Economic And Social Changes 1924-41 Flashcards
Before collectivisation was introduced, how did farmers farm
Using horse - drawn wooden ploughes
When was collectivisation introduced
1928
When did the NEP end
1928
What was collectivisation
Peasants gave up their land in order to pool their land with other families.
- farms large enough to use modern machinery
Why did Stalin modernise industry/ agriculture
Fear of invasion
- Britain/ France/ USA helped whites
- hoped to deter opponents/ strengthen armies - supplies
Disappointing output
- grain production fell under NEP
- in 1927, levels fell lower then needed to feed cities
Communist principles
- fit in with ideas of shared ownership
- creating/ sharing wealth
Controlling peasants
- close to destroying Lenin in war communism
Industrialisation
- if 5 year plans were to be successful - agriculture had to produce surpluses to be sold abroad
- mechanisation - many peasants were going to work in towns the remaining ones had to produce a sufficient amount
What were the problems of the NEP
- many party members hated the idea that kulaks were benefiting
- goes against communist ideas (private peasant farms for profit instead of collective efforts)
- peasant agriculture was not modernising - yields still low
- grain crisis
When and what was the grain crisis
- 1927-28
- war scare in 1927/ peasants hoarded grain/ Stalin saw as an attempt to sabotage work of bolsheviks/ stated that kulaks had to produce a specific quotas of grain for 1928/ kulaks reduced production because they would not receive as much money
What was the attack on kulaks
1927-28
- grain was forcefully taken - peasants forced to join kolkhozes
1929
- Stalin launched campaign ‘liquidisation of the kulaks’ - peasants shot/ sent to Nigeria
1930
- 30,000 kulaks died
- peasants continued to resist collectivisation - Stalin halted scheme
1932
- revitalised collectivisation campaign
- famine
What is Kolkhoz
Russian word for collective farm
Who was the most important figure in the collective farm
The chairman - a communist party member
How was a collective farm organised
- local communist party officials went into villages and explained how it worked
- the state owned land/ equipment/ all produce
- state told each collective farm what to produce and set it a production target
- when target reached, they would be paid a very low amount
- all workers were organised into brigades and worked set hours
- was set a quota of produce it was allowed to keep to feed workers
How many collective farms were there by 1940
240,000
How many peasant families were in each collective farm
Approx 80
What did the state provide each collective farm with
- machinery - a tractor/ tools/ seeds
What was MTS
Machine tractor Stations
- 1 for each 40 collective farms
How many MTS were there by 1933
2900, which controlled more then 120,000 tractors
What was the sovkhoz
- a type of farm
- created from old large estates
- all land and produce taken by state
- had its own tractors
- peasants worked as paid labourers
- 3600 hectares
- ‘ factory without a roof’
What was the main opposition to collective farms
- peasants (especially from Ukraine) set fire to farms/ slaughtered animals rather then hand it over to the state
How did Stalin react to the peasants opposing collectivisation
- sent in de-kulakisation squads
- party members and OGPU
What was the impact of this opposition
- forced Stalin to slow down collectivisation by 1930
What were the successes of collectivisation
- by 1933, 83% of arable land was collectivised
- MTS and general mechanisation sped up production/ more efficient
- life on collective farms were satisfactory - schools/ hospitals
- more young people from rural areas went to agricultural school and learnt about farming
- rationing of bread/ food ended in 1934
- steep grain fall started to recover not 1935
- USSR increased grain export - earned money to reinvest
- peasants left land to cities - more workers for rapid industrialisation
- Stalin able to control countryside
What were the failures of collectivisation
- famine 1932-33 (6 million dead)
- ‘liquidisation of the kulaks’ policy killed or removed many of the most experienced farmers
- Stalin allowed peasants to keep small private garden plots - made up 30% of food produces
- too few tractors
- farming still inefficient - wasn’t until 1940 that figures for grain production matched those of 1914
- peasant opposition lead to serious decline in production
- rural population starved in order to provide for the needs of the industry
- movement to towns, in search of food, was stopped - Stalin introduced passports for inside country - tied to land - serfs
Economic impacts of collectivisation
From 1929 - 35
- grain - fell from 83 million tonnes to 67 million tonnes
- cattle -fell from 67 million tonnes to 38 million
- pigs - fell from 20 million tonnes to 11 milliom
- sheep/ goats - fell from 147 million tonnes to 50
(Grain/cattle/ pigs worked its way back up by the end of 1935)
When was the famine mainly in Ukraine
1932- 33
- Ukrainian peasants refused to join collective farms - saw it as a form of serfdom
- to crush resistance- state took more and more grain away
- soviet government denied the famine and refused foreign aid
- 3 - 6 million deaths
How was industry modernised
Through the 5 year plan
What were Stalin’s motives for rapid industrialisation
- convinced that surrounding capitalist countries would invade and only a strong industrial economy could produce the wealth and modern weapons
- needed changes in industry to help agriculture - eg. Tractors
- strongly opposed NEP - determined to restore central or state direction of industry
When was the first 5 year plan
1928 - 1932
Who directed the 5 year plans
The gosplan - state planning authority
- set targets for certain industries
What was the gosplan
- state planning authority
- responsible for setting targets for key industries
- involved setting up new factories
How many new factories were set up in the first two 5-year-plans (1928-37)
5000
Where were new factories set up
- eastern areas such as Kazakstan - far away from possible attack from the west
What was a main industrial city
Magnitogorsk
In the space of three years how much did Magnitogorsk grow
Between 1929- 32 grew from 25 people to 25,000
Why was there an increase In absenteeism during the 5-year-plans
Workers couldn’t cope with the pressure to meet unrealistic targets set by gosplan
What were the targets for the first 5 year plan in 1932
Coal - 100 million tomes - actual; 64
Oil - 50 million tonnes - actual; 21.4
Iron ore - 26 million tonnes - actual; 12
What was different about the first 5 year plan compared to the second one
- avoided mistakes such as setting too high targets
What did the different 5-year-plans focus on
First - increasing output of heavy industry eg. Steel
Second - increasing output of heavy industry, but with greater efficiency/ increased consumer goods
Thirds - increase in military production
When was the second 5 year plan
1933-37
When was the third 5 year plan
1938- 41
Why was the third 5 year plan abandoned
Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941
How did purges effect the third 5 year plan
- senior workers and officials were removed
- lack of expertise
- lack of industry
Who was alexei Stakhanov
- in august 1935 it was claimed he shifted 102 tonnes of coal in one night - 15 times the normal amount
- mining feat was set up
What was the Stakhanovite movement
- propaganda encouraged employees to work harder using Stakhanov as an example
- known as Stakhanovites - rewarded with medals/ benefits such as free holidays
Economic impact of 5-year - plans
Coal - increased by 500 percent
Steel - increased from 3 million tonnes to 18 million tonnes
Oil - doubled
Electricity - increased from 18 million tonnes to 90
What were the successes of industrialisation
- skilled workforce - investment in education and training schemes
- cities developed - population in cities rose by 29 million
- vast construction projects undertaken - Moscow metro underground
- almost no unemployment
- new industrial complexes built
What were the failures of industrialisation
- High, unrealistic targets not met - officials gave false figures to the gosplan
- lack of consumer goods/ textiles in first 5 year plan
- quality was very low - peasants had little experience working with machines
- first 5 year plan only produced 50,000 tractors - should have produced 170,000
- some production depended on slave labour from gulags
- targets meant quantity was compromised for quality = half tractors soon broke down
- terrible working/ living conditions
How was the industrialisation interpreted compared to reality
- often interpreted as impressive - transformed into an industrial country/ industrial power house
- reality - rapid industrialisation caused chaos - raw materials rarely arrived/ no spare parts to fix machinery/ targets only met through lying/ low quality products broke in first use
How was economic progress often achieved
At the expense of tough living and working conditions
In 1933, the value of the workers wages fell by what percent
50
What was the working conditions like under Stalin
- harsh
- strict rules about discipline and punctuality
- peasants pressed into working in factories - not used to harsh conditions
- fines imposed for lateness/ absence = who were absent for more than a day were sacked.
- failures blames on saboteurs
- low wages = value of their wage fell by 50% in 1933
EXAMPLE Of SABOTEURS
in 1928, 55 engineers working in the Shakhty coalmines in the Donbass were put on trial for sabotaging equipment and organising accidents. Despite their innocence, five were shot.
How were some of the biggest projects carried out in the 5 year plans
Using forced labour in the gulags
- mainly peasants who had opposed collectivisation
What were the better living conditions in the towns, under Stalin
Family benefits
- free health service/ paid holidays/ insurance scheme/ women found it easier to fine employment
No unemployment
- did not experience an economic depression like western countries (Britain/ Germany/ USA)
Leisure
- sport and exercise were encouraged to improve fitness
- collective farms provided Clubs/ sports facilities
What were the worse living conditions in the towns, under Stalin
- difficult to cope with rapid population growth
- services (power/water supply) couldn’t keep up
- some places had no sewage systems
- no sewages in some places
- some places had bathhouses for entire population
- food rationed until 1935
- no street light = danger to venture out at night
Overcrowding
- urban population rose from 29 million in 1929 to 40 million by 1933
- pressure on housing/ public transport = as peasants flooded into industrial centres
- in Moscow only 6% of households had more then 1 room
- trams = no space
- most families shared flats with others
Better living/ working conditions in the countryside
- greater mechanisation - work easier/ more efficient
- scientists brought in to introduce new methods
- peasants offered free housing at the start
- had schools - literacy rates improved
- had hospitals
- ## same social benefits - sports clubs
Worse living/working conditions in the countryside
peasants resented collectivisation- disliked giving up their land
- no freedom - internal passports aimed to keep them tied to their land
- MTS had members of secret police to keep an eye on collective workers
- food shortages - food was taken from them for the workers in cities/ towns
What was Stalin’s principal aim
Remove anyone that was an enemy of socialism - kulaks/ NEPmen
How were the peasants effected by Stalin’s regime
- collectivisation and purges removed wealthier peasants - kulaks
- conditions for peasantry were generally worse then those of town workers
- state kept prove of agricultural produce low to ensure a cheap supply for food in towns
- more peasants moved to towns in hope of a better standard of living
How were the town workers impacted by Stalin’s regime
- promotion - 1.5 million workers gained management posts under 5 year plans
- benefited from expansion of higher education- gained technical knowledge
- rapid industrialisation removed unemployment
- poor living conditions
- very high demands on productivity
How were party members impacted by Stalin’s regime
- better lifestyle
- better housing/ healthcare/ a villa - dacha - for holidays in the countryside
By 1940, how many women were working
13 million, compared to 3 million in 1928
- very few in managerial positions
How did the Bolsheviks (Lenin) change lives of women
- divorce made easier
- abortion and contraception made easier to obtain
- equal educational opportunities
How did Stalin reinforce marriage and family life and steer away from the high divorce rates
- stricter conditions for divorce
- high fees charged (50 roubles for first 150 for second)
- child support payments
- 25 percent of wages for one child
- incentives for women to have children
- mother’s who had 6 children or more received 2000 roubles a year for 5 years - a lot!!
- controlling abortions/ contraception
- abortions banned in 1936
- sterilisation banned
When was abortion banned under Stalin
1936
What were the benefits to working mothers
- all workers children received free primary education
When was the zhenotdel abolished
1930
Why was the zhenotdel abolished
- declared women’s issues had been solved and any future issues would become the work of the party as a whole
What was the socialist theory on nationalism
- proletarians were the same everywhere, regardless of nationality
How did the Bolsheviks respond to nationalism (Lenin)
- encouraged variety
- wanted people to be proud of their different languages and traditions
How did Stalin try to press ethnic minorities
- discourages from speaking their own language
- Russian was compulsory
- often discriminated against - very few having top positions
- purges
Why did Stalin persecute ethnic minorities
- people began to be criticised for putting nationalism first - 1920s
- resistance to collectivisation was often strongest where national identities were strongest
- Stalin believed some nationalists were a threat to the USSR
How many people of ethnic minorities were deported under Stalin
12.5 million
How were the Ukrainians effected by the persecution of ethnic minorities
- starved deliberately during famine 1932-33
- Stalin feared many were seeking separation from Soviet Union
- purges any leading Ukrainian intellects encouraging separation
Who and when was the largest single deportation
1936 - entire Korean community 172,000 individuals removed from NKVD
- took 124 railway convoys to move them
Why did ethnic minorities become a target for the purges
- suspected counter - Revolutionary tendencies
Who were exiled in 1941
- hundreds of thousands of soviet Germans exiled from Germany
Social impacts of 5 year plans
Housing conditions for workers in towns were very poor -in Moscow only six percent of householders lived in more than one room.
Food was in short supply in urban areas. Between 1928 and 1933, consumption of meat, fruit and milk in Leningrad declined by 66%.
Many towns and cities could not cope with the rapid population growth, so roads, the water supply, power and transport were insufficient. In some areas sewage systems or street lights were absent
Collectivisation = negatives
HUMAN COST
The human cost of collectivisation was enormous. There was a serious famine from 1932 to 1933, which caused the death of 6-10 million peasants. Ukraine + and the northern Caucasus about five million people died.
FALL IN PRODUCTION
Economically, collectivisation had mixed results. Peasant opposition
led to a serious decline in grain production, from 73.3 million tones in 1928 to 67.6 million in 1934 = The impact on the countryside was worsened by the government policy of seizing grain. The rural population starved in order to provide for the needs of industry, and peasants moved to the towns in search of food = Such movement was stopped when the government introduced passports simply for moving around the country. The peasants thus became tied to the collectives = SERFS
INEFFICIENT FARMING
Farming remained inefficient, with Soviet farmers producing less per head than farmers in the USA or western Europe. Until the mid-1930s, there was not enough food grown for the whole Soviet population and some had to be purchased from abroad. worst years 1932-33 when a national famine occurred. It was not until 1940 that fiqures for grain production matched those of 1914.
Collectivisation = positives
GREATER CONTROL
Collectivisation was also a success for Stalin and the communists. They had finally secured control of the countryside. The peasants never again openly rebelled against communist rule. Stalin had also ensured that he had a secure supply of food for the towns and workers for the factories.
BENEFITS
The aim of producing enough food to feed the towns and the Red Army was achieved. Life on the collective farms was not all bad. For example, there were schools and hospitals on some collectives for the workers. The MTS were quite successful and the mechanisation of farming did speed up in the years after 1935. By 1936, more than 90 per cent of land had been collectivised and tractors were introduced on a large scale.
Example of ‘sabotage’
in 1928, 55 engineers working in the Shakhty coalmines in the Donbass were put on trial for sabotaging equipment and organising accidents. Despite their innocence, five were shot.
