chapter twelve (i just made this lenin + stalin economy) Flashcards
when was the cheka formed
december 1917 (2/1 months after revolution)
cheka
the name given to bolshevik secret police
commissar
a representative appointed by a soviet, a government, or the communist party to be responsible for political indoctrination during and after the 1917 revolution in russia
sovnarkom
the cabinet made up of the important ministers who, between them, would run the country
how did bolsheviks establish control within the sovnarkom
filled exclusively with bolsheviks initially
decree on peace
27 october 1917
promise to end the war, led to an armistice that november and then the official demobilising process
decree on land
27 october 1917
abolished private ownership of land
legitimised peasant seizures of land without landlord compensation (increased peasant support)
workers control decree
novemeber 1917
gave workers the right to supervise managment
nationality decree
promised self determination to the people of the former russian empire
what did nationality decree lead to
finland became independant state december 1917
elected government set up in ukraine
legal reforms under early lenin
november 1917
reformed new legal system with elected peoples courts
sex discrimination law
november 1917
outlawed sex discrimination
gave women right to own property
decree against titles, everyone became ‘citizen’
military decree
december 1917
removed any class ranks
removed saluting + military decorations from army
officers to be elected directly from soldiers soviets
decree on the church
december 1917
church land nationalised
removed marriage and divorce from church control
nationalisation of banks
december 1917
nationalised banks
ended private flow of capital
why did lenin believe in state capitalism
pragmatic way of responding to the problems in Russia 1918
belief that nationalising industry would make the government more efficient, so state capitalism allowed all nationalised industries to be centralised and ran by lenin-chosen economists
conflicts in russia 1905-1918
2 revolutions
1 world war
1 civil war
who ran the economy / nationalised industries under lenin
the vesenkha
what were vesenkha used for
reestablish workers discipline
ensure factories were properly managed
coordinate economic production to improve efficiency
how did the vesenkha achieve their goals
offering higher pay to productive workers
placing factories under the control of well paid specialists (usually previous members of the bougeroise)
war communism
made purely to survive the russian civil war whilst russian economy was on brink of collapse
- ensure there were high levels of industrial production
- efficiently allocate workers
- increase and maintain the food production to feed everyone
implementations of war communism
grain requisitioning done by the cheka
rationing - largest to soldiers and workers
abolition of money - 1918 government printed so much money that led to hyper inflation which made money worthless and brought back bartering + payed in rations
abolition of private trade (made illegal)
all businesses taken over by the state (complete nationalisation, unlike state capitalism where smaller firms left privately owned)
conscription to work or fight
was war communism succesful
relatively succcesful in achieving its aims (of feeding the soldiers and workers and winning the war) but did eventually led to economic collapse and political crisis
red terror
followed assasination attempt on lenin
campaign of violence bgan
bolsheviks used red army and cheka
no way to know the casualties of the red terror
when was lenins assasination attempt
30 august 1918
when did civil war end
1921
what caused revolts in 1920 and 1921
russian civil war ending 1921
war and war communism ruined russian economy
breakdown of economy led to revolts
tambov revolt
began august 1920
peasants in tambov rebeling against grain requisitioning
by january 1921 force of 50,000 peasants, which kept growing and spreading
by march 1921 revolt big enough to attack government grain stores
kronstadt rising
sailors at kronstadt naval base started to rebel
series of idealogical reforms demanded
worrying because they were one of the first groups of people to support the bolsheviks, losing support
new economic policies
1921
turned russia into mixed economy
agricultural sector put under control of the free market
grain requisitioning ended and replaced with tax
small factories de nationalised (large factories stayed)
money was reintroduced
impact of nep on agriculture
the ending on grain requisitioning was extremely popular among peasantry
free market incentivised peasants to grow more food
ending the famine of 1921
impact of nep on industry
led to industrial growth
revived industries destroyed by civil war
but industrialisation and industrial growth still pretty slow
regrowing not growing
example of lenins nep era promoting industrial development
mass electrification campaign
the great turn
stalin believing that ussr growth was to be achieved by mass industrialisation
wanted less dependency on capitalist states
start of 5 year plans (to industrialise, modernise, eliminate shortcoming of NEP, look good on world stage)
first 5 year plan
aim ; to industrialise russian economy
cut short due to economic problems
implementation of quotas
second 5 year plan
led to russia becoming pretty much self sufficient
third 5 year plan
preparing for world war two
even bigger deficit on consumer goods to build war goods instead
cut short by invasion from nazi germany
collectivisation
where agricultural farms would be combined then nationalised
1928-1941
wanted to speed the abolition of private property
hoped collectivisation would promote socialist ideals and gain broad support
nep also had negative effects on the agricultural sector
only 40% joined when forced, 20% when not
ussrs central economic agency under stalin
gosplan
who set industrial targets
gosplan
living conditions under 5 year plans
shortages of consumer goods (due to mismanagement + emphasis on heavy industry)
most goods were rationed due to scarcity
people working in industry gained more benefits, increased immigration which caused housing crisis
arguably worse living conditions under 5yp than nep
