ABSTRACT
The panorama of life in the Soviet Union during the years which link the first FYP and the German attack on 22 June 1941 almost defies description and comprehension. The goals of the first FYP can be likened to Utopia, unattainable but nonetheless worth aiming at. The determination to force industrialisation and collectivisation was very great. Socialism then was conceived of as a moneyless economy. It was also thought in 1930 that society could be transformed very rapidly. Stalinism flowered in the 1930s in a responsive soil. It owes more to Russian political culture than to the westernising tradition of social democracy. The first FYP was the initial offensive, which was accompanied by intense politicisation and mobilisation of the population. The threat from national socialist Germany was felt to be very real and it put off raising living standards for a whole generation. Agriculture hit rock bottom in 1933, but thereafter it was upwards all the way.
