2 - industrial and agricultural change Flashcards
What was ‘state capitalism’?
The transitional phase between the old bourgeois economy and a new proletariat one. Lenin talked of working with the bourgeois experts initially until Bolshevik experts could take their place
What were the 3 key measures of Lenin’s initial economic policy?
1) Land Decree (Oct 1917) - abolished private ownership of land, and was now in the hands of ‘the people’.
2) Decree on Workers’ Control (Nov 1917) - control of the factories in the hands of industrial workers.
3) People’s Bank of the Russian Republic - private banks nationalised and became PBRR.
What were the results of Lenin’s initial economic policy?
It had a detrimental effect on the economy. Workers’ councils gave themselves huge pay rises, which resulted in inflation. Those with industrial expertise were removed by workers seeking revenge.
Why was War Communism introduced? (3 reasons)
- Response to economic collapse (Bolsheviks inherited an economy nearing collapse)
- To give the government greater direction over the economy during the Civil War
- Response to the failures of Lenin’s initial economic policy
What were the key features of War Communism?
- Nationalisation of all industry
- Private trading banned
- Forced requisition of grain (150k Bolshevik volunteers were used to seize grain. Government spied on peasants, which resulted in tensions and outbreaks of violence)
- Rationing
- All industry placed under control of the Vesenkha
What were the results of War Communism?
- Economic failure - production of heavy industry fell to 20% of its 1913 level. Food production fell to 48% of the 1913 figure. 20 million died from famine and disease in the 1920s.
- Resentment from the population - size of rations depended on social classification (Red Army and industrial proletariat received more), hierarchical system in factories caused violence among workers, a black market developed with the ban on private trading.
- Tambov Rising
- Kronstadt Mutiny
What was the NEP?
A series of economic measures which moved away from the tight state control of the economy towards more of a mixed economy.
What were the features of the NEP that affected agriculture?
- End to requisitioning - this was replaced by a system of taxation where peasants could sell any remaining food.
- No forced programme of collectivisation - the Mir would stay as the means of peasants self regulating farming.
What were the features of the NEP that affected industry?
- Small-scale industry returned to private hands although the state kept control of heavy industry, transport and banks.
- Piecework and bonuses introduced to raise production.
- Currency introduced for paying wages (Chervonet)
- Legalisation of private trading
What were the successes of the NEP?
- Industrial output rose rapidly (steel production rose by 1450% by 1926).
- Restaurants and market stalls brought back life to cities.
What were the failures of the NEP?
- Corruption through a black market flourished.
- Prostitution and gangs of children stealing goods.
- Imbalances between prices of industrial and agricultural goods (low grain prices discouraged peasants from growing food for the market).
What made Stalin abandon the NEP for the FYPs?
- Helped consolidate his power as it removed the Right who were in favour of the NEP.
- He claimed that the compromise with the peasantry was holding back the industrialisation of the USSR.
- Politically, it would remove the NEPmen and the kulaks, and give the state greater direction over the economy to maximise the resources of the USSR.
What were the industrial reasons for introducing collectivisation?
- Industrial development would only be possible with increased agricultural productivity (people moving to towns and cities need to be fed).
- The USSR needed to export food surpluses to obtain foreign exchange to pay for foreign technology.
What were the agricultural reasons for introducing collectivisation?
- Collectives would make the use of machinery more viable and cost-effective.
- Machines would allow food production to increase and would reduce labour requirements to workers can go to industrial plants.
What were the political reasons for introducing collectivisation?
- Collectivisation would extend socialism to the countryside where Party control was weak.
- Collectivisation provided the opportunity for getting rid of the kulaks.
What were the phases of implementing collectivisation?
1) At the 15th Party Congress they decided on voluntary collectivisation (December 1927)
2) Food shortages in 1928 led to forced requisitioning of grain. (Ural-Siberian method)
3) Local Party officials went into villages to announce the organisation of a collective farm and lecture peasants on the advantages of forming collectives.
4) Machine and Tractor Stations were set up to supply machinery, provide advice on farming techniques and give political lectures to persuade peasants of the benefits.
What were the features of opposition to collectivisation?
Kulaks set fire to farms and slaughtered their animals instead of handing over their property to the State. Party officials were sometimes murdered.
How was kulak oppostition combatted?
- Dekulakisation squads were sent to forcibly set up collectives.
- The OGPU deported kulaks to labour camps in Siberia and the Urals.
- The Red Army was used to bomb troublesome villages.
What were the economic results of collectivisation?
- The removal of the kulaks was damaging: they were the most productive farmers, and their slaughtering of animals led to shortages of meat and milk.
- Grain production fell from 73.3m tonnes in 1928 to 67.6m tonnes in 1934
What were the human costs of collectivisation?
- 5 to 10 million people died from starvation, with 4 million famine-related deaths in 1933 alone.
- Kazakhs were forced into collectives against their will, and a typhus epidemic reduced their population by 40%.
- Holodomor: man-made famine from 1932-33. Mainly affected Ukraine. Came as a result of increasing requisitioning, peasants banned from leaving collectives, and towns being prevented from receiving food.
