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commitments have been incurred than in non-socialistcountries. Natural conditions, human mistakes or malpractices,political decisions and international reactionsmake it inevitable that the plans are subject to perpetualalteration in detail and even to major changes. Thus,for instance, even apart from the recasting of the thirdfive-year plan as a result of the outbreak of war inSeptember 1939, the great slump in agricultural pricescaused by the world economic crisis that started at theend of 1929 compelled the Soviet Government to exportfar larger quantities of agricultural produce than allowedfor in the first five-year plan, in order to meet its verylarge capital equipment imports.Certain other features connected with the five-yearplans help to show how the Soviet Union has Beentransformed in the last fifteen years.The fundamental aim has been to end the backwardnessof Russia, the low productivity of her labour and hencethe low level of her consumption. The Soviet peopleshave been continuously urged on to make up the Jeewaybetween the Union and the West. The slogan "toovertake and to surpass" the production of the foremostindustrial states in the world has been dinned into theirears. The advances in production have been mostimpressive, as the figures already given indicate, and therate of increase in most branches of industry has beenout of all comparison with that in any other majorcountry.Nevertheless, the Soviet leaders have insistently pointedout that even in heavy industry, fuel and power, nelds inwhich advance has been specially striking, the U.S.S.R.was well behind Germany and far out-distanced by theUnited States. The following table illustrates therelative Soviet position on the eve of the Second WorldWar (cf. the table on p. 362 for the relative position onthe eve of the First World War, when Russia was largerthan the U.S.S.R. and Germany included Alsace-Lorraine, though not Austria, which was howeverher ally) 1 :1 The figures for electric power, which are given in millions of kilowatts,are for 1938. The other figures are for 1940, approximate, for382