Economy And Society, 1929-41 Flashcards
1
Q
Methods to enforce collectivisation:
A
- expansion of the urals-siberian method
- help from the poorest peasants. They would get to use richer peasants land, livestock, equipment and share in the collective harvets
2
Q
Collectivisation failed to increase agricultural productivity:
A
- Agricultural production fell dramatically. In 1933, the harvest was 9m tonnes less than 1927
- grain output did not exceed pre-collectivisation levels until after 1935
- livestock numbers fell by 25-30%
Reasons included: less of most knowledgeable peasant farmers, destruction of livestock heard, lack of incentive for collective farms to produce more grain
3
Q
Collectivisation achieved certain social aims:
A
- put farming completely under state control. No opportunity for farmers to hold back grain in the hopes of higher prices
- capitalism was eradicated in countryside. By 1941, 100% of households were collectivised
- poor conditions in collective farms fuelled migration to cities. Urban population of USSR increased from 22m to 63m
4
Q
Collectivisation failed to achieve certain social aims:
A
- living standards fell in both urban and rural areas. In towns and cities, wages also declined
- famine across the USSR killed approximately 6-8m people
5
Q
Consolidating Stalin’s position was very successful:
A
- grain exports rose from 30,000 tonnes in 1928 to 5 million in 1931. This provided investment for rapid industrialisation, justifying Stalin’s turn away from NEP
- Party agreed with Stalin that peasant opposition to collectivisation was actually class war, that needed to be brutally suppressed
- collectivisation allowed the Soviet regime to extend it’s political control over the countryside
- many party members had tolerated the NEP long enough and there was great enthusiasm for Stalin’s model of building socialism
6
Q
Methods to enforce collectivisation:
A
- expansion of urals-siberian method
- help from poorest peasants, as they had the most to gain from collective farms
- help from party activists (25,000 party activists were sent into the countryside for dekulakisation)
- a mixture of propoganda and fear
7
Q
Impact of collectivisation on the kulaks and other peasants:
A
- widespread violent opposition. many killed their livestock and destroyed machinery
- armed forces responded brutally to the unrest
- Estimated that as many as 10m people were deported as kulaks under Stalin
- State targets were set high, with farms receiving nothing if quotas were not met. State prices were low and farms struggled to cover costs. By 1939, 19m peasants had migrated to the towns and cities
- Famine of 1932-3 resulted in an estimated 6-8m dead
8
Q
Timeline of collectivisation:
A
Start of 1929: only 5% farms had been voluntarily collectivised
March 1930: Stalin announced that 50% of peasant farms had been collectivised. Brief return to voluntary membership
October 1930: Return to voluntary collectivisation meant that membership had dropped to 20%
1931: collectivisation was enforced again
1941: all farms were collectivised
9
Q
Kolkhozes:
A
- combining small, individual farms together
- created from farms that already existed
- members were paid by dividing any farm earnings by the number of ‘labour days’ that members had contributed
- had communal fields in which everyone worked, but small private plots were allowed
- all communal land was in common and tools and livestock were pooled
10
Q
Role of Gosplan during the Five Year plans:
A
- targets set were usually very ambitious
- did not have reliable statistics about the economy to base its targets on
- there were severe punishments for missing targets, so enterprises falsified their figures
11
Q
Aims and successes of First Five Year Plan (1928-32)
A
- develop heavy indu
12
Q
Working and living conditions of managers:
A
- could be put on trial, imprisoned or even executed for not meeting targets
- from 1936, factories had to pay for their own supplies, which meant careful accounting
- managers were responsible for applying state regulations in the workplace, such as work norms and absenteeism
13
Q
Working and living conditions for workers:
A
- long working hours over six days a week
- from 1938. labour books along with internal passports, recorded worker’s employment, skills and disciplinary
- in 1940, absenteeism became a crime
- strikes were illegal and damaging machinery was a criminal offence
14
Q
However some workers did benefit:
A
- more opportunities for workers to develop under tsarism
- training programmes were widely available
- from 1931, wage differentials meant those who worked hard were rewarded for their efforts
- wages increased during the second Five Year Plan (although they were still lower in 1937 than 1928)
- purges remove white collar workers and intellectuals, creating opportunities for workers to advance their careers
15
Q
Working and living conditions for women:
A
- by 1940, around 43% of the workforce was female
- managers under pressure would agree to hire wives and daughters of workers
- best paid and highly skilled jobs still went to men and were reluctant to allow women to get training to improve their skills
- by 1940, women earned around 40% less than men
