Economic Development Flashcards
What date was Lenin’s decree on land?
October 1917
What did the decree on land enforce?
Peasants seizure of land; abolishing private ownership.
What was State Capitalism?
The first stage in a long transition into socialism.
What date was Veshenka established?
December 1917
What was Veshenka?
The Council of the National Economy.
Why was the initial nationalisation of industry inefficient?
Workers failed to organise their factories efficiently, output shrank, workers awarded themselves excessive pay rises & helped themselves to equipment.
Why was there high inflation at this point?
There was more money than goods available.
When did Lenin begin to enforce food requisitioning?
spring 1918
What was ‘food requisitioning?’
A set amount of food was taken from the peasants to supply urban workers and soldiers.
Why did Lenin encourage collective farming?
in the hope that the peasants could work more efficiently in groups.
Why were the Kulaks beginning to be labelled as ‘enemies of the people?’
They had made personal wealth from their farming.
How were the Kulak’s victimized during the food requisitioning process?
They had their stocks seized and the Cheka were used against them.
How did the Civil War affect nationalisation?
increasing demands meant more and more companies became nationalised.
What was the first entire industry to be nationalised?
Sugar in May 1918.
How were working conditions affected by nationalisation?
Working hours increased and workers lost their freedom. Wages were replaced by a rationing book.
How did rationing and the attack on the Kulaks affect the country side?
Grain production reduced to a dangerous level.
What was the Tambov revolt?
An army of peasants uprising against gran requisitioning after a poor harvest left them with no reserves.
How many Red Army troops were deployed to deal with the peasant uprising in Tambov?
100,000
When was Martial Law declared to deal with the strikes and protests?
January 1921
When was the Kronstadt Revolt?
March 1921
Who made up the rebel force in the Kronstadt Revolt?
30,000 sailors who had previously supported the October Revolution.
What did the rebels in the Kronstadt Revolt demand?
An end to the one party state.
Who was used to suppress the Kronstadt revolt?
The Red Army and the Cheka.
How were the rebels in the Kronstadt Revolt punished?
15,000 were taken prisoner and the leaders were shot.
When was the NEP announced?
At the 10th Party Congress, August 1921
Which members of the Party supported the NEP?
Bukharin, Zinoviev and most of the leadership.
Why did many Bolsheviks oppose the NEP?
they saw it as an ideological betrayal.
What was the NEP’s ideology or plan?
It allowed for the private ownership of smaller businesses and permitted private trade.
It also ended rationing & industries had to pay their workers.
What was the scissor crisis?
A rise in grain supply brought down food prices; but lack of industrial goods to buy in return caused peasants to hold onto their supplies.
What caused the scissor crisis?
The peasants were quicker to respond to the NEP policies than the town workshops.
How did the government respond to the scissor crisis?
The Government capped industrial prices, and replaced peasant quotas with money taxes in 1923; forcing them to sell.
When did the economy recover from the crisis?
1926
When was the Great Turn?
1927
What was the Great Turn?
The announcement of Stalin’s Five Year Plans for rapid industrialisation.
What was Central Planning?
Stalin’s desire to have strong central control over the economy.
How did Stalin make sure workers stuck to the five year plans?
Not meeting quotas was seen as a criminal offence.
What date(s) was the First Five Year Plan?
1928-32
What were the aims of the first Five Year Plan?
increase production by 300%
develop heavy industry
boost electricity production by 600%
double the output of the light industry.
How successful was the first Five Year Plan?
In writing, very successful; Stalin claimed the goals were met in 4 years.
However, no major targets were met. Success was due to over-enthusiastic reporting by local officials.
What were the aims of the second Five Year Plan?
continue to develop heavy industry,
put new emphasis on light industry,
develop communications,
boost engineering & tool making.
What year(s) was the Second Five year Plan?
1933-37
Was the second FYP successful?
Electricity and Chemical industries grew rapidly.
New metals; zinc, copper and tin were mined for the first time.
Oil Production failed to meet its targets.
No increase in consumer goods.
What year(s) was the third FYP?
1938-42
What were the aims of the third FYP?
focus on development of heavy industry,
promote rapid rearmament,
complete transition to communism.
In what areas was the third FYP successful?
strong growth in machinery and engineering & Rearmament.
In what areas was the third FYP unsuccessful?
steel production stagnated, oil failed to meet targets.
Consumer goods was again the lowest priority.
Why was the third FYP interrupted?
Germany invaded in 1941.
When did the first stage of Collectivisation take place?
1929-30
When did Stalin announce that the Kulaks were to be annihilated as a class?
December 1929
How many richer peasants were forced to migrate north under dekulakisation?
c150,000
How did peasants try to avoid being labelled as Kulaks?
by killing their livestock and destroying their crops.
What percentage of grain-farming areas were to be collectivised in 1930?
25%
What was a kolkhoz?
a collective farm.
How did Dekulakisation go hand in hand with collectividation?
Dekulakisation was meant to scare poorer peasants into conforming to the collective farms.
What percentage of households had been collectivised by March 1930?
58%
When was the second stage in Collectivisation?
1930-41
How many of the most successful farmers were removed by dekulakisation?
c10 million
If you stole from a collective farm, what would your punishment be?
Jailed for 10 years
