Ussr primary Source Document #4 of 4



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USSR Primary Source Document #4 of 4


author Joseph Stalin

date 1933

medium speech

audience Central Committee of the Communist Party
language Russian

translator uncredited

publishing unknown

accessed Grossmont College:

Prof. Bale's Modern World History Primary Sources


excerpt from [Goals and Results of the First Five-Year Plan]

What are the results of the Five-Year Plan in four years in the sphere of industry?...
We did not have iron and steel industry, the foundation for the industrialization of the country. Now we have this industry.
We did not have a tractor industry. Now we have one.

We did not have an automobile industry. Now we have one.

We did not have a machine-tool industry. Now we have one.

We did not have a big and up-to-date chemical industry. Now we have one.

We did not have a real and big industry for the production of modern agricultural machinery. Now we have one.

We did not have an aircraft industry. Now we have one.

In the output of electric power we were last on the list. Now we rank among the first.

In the output of oil products and coal we were last on the list. Now we rank among the first.


And as a result of all this the capitalist elements have been completely and irrevocably eliminated from industry, and socialist industry has become the sole form of industry in the U.S.S.R.
And as a result of all this our country has been converted from an agrarian into an industrial country; for the proportion of industrial output, as compared with agricultural output, has risen from 48 per cent of the total in the beginning of the Five-Year Plan period (1928) to 70 per cent at the end of the fourth year of the Five-Year Plan period (1932)…
Finally, as a result of all this the Soviet Union has been converted from a weak country, unprepared for defense, into a country mighty in defense, a country prepared for every contingency, a country capable of producing on a mass scale all modern weapons of defense and of equipping its army with them in the event of an attack from without…

Questions


  1. What was the relationship between the speaker and the audience? How and why does that influence or affect the following aspects of the speech: content, style, aim, and validity?




  1. Look at the speech’s date, and consider what the speech contains. Why is the date important; how does it relate to the contents? What was the historical context of the speech (what was going on at the time the speech was given/what happened just before/what happened soon after)?




  1. How does this speech make Stalin’s administration/leadership look? Was that an accurate depiction?




  1. Assuming the speech’s claims are true, what did it mean for the future of Stalin’s USSR? What do you think happened in the years after this speech as per the USSR on the world stage?


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