Civilianizing the Objectives of the Planners

Simple omission is not the only anomaly in Sovietology’s treatment of military-economic matters. Another is civilianization, the peaceful reinterpretation of the features of the economy that the Soviets themselves revealed to be of military significance. This chapter focuses on the objectives of the planners, the most important actors in the Soviet economy. The objectives of planning, as described by Soviet sources, are the same as those of rulers elsewhere: building up military might and popular wellbeing, with growth as the means for achieving those. The standard Sovietological view holds growth for its own sake to be the supreme objective of the Soviet rulers. Yet such an objective is incompatible with the evidence of actual economic policies pursued throughout the plan era.