Joseph Stalin's Five-Year Plans (1928-50) were a series of state-led initiatives which aimed to grow the economy of the USSR, rapidly industrialise what was still a largely agricultural state, and collectivise farms to both increase productivity and reduce anti-Communist elements in the countryside. Partially successful in their aims, although never achieving the ambitious targets they set, the four plans under Stalin did transform the USSR into a much more modern and powerful state. Negative consequences of the plans included the Great Famine of the early 1930s, which killed millions, the persecution of the wealthier landowning peasantry (kulaks), a persistently low quality of production, and huge amounts of wasted costs.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original article at https://www.worldhistory.org/article/3015/stalins-five-year-plans/.
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