How Far Do You Agree That the Main Consequence of the Freat Terror Was the Removal of Stalins Rivals

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How far did the first five-year plan differ from the second and third five-year plans? The Five Year Plans were introduced by Stalin to help rapidly industrialize the Soviet Union. It gave the Government an opportunity to implement economic policies into the country. There were many reasons why the Five-Year Plan was introduced, some of these reasons were intended to prepare the USSR for war, and other reasons had different intentions. The Five Year Plans that were spread over the years 1928-1941 were split into the First Five-Year Plan, the Second Five-Year Plan and the Third Five-Year Plan. Each of these plans dealt with all aspects of development such as consumer goods, industry, transport and communications and welfare, but each plan put emphasis on different areas. 

 The First Five-Year Plan was introduced in 1928 and lasted until 1932. This plan placed emphasis on the expansion of heavy industry such as coal, steel and iron ore, and was proved successful despite the unrealistic targets that were set. Similar to the first, the second five-year plans focused on industry and consolidation of power. However having learnt from mistakes during the unstructured first plan, Stalin introduced the idea of a better standard of living and consumer goods to create a society that brought everyone together, helping ‘Mother Russia’. It is believed that Stalin used the first five year plans to cement his position as leader of Russia, introducing heavy industry of which brought many people together. During the second plan, he increased the production of weapons, means of transport and arms that are all essential when fighting in a war. It was becoming clear that Stalin’s rivalry with the Western world was creating the reason for a ‘war economy’. To emphasize this, defense spending rose from 4% to 17% by 1937. Throughout the first plan, an enormous amount of waste was
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