Chapter 2 - Economy/Society - Agriculture Flashcards
AGRICULTURE: ALEXANDER II
AGRICULTURE: ALEXANDER II
What laid a platform for all agricultural reform under Alexander II?
The Emancipation Edict 3rd March 1861
AGRICULTURE: ALEXANDER III
AGRICULTURE: ALEXANDER III
When was there a disastrous famine under Alexander III?
1891
How many people died in the 1891 famine?
375,000-400,000
What did Alexander III blame the 1891 famine on?
Poor farming techniques by the peasants
What did Alexander III create to encourage the spread of good practice in farming and agriculture?
Ministry of agriculture
Who were used by Alexander III to keep discipline in regional areas?
Land captains
What was set up in 1883 to help peasants by land?
The Peasant Land Bank
AGRICULTURE: NICHOLAS II
AGRICULTURE: NICHOLAS II
Who was appointed Prime Minister in 1906 to revamp government policy over land distribution?
Stolypin
When did rural unrest peak under Nicholas II?
1905-7
What was Stolypin’s aim in his land redistribution?
To strengthen the class of ‘best’ peasants
Why did Stolypin want to strengthen the class of the best peasants?
To act as a force against the mir and be a role model to other peasants
What did Stolypin make unused land available to?
The Peasant Land Bank
What were peasants who owned farming strips allowed to do under the reign of Nicholas II?
Consolidate their land into smallholdings
How many peasants had left the village communes by 1914?
2 million
AGRICULTURE: LENIN
AGRICULTURE: LENIN
What did the Bolsheviks promise before they were in government?
‘Peace, Bread and Land’
What did the Bolsheviks issue as soon as they had seized power?
The Decree on Land
Why was war communism bad for peasants?
Grain was forcefully taken from them
Who were blamed for food shortages during the Russian Civil War?
Kulaks - peasants who hoarded grain
What was a punishment dished out to kulaks under Lenin?
Their children were refused entry into state schools, kulaks also disenfranchised and taxed higher
What was the definition of a kulak in 1928?
A peasant who owned at least 3 cows
What were the cheka used to unleash?
A class war in the countryside
AGRICULTURE: STALIN
AGRICULTURE: STALIN
What is collectivisation?
The process of bringing a number of small farm units together to form bigger farms
What was the idea of collectivisation?
Peasants would collaborate to produce as much food as possible to feed themselves and the growing urban proletariat
What % of peasants farmers were working on a collective just before Stalin emerged as leader?
3%
What prompted Stalin to push for mass collectivisation?
Famine of 1927-28
What did Stalin wish to create via collectvisation?
‘Socialism in the countryside’
Under Stalin, what did collectivisation go hand in hand with?
Dekulakisation
How many kulaks were deported from 1928 to 1930?
6-18 million
How many kulaks were shot from 1928 to 1930?
30,000
When did Stalin start his collectivisation policy?
November 1929
According to Stalin, what % of all households had been collectivised by March 1930?
58%
What % of peasants lived on a collectivised farm by 1937?
93%
What % of peasants lived on a collectivised farm by 1941?
98%
When was the mir abolished?
1930
What did the population of Kazakhstan fall by as a result of collectivisation?
75%
AGRICULTURE: KHRUSHCHEV
AGRICULTURE: KHRUSHCHEV
How many protestors over food riots in Novocherkassk in June 1962 were executed?
23
When was the Virgin Land Campaign introduced?
1954
How many acres of land were given over for the production by wheat in 1950?
96 million acres
By 1960, how many acres of land were used for wheat production?
165 million acres
When was there a disastrous harvest under Khrushchev?
1963
What was wheat production in 1962?
140 million tonnes
What was wheat production in 1963?
107 million tonnes
