Successes and failures of the First Five-Year Plan

Successes

• Electricity production trebled; coal and iron output doubled; and steel production increased by one third
• Engineering industry developed and increased output of machine-tools and turbines
• Huge new industrial complexes were built
• The Soviet economy was kick-started and there was impressive growth in certain areas
• 1500 enterprises opened

Failures

• Little growth in consumer industries
• The Great Depression had driven down the price of grain and raw materials, so the USSR could not earn enough from exports
• Small workshops were squeezed…