Economic and Social Developments up to 1921

Question 1

What was Lenin’s policy of ‘state capitalism’ a response to?

Answer 1

Half way between capitalism (based on private wealth and free market competition and socialism
All the problems facing Russia in 1918 - he hoped that nationalisation would lead to greater efficiency as the government could employ experts to run the economy
He knew socialism could only develop in an industrialised society

Question 2

What then happened to the control of all nationalised industries?

Answer 2

it was centralised - All run by ‘The Supreme Soviet of the National Economy or Vesenkha

Question 3

What were the Vesenkha?

Answer 3

A group of economic experts

This took responsibility for ‘all existing institutions for the regulation of economic life’

Question 4

What were the Vesenkha designed to do?

Answer 4

Re-establish worker discipline by offering higher pay to productive workers
Ensure factories were properly managed by placing them under control of well-paid specialists
Co-ordinate economic production to meet the needs of the new society

Question 5

Who were not nationalised?

Answer 5

Small factories - they were controlled by workers or handed back to capitalists

Question 6

What was ‘War Communism’?

Answer 6

A reorganisation of the economy in an attempt to meet the demands of the war effort. Government had to take direct control of all aspects of economy (Veshenka)

Question 7

By May 1918 what economic problems did Russia face?

Answer 7

In a state of economic collapse: Food prices soared, industrial production shrank and the value of Rouble collapsed
War communism = starved other areas of the economy of labour and resources with a focus on heavy industry

Question 8

What was war communism designed to ensure?

Answer 8

High levels of industrial production of war goods
An efficient allocation of workers
Food production to feed soldiers, workers and the civilian population
Possibly also to lead Russia towards a more socialist economy
(Trotsky initially opposed wanting a mixed socialist/capitalist scheme in 1920 , however when this was rejected he accepted it)

Question 9

What grain policy did war communism include?

Answer 9

Grain requisitioning - Cheka squads were authorised to seize grain (beyond a minimum for their own survival) and other food forms from peasants without payment
Food Supplies Dictatorship set up in May 1918 to organise it
Encouragement also given to establishment of collective or cooperative farming (only tiny minority of households complied)

Question 10

What rationing policy did war communism implement?

Answer 10

The Supply Commissariat rationed the seized foods - largest rations went to soldiers and workers and smallest went to members of the bourgeoisie

Question 11

What money policy did war communism implement?

Answer 11

The abolition of money - the government printed more money which led to hyperinflation so money became worthless so workers were paid through rations and many public services were provided freely

Question 12

What else was abolished in war communism?

Answer 12

Trade - all private trade and manufacture was made illegal stimulating the rise of the black market.
Military style control of railways introduced
Workers lost freedom enjoyed under 1917 decree and workers soviets which had run the factories were abolished

Question 13

What were the final two policies of war communism?

Answer 13

Complete nationalisation - all businesses taken over by state (including foreign trade e.g. first entire industry to be nationalised = sugar in May 1918 followed by oil in June). By Nov 1920 extended to nearly all factories+businesses
Conscription - workers were assigned to either work in factories or fight in the army

Question 14

What was a success an a failure of war communism?

Answer 14

Succeeded in keeping the Red Army supplied and allowing Bolsheviks to win civil war
It led to economic collapse and political crisis

Question 15

What happened on the 30th of August 1918?

Answer 15

An assassination attempt on Lenin (which wounded him) launched a ferocious campaign of violence - later became known as The Red Terror (really an intensification of what was already happening)

Question 16

What was the Red Terror?

Answer 16

The repression that accompanied the spread of Bolshevik control over Russia by 1921

Question 17

What did the Bolsheviks use as tools of terror?

Answer 17

The Cheka and The Red Army (concentration camps)

Question 18

What are the official records and estimated deaths at the hands of the Cheka in this time?

Answer 18

Official records = 13,000

Estimated = 50,000

Question 19

When and what the Tambov revolt?

Answer 19

August of 1920 - June 1921
Peasants in Tambov (lead by Aleksandr Antonov) began a rebellion against Communist grain requisitioning and Cheka brutality
300 miles south east of Moscow (rural area) - most serious rising

Question 20

How big and how long did the Tambov rebellion become?

Answer 20

A 70,000 man force of anti-communist fighters rose up against government forces when the requisitioning squads arrived in the province demanding requisitions at a time there were almost no grain reserves
Continued into spring of 1921 and by March there were attacks on Government grain stores along the Volga River

Question 21

What and when was the Kronstadt Rising?

Answer 21

March 1921 sailors at the Kronstadt naval base were horrified at the communist suppression of the Petrograd strikes so 30,000 started a rebellion

Question 22

What the Kronstadt sailors demand?

Answer 22

A series of demands(manifesto) which would turn Russia into a soviet democracy - this demand was summed up in their slogan ‘Soviets without communists’.
They demanded end to one party rule as well as genuine democracy and civil rights

Question 23

Why did the Tambov rebellion and Kronstadt uprising concern senior communists?

Answer 23

Tambov was the largest peasant rebellion since the 18th century
Kronstadt was a propaganda disaster as the sailors had previously been some of the most supporters of the Bolsheviks since 1917 including 20,000 in July days, Oct rev, fought for reds in Civil war. They had their own multi-party radical soviet

Question 24

How did the uprisings affect the communist party?

Answer 24

Internal divisions started to emerge within it - a new direction was needed to ensure the government’s survival

Question 25

What did the NEP do?

Answer 25

Ended war communism by creating a mixed economy

Question 26

What were some of the key policies of the NEP?

Answer 26

Farming was left to the free market - peasants could buy, sell and produce freely (ban on private trade removed). Grain requisitioning was ended and replaced with a quota/tax (could sell the surplus). State made it clear it wouldn’t carry through forced collectivisation. Expectation towns would be fed again
Small factories and workshops were denationalised and allowed to trade freely- many returned to former capitalist owners. But state kept control of large-scale heavy industry, banks and transport
Large factories and major industries remained nationalised
Money was reintroduced
Rationing ended- industries required to pay their workers out of their profits. Managers could also ‘pau by the piece’ rather than having central control on wages

Question 27

What effect did the NEP have on agriculture?

Answer 27

Recovered quickly (peasants keen to take advantage of opportunity to trade surplus grain)
A grain tac of was introduced, allowing the peasants to sell the rest of a profit
Ending requisitioning was popular with the peasants
Free trade encourages peasants to grow more therefore ending the famine
Kulak class re-emerged and villages that cooperated with the NEP were rewarded with goods
…. however, scissor crisis

Question 28

What effect did the NEP have on industry?

Answer 28

Lenin authorised a major electrification campaign which revived an industry which had effectively been destroyed by civil war but industrial recovery was very slow

Question 29

What political policy did Lenin introduce at the same time as the NEP?

Answer 29

To avoid a repeat of movements like Workers’ Opposition At 10th Party Congress 1912 - A ban on factions within the communist party - members of the communist party were not allowed to form groups independent from Lenin’s control
This allowed senior party members to discuss policy but once CC agreed a policy every party member had to obey - to disagree = expulsion.
He also supported ‘democratic centralism’ which meant that all other political parties were banned and decisions made by Lenin and the Politburo had to be supported by all Communists

Question 30

What was grain production like in 1921 v 1924?

Answer 30

1921 = 37.61  million tonnes produced 
1924 = 51.4 million tonnes produced

Question 31

What was economic growth like in 1921 v 1925?

Answer 31

1921= 2004 million roubles 
1925 = 4660 million roubles

Question 32

What was one major problem with war communism?

Answer 32

Led to further food shortages so millions died of malnourishment and population dropped from 170.9 million in 1913 to 130.9 million by 1921

Question 33

What was the scissor crisis?

Answer 33

During the NEP there was a widening gap between industrial and agricultural prices reaching a peak in October 1923 where industrial prices were 276 percent of their 1913 levels, while agricultural prices were only 89 percent
Lack of industrial goods for peasants to buy in exchange threatened to make peasants hold back supplies

Question 34

In what way was the NEP a failure?

Answer 34

It was capitalist so went against Bolshevik ideology - regarded as a retreat which put the transition to socialism further away

Question 35

When were war communism and the NEP introduced?

Answer 35

War communism = June 1918

NEP = March 1921

Question 36

What was the Bolsheviks view on state capitalism?

Answer 36

There were many Bolsheviks who disapproved of any compromise with the old capitalism system
They demanded radical measures such as nationalisation of all businesses and the abolition of money and wanted trade to be determined by peoples needs rather than a desire for profit
However, Lenin envisaged a long transition to socialism and spoke of the dangers of moving too quickly (felt these ideals would not work in 1918 Russia

Question 37

What did the Bolsheviks establish in order to develop greater state control over the economy? (state capitalism)

Answer 37

The nationalisation of the banks (Dec 17), external trade (June 18) and of the railways (jun and sept 18)
Veshenka (Dec 17)
GOELRO(a specialist State Commission) in 1920, which was to organise the production and distribution of electricity throughout Russia. This was to become one of the Bolsheviks’ most significant achievements

Question 38

What did the State capitalism measures provide?

Answer 38

Only partial state control of the economy and represented a compromise with previous economic practice, but it was a significant stage on the way to total state control of the economy

Question 39

Unless peasants had an incentive to produce grain, Russian cities would starve, so what was done?

Answer 39

The land decree of Oct 17 acknowledged that although private land was abolished it wasnt actually nationalised but allowed to ‘pass into the use of all those who cultivate it
Decree on workers control of factories of Nov 17 acknowledged the fact that many factories had already been taken over by workers and the decree was cautious adding that those in charge are responsible for the maintenance of the strictest order

Question 40

What were the problems of state capitalism?

Answer 40

Workers failed to organise their factories efficiently and output shrank when it was most needed
Some workers awarded themselves unsustainable pay rises, others help themselves to stock and equipment
They lacked the skills needed for professional management
The Civil war brought further disruption and a shortage of raw materials caused industrial output in the Bolshevik held areas to plummet

Question 41

What were some of the problems during the civil war?

Answer 41

Industrial production fell back drastically as disrupted communications meant that raw materials were in short supply, workers were taken off to serve in the army and non-essential businesses were forced to close
Brought inflation and those those peasants who had surplus produce were not prepared to sell to the city
Some reverted back to subsidence farming due to a lack of goods

Question 42

Why did some peasants do well in the early years of civil war?

Answer 42

They were selling their horses for military use and maintaining a good diet by killing their livestock but as war dragged on conditions became more difficult but they could still scavenge for food and use wood for warmth

Question 43

What did the blockade of trade cause?

Answer 43

Blockade of trade maintained by foreign powers as well as the loss of Ukraine (formerly Russia’s main provider of grain), significantly reduced supplies to the cities and by early 1918 the bread ration in Petrograd was only 50g per person per day

Question 44

What did those living in towns resort to?

Answer 44

The Black Market for food - up to 2/3 of what was consumed in the cities came from this source - urban inhabitants sometimes travelled into the nearby countryside to exchange goods for produce
Black market = refers to illegal trading of goods under the system of barter

Question 45

What did peasant sackmen do and what was the outcome?

Answer 45

Went into towns to try and make money from under cover trading
Both sellers and purchasers were hounded by the ‘cordon detachments’ of special army units which were established in 1918 to prevent such illegal activities
The authorities failed to stamp out the black market (which they used themselves) as there was no alternative if people were to survive

Question 46

What did workers that were desperate for food do?

Answer 46

Left the cities and went to villages or joined the red army. where rations were higher
60% of Petrograd workforce had left the city by April 1918
Jan 1917 - Jan 1919 Russia’s urban proletariat declined from 3.6 million to 1,4 million

Question 47

How many people died in the civil war from starvation and diseases like typhus, typhoid and cholera?

Answer 47

Around 5 million (far more than number of deaths in action which is calculated around 350,000)
A Typhus epidemic in 1920 caused the death of more than 3 million people in the cities
Lack of medicine and few doctors left after the attack on the bourgeoisie, those that remained were conscripted to practice on the front line

Question 48

Who fared the worst?

Answer 48

Former members of the nobility and bourgeois with no ration cards - reduced to begging or selling what few possessions they had
Some given manual tasks like sweeping the streets and some sent to help out in labour battalions
Large houses and palaces divided up and their former occupants could occupy one small area

Question 49

What did war communism reflect?

Answer 49

Bolshevik ideology as it treated the Russian economy as if it were a single enterprise - it didn’t worry about individual concerns - the good for all was more important than self-interest of individuals (concepts such as freedom and personal choice had no part)

Question 50

What were the peasants meant to receive for their grain under war communism and what did they actually receive?

Answer 50

Officially - they were paid a fixed price but detachments often seized more and offered inadequate vouchers rather than money
Livestock, carts and firewood disappeared, leaving the peasants with barely enough to live on as the detachments sought a reward for their efforts

Question 51

Who were the worst hit under the grain requisitioning policy of war communism and how?

Answer 51

The Kulaks (who had made personal wealth from their farming)
They were labelled ‘enemies of the people’ and sometimes their entire stocks were seized
The poor and moderately poor slightly better treated and generally regarded as allies of the urban proletariat but requisitioning brought misery to rural areas and many peasants resisted

Question 52

How did the peasants resist war communism?

Answer 52

They hid supplies (although soldiers often searched these out and any that informed against those hiding grain received half of any grain discovered
Also grew less and murdered members of the requisitioning squad

Question 53

Who were employed by the state to reimpose discipline and increase output under the abolition of private trade during war communism and who agreed with the changes?

Answer 53

Professional managers (the same specialists who had recently been displaced from factory ownership)
Some workers welcomed changes - meant their factories more likely to stay open and provide employment, those working in non-essential industry or small workshops suffered

Question 54

Under War Communism how was there strict discipline for workers?

Answer 54

Strikes were forbidden, working hours were extended and ration-card workbooks were issued, replacing wages
Fines were imposed for slackness, lateness and absenteeism while hard work could be rewarded by bonuses and more rations
Food, clothing and lodging were all controlled through centralised distribution and regulations
Strict checks on freedom of movement and internal passports were introduced to stop employees drifting back to the countryside
Obligatory labour duty demanded of the non working classes

Question 55

How was rationing reorganised in war communism?

Answer 55

On a class basis - Red army soldiers and factory workers got the highest rations
Smaller rations allocated to whit collar professionals like doctors
Very limited or no rations given to the nobility, bourgeoise and clergy

Question 56

What were some of the problems of war communism?

Answer 56

Production declined (transport systems disrupted by war and management struggled to get factories efficient). By 1921 total industrial output = fallen to 20% of its pre-war levels and rations had to be cut. 
Disease circulated and some workers went on strike making matters worse

Question 57

What did the striking workers want/ do under war communism?

Answer 57

Some wanted better rations, new elections and a recall of the Constituent Assembly
Others ignored the passport system and braved the armed guards stationed on the city boundaries to flee to the country in hope of finding food. By end of 1920, population of Petrograd had fallen by 57.5% and Moscow by 44.5% from 1917 level

Question 58

What did a combination of harsh requisitioning and the attack on the Kulaks cause under war communism

Answer 58

Grain supplies were reduced to dangerous levels - there was an acute food shortage by 1920 as insufficient grain was planted
1/3 of land had been abandoned to grass and cattle and horses had been slaughtered in their thousands by hungry peasants

Question 59

What did the harvest of 1921 produce and what was the result?

Answer 59

Only 48% of that from 1917 causing a widespread famine
Millions died from malnourishment and disease and Russia’s population (170.9 mil in 1913) fell to 130.9 by 1921
There were even reports of cannibalism and trade in dead bodies

Question 60

What did the Bolsheviks rely on and why?

Answer 60

Coercion ( persuading someone to do something using force or threats) because the regime was fighting for survival against the whites while also carrying out a class war against many of its own people so as he lacked wider support to allow his economic and social system to work he relied on force (Lenin and many Bolsheviks unapologetic about the use of force to implement their policies

Question 61

Who was the red terror partly aimed at?

Answer 61

Political enemies - the Cheka rounded up the remaining SRs, Mensheviks anarchists and anyone else considered a threat. Rather than imprisoning them, they were often shot (estimates of numbers executed 1918-20 = about 1/2 a million but official records show only a fraction of this.

Question 62

What else was the Cheka given the task of during the Red terror?

Answer 62

Carrying out class warfare, (excuse = bourgeoise guilty of counter-revolution)
An intense campaign = arrests, imprisonment and executions 
Victims came from all levels of society e.g. peasants and workers of all ages. Sometimes reasons for targeting individuals but generally terror appears to have been used to frighten all sections of society into compliance

Question 63

What did the Bolsheviks set up during the Red terror?

Answer 63

A system of labour and concentration camps - no accurate records of prisoners or deaths in these camps under Lenin but their existence shows that ‘Terror’ was employed as an instrument of policy by Lenin, he viewed it as economically and militarily economic but also as an integral part of class warfare.

Question 64

Who were the rebels in the Tambov revolt joined by and what was the outcome?

Answer 64

Some members of green forces
The Red Army had to deploy 100,000 troops to deal with the rising which spread across large swathes of south-eastern Russia
There were brutal reprisals (especially against those accused of being Kulaks)
In 1922 Red Army troops poured into Tambov province and brutally destroyed whole villages - poison gas used to deal with those who hid in the forests

Question 65

What did the famine of 1921 bring?

Answer 65

A new outbreak of peasant revolts and the Cheka reported 155 risings across Russia in February 1921

Question 66

What were the outcomes of the Kronstadt rebellion?

Answer 66

The Red army under (Tukhachevsky) were sent by Trotsky 5 miles across ice (supported by artillery force on land and Cheka force in the back in case any soldier tried to desert) to crush the rebels
The leaders were shot while 15,000 rebels were taken prisoner and most sent to a labour camp in the White Sea
Lenin denounced the sailors as ‘white traitors’ but was shaken by the incident

Question 67

What else did the Tambov troubles cause?

Answer 67

Divisions within the party - The ‘Workers’ Opposition’ group was set up under Alexander Shlyapknikov and Aleksandra Kollontai and argued for greater worker control and the removal of managers and military discipline in factories. It objected to the State appointing the trade union leaders as it made unions a tool of the regime
Also opposed those in the party who wanted to continue and intensify War Communism (from 1920 this included Trotsky)

Question 68

What did the food crisis of 1921 and the reduction of a third in the bread rations in several cities including M and P cause? (Kronstadt cause)

Answer 68

Further strikes and riots - workers protested against a lack of union representation in factories and expressed their support for other socialist parties 
Martial law (military government) was declared in Jan 1921 but even some regular soldiers refused to take action and the Cheka had to be used to crush the demonstrations

Question 69

What was Gosplan and when was it introduced?

Answer 69

State General Planning Commission from 1921 to help coordinate economic development
Formally established by a Sovnarkom decree in February 1921 to advise on the NEP which Lenin formally announced at the 10th party congress in March 1921

Question 70

Who was Lenin supported by with the introduction of the NEP?

Answer 70

Bukharin, Zinoviev and most of the leadership but since he knew many Bolsheviks would see the NEP as an ideological betrayal so he didn’t permit a vote on the measure

Question 71

What impacts did the NEP have on the economy?

Answer 71

Got the economy moving (ending of civil war which left the regime more firmly in control helped)
Private businesses quickly reopened and service industries began to thrive in cities e.g. shops
Money started to flow more freely and industrial production recovered ( larger sate owned industries grew more slowly than small businesses)

Question 72

What had begun to appear by 1923 under the NEP?

Answer 72

An imbalance in the economy as the large quantities of food entering cities caused food prices to drop - before soring 1923 agriculture prices had been > industrial prices - by summer food prices had fallen below those of industrial goods as factories were taking longer to rebuild and expand their output

Question 73

What did the government do to prevent the scissor crisis?

Answer 73

They capped industrial prices and replaced the peasants;’ quotas with money taxes in 1923, so forcing them to sell
The crisis was short lived and by 1926 the production levels of 1913 had been reached again

Question 74

Who were active in getting the economy moving again under the NEP and how?

Answer 74

Private traders - by 1925 there were 25,000 private traders in Moscow alone
These ‘Nepmen’ where responsible for 75% of trade but were hated by many Bolsheviks as representatives of capitalism (hostility heightened by their flaunting of their wealth e.g. indulging in gambling and not adverse to corruption but they were tolerated as long as taxes were paid)

Question 75

Was the NEP an economic success?

Answer 75

Didn’t solve the fundamental problems of the Soviet economy which still had many backwards features compared with advanced countries
By Lenin’s death in 1924, the economy was much more secure than it had been under war communism

Question 76

Who were the Nepmen?

Answer 76

Speculative traders who bought up produce from the peasants to sell in towns and consumer articles in the towns to sell in the peasant markets (making a profit on both)
Estimated by 1923 controlled 75% of trade - other became involved in bigger projects like building where corruption could = big profits

Question 77

How did Lenin and Zinoviev ( one member of the politburo who had worked out the policy) justify the ideological retreat under the NEP?

Answer 77

‘One step back, two steps forward’, tried to appease the discontent by stating that the NEP was only temporary - a tactical retreat necessary to enable the party to stay in power (compared to treaty of Brest-Litovsk)

Question 78

As Leni was conscious of the unease caused by the introduction of the NEP what did he do to maintain political control?

Answer 78

Regime stepped up its suppression of rival views - Menshevik and SR organisations were banned and in 1921 several thousand Mensheviks were arrested
Some SRs given shown trials accused of counter-revolutionary activities (including attempts to assassinate Lenin) and were found guilty - 11 = executed

Question 79

How did Lei retain repression and vigilance at the time of the NEP?

Answer 79

Cheka renamed GPU in 1922, became even more powerful and vigilant. It had power to arrest people at will for any reason and carry out the death penalty (often arrested those accused of speculation to show people the regime was determined to supress capitalist tendencies)
Renewed attack on religion - 1921 the Union of the Militant Godless (group challenging existence of God) was set up and from 1922 churches were stripped of valuable possessions and thousands of priests imprisoned with some executed

Question 80

What happened to censorship under the NEP?

Answer 80

There was more rigorous censorship - in 1922 made clear than criticism of the government was forbidden- many writers and intellectuals deported to other parts of the country
All writings had to be submitted for approval by GLAVIT before publication

Question 81

What other political tool was introduced in 1923 under the NEP?

Answer 81

The Nomenklatura system - a list of over 5000 Part and government posts was drawn up. When any of these posts needed filling, only the Central Party bodies could nominate the new post holder, who they chose from the list of approved party members
This placed loyalty for the party above all else (even skill)
Anyone who wanted to progress had to be seen to be loyal and not challenge official policy
The Nomenklatura could expect material rewards for their loyalty e.g. access to goods and services denied to majority of the pop and even those lower in the party

Question 82

What was The Nomenklatura system?

Answer 82

Where influential posts in government and industry were filled by Party appointees

Question 83

What did a number of workers who were desperate for food do and how many?

Answer 83

Left the cities and went to villages or joined the Red Army where rations were higher - about 60% of the Petrograd workforce had left the city by April 1918
Between Jan 1917 and Jan 1919 Russia’s urban proletariat declined from 3.6 million to 1.4 million

Question 84

What was a consequence of food and fuel being in such short supply?

Answer 84

Many succumbed to disease - it was probable that nearly 5 million people died during the Civil War - from starvation and diseases like typhus and cholera (far more than deaths in action, 350,000)
A typhus epidemic in cities caused the death of more than 3 million in 1920

Question 85

What else caused deaths?

Answer 85

There was a scarcity of soap and medicine were also difficult to obtain
There were also few doctors left to tend the ill after the assault on the bourgeoisie and those remaining found themselves conscripted to practice on the front lines, supporting the troops

Question 86

Who fared the worst?

Answer 86

Former members of the nobility and bourgeoisie probably fared the worst - with no ration cards they were reduced to begging or to selling what few possessions they had left (some given tasks like sweeping)
Large houses and palaces were divided up by Bolshevik building committees and their former occupants were reduced to occupying one small area as flats were created in proportion to family size

Question 87

In both towns and cities what were the Russian people subject to?

Answer 87

Atrocities carried out by competing armies and marauding, ill-disciplined groups of fighters
Whole villages in Ukraine were wiped out in the civil war period
Kiev changed hands 16 times and rape and murder well too common while jews suffered abominably from white pogroms (an organised massacre)