RUSSIA BOOKLET 6 - RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR Flashcards
LENIN'S ECONOMIC POLICIES
STATE CAPITALISM 1917-1918
PRESSURE FACED
- ECONOMY = DIRE; INFLATION WAS OUT OF CONTROL, UNEMPLOYMENT WAS RISING AND PRODUCTIVITY WAS FALLING
- EXPECTATIONS THAT THE DEMANDS OF WORKERS/PEASANTS WOULD BE MET FULLY AND SEEN AS URGENT
- LEFT WING BOLSHEVIKS WERE CALLING FOR A INSTANT TRANSITION TO A FULLY SOCIALIST ECONOMY
STATE CAPITALISM - 1917-1918
VESENKHA
- SUPREME COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMY - NATIONALISED BANKS, SHIPS, RAILWAYS AND SOME LARGER FACTORIES
STATE CAPITALISM 1917-1918
LIMITED NATIONALISATION
- BAKING TAKEN OVER BY STATE
- SOME INDIVIDUAL FACTORIES I.E. GIANT PUTILOV IN PETROGRAD WERE ALSO NATIONALISED
- NATIONALISM FROM BELOW - WORKERS TOOK BACK CONTROL OF THEIR FACTORIES AND LABELLED THEM AS STATE PROPERTY
- THIS WAS ALL LIMITED AND UNSYSTEMATIC
STATE CAPITALISM 1917-1918
DECREE ON WORKER CONTROL
- NOV 1917 - GAVE WORKERS A SAY IN HOW THEIR FACTORIES WERE RAN AND ENSURED MANAGERS TREATED WORKERS PROPERLY
- WORKERS COULDN’T SEIZE CONTROL OF FACTORIES
- DONE AS A CONCESSION (FAVOUR) TO HELP MAINTAIN CONTROL/GIVE SUPPORT
STATE CAPITALISM 1917-1918
DECREE ON LAND
- PEASANTS APPEASED
- LAND SEIZURES WERE LEGITIMISED IN 1917
- INSTRUMENTAL IN PERSUADING LEFT SRs TO JOIN LENIN
WAR COMMUNISM 1918-1921
PRESSURE FACED
- INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT SLUMPED
- ACUTE SHORTAGES OF FOOD AND FUEL
- HIGH INFLATION - THE VALUE OF THE ROUBLE COLLAPSED
- PEASANTRY UNWILLING TO SELL THEIR PRODUCT FOR WORTHLESS PAPER MONEY SO BEGAN CUTTING THE SUPPLY OF FOOD TO THE CITIES
- URBAN WORKERS DESERTED THE CITIES AND RETURN TO THEIR NATIVE VILLAGES - 1918-1920 = 1/2 OF PETROGRAD POPULATION GONE
WAR COMMUNISM 1918-1921
COMPULSORY REQUISITIONING
- THE BOLSHEVIK SOLUTION TO PEASANT GRAIN REQUISITIONING
- FOOD BRIGADES (CHEKA) WERE SENT TO EXTRACT GRAIN BY FORCE - OFTEN THIEVED
WAR COMMUNISM 1918-1921
BAN ON PRIVATE TRADE
- UNSUCCESSFUL DUE TO THE CREATION OF THE BLACK MARKET FOR ILLEGAL TRADING OF FOOD - LED TO HIGH INFLATION DUE TO INCREASED DEMAND
WAR COMMUNISM 1918-1921
STRICT RATIONING
- 5 MILLION DIE DUE TO FAMINE
- REFLECTED THE BOLSHEVIKS PRIORITIES - BIGGEST RATIONS WERE ON THE ARMY & WORKERS IN HEAVY INDUSTRY, FOLLOWED BY CIVIL SERVANTS & LIGHT INDUSTRY
- SMALLEST RATIONS ON THE MIDDLE CLASS/CAPITALISTS - ‘GIVEN JUST ENOUGH BREAD AS TO FORGET THE SMELL OF IT’
WAR COMMUNISM 1918-1921
ONE MAN MANAGEMENT
- INTERNAL PASSPORTS INTRODUCED TO HELP MAKE THE INDUSTRIAL FORCES MORE DISCIPLINED AND PRODUCTIVE - THEY HALVED THE FLIGHT OF INDUSTRIAL WORKERS TO THE COUNTRYSIDES
- TROTSKY WANTED TO INTRODUCE MILITARY STYLE DISCIPLINE HOWEVER OVERRULED BY LENIN
- CHEKA MEMBERS EXECUTED REPRESSIVE MEASURES
THE TAMBOV UPRISING 1921
- BY 1921, MOST OF THE PEASANTRY WERE OPPOSITION TO THE BOLSHEVIKS DUE TO THE POLICY OF GRAIN REQUISITIONING
- 40,000 PEASANTS LED BY ALEXANDER ANTONOV WAGED A CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE RED ARMY OF TROTSKY
- LEADER DIED IN A SHOOTOUT AGAINST THE CHEKA IN 1922
THE TAMBOV UPRISING 1921
GOV. RESPONSE
- POISON GAS USED AGAINST THE REBELS, AND FAMILIES TAKEN HOSTAGE
- RAILWAY WAS DISRUPTED
- FOOD CRISIS IN TOWNS DUE TO LACK OF PEASANTRY
- RED ARMY STRETCHED TO ITS LIMITS
- MOSCOW PARALYSED DUE TO STRIKE ACTION WHERE LARGE CROWDS OF DEMONSTRATORS TOOK TO THE STREETS (1921)
THE KRONSTADT MUTINY 1921
- 10,000 SAILORS OF THE BALTIC FLEET MUTINIED IN SUPPORT OF STRIKERS IN PETROGRAD
- MUTINEERS PUBLISHED A 15 POINT MANIFESTO THAT CONDEMNED BOLSHEVIK CONSOLIDATION OF POWER
- ONLY LASTED 2 WEEKS - SUPPRESSED BY 50,000 RED ARMY TROOPS (10,000 DEAD)
- THESE SOLDIERS WERE THE STRONGEST SUPPORT WITHIN THE BOLSHEVIK FORCE IN 1917 - THEIR DISCONTENT SHOWS THE HEIGHT AND DISSOLUTION WITH THE BOLSHEVIKS
THE NEP 1921-1924
TAX IN KIND
- REPLACEMENT FOR GRAIN REQUISITIONING - ALLOWS PEASANTS TO SELL THEIR SURPLUS GRAIN WHICH INCREASES FOOD PRODUCTION
- GRAIN DEMANDED BY THE STATE IN 1921 WAS ABOUT HALF THE AMOUNT REQUISITIONED IN 1920
- REPLACED IN 1924 BY MONEY PAYMENTS - THIS TOOK THE STEAM OUT OF PEASANT DISCONTENT
- CREATED A SET PRICE FOR GRAIN PREVENTING HOARDING
THE NEP 1921-1924
REINTRO. OF PRIVATE OWNERSHIP
- PRIVATE OWNERSHIP OF COMPANIES WITHIN THE SERVICE SECTOR (I.E. SHOPS) WAS REINTRODUCED
- SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF PRIVATE MANUFACTURING RISE
- PRODUCTION OF CONSUMER GOODS = INCREASED PRICES DUE TO DEMAND = GROWING ECONOMY
THE NEP 1921-1924
THE COMMANDING HEIGHTS
- IRON, COAL, BANKING, RAILWAY
- ALL REMAIN UNDER STATE CONTROL DUE THEIR PART IN BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE
- FOREIGN TRADE = STATE MONOPOLY
THE NEP 1921-1924
- NO GOVERNMENT BAILOUTS
- INDUSTRIES UNDER STATE CONTROL AFTER 1922 WERE EXPECTED TO TRADE AT A PROFIT - GOVERNMENT WOULDN’T BAIL OUT IF NOT
- INCREASE IN UNEMPLOYMENT DUE TO THE REMOVAL OF WORKERS TO HELP BOOST PRODUCTIVITY
THE NEP 1921-1924
ECONOMIC RESULTS
- INTRODUCED TOO LATE TO REVERSE FAMINE - DROUGHT OF BLACK EARTH LED TO FAILURE OF CROP GROWTH - GREATEST HUMAN DISASTER OF EUROPEAN HISTORY
- SOVIET ECONOMY RECOVERED GREATLY - INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT ROSE SHARPLY AND GRAIN REQUISITIONING BOUNCED BACK FROM LOW NUMBERS OF 1920
- ERRATIC RATHER THAN SMOOTH - SCISSORS CRISIS OF 1923 (PRICES ROSE AND AGRICULTURE FELL THEREFORE ON A GRAPH IT RESEMBLED SCISSORS)