5: War Communism and NEP Flashcards
What were the aims of war communism?
Win the Civil War by keeping the towns and the Red Army supplied with food and weapons and to put Communist theories into practice by redistributing (sharing out) wealth among the Russian people.
What happened to large factories during war communism?
Taken over by the government.
What could happen to strikers during war communism?
They could be shot
What did peasants have to do with surplus (extra) food?
Hand over surplus food or they could be shot
What were the groups of soldiers/workers called who seized grain called?
Requisition squads
What was the 4.3.2.1 ratio of rationing? Who did this food go to?
Soldiers, workers, middle class, formerly wealthy
What % of its population did Petrograd lose?
70%
When was the Kronstadt naval revolt?
March 1921
What did the Kronstadt sailors demand?
New elections to the Soviets with a secret vote.
Freedom of speech and press.
Freedom to meet for trade unions and peasant groups.
Freedom for peasants to farm their land.
What had Trotsky previously described the Kronstadt sailors as?
‘Reddest of the Red’
Under War Communism there was a Central Planning Committee. What did this do and what was it called?
Vesenkha.
Decided what the economy needed and set targets.
Under war communism, what was labour conscription?
Everyone who was old enough to work was forced to work.
Identify 2 effects of War Communism on the Peasants.
Turned them against the Bolsheviks
Food shortages increased: by 1920, food production had decreased 37% compared to 1913.
Who were the Kulaks?
A group the Bolsheviks called ‘rich peasants.’ They were blamed for the unrest as they were going against war communism so the Bolsheviks said they were going against the revolution.
Identify 2 effects War Communism had on the workers.
Food became so hard to find, many workers left the city. Between 1918 and 1920, half of Moscow’s population went back to the countryside.
People turned to the black market as this provided 70% of food people ate but the prices were still very high.
How was the Kronstadt Mutiny stopped?
Trotsky sent 50,000 Red Army Officers to the Naval base. Prisoners were handed over to the Cheka, 500 sailors executed.
8000 sailors escaped across the ice to Finland.
Why was the Kronstadt Mutiny significant?
It showed opposition was not just coming from the countryside- it was workers, sailors and soldiers: people who should have supported Bolsheviks.
Lenin abandoned War Communism.
What does NEP stand for?
New Economic Policy
What was the political reason for introducing the NEP?
To reduce opposition to the Bolsheviks
What was the economic reason for introducing the NEP?
Allow a degree of private ownership to stimulate industrial production and economic growth
What were the key features of the NEP?
Free market was reintroduced- peasants could see their produce
grain requisition ended.
Foreign experts brought in to improve how factories were run.
Any Russian could open a shop and sell goods for profit.
Identify 4 economic effects of the NEP
Agriculture production increased rapidly
Supplies of food increased
Industrial growth increased
Some foreign countries thought that the NEP meant they were abandoning Communism and so made trade deals.
What was the Scissors Crisis in 1923?
So much food was being produced food prices went down but industrial goods were being produced at a slower rate so these prices went up.
Peasants became less eager to sell their crops as they would get less money for them.
What was the name of the groups of people who made money through trade?
NEPmen
Identify 3 reasons some Bolsheviks were against the NEP?
It was not communism
Some people like NEPmen were getting very rich, whilst others very poor
NEP prioritised peasants rather than workers
