The Economy under Stalin

Question 1

Main economic objectives for Stalin:

Answer 1

Industrialise Russia
Ambitious goals
Catch up with the west
Eliminate Nepmen

Question 2

In July 1928, Stalin ended the NEP in order to end the

Answer 2

Kulak grain strike

Question 3

Stalin reintroduced grain requisitioning from the peasants through the…

Answer 3

Cheka

Question 4

Dekulakisation

Answer 4

Peasants responded to requisitioning with violence.
Requisitioning being one of the most hated aspects of War Communism

Stalin initiated “Liquidation of Kulaks”

Meaning to take farms and equipment from the richer peasants

However, in practice it meant that many peasants were killed or deported if they resisted government policies

Question 5

Dekulakisation consequence

Answer 5

1.5 million Peasants sent to labour camps as a result of the dekulakisation campaigns

Question 6

When was collectivisation introduced?

Answer 6

1929

Question 7

Collectivisation

Answer 7

Stalin’s Collectivization refers to the forced consolidation of privately owned farms into collective farms (kolkhozes) in the Soviet Union during the late 1920s and early 1930s, aiming to increase agricultural output and promote socialism

Question 8

Under collectivisation, peasants were forced to join…

Answer 8

collective farms, where land, livestock, and machinery were communally owned and production was centrally planned

Question 9

The process of collectivisation involved…

Answer 9

the confiscation of private property, elimination of kulaks (wealthy peasants), and enforcement through coercion, including violence, mass deportations, and the imposition of grain requisitions

Question 10

Collectivisation resulted in…

Answer 10

significant resistance and widespread suffering, with estimates suggesting millions of peasants died due to famine, repression, and disruptions caused by the policy

Question 11

Collectivisation human costs

Answer 11

While collectivization led to increased grain production, its human costs and negative effects on agricultural productivity have been widely debated and criticised

Question 12

Peasants responded to requisitioning/collectivisation by…

Answer 12

destroying their crops, animals and machinery - many peasants would prefer to destroy over help the government

Question 13

Stalin’s policies led to the destruction of…

Answer 13

17 Million horses
26 Million cattle
11 Million pigs
60 Million Sheep and goats

Question 14

Reduction of agricultural production was because of…

Answer 14

• Execution or deportation of kulaks who were often the most experienced farmers
• Absence of incentives as farmers were no longer able to make a profit

Question 15

Collectivisation famine Ukraine

Answer 15

Holodomor

Question 16

Holodomor famine

Answer 16

Collectivisation in the Soviet Union, through forced requisitions, disruptions of traditional farming practices, and the suppression of Ukrainian nationalism, contributed to the Holodomor famine by exacerbating food shortages and causing widespread starvation in Ukraine

Resistance to collectivisation had been at it’s fiercest in the Ukraine.
Stalin punished the farmers by seizing their grain and livestock.
Used famine to end resistance in the Ukraine

Question 17

Holodomor’s death toll

Answer 17

The Ukrainian famine—known as the Holodomor, a combination of the Ukrainian words for “starvation” and “to inflict death”—by one estimate claimed the lives of 3.9 million people, about 13 percent of the population

Question 18

Collectivisation was accompanied by…

Answer 18

mechanisation

Question 19

Mechanisation

Answer 19

Government allowed farms to hire tractors from machine tractor stations, across the country

75,000 tractors they provided had little impact on soviet agriculture

Question 20

Collectivisation allowed the government to ______ more grain than the NEP in 1928

Answer 20

procure

Question 21

Collectivisation allowed the government to procure more grain than the NEP in 1928 - evidence

Answer 21

n 1928, the government procured 10.8 million tons of grain from the peasants.
Which rose to 22.6 million by 1933

Question 22

Long term issue of collectivisation

Answer 22

• Collective farms a lot less productive than private farms
• Led to a decrease in production
• Decline in grain production
• Private farming continued on small scale in 1941
• Private farms very important for soviet agriculture

Question 23

Agriculture during WW2

Answer 23

Consistently unable to meet needs of the soviet people and the army during WW2

Question 24

During WW2, what did the Soviet government rely on?

Answer 24

Soviet government relied on US imports to provide almost a fifth of the calories consumed by the Red Army

Question 25

WW2 rations

Answer 25

Bread rations fell by 40%
Potato rations fell by 80%

Question 26

Recovery from war after 1945 - which plan?

Answer 26

Fourth Five Year Plan, 1945-1950:

Question 27

Fourth Five Year Plan led to…

Answer 27

extremely high levels of industrial growth

Question 28

Under the Fourth Five Year Plan, __ per cent of investment went into _____ _____

Answer 28

88
heavy
industry

Question 29

How much did industrial output increase by under the Fourth Five Year Plan

Answer 29

80 per cent (from 1945-50)

Question 30

Soviet post-war plans continued to focus on…

Answer 30

military spending

Question 31

Emergence of Cold War in 1946 led to…

Answer 31

expansion of the Soviet military

Question 32

Consumer goods

Answer 32

Production increased

However FYP focused mainly on heavy industry

Only 12% of the Fourth Five Year Plan food production

Although production of consumer goods doubled, they continued to be scarce

Reconstruction focused on factories rather than homes

Question 33

Consumer goods

Answer 33

Production increased

However FYP focused mainly on heavy industry

Only 12% of investment went into consumer goods like food production

Although production of consumer goods doubled, they continued to be scarce

Reconstruction focused on factories rather than homes

Question 34

Employment

Answer 34

Wages were kept low.
Made money more available for reconstruction

Women were forced to go out to work because their families needed income

Stalin recognized that women were vital for the reconstruction of soviet industry

Again, the FYP was full of inefficiencies and issues, nonetheless the economy was the fastest growing economy in the world

Although there was still major shortages of consumer goods and housing

Question 35

Soviet agriculture recovered ______ from the impact of the war

Answer 35

slowly

Question 36

Stalin’s top economic priorities after the war was…

Answer 36

industrial reconstruction

Question 37

Stalin’s top economic priorities after the war was industrial reconstruction. What happened as a result of this in relation to agriculture?

Answer 37

As a result, Soviet agriculture suffered shortages pf resources and workers from 1946 to 1949

Question 38

After war was over, Stalin re-imposed…

Answer 38

strict discipline over soviet farms