Chapter 7 - Economic and social developments 1918-24 Flashcards
Why was it not easy or straightforward for the Bolsheviks to implement communism?
- It was essential for them to gain political control and secure the regime against their enemies
- It was necessary to resolve the internal debates within the Party and hammer out the precise policies to be implemented
- Needed to adapt their ideology and policies to the terrible conditions of the country
When were banks nationalised?
December 1917
When was war communism introduced?
June 1918
What years was war communism implemented for?
1918-21
When were factories and railways nationalised?
September 1918
When did compulsory grain requisitioning start?
January 1919
When was the outbreak of the Tambov Revolt?
August 1920
Describe industrial production in December 1920
At 20% of 1913 levels
When was the NEP introduced?
March 1921
When was the Kronstadt rising?
March 1921
When was the final defeat of the Tambov Revolt?
June 1921
How long did the Tambov Revolt last?
10 months
Aug 1920 - June 1921
What was state capitalism?
A ‘halfway house’ between capitalism and socialism
Until the USSR was ready to fully embrace socialism, the state would manage key parts of the economy while private markets continued in other parts of the economy
Give three examples of state control under state capitalism
- The nationalisation of Russia’s banks (1917) and railways (1918)
- The establisment of Veshenka
- The establishment of GOELRO
When was Veshenka set up and why?
1917
to start managing Russia’s economy
When was GOELRO formed and why?
1920
to organise the production and distribution of electricity across Russia
What were 3 of the main problems with state capitalism?
- Lenin’s measures were a disappointment
- Allowing factories to be taken over by workers caused sharp drops in production because the workers lacked the necessary management skills
- Letting peasants have control over the selling of grain meant higher prices, but state-controlled industries needed cheap grain so that workers didn’t have to be paid higher wages
Why were Lenin’s measures a disappointment? (state capitalism)
Many Bolsheviks didn’t want a ‘halfway house’: they demanded state control of every part of the economy.
What are some of the main reasons for the hardships that many Russians faced during the civil war?
- falling industrial production
- fighting in the countryside
- food shortages in the cities
- disease and starvation
Give more detail on why/how falling industrial production caused hardship during the civil war
- Factory supplies were disrupted by the fighting
- Workers left to join the Red Army or to return to the countryside
- The drop in production led to rising prices, producing inflation
- Peasants hoarded grain because there were no products to buy
How did Russia’s urban proletariat change during the civil war?
3.6 million Jan 1917
1.4 million Jan 1919
(dropped by over 50%)
Give more detail on why fighting in the countryside caused hardship during the civil war
Villages were attacked and sometimes destroyed by both Whites and Red
Why were peasants often better off than urban workers in the civil war?
They could grow the food they needed to live on
Give more detail on why/how food shortages in the cities caused hardship during the civil war
- Important agricultural regions were lost because of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
- Trade blockades meant hostile foreign powers refused to supply Russia with grain
- Peasant hoarding was a major reason for food shortages
- Many resorted to buying food or trading for it through the black market
What was the bread ration in Petrograd in 1918?
50g per person per day
Give more detail on how disease and starvation caused hardship during the civil war
Unsanitary living conditions, food shortages and a lack of medical supplies and doctors led to millions of deaths
How many people died in the civil war from starvation and disease?
approximately 5 million
What was the primary reason for the introduction of war communism?
To ensure that the Red Army was supplied with munitions and food
What were the three key features of war communism?
Nationalisation
Grain requisitioning (and repression as a result of requisitioning)
Labour discipline and rationing
Why was war communism much more socialist than state capitalism?
The state now controlled production and private trade was banned
Nationalisation (key features of war communism)
- By Nov 1920, nearly all factories and businesses had been nationalised
- Private trade and manufacture were banned
- The railways were placed under military-style control
Grain requisitioning (key features of war communism)
- The Food Supplies Dictatorship was set up
- Peasants were supposed to be paid a fixed price for their grain but low-value vouchers often offered instead (to be exchanged for money at a later date)
- Peasant opposition meant the Cheka had to be used extensively to make the policy work at all
When and why was the Food Supplies Dictatorship set up?
May 1918
To organise the requisitioning of peasants’ grain to feed the Red Army and workers in the cities
Labour discipline and rationing (key features of war communism)
- Workers lost the rights and freedoms given to them by the Decree on Workers’ Control of Factories
- The workers’ soviets, which had run the factories, were abolished
- Strict discipline re-imposed on workers
- Fines for slackness, lateness and absenteeism
- Wages replaced with ration-card workbooks
How did rationing work under war communism?
Rations given out in accordance to class status:
Red Army and factory workers got the most, and the bourgeoisie got the least (or nothing at all)
What were the two main effects of war communism?
Famine in the countryside
Depopulated cities
What is a kulak?
A peasant who is able to hire others to work with them
Describe the harvest of 1921
Produced 48% of 1913’s harvest
What were the effects of grain requisitioning in the countryside?
Kulaks worst hit → entire stocks sometimes seized
Peasants with little or no own land treated slightly better (viewed as allies of the proletariat)
Grain supplies reduced to dangerously low levels
Peasants forced to eat the animals they used for ploughing and farm work
Peasants sowed less grain in protest of the requisitions
Poor harvests led to widespread famine
Millions died of starvation and disease
What was Russia’s population in 1913?
170.9 million
What was Russia’s population in 1921?
130.9 million
How did workers feel about state control of factories?
Some welcomed it because it meant their factories were more likely to stay open
Others went on strike or fled to the countryside in hope of finding food
What was industrial output in 1921?
20% of pre-war levels
How did the populations of Petrograd and Moscow change as a result of war communism?
By the end of 1920 compared to 1917 levels:
Petrograd pop -57.5%
Moscow pop -44.5%
Why did the party lack popular support at the time of the Red Terror?
Worsening conditions in the cities and countryside
Concern over Bolshevik policies
What was the trigger for the launch of the Red Terror?
An assassination attempt on Lenin in Aug 1918
What happened in response to the trigger for the Red Terror?
The Cheka rounded up Mensheviks, SRs, anarchists and anyone else considered a threat.
It’s estimated that 500,000 were executed
Describe the Tambov Revolt
Aug 1920, a 70,000 man peasant army rose up against govt forces
Spread over large areas of south-east Russia and lasted until June 1921
100,000 Red Army soldiers used to crush the revolt
Brutal approach, whole villages destroyed
Describe the Kronstadt rising
March 1921, 30,000 sailors at Kronstadt naval base rebelled because of food rationing
Trotsky sent the Red Army to put down the uprising: 15,000 rebels imprisoned and ringleaders shot
Why were there strikes and riots in the cities in 1921?
further reductions in food rationing
What was the impact of the Kronstadt uprising
Caused divisions within the Bolshevik Party
The Workers’ Opposition Group
Who set up the Workers’ Opposition Group?
Alexander Shlyapnikov and Alexandra Kollontai
Why was the Workers’ Opposition Group set up?
To protect workers’ rights and oppose the continuation of war communism
What did the members of the Workers’ Opposition Group believe?
That the Bolshevik leadership was becoming too authoritarian and was straying too far from its original mission of ‘all power to the soviets’
When was Gosplan established and why?
Feb 1921
to advise on a New Economic Policy (NEP)
When was the NEP introduced?
At the Tenth Party Congress, March 1921
What did the NEP aim to do?
Fix the problems caused by war communism
Why didn’t Lenin allow a vote on whether to introduce the NEP?
He knew many Bolsheviks would oppose to it because it was an ideological step backwards
Features of the NEP in the countryside
- Grain requisitioning ended
- Ban on private trade ended
- Peasants still had to give a quota of grain to the state but could sell their surplus produce
Features of the NEP in the cities
- The state kept control of key large-scale industries (coal, oil steel etc)
- Small-scale industries became private again
- Rationing ended
- Inudstries had to pay workers out of their own profits
- Workers could be paid according to how much they’d worked rather than a low, centrally set wage
The economic impact of the NEP on agriculture
Agricultural production recovered quickly, peasants grew more to earn more money from private trade
What was the ‘scissors crisis’?
So much food was grown that prices dropped
Manufactured products were still quite scarce so prices remained high
Risked grain hoarding restarting
How was the ‘scissors crisis’ prevented?
The peasants’ quota became a money tax, forcing peasants to sell grain to pay the tax
The price of industrial products was capped
The impact of the NEP on businesses
Private businesses reopened and grew quickly
Cities regained services such as shops and restaurants
How were Nepmen important and who hated them?
They helped to get the economy moving through private trading but were hated by many Bolsheviks as representatives of capitalism
Economic impact of the NEP
- reopening of small businesses
- Nepmen
- the ‘scissors crisis’
- Increased agricultural production
What did the ‘ban on factions’ mean in practice?
There could be discussions about policy but once the Central Committee had made a decision, every Party member had to follow it
Disagreeing (forming a faction) would mean expulsion from the Party
When was the ‘ban on factions’ introduced?
1921
Why was there a crackdown on any kind of opposition within the Party in 1921
Because Lenin knew many socialists would be unhappy about the NEP
What was the Cheka renamed to and when?
the GPU in 1922
Give some examples of crackdown on opposition within the Party
- the Menshevik and SR parties were banned in 1921 and thousands were arrested
- crackdown on Nepmen
- the Cheka was give more power to root out possible counter-revolutionaries
- censorship increased
- the Church came under pressure, thousands of priests arrested
- the introduction of the nomenklatura system
Describe the nomenklatura system
- Introduced in 1923
- Approved lists of those who showed complete loyalty to the party who should be considered for promotion in the Party and government jobs
What was the Red Terror and what was the intention behind it?
A new period of intense political repression intended to remove all Bolshevik enemies (or potential enemies)
