2.1 Towards a command economy, 1917-28 Flashcards
What was War Communism?
- Nationalisation of organisations with more than ten people
- Industry placed under control of Vesenkha
- Reintroduction of hierarchical; structures in industry
- Harsh discipline in factories (death penalty for striking)
- Private trading was banned
- Money was replaced by bartering due to inflation
- 150,000 Bolshevik volunteers requisitioned grain
- Introduction of rationing
- By 1921 industrial production was 1/5 of the 1913 figure
How successful was the NEP?
- Industrial output rose due to reintroduction of old factories, better harvests, and repair of bridges and roads
- Corruption flourished in black market
- Prostitution widespread
- Gangs of children roamed cities
- Scissor Crisis
What was State Capitalism?
A transitional phase between a bourgeois economy and a proletarian one
What did Lenin’s initial economic policy include?
- The Land Decree 1917 abolished private land
- The Decree on Workers’ control 1917 placed factories into workers’ hands
- All banks were nationalised and amalgamated into the People’s Bank of the Russian Republic
What was the economy like when the Bolsheviks came to power?
Devastated by WW1 and the following Civil War, State control was needed to rejuvenate the economy
What was the Vesenkha?
The Supreme Council of the National Economy was set up in 1917 as the people could not run the country by themselves
Why was War Communism introduced?
- Ideology: Abolishment of private enterprise and nationalisation were communist aims, so it fitted with their ideals
- Economy: The inherited economy was on the brink of collapse and it needed State direction to sustain the war
- Bolshevism: The early decrees of control to the workers brought about the need for a War Communism
- A series of emergency economic measures to ensure communist victory in civil war. Designed to ensure high levels of production of war goods and food production to feed workers and soldiers
Why was the NEP introduced?
- Economy: Heavy industry production was at 20 of the 1913 level. food production at 48% and 20 million died from famine and disease in the 1920s
- War Communism: Rationing made the public unhappy ad food was distributed according to status, and people did not want to get rid of the Mir
What was the NEP?
- End to requisitioning. replaced by taxation
- No forced collectivisation - the Mir could stay
- Returned small industry to private hands
- Piecework and bonuses to try and raise production
- Reintroduction of currency in 1921
- Legislation of private trade
- Development of rich kulaks - NEPmen
How did the Communist Party move to a command economy?
- Right wing Bukharin and Stalin wanted to continue NEP
- Left wing Trotksy wanted greater State control
- Stalin outmanoeuvred the left in 1926, so the NEP stayed. The USSR feared war due to a British raid on the Soviet offices in London. Soviet figures were below modern industrial economies. As trade was reduced, the USSR had to rely on itself. Greater state control would remove the kulaks. Stalin outmanoeuvred the right in 1929.
When was the Decree on land and what did it entail?
1917 - abolished private property, large estates belonging to the church or aristocratic landowners was broken up and peasants were allowed to won the land they worked
When was the Decree on workers control and what did it entail?
1917 - put factory committees in charge of the production, buying and selling of raw materials and finished products as well as over finances of the enterprise. This made the workers the de facto administration
What was the result of Lenin’s initial policies?
Very popular with workers and peasants but caused economic problems. Workers councils gave themselves huge pay rises which led to inflation. Many managers were dismissed often violently and therefore much industrial and technical expertise was lost. Lenin had to quickly adapt his policy (state capitalism)
What did state capitalism entail?
The nationalisation of only large industries (banking, mining, heavy industry), money petty trade and markets would continue. Allowed more independence for bourgeois experts who Lenin said were needed in the short term until Bolsheviks were trained enough to take their place. A transitional phase to allow recovery before implementation of socialist policies (a compromise, Lenin wanted the economy to do well but not for the bourgeoise to have control)
What was the role of Vesenkha in state capitalism?
Ensure factories were properly managed by placing them under the control of specialists and co-ordinate economic production to meet the needs of the new society, modernise and industrialise the economy in order to work towards socialism
Why was state capitalism so unpopular?
Very little difference between state capitalism and life before the revolution, many workers and radicals within the party, such as Bukharin, rejected it as a betrayal of Marxism, workers wanted to continue assuming control over their factories
Why did State Capitalism stop?
Due to the outbreak of civil war
When was war communism introduced?
June 1918
What did war communism’s food dictatorship entail?
Grain requisitioning from the peasants where Cheka squads seized grain and other food from peasants without payment, and rationing where the supply commissariat rationed the seized food
Who got the largest rations under War communism?
Workers and soldiers
How did the grain monopoly change in 1919?
In response to hundreds of peasants uprisings against grain requisitioning, the Bolsheviks tightened their policy and replaced the grain monopoly with a general Food Levy which extended the monopoly to all food stuffs not just grain and took away the powers of the local peasants to set the amount to requisition on accordance with harvest estimates, henceforth Moscow would take what it needed from the peasantry without nay calculation as to what it left the peasants
From 1920 to 1923 by how much did factory output rise?
200%
In what ways was war communism communist?
It was pro-revolutionary classes and anti non-revolutionary classes, abolishment if market, state planning of the economy, rationing an alternative to money and many communists believed this would mean the end of the capitalist system
Only two years after the beginning of the NEP how many private traders were there in Moscow?
25,000
What was the state of the Russian economy in 1921?
Near collapse
What did the right of the party advocated for?
(Building socialism with capitalist hands).
They argued that the NEP was the best way to industrialised soviet union as it was slowly allowing the economy to grow so industrialisation would happen eventually. NEP allowed the soviet union to remain a harmonious society by keeping peasants satisfied
How did the NEP lead to industrial growth?
The market stimulated production, government invested money gained from taxing peasants to reopen factories, major electrification campaign
Why did war communism lead to economic collapse?
Grain requisitioning led to lower rates of agricultural production as the peasants had no incentive to work as they were not paid for their grain or labour, industrial production declined due to lack of incentives and a decline in the industrial workforce
