Davies R.W., Khlevnyuk O., Wheatcroft S.G. The industrialisation of Soviet Russia. Volume 6: The Years of Progress. The Soviet Economy, 1934-1936

New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014 — 496 p. — ISBN10: 0333586859; ISBN13: 978-0333586853.This volume, based on extensive research in formerly secret archives, examines the progress of Soviet industrialisation against the background of the rising threat of aggression from Germany, Japan and Italy, and the consolidation of Stalin's power. The iron and steel industry expanded rapidly, new non-ferrous and rare metals were introduced, and the foundations were laid of a modern armaments industry. Following the disastrous famine of 1932-33, agriculture recovered, and sufficient grain stocks were accumulated to cope with the shortages after the bad weather of 1936. These successes were achieved, after the abolition of rationing by combining central planning and mobilisation campaigns with the use of economic incentives and experimentation with markets. Although the Soviet system ultimately failed, its success in these years was a crucial stage in the spread of the economic and social transformation which began in England in the eighteenth century to the rest of the world.The XVII Party Congress and the second five-year plan.
1934: A year of relaxation: the political background.
The economy in 1934.
1935: The growing threat of war.
The 1935 plan and the abolition of bread rationing.
‘Continuous advance’: january–september 1935.
‘Advancing to abundance’, September–December 1935.
1935 in retrospect.
The ambitious 1936 plan.
The political context of economic change, 1936.
1936: ‘The stakhanovite year’.
The successful outcome of 1936.