 Stalin’s Conditions for Industrial Development....Pages 65-76 Reforms and Plans, July–December 1931....Pages 77-103 1931 in Retrospect....Pages 104-122 The 1932 Plan....Pages 123-132 The xvii Party Conference, January 30–February 4, 1932....Pages 133-141 Reforms Amid Difficulties, January–July 1932....Pages 142-228 Crisis and Repression, July–December 1932....Pages 229-301 1932 in Retrospect....Pages 302-316 The January Plenum and the 1933 Plan....Pages 317-330 From Disaster to Stability: The Political Context of 1933....Pages 331-361 The Depths of Crisis, January–March 1933....Pages 362-379 The Eve of the Upsurge, April–December 1933....Pages 380-406 1933 in Retrospect....Pages 407-439 Urban Society in Transition....Pages 440-456 Conclusions....Pages 457-499 Back Matter....Pages 501-612