12. War Communism

Question 1

Rationale

Answer 1

February 1918 the bread ration in Petrograd had reached an all-time low of only 50 grams per person per day.
By April, 1918 Petrograd lost 60% of its workforce
The urban proletariat decreased from 3.6 million in January 1917 to 1.4 million two years later

Question 2

Elements (GLBNR)

Answer 2

• Grain requisitioning: Bolsheviks established a Food-Supplies Dictatorship in May 1918 to enforce forced grain requisitioning.
• Labour discipline: Fines for lateness and absenteeism were reinstated, and internal passports were introduced to stop people fleeing to the countryside.
• Ban on private trade: The state banned all private trade and manufacture, leading to a chaotic state trading organisation and a black market.
• Nationalisation of industry: All industries were brought under state control, with workers’ committees replaced by single managers.
• Rationing: A class-based system of rationing was introduced, with the labour force given priority. Civil servants and professionals were given smaller rations, and the middle classes (Burzhui, ‘the former people’) given the smallest rations.

Question 3

Consequences

Answer 3

• 1919 - 20000% inflation
• Wages 2% of 1913 levels
• Industrial output dropped to 15% pre-war level
• Agricultural output to 60% pre-war level
• 1920 - Workers spent 75% of income on food
• 1920 - 12 million deaths from war and famine - (estimated) 95% of deaths were from famine rather than combat

Question 4

First Hand Quotes

Answer 4

Goldman
* “The streets were dirty and deserted; all life had gone from them”
* “The people walked about like living corpses; the shortage of food and fuel was slowly sapping the city”
* “this oppressive silence broken only by the occasional shots.”

Question 5

Historian Interpretation

Answer 5

Ponomarev - “Unpopular but necessary response to crises.”
Corin - “…extension of [the] class warfare”
Figes - “…a mirror image of the Tsarist state”
Figes - “…Lenin’s ultimate purpose was the pursuit of power”