section 4- economy and society 1929-41 Flashcards
agricultural developments in the countryside
stalin committed to collective farming as a result of his Great Turn- used collectivisation to fix grain shortages
- used ‘Urals-Siberian’ method of requisitioning after voluntary collectivisation did not work
involved seizure of grain and the closing down of private markets
collectivisation and the 1st 5YP
the success of the 5YP depended on regular supplies of food to support the workers and plenty of surplus to export to finance industrial development
voluntary collectivisation
had very little effect
by 1929, less than 5% farms were collectivised
the govt used:
- posters
- leaflets
- films
to try to convince the peasants of the benefits of working communally
forced collectivisation
started in 1929 and enforced by the govt
- involved denunciation and execution of the kulaks to scare the rest of the peasants to join the collective farms
kulaks and early collectivisation
Kulaks = said to by 4% of the pop, in practise 15% peasant households = destroyed and ~150,000 forced to migrate north + east to poorer land
by march 1930, 58% households were collectivised- speed even concerned stalin, who said local party members were overzealous- led to a brief return to voluntary to keep peasants appeased for the harvest
result of brief voluntary collectivisation (harvest 1930)
peasants were allowed to leave their collectives and had their livestock returned if they could prove they weren’t a kulak
this immediately dropped the numbers collectivised:
oct 1930- 20% collectivised
kolkhoz
most popular form of collectivised farm
av. 75 families and their livestock
under the control of a local party member = chairman
had to deliver a quota of up to 40% crops and were not paid if it was not met
profit was shared depending on how much you worked
from 1932- allowed to sell surplus in the only free market allowed in the USSR, forbidden to leave due to internal passports
sovkhoz
less popular
seen by communist purists as the ideal
labourers = workers not peasants, paid wage
larger area than kolkhozes
organised according to industrial principles for specialised large scale production
suited for grain growing areas particularly
peasant opposition to becoming wage workers made stalin accept kolkhozes as more popular (BUT: under expectation kolkhozes -> sovkhozes in future)
machine tractor stations (MTS)
1931- supplied seed and heavy machinery to farms- meant less peasants were needed so they could work in the cities
2500 (1 per 40 farms) established
state farms received better machinery and more support from experts
also used as ideological stations to distribute propaganda
impact of MTS
by 1938:
- 95% threshing
- 72% ploughing
- 57% spring sowing
- 48% harvesting
done by machines
BUT: machines were still labour intensive and there were limited nos of lorries to transport the goods (196000 lorries 1936 vs 1 million in USA)
collectivisation and dekulakisation
class warfare used to separate kulaks from other peasants
stalin believed grain shortages were due to the kulaks hoarding grain -> “annihilate the kulaks as a class”
forced collectivisation- kulaks attacked and Red Army + OGPU used to identify, execute or deport them
some burned land/killed their livestock to avoid being denounced
result:
- lost the most successful and skilled farmers
around 10 million peasants died as a result of resistance/deportation
impact of collectivisation on peasants
1 in 4 peasants became an urban worker- 19 million migrated to towns
peasants in collectives saw it as “new serfdom”
Aug 1932- stealing from collective - 10 yrs jail
internal passports used to tie peasants to collectives
high quotas = little profit or incentive so focused on their 1 acre private plots
some benefitted from education provided at the farms
IN CONC: peasants = sacrificed in the name of soviet ideology to meet the needs of industry
how much produce did the private plots contribute?
- 52% veg
- 70% meat
- 71% milk
in the USSR produced by private plots
famine 1932-34 timeline
Oct 1931:
- Drought hit many agricultural areas
- This combined with deportation of kulaks sent food production on the decrease
Spring 1932- 1933:
Famine began in Ukraine -> Northern Caucasus and Kazakhstan
factors contributing to the famine’s continuation
- high quotas continued- drop in production couldn’t meet them
-led to grain requisitioning/prison/death is found to steal grain- starved them further - in Ukraine, many farms + villages were blacklisted from receiving rations after not fulfilling quotas
- Ukrainian border = closed and migration to cities = closely managed
estimated 5 million deaths
Conquest’s POV of the famine
believes there was a deliberate policy to take unrealistic grain quotas in areas that had opposed collectivisation (particularly Ukraine)
thus condemning millions to starvation
overall success of collectivisation
- achieved purpose of collectivising all rural areas by 1941 (98%)
- industrial workforce = fed
- able to export grain for money
BUT - at expense of the peasants e.g. millions dead, upheaval and destroyed ways of life
impact of collectivisation in rural areas (problems)
- agricultural output fell due to opposition (some to 1913 levels)
- recovery didn’t take place until the late 1930s
- 25-30% livestock were slaughtered between 1929-33- took until 1953 to recover
- often poorly organised
- party activists in charge often had no knowledge of farming
- too few machines and animals
political success of collectivisation
- first time = govt had control over peasants in rural areas which reinforced stalin’s control over the party + USSR
- Bukharin and Rykov who opposed lost power and influence
- class differences in the countryside were abolished
- apart from private plots, all capitalism was abolished
E H Carr and collectivisation
‘second serfdom’- disastrous impact on the peasantry in particular
Gosplan
the state planning agency responsible for drawing up plans and establishing output targets for all areas of the economy in line with party objectives
responsibilities of Gosplan
- govt made overall decision on what was produced
- regional party leaders competed to put forward ambitious projects and get the 1st pick of resources
- lacked reliable info (managers lied about output as it was a crime to not meet targets)
- targets set = ambitious
- accompanied by propaganda
therefore, was in the position of working from falsified stats but could be criminalised if they did not succeed
role of foreign workers
helped build show projects e.g. the Moscow Metro due to their expertise- its engineering designs, routes and construction plans were handled by specialists from the London Underground
some foreign workers travelled to the USSR to work due to great depression
disadvantages of being a foreign worker
- looked on with suspicion- easy to scapegoat
e.g. NKVD arrested numerous British engineers working in Moscow as they had gained in depth knowledge of the city layout
1st 5YP (1928-32) aims
- increase production by 300%
- focus on development of coal, iron, steel, oil (heavy industry)
- boost electricity production by 600%
- double output for light industry
1st 5YP success?
- enthusiastic response- stalin claimed targets = met in 4yrs instead of 5 (due to overzealous reporting)
- targets on chemical industry = not met, consumer industry = neglected
- too few skilled workers
- too little effective central coordination for efficient development
- coal increased by 500%, electricity x4
2nd 5YP (1933-37) aims
- continue development if heavy industry
- promote growth of light industry
- develop communications to provide links between cities and other industrial areas
- foster engineering and toolmaking
2nd 5YP successes
some- “3 good yrs” 1934-36 e.g.
- Moscow Metro 1935, Volga Canal 1937, Dnieper Dam,
- electricity production + chem industry grew
- new metals e.g. copper, zinc, tin mined for the 1st time
- steel output 2x
- coal output 3x
by 1937- self-sufficient in metal and machine tools
2nd 5YP failures
1936- greater emphasis on rearmament- 17% GDP
failed to meet some targets
no appreciable increase in consumer goods
emphasis on quantity over quality
3rd 5YP (1938-42) aims
disrupted by WW2
aimed to:
- place a renewed emphasis on heavy industry
- promote rapid rearmament
- complete the transition to communism
3rd 5YP successes
heavy industry- strong growth in machinery and engineering
3rd 5YP failures
steel = stagnated, oil failed to meet targets -> fuel crisis, shortage of raw materials
consumer goods = lowest priority
resources diverted to rearmament- spending 2x between 1938 and 40
biggest problem = lack of good managers, specialists and technicians after the purges
hard winter in 1938
ending of the 3rd 5YP
disrupted due to german invasion- finished a yr early in 1941
Dnieprostroi Dam 1932
largest hydroelectric power station
generated 560 MW- largest soviet power plant and one of the world’s
industrial centres near the dam grew
turksib railway 1929
connected central asia to siberia
designed to create an urban working class in siberia
facilitated transport of cotton and grain
moscow metro 1935
first underground railway system in the USSR
part of 2nd 5YP
artists and architects were employed to produce a system that reflected a ‘radiant future’
moscow-volga canal 1937
connected muskva and volga rivers
built by prisoners of the Dmitlag labour camp- 22,000 out of 200,000 workers died
magnitogorsk
steel plant + town of 150,000
created out of nothing in the Urals
populated by eager volunteers
lived in communal barracks beneath pictures of Lenin and Stalin in awful conditions
stakhanovites
movement that emerged after Stakhanov, a coal miner, cut 102 tonnes of coal in 5 hrs 42 minutes (propaganda stunt- was helped)
declared a soviet hero and other workers aimed to emulate his achievements
they received better housing and other material benefits
working conditions of managers
task of ensuring output targets were met
due to high pressure- would falsify stats as could be imprisoned, on trial or executed if they failed to meet targets
applied state regulations in the workplace- alienated them from the workers
faced labour shortages and shortages of raw materials
stakhanovites vs managers
too much effort from the workers would increase targets further,
some accused managers of wrecking their attempts to be a good worker
living conditions of managers
a good manager was reasonably comfortable
most kept any illicit gains hidden for fear of being reported
for honest managers they lived similarly to ordinary workers
working conditions of workers
forced to work long hours 7 days a week
lateness and absenteeism = criminalised
internal passports used to limit worker migration
overall success of the 5YPs
succeeded in industrialising the SU
successful in terms of:
- heavy industry
- transport
- labour productivity
- rearmament
success of heavy industry after the 5YPs
electricity- up from 5 milliard kWhs 1927 to 48.3 1941
coal- 35 million tonnes to 163.9 in 1941
John Steinbeck and the stalin cult
visited USSR in 1947- commented images of Stalin were everywhere
stalin cult
attributed every success to him and soviet communism became intrinsically linked to stalinism
how did stalin see the arts and culture
1933- said soviet writers = “engineers of the human soul”
culture performed a political and social role
how did lenin see the arts and culture
“the purpose of art and literature is to serve the people”
artists and socialist realism
- instructed to illustrate a vision of the future socialist state
- not to indulge in expressing their own views and interests- subordinate to the political and social needs of society
- expected to secure popular consent for the regime and validate stalin’s leadership
example of oppression of musicians
shostakovich- 1934 opera was condemned by the government, was denounced in major publications
purpose of soviet literature
to meet the needs of the regime- 1934 Soviet Union of Writers formed
writers had to ensure their work conformed to socialist realism and advanced the cause of socialism
novels glorified the ordinary worker
example of a writer who conformed
Maxim Gorky- praised the 5YPs in his works before his death in 1934
example of a writer who rebelled
Alexander Solzhenitsyn- exiled and eventually expelled from the union in 1974
All Union Cooperative of Workers in Representational Art - 1929
ensured paintings conformed to socialist realism
in the 1930s, art was dominated by peasants on collective farms, industrial workers and images of stalin
Union of Architects 1930
soviet architecture was celebrated to excite the spirits of the soviet worker
best reflected in the moscow metro- designed as a series of palaces
Union of Soviet Composers 1932
regulated music and banned particular types e.g. jazz
cinema and film
became popular in the cities- stalin had films made that reflected the concerns of the regime and made documentaries about the successes of the 5YPs
industry by 1941
was now readily able to respond to the demands of war
1928-1941- 8000 huge new enterprises built
1939- 33% population live in urban areas vs 18% 1926
weaknesses:
- insufficient supply of labour despite rapid industrialisation
- industrialisation had been achieved using the large prison camp pop- 9 million
- shortage of experts and managers
agriculture by 1941
- peasants = squeezed to meet demands for industrialisation
- farmers = collapse in living standards
- grain harvest 1940 = as 1913
- 19 million fled to urban areas
living and working conditions by 1941
- consumer goods = lowest priority
- wages fell
- working conditions and discipline = restrictive
- absenteeism = illegal
- had to get permission to leave a job
- overcrowding- 50,000 migrants a day
- new hospitals built
