Fear and Forced Labour

Methods used Stalin said that to be backward was to be defeated and enslaved, ‘but if you are powerful, people must beware of you’ Severe punishments for the most minor mistakes Fear used to ensure highest production Cheap and forced labour to complete the worst jobs It did not matter if workers died, as long as the job as completed Government exercised tight control over the labour force

Did the workers support the Five Year Plans ? Working classes and young people were quite optimistic with the new plans. There were motivated by the revolution and were eager to build a better society. They also believed they would better off with the new plans. Since their wages didn’t really increase during the N.E.P, and unemployment was relatively high during the late 1920’s. To solve unemployment, Forced Labour was introduced by the government.

Forced Labour Labour shortages were solved by using forced labor The Baltic-White Sea Canal was built by the prisoners of GULAGS (camp that housed criminals and political prisoners, the kulaks) All criminals were then sent to labour camps to do cheap labour Crimes such as theft, government jokes and absence from work without approval could send people to the labour camps These labour camps had to be self-supporting

Lumber camps were set up to provide the country with timber Timber was exported to help raise money for industrial investment The number of forced labour camps increased when the Great Purge (a series of campaigns of political repression coordinated by Stalin) More than 14 million people were sent to GULAGS to be forced to labour

Effects on workers Life was harsh – Harsh factory discipline – Severe punishments Prison labour used for massive projects – Cheap labour – Worst jobs, worst conditions – High death toll

In relation to the 5 Year Plans Punishment was used for those who were not working hard enough The fear of the labour camps was usually enough to get people working hard All workers had to carry labour books which stated whether you had worked hard or not Those that failed to reach the required targets were publicity criticized and humiliated Absenteeism from work was punishable by being fined or having your ration book taken from you.

Was it successful? Anyone seen as a threat to Stalin were arrested Fear forced people to work harder An effect would be the human cost Labour camps allowed cheap labour and ensured there were no shortages of workers anywhere However, many of the structures were not well built (such as the White-Sea Baltic Sea Canal)

“Gulag prisoners could work up to 14 hours per day. Typical Gulag labour was exhausting physical work. Toiling sometimes in the most extreme climates, prisoners might spend their days felling trees with handsaws and axes or digging at frozen ground with primitive pickaxes. Others mined coal or copper by hand, often suffering painful and fatal lung diseases from inhalation of ore dust. Prisoners were barely fed enough to sustain such difficult labour.”

"Half a billion cubic feet of excavation work... 25,000 tons of structural steel... without sufficient labour, without necessary quantities of the most rudimentary materials. Brigades of young enthusiasts arrived in the summer of 1930 and did the groundwork of the railroad and dam... Later groups of peasants came... Many were completely unfamiliar with industrial tools and processes...“ – J.Scott 1943

Conditions Working and living conditions varied, depending on the time and place (WW2, famines, sudden increase in prisoners) Tools and machinery used were short in supply, as civilians needed them Guards were positioned in towers that were hidden from the prisoners If any prisoner tried to escape, the guards were allowed to shoot them, as they were rewarded