Lenin and the Bolshevik Government Flashcards
Features of war communism
state capitalism, grain requisitioning, nationalisation of larger enterprises and state monopoly on markets, partial militarisation of labour, requisitioning of agricultural produce
Views on war communism
Requisitioning of grain and produce caused death of 5 mill people= hated system. Hated losing freedom because of state monopolies
Features of the NEP
De-nationalisation and return to private ownership, removed restrictions on the private sales of goods/ services, end to reqisitioning
Was the NEP successful?
Short-term success- industrial output up. However, emergence of NEP-men, scissor crisis as supply increased over demand and NEP betrayed communist ideals
The impact of the First World War
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk: high price for Russia- territories gained independence, Russia lost 1/3 of all agricultural land, railway track and the Soviet Republic’s population, 2/3 coalmines, 1/2 of heavy industry products and nearly all oil and cotton textile products
Consequences of the treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Departure of Bukharin and the left SRs from the soviet government- Bolsheviks in full control
Failures of War Communism
in all areas the economic strength of Russia fell below the 1914 level, peasant farmers only grew for themselves because they knew extra would be taken away.
How many people moved to the countryside because of War Communism?
between 1916 and 1920, the cities of Northern and central Russia lost 33% of their population to the countryside.
Impact of War Communism on productivity rates
by 1920, the average worker had a productivity rate that was 44% less than that their 1913 figure
Example of the impact of War Communism on factory output
Coal production was at 27% of its 1913 figure in 1920
Example of unrest brought on by War Communism
The Krondstadt uprising- ‘the lightning strike that lit up reality’ because the sailors were allies to the Bolsheviks and had helped them gain power
Freedom of expression under the Bolsheviks
More freedom- needed support from intellectuals. However, the secret police kept close supervision on leading intellectuals and some were executed without trial e.g. Gumelev
Education under Lenin
Universal education to achieve cultural transformation. By 1927, education was free and compulsory for all up to the age of 12. By 1927 51% of the population were literate vs. 35% in 1907.
Propaganda under Lenin
Cinemas used especially
Lenin and religion
Marxist view that it was ‘the opium of the masses’- priests targeted by the Cheka and shot
