. With the Army purges done, Stalin had not only control over the country but the military as well. With Stalin's iron fisted rule things were able to happen much more quickly then they would have under a large bureaucracy. Indeed the great advances in industrialization and defense would almost definitely not have as high as they were at the outbreak of war if not for Stalin rule.Stalin instituted the Five year Plans to boost Soviet society and industry. In 1928 Stalin put into effect the first Five Year industrial and economic development plan for the Soviet Union which forced the country to develop as an industrial nation. The plan called for the industrial output to rise by over 20 percent annually. The optimum variant of the plan assumed: a) a significant expansion of connections with the world economy, both as a result of greater exports and especially as a result of greater long-term credits for equipment and technical aid. The problem with this plan was that it depended upon to many variables and the depression in the West plus low crop yield hampered the project. Yet during the first Five Year Plan, 1,500 big enterprises were built. New sectors of industry were established, which had not existed in tsarist Russia-machine tool production, automobile and tractor manufacturing, a chemical industry, motor works, airplane factories, the production of powerful turbines and generators, production of high grade steel, ferrous alloys, synthetic rubber artificial fibers. Construction was begun of thousands of kilometers of new railroads and canals, the eastern part of the country became the second metallurgical and oil center of industry. With Stalin's push towards industrialization the Soviet Union was well on its way to create a formidable defense industry. All of the infrastructure was being laid that had previously not existed 10 years ago. The second Five Year Plan was in many ways just like the first but thought through more. This ...
