economy Flashcards
1
Q
What was Workers Control?
A
- beginning of Lenin
- nationalising banks and taking over the state bank
- Vesenkha co-ordinated production. They were well-paid economic specialists
2
Q
What did Workers Control lead to?
A
State capitalism
3
Q
What was state capitalism?
A
- nationalisation of industry away from MC owners which ended capitalism, ran by Vesenkha instead
- land reform through the 1918 Decree on Land
- small factories went to workers/back to capitalists, therefore state capitalism was unpopular as it was same as pre-revolution
4
Q
When did War Communism happen?
A
Civil War, 1918-21
5
Q
What were the key features of War Communism?
A
- labour discipline
- work compulsory for all able-bodied 16-50 yo
- 11 hour work day from 1918
- Cheka grain requisitionising from the peasants w/o payment
- rationing, largest to workers/soldiers and smallest to bourgeoisie
- hyper-inflation due to abolition of money and trade
- full nationalisation
6
Q
Consequences of War Communism
A
- agricultural production fell
- black market grew = 60% of food from black market
- 3 mil workers in 1917 -> 1.2 mil in 1922 (fled to countryside to find work)
- famine where 6 mil died
- political crisis (Tambov/Krondstadt)
= military + ideological win, economic ruin
7
Q
What were the causes of the New Economic Policy (NEP)?
A
- launched in 1921
- rebuild the economy
- end famine, increase grain production
- retain power
- develop socialism (to build w/o foreign aid)
8
Q
Measures of the NEP
A
- free market for agriculture (grain requisitioning replaced with tax in kind - tax paid in produce)
- small factories went to private control, emphasis on profit
- pay for services e.g. transport (free during the C.W.)
9
Q
What were the consequences of the NEP?
A
- industrial growth (1926 production levels back to 1913 levels due to market stimulation EXCEPT pig iron)
- famine ended
- political stability (NEP was popular with peasants, 80% of the population)
- inequality and corruption due to Nepmen (spotted gaps in the market and traded money but sold nothing)
- but eventually, Scissors Crisis
10
Q
What was the Scissors Crisis?
A
- uneven economic growth due to a gap between farmers’ incomes and industrial prices
- 1923, farmers couldn’t afford to buy goods anymore, had no incentive to work
- led to growth plateauing
11
Q
Main economic objectives of Stalin’s Five Year Plans
A
- industrialise Russia
- make ambitious goals
- catch up with the West
- remove NEP corruption (Nepmen)
- win power struggle
12
Q
Dates of the Five Year Plans
A
- 1st FYP: 1928-1932
- 2nd FYP: 1933-1937
- 3rd FYP: 1938-1941
- 4th FYP: 1945-50
- 5th FYP: 1951-55
13
Q
Key features of the 1st FYP
A
- introduction of Gosplan (command economy)
- harsh labour discipline, workers forced to build industry (many froze to death)
- abolished free market
14
Q
Outcomes of the 1st FYP
A
- couldn’t meet many targets e.g. only half of planned steel achieved
- most were doubled from 1928 levels by 1932
- unable to destroy free market so black market increased
- economy grew about 14% a year
15
Q
Key features of 2nd FYP
A
- Stakhanovite propaganda campaign (he mined 102 tons of coal in less than 6 hours), offered incentives
- rearmament, defence spending up by 4x 1932-37
16
Q
Outcomes of 2nd FYP
A
- 4.5k enterprises opened
- TRANSPORT: Moscow Metro 1935, Moscow-Volga Canal 1932-37
- many targets met (1934-36 = ‘three good years’) e.g. electricity production increased rapidly
- living conditions reduced
17
Q
Key features of 3rd FYP
A
- ended Gosplan for defence industry and Stalin took direct control (early end of FYP)
- continued rearmament, 1940 1/3 of gov spending was on military
- 1940: internal passports (limit on moving jobs)
18
Q
Outcomes of 3rd FYP
A
- coal production up by 40mil tons only, steel production stagnated
- chaos due to purges removing experienced industrial managers
- material shortages
19
Q
Key features of 4th FYP
A
- 2 bil increase in defence spending from 1940
- discipline, forced labour, etc.
- reconstruction of factories
20
Q
Outcomes of 4th FYP
A
- industrial output up by 80% 1945-50
- consumer goods production decreased
- Soviet economy fastest growing in the world 1945-50
- most investment focused on military
21
Q
Key features of 5th FYP
A
- rearmament for Korean War 1950-53
- less expenditure for heavy industry and military (Malenkov)
- Khrushchev: increased livestock and fodder production
22
Q
Outcomes of 5th FYP
A
- economy met most growth targets
- national income increased by 71%
23
Q
Key economic features 1927-40
A
ALL PER MILLION TONS
- electricity 10x increase
- oil 3x increase
- pig iron 5x increase
- steel 4.5x increase
- coal 5x increase
24
Q
What was collectivisation under Stalin?
A
All ownership of land was merged to make economy more efficient
25
What were the causes of collectivisation under Stalin?
- ECONOMIC: harvests were becoming poorer
- IDEOLOGICAL: to convert peasants to socialism
- POLITICAL: appeal to left wing after struggle against Bukharin
26
What were collective farms under Stalin?
- toz: shared machinery but peasants owned the land
- sovkhoz: owned by the state
- kolkhoz: ran by a committee
- MTS: machine and tractor stations
27
1928: Collectivisation under Stalin
- voluntary collectivisation
- grain requisition
- peasants resisted, killed 25-30% of their livestock
28
1929: Collectivisation under Stalin
- compulsory collectivisation
- de-Kulakisation (peasants killed if they resisted gov policies, 1.5mil sent to labour camps)
29
1930: Collectivisation under Stalin
- Twenty-Five Thousanders
- mobilise 25k to help with collectivisation in the countryside
- many given other tasks to do or ignored, some assaulted/murdered by angry peasants
- only 40% finished terms
- dizzy with success article
- excesses in collectivisation that had to be corrected
- pause in collectivisation
30
1931: Collectivisation
Restarted
31
1932: Collectivisation
Famine
32
1941: Collectivisation
96-100% of farms collectivised
33
Economic consequences of collectivisation under Stalin
- agriculture devastated
- grain production reduced
- grain procurement doubled
- livestock destroyed
- 75k tractors (mechanisation)
34
Ideological consequences of collectivisation under Stalin
- peasants resisted
- Kulaks deported or executed
- gained support of the left
35
Social consequences of collectivisation under Stalin
- government created Ukraine famine, 5 million died
- private farms were 7% of all farms but produced 2x that of state farms
36
Changes to the economy in WW2 under Stalin
- economy centralised to mobilise resources for war
- local defence committees to coordinate war production
- 1945, 25 mil were homeless
- production was 2/3 of 1940 levels due to damage in Nazi occupied areas reducing overall industry production
- grain production halved from pre-war to 1945
37
Agriculture: Khrushchev
- reduced quotas for farms
- higher price for produce
- = 250% increase in farm incomes 1952-56
- investment in farm equipment (30% increase in tractors, 40% in fertilisers)
38
Agriculture: Khrushchev (Virgin Lands Scheme)
- **September 1953**
- turn unfarmed land in Caucasus, Kazakhstan and West Siberia into new farms for wheat
- initially successful: production up by 35%, 400% increase in farm incomes
- BUT labour intensive and expensive (44-54% of population in agriculture), dry lands in Kazakhstan.
- BELOW TARGETS
39
Agriculture: Khrushchev (Corn Campaign)
- **September 1958**
- encourage farmers in the Ukraine to grow maize
- BUT less efficient than US farms (where **5%** of pop were on farms), production down by **30%**
40
Industry: Khrushchev
- aim to make economy more consumer oriented and high tech (modern)
- cuts in military spending from 1955 to 1958 (**12.1% to 9.1%**) but by 1964 it was **11%** again
41
Industry: Khrushchev (7 Year Plan)
- **January 1959**
- boost chemical and synthetic fibre production (light industry) and consumer goods
- up by 60% but still below target
42
Problems with industry under Khrushchev
- *useless consumer goods* (due to focus on production over consumption)
- sovnarkhoz reforms *devolved power from 105 regional planning agencies*, confusion over roles, destroyed central coordination
- *changed targets of 7YP in **1962*** but the economy wasn't designed for this
- *1962 Party split* meant more confusion over roles partway through 7YP
43
Industry under Brezhnev
- **1965** abolished Regional Economic Councils, power to central planning again
- **1973** industrial complexes joined with scientific research institutions
- 9th FYP focused on consumer goods, by **1980** 85% of families had TVs and 9% had cars (successful)
44
Industry under Brezhnev: Kosygin Reforms
- plans for more creativity and productivity
- focus on cost and profit, not quantity
- more incentives
- BUT SABOTAGED BY BREZHNEV so little was achieved
45
Agriculture under Brezhnev
- 26% of investment into agriculture by 1976
- reverse decentralisation
- dropped Virgin Lands Scheme
- brigade system where peasants on collective farms would decide how to share profit (LATER ABANDONED)
46
Andropov
- acknowledged problems but didn’t address
- **Nov 1982** anti-corruption campaign (investigated officials who made themselves rich w/ Soviet resources), anti-alcohol campaign (workers sacked for being drunk)
- Operation Trawl → anti-drunk+anti-absentee → decline in trad vodka but ↑ Andropovka
