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.
