cities. Many people found it hard to get work. Others, with the highest paying jobs, still, were forced to have theyre families share one bedroom accommodations with one or two other families! With so many people in urban areas of Russia there were twice the amount of people working in the coal mines and drilling more oil wells. This in turn helped with Stalins Five Year Plan for Industry. A list of extremely high targets were set for all the heavy industries to meet. The list was given to major factories who were expected to have the targets met ahead of schedule. This was part of Stalins new Five Year Plan for Industry. Also under his plan, hundreds of new factories were built, along with oil wells, coal mines, and power stations. Many new industrial cities were built to support the new industries. Thousands of people were forced to move to remote freezing regions such as Siberia to build and establish these new industrial metropoli in which they worked. In order to coax workers to perform in a more spright and efficient manor, rewards and bonuses were given. Workers were encouraged to become Strakhanovites (name of a famous worker who completed the work of ten men in one shift). Gradually, however, the living conditions improved for the working class of the Soviet Union. There were more doctors per capita, free medical plans were offered, and the rate of literacy in the Union rose triumphantly. So one might argue that even though the working conditions were poor in the beginning , Stalins plans, in retrospect, worked for the better of the working class of Russia. Criticizers of Stalin and his actions is harsh considering the drastic and amazing progress Russia made during Stalins command. And drastic times called for drastic measures. Even though many of Stalins targets were not fully met at then end of the designated five year periods, much of Russias heavy industry figures had more than doubled. Also, after the protest slaughter...
