2a: Towards a command economy, 1917-28 Flashcards
1
Q
What issues did Lenin face in introducing a Communist economy?
A
- Marx had been deliberately vague about what a Communist economy would entail
- Backwards and unsophisticated economy compared to other countries at the start of the 20th century, some industrialisation but still far behind others
- shattered during WW1
2
Q
What were Lenin’s early ideas for the economy?
A
- believed socialism was possible in Russia in 1917 (unlike what others believed)
- the revolution would spread across Europe and advanced countries would send aid
- the October Revolution had created ‘state capitalism’ as a between state of capitalism and communism
3
Q
How did Lenin believe a socialist economy would work?
A
- highly efficient
- require modern technology, expert management and well-educated and highly disciplined workers
- better pay and treatment would mean workers no longer resent working
- little leisure time as workers would find their work highly fulfilling
4
Q
What was Lenin’s state capitalist economy like?
A
- based on nationalisation of industry
- Took industry away from middle-class owners
- had Vesenkha run nationalised industries, co-ordinate production to meet needs, well-paid specialists manage factories
- only large industries nationalised
- extremely unpopular - not much changed, many workers preferred the idea of workers’ control
- ended when civil war broke out in June 1918
5
Q
What was Land Reform?
A
- 1917 Decree on Land
- used to win support and stimulate agriculture
- large estates broken up and given to peasants to own the land they worked
- extremely popular with the peasants
6
Q
What was War Communism?
A
- series of emergency economic measures to ensure victory in the civil war
- embodied some communist ideology aspects, seen as a step towards a communist economy
- focuses - industrial production of war goods, efficient allocation of workers, food production
7
Q
How did War Communism evolve?
A
- ‘Food Dictatorship’ - grain requisitioning by the Cheka, rationing
- Labour discipline - working day extended to 11 hours (1918), work made compulsory for able-bodied 16-50 years olds (1919), harsh punishments for workers caught slacking
- Abolition of the market - abolition of money (hyperinflation + rations & free public services), abolition of trade, complete nationalisation, conscription
- seen to destroy the power of the capitalist class
8
Q
What were the consequences of War Communism?
A
- the collapse of the economy
- failed to abolish the market
- won the civil war
- kept the Red Army supplied
9
Q
Why was there economic collapse from War Communism?
A
- grain requisitioning - lower rates of production, peasants were not incentivised
- industrial production decline - no incentives for hard work, hunger led to many urban workers leaving for farms
10
Q
How did the black market grow?
A
- historians estimate 60% of food came from the black market during the civil war
- workers were forced to steal resources from the government to make goods to barter for food
11
Q
How did mass poverty affect Russia?
A
- the economy was near collapse by 1921
- shortages of commodities
- major city workshops closing from lack of fuel (1920), government ordered destruction of wooden Petrograd buildings to use as fuel
- unemployment rose, harvests further declined
- 6 million people in rural areas died of famine
12
Q
What was the political crisis from Aug 1920 - June 1921?
A
- caused by mass starvation and deepening economic crisis
- peasants in the Tambov region rebelled against the government
- sailors in Kronstadt turned against the government and demanded free trade and multiparty elections
- communists responded with extreme force through military action
- Lenin realised this was the end of War Communism
13
Q
Why was the New Economic Policy (NEP) introduced?
A
- for Lenin to retain political power, a retreat and compromise after War Communism
- to revive the economy
- to build socialism - by 1921 it was clear a European revolution would not happen, economic policy without foreign aid was needed
14
Q
How did the New Economic Policy progress?
A
- Lenin began to argue that this policy was the way to achieve communist goals by using capitalist methods, wanted peace with the peasants, peasants and workers building socialism together
- agriculture left to free market with a tax in kind
- small factories and workshops denationalised, allowed to trade freely
- money reintroduced
15
Q
What were the consequences of the New Economic Policy?
A
- political and economic stability - end of grain requisitioning was popular with peasants, free trade ended famine
- did not lead to rapid industrial growth - insufficient funds for for new large-scale factories, however major electrification campaign
- was not wholly popular within the party
- scissors crisis - gap between farmers’ incomes and industrial prices, reached crisis point in 1923, therefore a lack of incentive which government intervened in by subsidising, government had less money available to improve economy
- inequality and corruption - ‘Nepmen’ traders who made money by spotting gaps in the market, continued to operate till end of NEP despite slight Cheka intervention, gambling, prostitution, drug dealing
