Chapter 7-Economic and socoial development Flashcards
why was a socialist economy unrealistic for Russia at the time
- Russia wasn’t industrialised
- the existing economic structure and modifications in the workers’ conditions would have to be maintained
- state capitalism would be used as a halfway house based on private wealth, free market competition and socialism
How did the Bolsheviks react to state communism
- many demanded no compromises
- demanded radical measures such as the nationalisation of all businesses and the abolition of money with a trade need based system
- Lenin feared these ideals would not work in Russia in 1918
Early decrees
- peasants had no incentive to produce grain so the Decree on Land (Oct 1918) acknowledged Private ownership of land was abolished but not nationalised and allowed to pass to those who cultivated it
- Decree on Workers’ control of Factories Nov 1918 acknowledged most factories were taken over by workers and that those in control had to maintain order and discipline
how did the government develop greater state control over the economy
- nationalisation of the banks in Dec 1917, external trade (June 1918) and railways (June and Sept 1918)
- Veshenka created December 1917 which was the council of economy and regulated it
- GOELRO- a state commission in 1920 which organised production and distribution of electricity in Russia- important achievement.
- these measures provided a compromise but were on their way to a more rigorous state control
Lenin quote GOELRO
- Communism equals Soviet Power plus electrification
problems of state capitalism
- workers failed to organise factories efficiently and output shrunk
- workers awarded themselves unstainable pay rises and took stock and equipment
- workers made items to sell on the black market
- workers had no skills for successful management
- civil war caused shortage of raw material and industrial output plummeted
wartime conditions (effect on economy)
Industrial production fell because of disrupted communications; raw material were in short supply, workers had to serve in the army and non-essential businesses were forced to close
This led to rampant inflation and peasants still refused to sell produce
wartime conditions (effect on peasants)
- Peasants who had surplus produce were not prepared to sell it in the city as money was worthless to them since there was no goods to buy (many ended up subsistence farming and catering for just themselves)
- Some peasants did well (in the early years) by selling horses for military use and maintaining a reasonable diet (by killing their livestock) but as the Civil War continued, this was harder for them. However, compared to others they could scavenge for food and find wood to warm their huts.
wartime conditions (effect on urban dwellers)
Suffered a severe shortage of food, fuel and basic necessities (some were reduced to stripping their own house of wood to keep warm)
trade blockade maintained by hostile foreign powers and the loss of Ukraine reduced food supplies to the cities and by early 1918, the bread ration was only 50grammes per person per day
black market during the war
hose living in towns resorted to this
- 2/3 of what was consumed came from this source.
- Urban inhabitants would travel to the nearby countryside to barter goods
- Peasant ‘sackmen’ found their way into towns to do some undercover trading.
-cordon detachments created by army to prevent these activities but
The authorities failed to stamp out the black market (they often used it themselves) because there wasn’t many alternatives if people were using it to survive
effect of war on population
Because a number of people became desperate for food, workers left the city and went to either villages or joined the Red Army where rations were higher: 60% of the Petrograd workforce had left the city by April 1918. between Jan 1917 and 19 Russia’s urban proletariat pop decreased from 3.6 to 1.4 mill
impact of the war on health
○ Food and fuel were in such short supply many people caught diseases and it is estimated that nearly 5 million people died during the Civil war from starvation or diseases vs 350,000 in action
Typhus epidemic in 1920 killed 3 million
There were few doctors left to tend to the ill due to suppression of bourgeoisie and there were scarcity’s of soap and medicines.
effect of war on bourgeoisie
○ With no ration cards former members of the nobility and bourgeoisie were left to begging and selling few possessions they had left or helping in labour battalions on the front.
Large palaces and houses were divided up for Bolshevik use with the former inhabitants reduced to occupying one small area as flats were created in proportion to family size.
atrocities committed during the war
- marauding
- whole villages in Ukraine wiped out mostly in Cossack attacks
- Kiev changed hands 16 times bringing hardship
- Rape and murder common and Jews suffered horribly from White Pogroms (massacres)
what was war communism and why was it introduced
the political and economic system adopted by the Bolsheviks during the Civil War in order to keep the towns and Red Army fed
some think it was intended to lead the country towards a more communist economy
Trotsky initially opposed it but then accepted the measures
how was war communism implemented
Bolsheviks decided to treat the Russian economy as one enterprise which neglected the concerns of managers, workers or customers due to their constantly changing opinions (influenced by market forces, such as demand and availability).
reflected Bolshevik ideology “The good of all was more important than the self-interest of individuals”
what did the Bolsheviks think War communism would do
- reduce problems of production, supply, demand and distribution
- solve economic problems through treating the whole country as one giant factory unit
- emphasised central planning
how was war communism oganised?
- under the direction of Veshenka, areas of Bolshevik control were geared for war effort and the emphasis was placed on the heavy industries which starved the other areas of the country for labour and resources evern more
how was requisitioning organised?
- Surplus grain from the peasants were requisitioned and redistributed to feed the urban workers (proletariat).
- Feb 1918: “Socialisation of Land” decree
- May 1918: Food Supplies Dictatorship was set up
Encouraged collective/cooperative farming to increase efficiency with concentrated resources, but compliance rates were low.
process of requisitioning
Requisitioning detachments (ie. Cheka & workers) seized more from the peasants than they needed, offering vouchers instead of money. As a result, peasants barely had enough food to survive.
livestock, carts and firewood disappeared and the requisitioning detachments sought their own booty as reward for their efforts
how were the different types of peasant treated
- The kulaks were people who made personal wealth from farming. They were labelled ‘enemies of the people’ and their stocks were seized.
- Though the poor and moderately poor received better treatment, the harsh requisition measures brought them misery and forced them to hide their supplies.
- Encouragement was given to those who informed the soldiers of those hiding grain by giving them half of the grain discovered.
Peasants resisted by growing less and murdering members of requisition squads, leading to extensive use of Cheka to enforce the policy.
how was nationalisation carried out
- The nationalisation of foreign trade and all industries was carried out.
- The number of nationalisations increased during the Civil War.
- In May 1918, sugar became the first industry to be nationalised.
- June 1918; oil.
- By November 1918 nearly all factories and businesses were nationalised.
- Private trade and manufacture was banned, military-style railway control, workers’ soviets running factories abolished.
- ‘Managers’ were employed by the State to increase output.
- Discipline became harsher. Factories became more reliable places to work - more likely to stay open- some workers liked this
Non-essential industries and small workshops suffered.
how were workers treated under war communism?
- Stricter discipline -> strikes forbidden, working hours extended (going back on Decree made after October 1917 Revolution), ration-card workbooks replacing wages.
- Fines for absenteeism and lateness.
- Bonuses and more rations for hard work.
- Centralised distribution and regulations controlled food, clothing and lodging.
Internal passports introduced to stop employees leaving for the countryside (had been doing so to find food, firewood etc.).
how were the different classes treated under war communism?
- The non-working class had to complete an obligatory labour duty.
- Rationing on a class basis to destroy ‘bourgeois attitudes’ -> Red Army soldiers and factory workers got the highest rations, smaller rations to administrators and doctors, very few rations for nobility, bourgeoisie and clergy.
