Third Five-Year Plan (1938–1941)
제3차 5개년 계획 (1938–1941)
The Soviet Union's third national economic development plan, approved at the 18th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) in March 1939. Planned for 1938–1942, it was cut short by the German invasion of June 1941, and its implementation was dominated by a rapid shift to a war footing: the defense share of the state budget rose from 18.7% in 1938 to 32.6% in 1940. Resources were concentrated on heavy industry and armaments, and backup factories were built east of the Urals, in the Volga region, and in Siberia: a measure that later proved critical to preserving Soviet military potential in the Great Patriotic War.
In depth
Background and Approval
The Third Five-Year Plan was approved at the 18th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) in March 1939, with an official planning period of 1938–1942. By this time the threat of war in Europe was unmistakable; after the Munich Agreement of 1938, the Soviet leadership recognized that conflict was only a matter of time.
Goals and Slogan
The plan was launched under the slogan 'catch up and overtake the most developed capitalist countries.' Its main targets were to nearly double industrial output, create large state reserves and mobilization stockpiles (especially fuel and defense products), and raise agricultural production by 50%. Unlike earlier plans, the emphasis shifted from sheer quantity to quality: increased output of alloyed and high-quality steels, light and non-ferrous metals, precision equipment, development of the chemical industry, and early attempts at integrated mechanization and automation.
The Defense Pivot
In practice, the plan was consumed by war preparation from the start. In 1939, new people's commissariats for the aviation industry, armaments, ammunition, and shipbuilding were created. Defense spending rose from 18.7% of the state budget in 1938 to 32.6% in 1940 and 43.4% by 1941. Military-industrial output alone grew by 46.5% in 1938–1939. The law 'On Universal Military Obligation' was adopted in September 1939, and by January 1941 the Soviet armed forces had reached 4.2 million personnel.
Relocation of Industry Eastward
One of the plan's lasting achievements was the construction of backup defense plants in the Volga region, the Urals, and Siberia. This eastward industrial dispersion meant that when German forces overran the western USSR in 1941, machine tools and equipment could be evacuated to these pre-built sites, preserving the Soviet Union's military production capacity through the war.
Abandonment
Overall industrial output grew by roughly 34% over 1938–1940, close to but short of plan targets. The plan was effectively abandoned after the German invasion of June 1941, when Gosplan shifted to wartime mobilization planning.
Sources
- Wikipedia (RU) Russian Wikipedia: defense spending trajectory 18.7% → 32.6% → 43.4%, plan period 1938–1942, quality focus on alloyed steels and precision equipment, 34% output growth, new military commissariats 1939, backup plants in Volga/Urals/Siberia
- Wikipedia (EN) English Wikipedia: third plan ran 3½ years to June 1941, resources shifted to armaments and military factories east of Urals, originally intended to focus on consumer goods
- globalsecurity.org GlobalSecurity.org: approved March 1939 at 18th Party Congress, slogan 'catch up and overtake', goals to double industry and raise agriculture 1.5×, absorbed Baltic states/eastern Poland/Bessarabia, abandoned after 1941 invasion