Five-Year Plans For The National Economy of The Soviet Union

Five-Year Plans For The National Economy Of The Soviet Union

The Five-Year Plans for the National Economy of the Soviet Union (USSR) (Russian: пятилетка, Pyatiletka) were a series of nation-wide centralized economic plans in the Soviet Union. The plans were developed by a state planning committee based on the Theory of Productive Forces that was part of the general guidelines of the Communist Party for economic development. Fulfilling the plan became the watchword of Soviet bureaucracy. (See Overview of the Soviet economic planning process) The same method of planning was also adopted by most other communist states, including the People's Republic of China. In addition, several capitalist states have emulated the concept of central planning, though in the context of a market economy, by setting integrated economic goals for a finite period of time. Thus are found "Seven-year Plans" and "Twelve-Year Plans". Nazi Germany emulated the practice in its Four Year Plan designed to bring Germany to war-readiness.

Several five-year plans did not take up the full period of time assigned to them: some were successfully completed earlier than expected, while others failed and were abandoned. Altogether, there were thirteen five-year plans. The initial five-year plans were created to serve in the rapid industrialization of the Soviet Union, and thus placed a major focus on heavy industry. The first one was accepted in 1928, for the period from 1929 to 1933, and completed one year early. The last Five-Year Plan was for the period from 1991 to 1995 and was not completed, as the Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991.