Russia Topic 5 - Economic and Social Problems Flashcards
What is command economy?
an economic system in which the government makes all economic decisions and answers all the economic questions
When was state capitalism introduced?
November 1917 - June 1918
Why was state capitalism introduced?
The economic state needed to improve in preparation for the transition between capitalism and socialism
What did state capitalism involve?
- nationalisation of banks and railways
- Introduced Veshenka which managed those under internationalisation
- Bourgeoisie experts like accountants, factory managers and technicians could keep their jobs
- Introduce Golero ( which controlled electricity )
What was the impact of state capitalism?
- Bolsheviks didn’t approved and demanded radical measures - they didn’t want to compromise with the old system
- Workers in factories lacked necessary skills, awarded themselves unsubstantial pay and used materials around the factory to sell on the black market which decrease the output in production
what were the conditions like in the countryside during the Civil War?
- peasants sold their horses for military use and maintain their diet by killing livestock
- They found to keep their houses warm during the winter and we’re not willing to give up food when inflation striked
- Some of them joined the red army where rations were high
- reverted to subsistence farming
what are the conditions like in the cities during the Civil War?
- bread rations in Petrograd was 50 grammes per person per day
- people resorted to the black market for food ( 2/3 food came from here )
- workers left the city to live in the countryside - 60% by April 1918
- rampant Inflation
- Food and fuel shortages
- starvation and disease = 5 million deaths and 3 million deaths in 1920 from typhus
when did war communism take place?
1918 - 1921
what did war communism introduce?
- prodrazvyorska (requisitioning) = screen was requisitioned to feed the workers and the army, building on the socialisation of the land in February 1918. More was usually taken them required, leaving them scare of food. This meant livestock was killed and collective/cooperative farming was encouraged.
- Nationalisation of all industries = people struggle to make money through trade as they had no authority. The real way was nationalised for the military use.
- Labour discipline strikes with bidden which introduced strict discipline on workers. This included: find for slackness lateness and being absent. Extended work hours while pay was cut. Hard work was rewarded with bonuses and rations.
- rationing = was re-organised on a class basis where Bolsheviks and the red Army received the most and the rest were limited.
why was war Communism introduced?
A radical policy of the adoption of the political and economic state by the bolsheviks to rearrange the economy for the Civil War supply the soldiers with munitions and due to the failure of state capitalism
What was the impact of war communism?
- disruption to the railway during the Civil War and work struggled to get factories working efficiently: by 1921, industrial output fallen by 20% of its pre-war levels.
- replacement of grain led to harsh requisitioning and attacks on the kulaks: 1/3 land was abandoned.
- By 1919, money was worthless due to hyper inflation: 63 billion rubles to 225 billion rubles
- Extreme starvation from famine resulted in cannibalism
- diseases = 5 million deaths
- Work strikes
- coal production had fallen to 30% of 1913 levels
- there were 118 peasant rebellions in February 1921
When was the NEP introduced?
1921
why was there NEP introduced?
to fix a economic state after the Civil War and the impact of war communism
What did the NEP involve?
- requisitioning of grain was ended and was lit turned into taxi 1923
- Private was unbanned so peasants could sell remaining grain to make profit
- Small scale industries were released from nationalisation
- Rations was ended
- Workers received pay again
- Large scale industries like transport and banks remained under nationalisation
What was the economic impact of the NEP?
- private businesses reopened
- small manufacturing establishments and service industries like shops and restaurants began to thriving cities
- Industrial production recovered despite being in control by the state: return to pre-wall levels by 1926 is output rose by 200%
- Agriculture production recovered and return to pre-war levels by 1926
- kulaks emerged and villages that cooperated where rewarded with goods
- in 1923 and imbalance began to appear in the economy as a large quality of food that entered the cities decrease the prices - this crisis didn’t last long and is known as-the scissor crisis.
- in 1925 there were 25,000 private traders in Moscow called NEPmen who were responsible for 75% of trade
- A new ruble currency was introduced because hyper inflation had destroyed the value of money
what was the political impact of the NEP?
- Argued that it was a retreat back to capitalism decreasing the transition to socialism - disliked the idea of allowing workers to make profit ( soon as a betrayal of communist ideology )
- Liberalisation was not allowed
- resulted in the 1921 ban on factions
When and what was the Tambov rebellion?
1921 = rebellion due to the famine in 1921 which caused 155 peasant uprising in February 1921. 70,000 peasants joined to make an army led by Alexander Antonov.
The rules are begins government forces demanding requisition to be stopped. They were joined by members of the green army and 100,000 army troops were sent to attack them. In 1922, the red Army brutally destroyed villages.
When and what was the Tambo rebellion?
1921 = rebellion due to the famine in 1921 which caused 155 peasant uprising in February 1921. 70,000 peasants joined to make an army led by Alexander Antonov.
The rules are begins government forces demanding requisition to be stopped. They were joined by members of the green army and 100,000 army troops were sent to attack them. In 1922, the red Army brutally destroyed villages.
when and what was the kronstadt uprising?
1921 = there was a food crisis of 1921 and reduction of a third of bread Russians in major cities which introduced further strikes and riots. Workers protested against a lack of union in factories which caused the kronstadt soldiers to send a manifesto to Lenin in March 1921 demanding an end to the one party Communist rule, genuine democracy and civil rights use this slogan “ soviets without bolsheviks “.
Tukhachevsky was sent by Trotsky and shot the leaders of the revolt and then took 15,000 and as prisoners who were sent to labour camps. They were denounced as the ‘white soldiers’ by Lenin.
This is significant because the kronstadt sailors were the most loyal to the bolsheviks during the October revolution.
what were the causes of red terror?
- Lenin was wounded in an assassination attempt in August 1980 which allows him to launch the cheka as a face of terror
- it was used to target political opponents of the Bolshevik: Mensheviks, anarchists, social revolutionaries
- It was used to intimidate the railroad population to obtain food for the army
- To terrify all hostile groups: workers, traders, peasants, merchants, priests, children
What are the events of red terror?
- The cheka shot around 800 class enemies after the assassination attempt on Lenin
- execution became mandatory – prisoners with short, increasing number of deaths from 30,000 to 500,000 between 1918 to 1920
- set up a system of labour and concentration camps
- were told to carry out class warfare. This is because they blame the bourgeoisie for plotting counter revolution so campaign to arrest, imprisonment and executions.
- Use propaganda and false against the left-wing social revolutionaries by emphasise a word trying to overthrow the bolshevik party
What was the impacts of red terror?
- Red terror was far worse than the okhrana
- Organisation group in 19 20–200,000/300,000 members
- started gulags used by stalin throughout the 1930s
- formalised the use of violence
How did the Bolshevik party react to the NEP?
Lenin = compared it to brest-litovsk is something that had to be done but it wouldn’t last forever. It would be a temporary measure to calm the unrest amongst Russian society
Trotsky = it is a betrayal to the principles of the October revolution. He believes depressing. The presence is what is needed to avoid an uprising from them.
Zionviev = emphasise that it was only temporary and the details of the NEP worked out amongst the members of the politburo
how was repression and fear used?
- Censorship = in 1922 dozens of writers and scholars were departed to convince the intelligentsia it wasn’t good to criticise the government
- Establishment of the GPU = the cheka was renamed to the main political administration (GPU) in 1922. They targeted Netman and class enemies to wish our capitalism was under control. arbituary imprisonment and death penalty continued.
- Attacks on churches = they saw the church as arrival to their power – in 1921 the union of the militant godless was established to challenge the church. In 1922, they stripped churches for goods.
- Attacks on political rivals = 5000 men were arrested for counter revolutionary activities in 1921
what was the 1921 ban on factions?
If party members disagreed on a decision and formed a faction they would be expelled from the party
