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That's the Explorers Podcast. Hello everyone and welcome to history of the Second World War episode 133, the Soviet Union Part 3, the first five-year plan.

This week I would like to thank John, Michael, and James

for choosing to support the podcast by becoming members. You can find out more about becoming a member

over at History of the Second World War.com slash members. Last episode covered the political

and military developments in the Soviet Union during the 1920s, and this episode will shift focus primarily to economic

decisions that would be made during the late 1920s and into the 1930s.

This would be a critical period for the economy of the Soviet Union, and some of the

most impactful decisions for the future war with Germany would be made during this period,

which would allow for the later actions

that would turn the Soviet Union into an economic powerhouse. Many of these actions would

be encapsulated in the first five-year plan, which would begin in 1928, with two further

five-year plans taking place before the start of the war. These five-year plans were primarily

focused around massive economic investment to

greatly increase the Soviet Union's industrial capacity. To do this, resources and manpower

would be focused on a number of goals, which would quickly make the Soviet Union an industrial

powerhouse. Or at least, that was the plan. As with any major economic plan, there would be challenges

...