WI: USSR focuses on Siberia?

Let's say Stalin takes the "Socialism in One Country" doctrine very much to heart and completely gives up on the traditionally western-looking focus of past Russian Regimes, and instead focuses on developing the interior and hinterlands of the USSR? (Instead of Ukraine, Belarus, Baltics, etc)

1) What areas of central and eastern Russia could be ripe for massive development and industrialization?

2) What effect would this have, economically, leading up to and during WWII?

3) With a proportionally stronger interior economy, could the USSR survive longer?
 
Very difficult since Siberia was much harder too develop than the Westerly areas - that's true today as well. The number of Rail lines in Siberia is small, its very difficult to develop an area which has no agricultural base. Focusing on developing Siberia would have slowed down overall industrialisation of USSR.
Most of the discovered valuable resources have been discovered in the last 40 years due to modern surveying methods and technologies. Finding resources in Siberia in the early years of Stalin would have been not much more than wandering around in the freezing cold poking the ground with a stick or blasting with dynamite. Not feasable.
 
Very difficult since Siberia was much harder too develop than the Westerly areas - that's true today as well. The number of Rail lines in Siberia is small, its very difficult to develop an area which has no agricultural base. Focusing on developing Siberia would have slowed down overall industrialisation of USSR.
Most of the discovered valuable resources have been discovered in the last 40 years due to modern surveying methods and technologies. Finding resources in Siberia in the early years of Stalin would have been not much more than wandering around in the freezing cold poking the ground with a stick or blasting with dynamite. Not feasable.

Sure. But maybe woodcutting/milling collectives could be started to get things going?
 
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