Chapter 7 - Economic and Social Developments Flashcards
Provide dates for State Capitalism - War Communism - NEP.
State Capitalism: 1917-1918
War Communism: 1918-1921
New Economic Policy: 1921 →
What is State Capitalism?
Lenin and the Bolsheviks wanted a socialist economy but knew that this could only develop with an industrialised society which Russia didn’t have so the Bolsheviks had to manage the current structure of Russia’s economy first, with modifications to workers’ interests. State Capitalism was the compromise economy which consisted of a degree of state control but retained elements of capitalism (like private markets and profit incentive).
Name 3 ways in which the Bolsheviks tried to establish greater control of the economy when they came to power.
- Decree on Land (October 1917) said that land would pass into control of those who used it, giving peasants an incentive to produce grain so that Russia didn’t starve.
- Nationalisation of banks (December 1917), external trade (June 1918) and railways (June and September 1918)
- Veshenka (The Supreme Council of the National Economy) created in December 1917 took responsibility for ‘all existing institutions for regulation of economic life’.
Name 3 problems of State Capitalism.
- Decree on Workers’ Control of Factories (November 1917) → Workers failed to organise their factories efficiently →output shrank at the time it was most needed → lacked skills for successful management
- Workers gave themselves unsustainable pay rises, helped themselves to stock and equipment, spent time making items to sell on the black market
- Civil war brought further disruption and a shortage of raw materials caused the plummet of industrial output in Bolshevik held areas
How did the Civil War affected the economy for workers and urban dwellers?
- Workers conscripted, shortage of raw materials →non-essential businesses forced to close →huge inflation →peasants not prepared to sell goods in the city →money worthless (no goods to buy →many reverted to subsistence farming (catering only for themselves)
- Urban dwellers suffered shortage of basic necessities → some had to strip their houses for wood to stay warm →blockade of trade and loss of Ukraine further reduced supply to cities →many succumbed to disease 5 million died to starvation and disease
How did the civil war affect the economy for peasants and members of the nobility?
- sackers started selling on black market (even used by cordon detachments of special army units which were meant to prevent such illegal activities for lack of other options for survival)
- Nobility and bourgeoisie had no ration cards → forced to beg or sell the few positions they had left → some given manual tasks for work (like sweeping streets, clearing snow)
What was the main aim of war Communism?
Initially proposed by Trotsky in 1920. Wanted to ensure that the Red Army was supplied with munitions and food by the towns. Bolsheviks decided to treat the economy as a single enterprise geared towards making the best use of Russia’s productive capacity without implications on workers or consumers. Emphasis on centralised planning with the right political decisions solving economic problems.
Describe the requisitioning that took place as part of war communism.
Peasants grain requisitioned to distribute to feed workers in cities, retrieved by Cheka soldiers who often gave inadequate food vouchers in exchange instead of money. Built of ‘Socialisation of Land’ Decree (Feb 1918) → Food Dictatorship set up in May 1918. Collective and cooperative farming encouraged. Kulaks (those with personal wealth from farming) labelled ‘enemies of the people’ and sometimes had their entire stocks seized.
Describe the nationalisation that took place as part of war communism.
Centralised, built on the decree of February 1918. Increased due to demands of the civil war. First was the sugar industry (May 1918) and then the oil industry (June 1918) → extended to all factories and industries by November 1920 (private trade and manufacture banned). Workers lost freedom, workers’ soviets abolished →factory owners reinstated.
Describe the labour discipline and rationing that took place as part of war communism.
Strikes forbidden, working hours extended, ration-card workbooks replaced wages. Fines for slack, lateness and absenteeism → hard work rewarded with bonuses and more rations. Internal passports → prevented move back to the countryside. Rations organised by class (most given to red army and factory workers).
Name 3 effects of War Communism.
- Assassination attempt on Lenin (Aug 1918) →used as excuse for Cheka to launch Red Terror (rounded up political opposition and imprisoned/shot them) and initiate class warfare.
- By 1921 total industrial output fell to 20% of pre-war levels → rations had to be cut → workers went on strike calling for better rations, new elections, recall of constituent assembly.
- Grain supplies decreased to dangerous levels → people tried to emigrate in hopes of finding food (ignored passport law) → Petrograd population fell to 57.5% (44.5% for Moscow) of the levels from 1917
What happenned with the Tambov Revolt?
Outbreak of peasant risings (155 in February 1921 alone). The most serious was in Tambov from Aug 1920 to June 1921 → a peasant army of 70,000 peasants joined by some Green Army rose up after grain requisition squads arrived at a time when there was almost none left → took 100,000 Red Army troops to deal with it.
What happened with the Kronsdant Rising (1921)?
1921 food crisis and reduction of a third in bread rations →further strikes, riots and support for other parties from workers → Cheka used to crush demonstrators → 30,000 Kronsdant sailors rebelled in March 1921 after Lenin rejected their manifesto to end one-party communist rule → Trotsky sent in Red Army → revolt leaders shot, 15,000 imprisoned → most went to a White Sea labour camp → Lenin denounced them as ‘White Traitors’ → caused division within Bolshevik party.
Name 3 main features of the NEP.
- Requisition of grain and ban on private change removed. Peasants still had to give govt. a quota (became tax in 1923). Promised forcible collectivism of land ensured peasants they’d be able to work for profit →increased production expected to feed towns
- State continued control of large-scale heavy industry such as coal, steel and oil (the commanding heights of the economy) → small scale industry made private again (but transport and the banks remained in state hands)
- Rationing was ended and industries were required to pay their workers out of their profits
Name 3 examples of the NEP’s economic impact.
- Small manufacturers, service industries and private businesses reopened and began to thrive in the cities but the larger state-owned industries grew much more slowly
- Kulak class re-emerged → villages that cooperated with the NEP were rewarded with goods →Imbalance of power by 1923 because food surplus lead to a drop in food prices below that of industrial goods because factories were taking longer to rebuild and recover → lack of industrial goods for peasants to buy in exchange →’scissor crisis’ → price of industrial goods capped
- Private traders played a big part in rehabilitating the economy → 25,000 of them in Moscow alone by 1925 → responsible for 75% of trade but hated by many Bolsheviks.
Name 3 examples of the NEP’s political impact. Lenin had to increase control as there was so much opposition to the NEP.
- To avoid opposition Lenin banned factions at the 10th party congress (once the central committee agreed on a policy all party members had to obey it without discussion or disagreement.
- The regime stepped up suppression of rival views → Mensheviks and SRs banned →several thousand Mensheviks arrested in 1921.
- More rigorous censorship → criticism of government forbidden → all writings had to be approved by GLAVIT (the Main Administration for Affairs of Literature and Publishing Houses) before publishing.
