Economic And Social Developments

Question 1

State capitalism

Answer 1

Halfway house between capitalism and socialism as the Russian economy was not ready to embrace socialism
Nationalism of Russian banks and railways
Establishment of veshenka
Establishment of GOELRO which was formed to organise the production and distribution of electricity across Russia

Question 2

The red terror

Answer 2

Worsening conditions in the cities and the countryside along with concern over Bolshevik policies meant the party lacked popular support
Trigger for red terror was an attempted assassination on Lenin
Chela rounded up Mensheviks, SRs and anarchists and anyone else considered a threat. Estimated 500,000 were executed

Question 3

War communism

Answer 3

Nationalisation- by Nov 1920 nearly all factories had been nationalised
Grain requisitioning- food supplies dictatorship service up may 1918 to organise requisitioning of peasants grain to feed red army. Peasants supposed to be paid fixed price for grain but low value vouchers offered instead
Labour discipline- workers lost rights and freedoms given in Nov 1917

Question 4

Tambov revolt

Answer 4

Famine and requisitioning in the countryside prompted a series of peasant revolts
August 1920 a peasant army of 70,000 men rose up against the government forces
100,000 red army soldiers used to crush the revolt with a brutal approach of destroying whole villages

Question 5

The Kronstadt rising

Answer 5

In 1921 further reductions in food rationing led to strikes. In March this prompted 30,000 sailors at Kronstadt base to rebel
Trotsky sent red army to put it down. 15,000 rebels imprisoned and the ringleaders shot

Question 6

NEP

Answer 6

Grain requisitioning ended
Ban on private trade ended
State kept control of key large scale industries but small scale became private again
Rationing ended

Question 7

Economic impact of nep

Answer 7

Private businesses reopened and grew quickly. Cities regained services such as shops and restaurants
Agricultural production also recovered quickly as peasants grew more in order to earn more money
So much food grown that prices dropped

Question 8

Political and social impact of nep

Answer 8

Bolsheviks saw it as a retreat back to capitalism which put the transition to socialism much further back in the agenda
A ban on factions introduced 1921 once CC made a decision every party member had to follow it. Disagreeing=expulsion
Menshevik and SR party banned in 1921
Cheka given more power to root out possible counter-revolutionaries

Question 9

Successes of nep

Answer 9

By 1926 industry was almost back to pre war levels of production
By 1926 agriculture had passed pre war levels of production so that the deep economic crisis that they faced at the end of the civil war had been largely overcome