Chapter 11 - Economic Developments under Stalin Flashcards
What was the ‘Great Turn’ and when did it take place?
Between 1927 and 1929.
- It was a dramatic shift in economic policy where the NEP was abandoned as the regime committed to rapid industrialisation, –> emphasis placed on the brutal enforcement of collectivisation of agriculture.
- Marked the start of Stalinism.
Name 3 problems associated with the Soviet economy in 1927.
- Industrial recovery was slow and patchy despite the central planning organisations like Veshenka and Gosplan
- Production weakened by managerial inefficiency and low levels of mechanisation (Officials blamed Nepmen for obstructing central planners, govt. officials blamed for interference by factory managers).
- Collectivisation - regime requires sufficient food to supply the needs of industrial workers and have surplus grain to pay for industrial investment and machinery → by 1928 less than 5% of the peasantry was working on collective farms.
What is a sovkhoz?
A state-run farm, for collectivisation. Often operated on land confiscated from estate owners (by the state) which was then given to landless peasants who became state-controlled workers.
What is a kolkhoz?
A people-run farm, similar to the Tsarist Russia peasant communes, with around 75 peasant families working as ‘brigades’ in a farm cooperative.
Name 3 concrete reasons for the ‘Great Turn’.
- Weaknesses in industrial management →more efficiency needed to increase production, improve quality of goods and lower prices →peasants and urban workers facing harsh conditions
- Crisis in grain procurement in the winter of 1927 to 1928 → govt. purchased 25% less grain than the year before →low grain prices → peasants focussed on other goods to make profit → accused of ‘hoarding’ grain.
- Party wanted to revert to true communism → wanted to develop independent, socialist industry and have state control over production, not dependence on the peasantry for good grain harvests.
What were the first 5 year plan’s main aims?
- Develop heavy industry (coal, iron, steel, oil and machinery)
- Boost overall production by 300%
Improve the transport system (especially railways) - Transform electrification →generate six times more electric power by 1933 than the total in 1928
- Feed the expanding industrial workforce through big increases in agricultural production
- Light industry (chemistry, household goods etc.) given low priority but still expected to double its output
How was this seen by the public?
Propaganda to increase enthusiasm →worked but also increased expectations → party members were pleased to see commitment to radical social change → hopes for better employment prospects and more land reform.
Many party members also saw kulaks as the backbone of the agricultural economy → worried that collectivisation would reduce food production →criticism of central planning and regarded the new policy as a high-risk gamble.
What was the ‘Ural-Siberia’ method?
Stalin’s policy of sending officials and police across the region to close free markets, use the criminal law (Article 107) to stop ‘speculation’ and pressure local officials to seize grain by force → aroused intense opposition → ready to use it universally by 1928. (Done because the area saw generally good harvests but had low grain production).
Who helped in this move towards forced collectivisation?
Pushed from the centre.
Molotov issued central directives from summer 1929 →chain reaction of support from local officials → Central Committee made policy of sending 25,000 workers to the countryside to develop collective farms.
