section 4- economy and society 1929-41

Question 1

agricultural developments in the countryside

Answer 1

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

Question 2

collectivisation and the 1st 5YP

Answer 2

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

Question 3

voluntary collectivisation

Answer 3

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

Question 4

forced collectivisation

Answer 4

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

Question 5

kulaks and early collectivisation

Answer 5

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

Question 6

result of brief voluntary collectivisation (harvest 1930)

Answer 6

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

Question 7

kolkhoz

Answer 7

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

Question 8

sovkhoz

Answer 8

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)

Question 9

machine tractor stations (MTS)

Answer 9

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

Question 10

impact of MTS

Answer 10

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)

Question 11

collectivisation and dekulakisation

Answer 11

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

Question 12

impact of collectivisation on peasants

Answer 12

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

Question 13

how much produce did the private plots contribute?

Answer 13

• 52% veg
• 70% meat
• 71% milk
  in the USSR produced by private plots

Question 14

famine 1932-34 timeline

Answer 14

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

Question 15

factors contributing to the famine’s continuation

Answer 15

• 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

Question 16

Conquest’s POV of the famine

Answer 16

believes there was a deliberate policy to take unrealistic grain quotas in areas that had opposed collectivisation (particularly Ukraine)
thus condemning millions to starvation

Question 17

overall success of collectivisation

Answer 17

• 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

Question 18

impact of collectivisation in rural areas (problems)

Answer 18

• 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

Question 19

political success of collectivisation

Answer 19

• 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

Question 20

E H Carr and collectivisation

Answer 20

‘second serfdom’- disastrous impact on the peasantry in particular

Question 21

Gosplan

Answer 21

the state planning agency responsible for drawing up plans and establishing output targets for all areas of the economy in line with party objectives

Question 22

responsibilities of Gosplan

Answer 22

• 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

Question 23

role of foreign workers

Answer 23

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

Question 24

disadvantages of being a foreign worker

Answer 24

• 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

Question 25

1st 5YP (1928-32) aims

Answer 25

- increase production by 300% - focus on development of coal, iron, steel, oil (heavy industry) - boost electricity production by 600% - double output for light industry

Question 26

1st 5YP success?

Answer 26

- 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

Question 27

2nd 5YP (1933-37) aims

Answer 27

- 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

Question 28

2nd 5YP successes

Answer 28

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

Question 29

2nd 5YP failures

Answer 29

1936- greater emphasis on rearmament- 17% GDP failed to meet some targets no appreciable increase in consumer goods emphasis on quantity over quality

Question 30

3rd 5YP (1938-42) aims

Answer 30

disrupted by WW2 aimed to: - place a renewed emphasis on heavy industry - promote rapid rearmament - complete the transition to communism

Question 31

3rd 5YP successes

Answer 31

heavy industry- strong growth in machinery and engineering

Question 32

3rd 5YP failures

Answer 32

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

Question 33

ending of the 3rd 5YP

Answer 33

disrupted due to german invasion- finished a yr early in 1941

Question 34

Dnieprostroi Dam 1932

Answer 34

largest hydroelectric power station generated 560 MW- largest soviet power plant and one of the world's industrial centres near the dam grew

Question 35

turksib railway 1929

Answer 35

connected central asia to siberia designed to create an urban working class in siberia facilitated transport of cotton and grain

Question 36

moscow metro 1935

Answer 36

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'

Question 37

moscow-volga canal 1937

Answer 37

connected muskva and volga rivers built by prisoners of the Dmitlag labour camp- 22,000 out of 200,000 workers died

Question 38

magnitogorsk

Answer 38

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

Question 39

stakhanovites

Answer 39

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

Question 40

working conditions of managers

Answer 40

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

Question 41

stakhanovites vs managers

Answer 41

too much effort from the workers would increase targets further, some accused managers of wrecking their attempts to be a good worker

Question 42

living conditions of managers

Answer 42

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

Question 43

working conditions of workers

Answer 43

forced to work long hours 7 days a week lateness and absenteeism = criminalised internal passports used to limit worker migration

Question 44

overall success of the 5YPs

Answer 44

succeeded in industrialising the SU successful in terms of: - heavy industry - transport - labour productivity - rearmament

Question 45

success of heavy industry after the 5YPs

Answer 45

electricity- up from 5 milliard kWhs 1927 to 48.3 1941 coal- 35 million tonnes to 163.9 in 1941

Question 46

John Steinbeck and the stalin cult

Answer 46

visited USSR in 1947- commented images of Stalin were everywhere

Question 47

stalin cult

Answer 47

attributed every success to him and soviet communism became intrinsically linked to stalinism

Question 48

how did stalin see the arts and culture

Answer 48

1933- said soviet writers = "engineers of the human soul" culture performed a political and social role

Question 49

how did lenin see the arts and culture

Answer 49

"the purpose of art and literature is to serve the people"

Question 50

artists and socialist realism

Answer 50

- 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

Question 51

example of oppression of musicians

Answer 51

shostakovich- 1934 opera was condemned by the government, was denounced in major publications

Question 52

purpose of soviet literature

Answer 52

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

Question 53

example of a writer who conformed

Answer 53

Maxim Gorky- praised the 5YPs in his works before his death in 1934

Question 54

example of a writer who rebelled

Answer 54

Alexander Solzhenitsyn- exiled and eventually expelled from the union in 1974

Question 55

All Union Cooperative of Workers in Representational Art - 1929

Answer 55

ensured paintings conformed to socialist realism in the 1930s, art was dominated by peasants on collective farms, industrial workers and images of stalin

Question 56

Union of Architects 1930

Answer 56

soviet architecture was celebrated to excite the spirits of the soviet worker best reflected in the moscow metro- designed as a series of palaces

Question 57

Union of Soviet Composers 1932

Answer 57

regulated music and banned particular types e.g. jazz

Question 58

cinema and film

Answer 58

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

Question 59

industry by 1941

Answer 59

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

Question 60

agriculture by 1941

Answer 60

- peasants = squeezed to meet demands for industrialisation - farmers = collapse in living standards - grain harvest 1940 = as 1913 - 19 million fled to urban areas

Question 61

living and working conditions by 1941

Answer 61

- 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