Economic and social developments Flashcards
Define a socialist economy?
One in which there is no private membership and in which all members of society have a share in the state’s resources
Define state capitalism?
A ‘compromise’ economy, which embraced some elements of socialism by imposing a degree of state control but retained elements of capitalism such as private markets and the profit incentive
Define war communism?
The political and economic system adopted by the Bolsheviks during the Civil War in order to keep the towns and the Red Army provided with food and weapons
Define Gosplan?
The State General Planning Commission from 1921, which helped coordinate economic developments
Key chronology of economic development
1917-18 - State Capitalism
1918-21 - War Communism
1921 onwards - New Economic Policy
What did Marxist theory dictate about the development of socialism?
Socialism can only be developed in an industrialised society
What did many Bolsheviks think about state capitalism?
Disapproved of any compromise with the old capitalist system. They demanded radical measures such as the nationalisation of all businesses and the abolition of money
How did the Decree on Land try to maintain an incentive to produce grain?
Allowed the land to ‘pass into the use of all those who cultivate it’
How did the Decree on Workers’ Control of Factories try to maintain an incentive for productivity?
Added that those in control ‘are responsible to the state for the maintenance of the strictest order and discipline and for the protection of property’
How had the Bolsheviks established greater state control over the economy?
Nationalisation of the banks (December 1917), of external trade (June 1918) and of the railways (June and September 1918)
Veshenka (December 1917)
GOELRO (1920)
What was Veshenka?
The Supreme Council of the National Economy, which took responsibility for ‘all existing institutions for the regulation of economic life’
What was GOELRO?
A special state commission, which was to organise the production and distribution of electricity throughout Russia
What did Lenin say which recognised the importance of the GOELRO?
‘Communism equals Soviet power plus electrification’
Problems with state capitalism?
Workers failed to organise their factories efficiently and output shrank
Some workers awarded themselves unsustainable pay rises or helped themselves to equipment. There were reports, for example, of workers making shoe soles from the leather factory belts to sell on the black market
How did the civil war affect the economy?
Industrial production fell dramatically as disrupted communications meant raw materials were in short supply, workers left their jobs to fight, and non-essential businesses were forced to close.
This brought rampant inflation.
Difference between rural and urban conditions at the start of the war?
Some peasants were able to maintain relatively normal diets by killing their livestock (but they began to suffer more as the war dragged on)
Urban workers suffered a severe shortage of food, fuel and basic necessities - some even stripped their houses of wood to keep warm in the winter
What external conditions made the economic effects of the civil war worse?
Blockade of trade by foreign powers
Loss of Ukraine (‘break basket of Europe’)
What was the bread ration in Petrograd by early 1918?
Only 50 grammes per person per day
What did those living in the towns resort to in order to get food?
The black market - up to 2/3 of what was consumed in the cities came from this (‘cordon detachments’ established in 1918 to prevent these illegal activities, but they failed)
What was the effect of food shortages for urban workers?
Many workers chose to leave the cities, either moving to the villages or joining the Red Army where rations were higher
According to historian Beryl Williams, 60% of the Petrograd workforce had left the city by April 1918
How much had Russia’s urban proletariat declined?
Fell from 3.6 million to 1.4 million between January 1917 and January 1919
How many people died during the Civil War?
Nearly 5 million (from starvation, disease etc…)
How many people died in combat during the Civil War?
around 350,000
Details of the epidemic during the Civil War?
Typhus epidemic swept through the cities and caused the death of more than 3 million people in 1920
How were health issues made worse during the Civil War?
Medicines were difficult to obtain and there were few doctors left to tend to the ill after the assault on the bourgeoisie (those who had survived this had mainly gone to the front lines to tend to wounded soldiers)
Which social groups fared the worst during the Civil War?
Former members of the nobility and bourgeoisie - with no ration cards, they were reduced to begging or selling their possessions
Example of civilian hardship during the war?
Whole villages in Ukraine were wiped out.
Kiev changed hands 16 times during the war and each change led to rape, murder and pillaging.
Jews particularly suffered from pogroms from the White army
When was war communism introduced?
1918
How did Trotsky react to the implementation of war communism?
Initially opposed it, putting forward his own mixed socialist/capitalist scheme in 1920. When this was rejected though, he accepted the need to build communism by force
What was the rationale behind war communism?
To ensure the Red Army was supplied with munitions and food
How did war communism reflect Bolshevik ideology?
Treated the Russian economy like a single ‘enterprise’, which would be geared to making the best use of Russia’s productive capacity without worrying about the individual concerns of managers, workers or consumers
What was the main focus during war communism?
Heavy industry
What were the key features of war communism?
Prodrazvyorstka (grain requisitioning)
Nationalisation
Labour discipline and rationing
Explain prodrazvyorstka under war communism?
Peasants’ grain was viciously requisitioned to distribute it to the cities to feed the workers
A Food Supplies Dictatorship was set up in May 1918 to organise it
It was hoped that establishing cooperative farming would help peasants farm more efficiently, but very few households complied
How was prodrazvyorstka enforced?
Detachments of soldiers, Cheka and workers came from the large towns and cities, who often seized more than they should have and only offered vouchers, rather than money.
Who was worst hit by prodrazvyorstka?
Kulaks, who had made their personal wealth from farming. They were labelled ‘enemies of the people’ and sometimes had their entire stock seized
How did some peasants try to defy prodrazvyorstka?
They hid supplies, started growing less and less produce and murdered members of the requisition squads
Explain nationalisation under war communism?
Building on the decree of February 1918, all industries were nationalised under strict centralised management.
What was the first entire industry to be nationalised under war communism?
Sugar in May 1918, followed by oil in June.
When was nationalisation extended to nearly all factories and businesses?
November 1920
What was abolished when nationalisation took off?
Workers’ soviets which had run the factories were abolished and the workers lost the freedom they had enjoyed under the decree of November 1917
How did nationalisation affect managers?
Professional ‘managers’ were employed by the State to reimpose discipline and increase output
How did workers react to the changes brought about by nationalisation?
Some workers welcomed the changes because it meant that their factories were more likely to stay open and provide employment, but those working in non-essential industries or small workshops suffered
Explain labour discipline and rationing under war communism?
Strikes were forbidden, working hours were extended and wages were replaced by ration-card workbooks.
Fines were imposed for lateness, slackness and absenteeism, while hard work could be rewarded by bonuses and more rations
What was introduced to stop employees leaving to go to he countryside?
Internal passports
How was rationing reorganised?
On a class basis - Red Army soldiers and factory workers got the highest rations, smaller rations were allocated to white collar professionals like administrators or doctors, and ‘the former people’ (old nobility, bourgeoisie and clergy) got little to none
How much did industrial output decrease under war communism?
By 1921, total industrial output has fallen to around 20% of its pre-war levels
How much had city populations decreased under war communism?
By the end of 1920, the population of Petrograd had fallen by 57.5% and Moscow by 44.5% from the level of 1917
By what point was there an acute food shortage?
By 1920, as insufficient grain was planted. A third of land had been abandoned and cattle and horses had been slaughtered in their thousands by hungry peasants
How successful was the harvest of 1921?
Only produced 48% of 1913 levels - caused widespread famine
How much did the famine of 1921 affect Russia’s population?
170.9 million in 1913
130.9 million in 1921
Conditions were so bad that there were even reports of cannibalism
What did the regime start in response to the lack of economic and social control?
The Red Terror (although arguably this was just an intensification of what was already happening)
Why did many Party members feel unapologetic about the Red Terror?
They thought that they knew what the country needed, and if this had to come about through use of extreme force and terror, so be it.
What was the catalyst for the Red Terror?
There was an attempt on Lenin’s life in August 1918
Aims of the Red Terror?
Destroying political opposition
Carrying out class warfare
Maintaining control over the economy
Explain destroying political opposition as an aim of the Red Terror?
The Cheka rounded up remaining SRs, Mensheviks, anarchists and anybody else that they saw as a political threat
Estimates show that around half a million were killed for this reason between 1918 and 1920
Solovki prison camp on the Solovetsky islands was set up for the purpose of housing political enemies
Explain class warfare as an aim of the Red Terror?
The excuse for this was that the bourgeoisie was guilty of plotting counter-revolution. An intense campaign brought arrests, imprisonments and executions.
However, victims came from all areas of society, including workers and peasants (and even children) - shows a policy of arbitrary terror
Explain maintaining control over the economy as an aim of the Red Terror?
Needed to keep people in the cities (internal passports)
Industrial and agricultural production levels fell
The Bolsheviks needed to maintain a strong grip over the economy
What did the Bolsheviks set up during the Red Terror?
A system of concentration and labour camps
When was the Tambov revolt?
1920-21
How many uprisings did the Cheka report across Russia in February 1921?
155 (the most serious of which was Tambov)
How big was the Tambov revolt?
There was a 70,000 strong peasant army led by Alexander Antonov
What sparked the Tambov revolt?
Grain requisitioning squads arrived in the province demanding requisitions when there was no grain left
How did the Bolsheviks deal with the Tambov revolt?
Sent 100,000 Red Army troops, who brutally destroyed whole villages and even used poison gas to deal with those who lived in the forests
What did Lenin say about the Kronstadt rising?
It was ‘the flash which lit up reality better than anything else’
What brought about the Kronstadt rising?
The food crisis of 1921
A reduction of a third in the bread ration in several cities
Declaration of martial law in January 1921
How many Kronstadt sailors rebelled?
30,000
Why was it so shocking that the Kronstadt soldiers rebelled?
They had been loyal supporters of the Bolsheviks in the October revolution
What did the Kronstadt soldiers do in March 1921?
They sent a manifesto to Lenin demanding an end to one-party rule. They demanded genuine democracy and civil rights, using the slogan ‘Soviets without Bolsheviks’
How did the Bolsheviks deal with the Kronstadt rising?
Trotsky sent the Red Army, under Tukhachevsky, to crush the rebels (supported by Cheka men to the rear to ensure people wouldn’t desert). The ringleaders of the revolt were shot and 15,000 rebels were taken prisoner and sent to a labour camp on the White Sea
How did the Bolshevik party start to fragment during this time?
The ‘Workers’ Opposition’ group was set up by Shlyapknikov and Kollontai, arguing for greater worker control and the removal of managers and military discipline in the factories. It also strongly opposed those who wanted to continue and intensify war communism (e.g. Trotsky)
When was Gosplan established?
Established in February 1921 by Sovnarkom decree
When did Lenin announce the NEP?
At the Tenth Party Congress in March 1921
He did not allow a vote on the matter
Who supported Lenin with the NEP?
Zinoviev and Kamenev
What were the key features of the NEP?
End to grain requisitioning and the ban on private trading
Privatisation of small-scale industry
End to rationing
Explain the end to grain requisitioning and ban on private trading?
The peasants were still required to give a quota to the state (and from 1923 this became a tax), but they could sell any surplus for a profit - this stimulated production as people were now working for their own benefit
Explain the privatisation of small scale industry?
Large-scale heavy industry like oil, coal and steel (the ‘commanding heights of the economy’) were kept under state control, but smaller industries would return to private hands
How much did war communism increase supply of grain to the state?
Increased by 6 million tonnes by 1921
What were the aims of the Kronstadt rebellion?
Elections to soviets, freedom of speech and press, right of assembly, release political prisoners
How many were executed after Kronstadt?
Around 2,000 executed
How many people died due to Tambov revolt?
240,000
How many Tambov rebels went to concentration camps?
Around 50,000 - 15-20% of inmates died each month
How many members of requisition squads were murdered during war communism?
7,000 in 1918 alone
How did the NEP impact foreign trade?
Economic ties with foreign nations resumed - e.g. trade agreement with the British in 1922
Example of NEP helping industry recover (coal production)
1913 - 29 million tonnes
1921 - 8.9 million tonnes
1926 - 27.6 million tonnes
How did the NEP affect factory output?
Doubled from 1920-23 (BUT from a low starting point)
What did Lenin introduce in 1921 to combat effects of NEP on party unity?
Ban on factions!
Impacts of ban on factions?
Lack of debate within the Party
Resulted in many expulsions (and 11 executions of SRs)
Put Stalin in a strong position for the leadership challenge
Increased power of the Central Committee
What were Nepmen?
Traders who bought up produce from the peasants to sell to the towns and consumer articles in the towns to sell in peasant markets, making a profit on both transactions
Estimated that Nepmen handled 3/4 of retail trade by 1923
How many Nepmen were there?
By 1925, there were 25,000 in Moscow alone
What did ideological Bolsheviks call the NEP?
New Exploitation of the Proletariat
What was the scissors crisis?
Price of grain dropped while price of industrial goods surged (however, the crisis was short lived and by 1926, the production levels of 1913 were reached again due to decisive government action like capping industrial prices)
Economic consequences of the NEP?
Uneven progress (northern and eastern regions recovered faster than southern and western regions)
Procurement crisis
Scissors crisis
What was the grain procurement crisis?
Government only got 80% of the grain they should have as some peasants hid their grain
Political consequences of the NEP?
Placated opposition (e.g. Tambov, Kronstadt etc…)
Caused ideological splits within the Party, leading to the ban on factions
Effect of NEP on Cheka?
Renamed the GPU in 1922
Became more powerful and vigilant, with the power to arrest anyone at will and carry out the death penalty
Social consequences of the NEP?
1922 - it was made clear that criticism of the government was forbidden. All writings had to be submitted for approval by GLAVIT)
1921 - renewed attack on religion by establishing Union of the Militant Godless and from 1922, churches were stripped of valuable items and thousands of priests were imprisoned
Universities lost autonomy
What was GLAVIT?
The Main Administration for Affairs of Literature and Publishing Houses
