After the civil war, the Russian economy, to put it in the modern “Obamovsky” language, “was torn to shreds”. Really torn and collapsed. And the NEP only somewhat stabilized the problem of providing the population with food and consumer goods, but it caused a sharp increase in class contradictions in the countryside due to the growing number of kulaks and exacerbated the class struggle in the countryside from open kulak uprisings.
Therefore, the party of the CPSU (b) has embarked on the development of the country's industrial production in order to obtain the possibility for an independent solution of the national economic problems facing Russia, destroyed by a long-term war. Moreover, an accelerated decision. That is, the party headed for the industrialization of the country.
Stalin said:
“We fell behind the advanced countries by 50-100 years. We must make good this distance in ten years. Either we do it, or they crush us. This is what our obligations to the workers and peasants of the USSR dictate to us. ”
Industrialization is the socio-economic policy of the Bolshevik Party in the USSR, starting with 1927 and until the end of 30, whose main objectives were the following:
1. Elimination of technical and economic backwardness of the country;
2. Achieving economic independence;
3. Creating a powerful defense industry;
4. The priority development of the complex of basic industries: defense, fuel, energy, metallurgy, machine-building.
What ways of industrialization existed by that time and which were chosen by the Bolsheviks?
From Stalin's comments on industrialization:
1. "History knows various ways of industrialization.
England industrialized thanks to the fact that it plundered dozens and hundreds of years of the colony, collected additional capital there, invested them in its industry and accelerated the pace of its industrialization. This is one way of industrialization.
Germany accelerated its industrialization as a result of the victorious war with France in the 70-ies of the last century, when, taking five billion francs of contributions from the French, it poured them into its industry. This is the second method of industrialization.
Both of these methods are closed to us, for we are the country of the Soviets, for colonial plunder and military seizures for the purpose of plunder are incompatible with the nature of Soviet power.
Russia, the old Russia, was giving in indentured concessions and getting indentured loans, trying in this way to gradually get out on the path of industrialization. This is the third way. But this is the way of bondage or semi-slabs, the way of turning Russia into a semi-colony. This path is also closed to us, because it was not for this that we fought a three-year civil war, repelling all and every interventionist, so that later, after defeating the interventionists, voluntarily go into bondage to the imperialists.
There remains the fourth path of industrialization, the path of own savings for the cause of industry, the path of socialist accumulation, to which Comrade has repeatedly pointed. Lenin, as the only way of industrialization of our country.
("On the economic situation and the policy of the party", t.8 page.123.)
2. “What does it mean to industrialize our country? This means turning an agrarian country into an industrial country. This means to deliver and develop our industry on a new technical basis.
Nowhere else in the world has a huge, backward agrarian country turned into an industrial country without robbing colonies, without robbing foreign countries or without large loans and long-term loans from outside. Remember the history of the industrial development of England, Germany, America, and you will understand that this is exactly so. Even America, the most powerful of all capitalist countries, was forced to spend the entire 30-40 years after the civil war in order to put its industry at the expense of loans and long-term loans from the outside and plunder of the adjacent states and islands.
Can we take this “tested” path? No, we cannot, because the nature of the Soviet government does not tolerate colonial robberies, and there are no grounds for counting on large loans and long-term loans.
Old Russia, tsarist Russia, went towards industrialization in a different way - by entering into enslaving loans and returning enslaving concessions to the main branches of our industry. You know that almost the entire Donbass, more than half of St. Petersburg industry, Baku oil and a number of railways, not to mention the electrical industry, were in the hands of foreign capitalists. This was the path of industrialization at the expense of the peoples of the USSR and against the interests of the working class. It is clear that we cannot take this path: not for this we fought the yoke of capitalism, not for that we overthrew capitalism in order to go afterwards voluntarily to the yoke of capitalism.
Only one path remains, the path of own savings, the path of economy, the path of prudent farming in order to accumulate the necessary funds for the industrialization of our country. No words, this task is difficult. But, despite the difficulties, we are already resolving it. Yes, comrades, four years after the civil war we are already solving this task.
(“Speech at the meeting of workers of the Stalinist railway stations of the October road”, t.9, page.172.)
3. “There are a number of accumulation channels, of which at least the main ones should be mentioned.
First of all. It is necessary that the surplus of savings in the country is not scattered, and collected in our credit institutions, cooperative and state, as well as in the form of domestic loans, in order to use them for the needs of primarily industry. It is clear that investors should receive a known percentage for this. It cannot be said that in this area the situation is somewhat satisfactory. But the task of improving our credit network, the task of raising the credibility of credit institutions in the eyes of the population, the task of organizing the business of domestic loans is undoubtedly facing us as one of the next tasks, and we must resolve it by all means.
Secondly. It is necessary to carefully close all the paths and slots along which a part of the surplus accumulation in the country flows into the pockets of private capital to the detriment of socialist accumulation. To do this, it is necessary to pursue a policy of prices that would not create a failure between wholesale prices and retail prices. It is necessary to take all measures to reduce the retail prices for industrial products and agricultural products in order to suspend, or at least minimize the leakage of surplus accumulation in the private sector’s pockets. This is one of the most important issues of our economic policy. From here comes one of the serious dangers both for the business of our accumulation and for the chervonets.
Thirdly. It is necessary that within the industry itself, in each of its industries, the known reserves should be postponed for depreciation of enterprises, for their expansion, for their further development. This business is necessary, absolutely necessary, it must be moved forward at all costs.
Fourth. It is necessary that in the hands of the state accumulated known reserves necessary for insuring the country against all sorts of accidents (crop failure), for feeding industry, for maintaining agriculture, for developing culture, etc. It is impossible to live and work now without reserves. Even the peasant with his small farm can not now do without known stocks. Moreover, the state of a great country cannot do without reserves.
("On the economic situation and the policy of the party", t.8 page.126.)
Means for industrialization:
Where did the Bolsheviks get the money for industrialization?
1. The funds were withdrawn from agriculture and light industry;
2. Funds came from the sale of raw materials (oil, gold, timber, grain, etc.);
3. Some treasures of museums and churches were sold;
4. Taxed private sector until the complete confiscation of property.
5. By reducing the standard of living of the population, due to rising prices, the introduction of a card-based distribution system, individual government loans, etc.
6. By the enthusiasm of the workers, building for themselves a new world without the exploitation of man by man.
7. Through the most powerful propaganda and agitation of new forms and new collectivistic methods of labor organization.
8. By organizing the advanced Stakhanov movement both in industrial production and in agriculture.
9. By introducing state awards for labor achievements.
10. By developing the system of free social benefits and state guarantees for human labor: free education and free medicine for all groups of the population, free nurseries, kindergartens, summer camps, sanatoriums, and so on and so forth.
And again, the words of Stalin about the foundations of industrialization in the USSR:
“So, is the industrialization of our country possible on the basis of socialist accumulation?”
Do we have sources of such accumulation sufficient to ensure industrialization?
Yes, it is possible. Yes, we have such sources.
I could refer to such a fact as the expropriation of landlords and capitalists in our country as a result of the October Revolution, the destruction of private ownership of land, factories, factories, etc., and their transfer into public ownership. It is hardly necessary to prove that this fact represents a fairly substantial source of accumulation.
I could refer, further, to such a fact as the annulment of the tsar's debts, which removed billions of rubles of debts from the shoulders of our national economy. We should not forget that when leaving these debts we had to pay annually several hundred million percent alone, to the detriment of industry, to the detriment of our entire national economy. Needless to say, this circumstance brought great relief to the cause of our accumulation.
I could point to our nationalized industry, which has been restored, which is developing and which gives some of the profits necessary for the further development of the industry. This is also a source of accumulation.
I could point to our nationalized foreign trade, which gives some profit and represents, therefore, a certain source of accumulation.
One could refer to our more or less organized state internal trade, which also gives a certain profit and represents, therefore, a certain source of accumulation.
One could point to such a lever of accumulation as our nationalized banking system, which gives a certain profit and feeds our industry as much as we can.
Finally, we have this weaponas a state power that manages the state budget and which collects a small amount of money for the further development of the national economy in general, our industry in particular.
These are mainly the main sources of our internal accumulation.
They are interesting in that they give us the opportunity to create those necessary reserves, without which the industrialization of our country is impossible. ”
("On the economic situation and the policy of the party", t.8 page.124.)
For, according to Stalin, the fast pace of development of industry in general and the production of means of production in particular represents the main beginning and key of the country's industrial development, the main beginning and key of the transformation of our entire national economy on the basis of advanced socialist development.
At the same time, we cannot and must not curb heavy industry for the sake of the full development of light industry. And light industry cannot be developed sufficiently without the accelerated development of heavy industry.
("XV Congress of the CPSU (b)" t.10 page.310.)
The result of industrialization was:
1. Creating a powerful industry in the country;
From 1927 to 1937, over the 7 of thousands of large industrial enterprises were built in the USSR in the USSR;
2. The USSR came out on 2 place in the world in terms of industrial production after the United States.
3. The USSR created its powerful defense industry, new to Russia.
4. In the USSR, branch science also began to develop powerfully on the basis of powerful industrial production, determining the technical level of technologies developed and used in industrial production.
5. The USSR became the birthplace of technical cosmonautics, having created a new space industry in the country, a space industry, having significantly outstripped the United States in this direction.
The results of the industrialization of the USSR turned out to be stunning not only for the inhabitants of the USSR, but also for the whole world. After all, the former tsarist Russia in an unusually short period became a powerful, industrially and scientifically developed country, a world power of world importance.
As you see, Stalin turned out to be right, making out of Russia that had collapsed, from Russia, plows and sandals, an advanced industrial power with the shortest working day in the world, the best free education in the world, advanced science, free medicine, national culture and the most powerful social guarantee of workers' rights country
However, in today's Russia everything is not done the way Stalin did in the USSR, and we have Russia with barely warm industrial production, utterly collapsed agriculture, dead science, a beggar, barely making ends to the population, but with an infinite number of its own billionaires.
So who was right in choosing the ways of development of Russia, the Bolsheviks or the current democrats? In my opinion, the Bolsheviks! After all, not a single word of Stalin about the industrialization of Russia is still not outdated.