State Capitalism and War Communism Flashcards
What was the state of the Russian economy when Lenin came to power (6 points)?
1) Railway system showed signs of breaking down.
2) Scarcity of manufactured goods - prices to rise.
3) Harvest of 1917 = poor.
4) peasants unwilling to sell goods as there were too few goods to buy.
5) strikes increased.
6) Food shortages, unemployment and high prices were key factors in bringing about the February Revolution.
What were Lenin and the Bolshevik’s 3 initial economic policies called?
1) The Land Decree of October 1917 - abolished private ownership of land, it was now to be ‘in the hands of the people.’
2) The Decree on Workers’ Control of November 1917 - placed control of factories into the hands of the industrial workers.
3) The nationalisation of the banks - all banks were amalgamated into the People’s Bank of the Russian Republic.
What are the problems with Lenin and the Bolshevik’s 3 initial economic policies?
1) The Land Decree - peasants didn’t have the knowledge, expertise or technology to be able to manage large pieces of land.
2) The Decree on Workers’ Control - slowed down the economy and production. Workers would increase their wages.
3) All three of the initial economic policies were unsuccessful and led to the introduction of State Capitalism.
What is state capitalism?
small amount of privatisation
bourgeoisie with expertise keep business going
transitional stage between the old bourgeois economy and a new proletarian one.
When was the Supreme Council of the National Economy set up?
December 1917
Why was the Supreme Council of the National economy set up and what effect did the onset of the Civil War?
To exert greater control and supervision over Russia.
The need for control was enhanced by the onset of the Civil War.
In what year was State Capitalism replaced by War Communism (the year that the Civil War started)?
1918
Who were Kulaks?
The were hardworking peasants who had some money of their own.
Why were the Kulaks seen as threats?
The fact that they had a bit of their own money meant that they had a degree of independence and therefore were not as easy to control.
What excuse did the government use to persecute Kulaks?
That the kulaks were hoarding grain.
In what ways was War Communism not particularly successful?
1) peasants had grown less grain - food shortages.
2) Led to starvation (in many cases to death) cannibalism became heard of in many parts of Russia - estimated 7 million deaths. - Lenin had to accept international aid to ease the famine.
3) Grain wasn’t distributed particularly fairly -army well fed, peasants starving.
Was war Communism the reason for the ban on factions?
In some ways it was.
The opinions about War Communism being stopped
War Communism - what is meant by production should be run by the state?
How many employees did businesses need to remain private?
What happened to private houses?
1) Private ownership kept to minimum.
2) Majority of businesses and manufacture taken over by state - no compensation
3) Only businesses with less than 10 employees could remain private.
4) Private houses confiscated by state and redistributed.
War Communism - what is meant by state control over the labour of every citizen?
What did this mean in terms of discipline?
What was the normal working day before state control over labour and what did it become?
What kind of work rates were used?
What were the requirements in terms of who should work?
Who administered all the changes that came with state control over the labour of every citizen?
1) Same principles of harsh discipline and control seen in army extended to labour force.
2) 8 hour max working day abolished, 11 hours became the norm.
3) Striking would be severely punished.
Internal passports.
4) Piece work rates brought back, bonuses for exceeding them.
5) All able bodied people aged 16-50 had to work.
6) Managers administer all of this rather than the workers soviets/ committees.
War Communism- what is meant by the requisitioning and control of the peasants?
What was set up to coordinate this and when was it set up?
What did the Cheka do in the countryside?
Who were seen as the main enemy?
What were villages encouraged to do?
1) May 1918 - Food supplies dictatorship. - set up to coordinate policy of all surplus food being surrendered to the state.
2) Cheka forcibly seized grain in countryside.
3) Kulaks seen as main enemy - accused of hoarding grain to keep prices high. - in actual fact it wasn’t that they were hoarding it it was that they weren’t producing it. - prices gov offering to pay = too low. - Lenin ordered kulaks to be mercilessly suppressed’
4) Villages encouraged to spy on each other and inform about resistance and hoarding.
