1935 In Retrospect

Abstract

The second of the three years of rapid economic development, 1935, was the most successful of all the pre-war years. Industry and agriculture both expanded more rapidly than in 1934. The complicated abolition of food rationing was successfully negotiated, the living conditions of a substantial minority of the urban population noticeably improved and many peasants were also living better. In consequence, an accelerating euphoria about the future of the economy sounded forth with a loud voice; and in the last four months of the year the campaigns for economic efficiency gave way to Stakhanovism with its emphasis on heroic feats of labour productivity. Over-optimism about economic prospects, encouraged by Stalin and enthusiastically supported by Ordzhonikidze, led to the decisions in the second half of 1935 (discussed in Chapter 9) to increase investment in the single year 1936 by over 50 per cent. The smoother development characteristic of 1934 and most of 1935 began to be undermined.