Agricultural Consequences of the War Flashcards
what was the effect of the war on agriculture
officially, 98,000 collective farms had been ruined, 186,000 machines , 71 million animals
what were food production levels at
60 per cent of the 1940 level
why were the prospects for recovery hindered
by a severe labour shortage, meaning that less land was under cultivation than before the war (the 1945 total was only 75 per cent of what it had been in 1940)
what was 1946
the driest year since 1891, and the harvest war poor
what did a letter sent to the politburo by the management of a collective farm in Siberia say on 13th September 1948
‘we’d like you to explain to us why year in and year out we have to hand over our whole harvest and don’t get a single gram back’
what was the recovery in agriculture like
slow and patchy
what did the fourth five-year plan fail to do
failed to reach most of its targets
what had happened in agriculture by the time of Stalin’s death in 1953
it was still unsatisfactory, though some regions were progressing much better than others
what was one problem holding back reform in agriculture
Stalin himself
where were Stalin’s failures in agriculture shown
in a book written by him, published in 1952 (Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR). His writings were seen as incontrovertible, and this discouraged any tendencies towards innovation and change.
what did Stalin’s successors feel the need to do after his death in 1953
they had to introduce reforms and concessions to peasant farmers to alleviate problems in agriculture
what was grain production in tons
1940 - 95.6 million
1948 - 67.2 million
1952 - 92.2 million
what was potato production in tons
1940 - 76.1 m
1948 - 95.0 m
1952 - 69.2 m
what was cotton production in tons
1940 - 2.2 m
1948 - 2.2 m
1952 - 3.8 m
what was cattle production in million
1940 - 28 m
1948 - 23.8 m
1952 - 25 m
