Economic and Social developments 1918-1924 Flashcards
1
Q
economic
What is state capitalism ?
A
- from 1917-1918
- a mixed economy – major companies and industries would remain in private hands but under state control
2
Q
economic
What did state capitalism involve?
6
A
- Viewed by Lenin as a temporary measure to solve the problems that were being faced.
- Lenin’s policy in 1917 was to nationalise only key industries.
- Recognised the need to deal carefully with the peasants who responsible for the food production of the countryside and the decree on land
- Decree on Land had recognised what had already happened, i.e. the seizure of land by the peasants in the countryside. Confiscated land of crown, church etc.
- The Decree on Workers’ Control led to many factories having been taken over by workers’ committees and this was recognised. In effect, industry was being nationalised ‘from below’
- The Vesenkha was designed to: re-establish worker discipline by offering higher pay to productive workers, ensure factories were properly managed by placing them under the control of well paid specialists
3
Q
economic
What is war communism ?
A
- 1918-1921
- sustain the Red Army and manage the war effort, the Bolsheviks introduced War Communism, a set of policies aimed at centralising and controlling the economy during the Civil War
4
Q
economic
How was war communism implemented?
5
A
- Grain requisitioning: Cheka squads were authorised to seize grain and other forms of food from peasants without payment.
- Rationing: the Supply Commissariat rationed the seized foods. The largest rations went to workers and soldiers, while the smallest rations were given to members of the bourgeoisie.
- The abolition of money: in the short term, the government simply printed more money, which led to hyperinflation. Money became worthless, leading to workers being paid through their rations and many public services, such as the trams, being provided freely.
- The abolition of trade: private trade was made illegal
- Complete nationalisation: all businesses were taken over by the state.
- Conscription: workers were assigned either to work in factories or fight in the army.
5
Q
social
What was the RED TERROR ?
3
A
- violent campaign of political repression initiated by the Bolsheviks to eliminate perceived enemies of the revolution.
- The Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police, played a central role. While brutal, it was justified by the Bolsheviks as a necessary measure to protect the revolution.
- Official records put the figures for deaths at the hands of the Cheka during this period as 13,000 but estimates put the real figure at half a million.
6
Q
economic
What were the Results of war communism ?
A
- production of goods fell dramatically and grain production fell 20% in Ukraine
- The populations of Moscow and Petrograd halved as workers left the cities in search of food. Rations were at starvation level; the horses, dogs and animals in the zoos were consumed.
- The value of money totally collapsed. Inflation between 1917 and 1922 was one million per cent. Workers were paid in goods.
- Famine in the countryside led to deaths and cannibalism - million people were kept alive by relief from overseas; most of it came from the unlikely source of the USA
- The policy of War Communism alienated the peasantry. The peasants did not trust the Communist government. - TAMBOV REVOLT - By January 1921, the revolt had amassed 50,000 .Scale of the Tambov Revolt concerned senior Communists. It was the largest peasant rebellion since the 18th Century.
- KRONSTADT RISING - Sailors at the Kronstadt naval base, disgusted by Communist suppression of the Petrograd strikes, 30,000 sailors stationed at Kronstadt naval base rebelled. The Kronstadt sailors had been the most loyal supporters of the October Revolution and yet, in March 1921 they sent a manifesto to Lenin demanding an end to one-party communist rule. Their slogan was “Soviets without Communists”
7
Q
economic
What was the NEP ?
A
The NEP ended War Communism by creating a mixed economy.Farming was left to the free market.
8
Q
economic
What did the NEP involve ?
3
A
- Peasants could buy, sell and produce freely. Grain requisitioning ended and was replaced by tax in kind.
- Small factories and workshops were denationalised and allowed to trade freely. Many were returned to their former capitalist owners.
- Large factories and major industries remained nationalised.
- Money was reintroduced
9
Q
economic
What were the impacts of the NEP?
7
A
- In 1921 the grain harvest had brought in 37.61 million tonnes. By 1924 the harvest had led to a crop yield of 51.4 million tonnes.
- In 1921 the industrial production had produced 2,004 million roubles. By 1924 it was 11,083 million roubles.
- At the same time as introducing the NEP, Lenin banned “factionalism” within the Party.
- Lenin supported democratic centralism, which meant all other political parties were banned and decisions made by Lenin and the Politburo had to be supported by all Communists.
- Caused great debate amongst the core Bolsheviks, some viewed it as an abandonment of the core Marxist values their party was built on.
- Bolsheviks like Bukharin were in favour of the NEP, whilst others such as Trotsky were vehemently against it.
- Stalin decided to take a “central” stance on it. Neither committing or rejecting the idea.
10
Q
economic
What are the two main reasons why some objected to the NEP?
A
1 ) The planned economy that the Bolsheviks had so desired was being sacrificed. Those who most benefited from the NEP would be the peasant – the natural enemy of socialism.
2 ) Marx believed that the political superstructure of every society was based on its economy. If the economy was to become a free market, it seemed inevitable that sooner or later the political superstructure would have to conform with the economy.
11
Q
Social
how was reigion targetted by the bolsheviks ?
8
A
- Bolsheviks were atheists and believed the Russian Orthodox Church to be a “counter-revolutionary” force, was the religion of 2/3 of the population.
- Views it as a tool of the “reactionary classes”, who supported the whites and the return of the tsar during the civil war
- Decree on land legalised seizure of land from the church, also lost control of education
- Anti-religious propaganda was a feature of party publications, from 1921 onwards the union of the militant godless challenged the church more directly.
- In 1922 orders were sent out to strip churches of their precious items which led to violent clashes and leaders of the Orthodox Church were given death sentences
- Formerly religious holidays were bolshevised ; Christmas and Easter were now Komsomol Christmas and Easter, children were no longer baptised but instead octobered, red weddings were held in front of a portrait of Lenin instead of an altar
- More than 28 bishops and 1215 priests were killed during the anti-church campaign
- There was also an effort to split the church from within,’the living church’ movement backed by the OGPU hailed the revolution as a Christian deed and denied that the communists persecuted the church
12
Q
Social
how were the lives of women effected ?
5
A
- treating women as second class citizens was seen as a capitalist way of thinking, bolsheviks believed that relationships should be less fixed
- Children did not belong to their families but instead to the state.
- women were invited into ‘male jobs’ and were also invited to become party members
- Zhentodel was established to promote the position of women within society led by Alexandra Kollontai, under her leadership marriage was almost destroyed making it easier to divorce.
- Soviet propaganda under Lenin - “liberation of women” where sex discrimination was outlawed and the family was regarded as a relic of bourgeois society
13
Q
Social
how was education effected
|5
A
- formal teaching was abandoned and more traditional teachers were driven out
- Teachers were often untrained and had inefficient resources
- Numbers of children attending school was actually falling despite education being free
- Students from proletarian backgrounds were given priority over others, although some students were of poor quality and there was a high dropout rate
- The new-style education was failing to produce the skilled workers, scientists and technicians the country needed
14
Q
How did these developments lead to political change ?
|4
A
- Censorship became more systematic in the spring of 1922, dozens of outstanding Russia writers and scholars were deported to convince the intelligentsia that is was not a good time to criticize the government. In the same year, pre-publication censorship was introduced. Books, articles, poems and other writings had to be submitted to the Main Administration for Affairs of Literature and Publishing houses (Glavlit) before they could be published.
- The secret police actually grew in importance during the NEP. Random imprisonment and the death penalty continued to be applied after 1922 as an instrument of social policy. The GPU periodically harassed and arrested Nepmen as speculators and class enemies in order to assure left Communists and the urban workers that they were keeping capitalistic tendencies under control.
- The Tambov region for instance was swamped by Red Army troops in 1922. Whole rebel villages were destroyed in a brutal campaign. Villages that supported the Reds were rewarded with salt – a vital commodity because it was needed for food preservation – and manufactured goods, and fed propaganda about the benefits that the NEP would bring them.
- Attacks on political rivals - other socialist groups had grown in popularity during the revolts and the Bolsheviks used this as an excuse to arrest some 5000 Mensheviks in 1921 for counter-revolutionary activities. The Mensheviks and SRs were outlawed as political organisations.The Communists rounded up a large number of SRs and held a show trial, during which former SRs who had collaborated with the secret police accused old colleagues of heinous crimes.
