The Extent and Reasons for Economic Change. Flashcards
1
Q
What where Alex II’s reasons for engaging in industrialisation?
A
Recognised the threat of peasant revolt from a lack of industrialisation.
Felt that this could be controlled by moving rural workers into factories.
2
Q
Who did Alex II appoint as their minister for finance?
A
Mikhail Reutern.
3
Q
What was Reutern’s approach to industrial development?
A
- Continued railway construction.
- Attraction of foreign technical expertise and the employment of foreign investment capital.
4
Q
Example of Reutern’s foreign expertise being used to modernise in Russia:
A
Ludwig Loop from Manchester helped to develop the Russian textile industry.
Nobel brothers responsible for the growth of the modern oil industry in the Caucus.
J.J.Hughes (from Wales) transformed iron and steel production - by the start of the 20th century Hughes and his associates were responsible for half of the steel production of Russia.
5
Q
Evidence of Reutern’s railway expansion:
A
- There was a 7 fold increase in railway tracks between 1862 and 1878.
6
Q
What was the impact of Reutern’s railway expansion?
A
- Allowed railways to ‘break bulk’ at speed.
- One of the main reasons for the doubling of industrial output.
- An average growth rate of 6% during Reutern’s term in office.
7
Q
How did Reutern attract foreign investment and capital for his railway constructions?
A
- Issuing Government bonds.
- Taxation exemptions.
- Monopoly concessions.
- Construction was placed in the hands of private companies and the government made guarantees to bill out projects if they encountered financial difficulties.
8
Q
What percentage of railways where in private hands by 1880?
A
94%
9
Q
What were Reutern’s reforms cut short by?
A
The Russo-Turkish War 1877-8.
10
Q
Who replaces Reutern after the assassination of Alex II in 1881?
A
Nikolay Bunge.
11
Q
What economic reforms were enacted by Nikolai Bunge?
A
- Abolition of the Salt Tax (1881)
- Abolition of the Poll Tax (1886)
- Creation of the Peasant Land Bank (1883).
- Moved towards greater state ownership of the railways.
12
Q
Because of the reforms made by Nikolai Bunge, what percentage of railways were in state control by 1911?
A
- 69%.
13
Q
Why does Alex III replace Bunge?
A
- Alex III blames Bunge for the dramatic fall in the rouble.
14
Q
Who replaces Nikolai Bunge?
A
Ivan Vyshnegradski.
15
Q
What economic reforms were made under Ivan Vyshnegradski?
A
- Balanced gov budgets and made a surplus income.
- Raise significant revenue through the Medele’ve tariff (1891) - taxes applied to all imported goods.
- Also gained income by exporting large amounts of grain, even at when there was a prospect of domestic starvation.
16
Q
What was the impact of Vyshnegradski’s grain policy?
A
- The 1891 famine seen partly the fault of Vyshengradski.
- Gets removed as finance minister.
17
Q
Who replaces Vyshnegradski as finance minister?
A
Count Witte.
18
Q
Why did the appointment of Witte mark a break with the past?
A
Previous ministers revolved reforms predominantly around agriculture.
Witte was the first to show a total commitment to industrialisation.
19
Q
Why did Witte choose to focus on industrialising the Russian economy?
A
- In order to compete with other industrialised nations.
- To improve Russian military capability.
20
Q
What were the main strands of Witte’s plan for the Russian economy?
A
- Went back to taking out foreign loans and raising taxes and interest rates.
- Resurrected Reutern’s idea of encouraging foreign experts to come to Russia.
- 1897 - puts the rouble on the gold standard - gives potential investors confidence in the value of Russian currency.
- Most investment went on heavy industry.
- Indsutrialisation to be planned and managed by the state - moving away from private enterprise.
21
Q
Evidence for the ‘Great Spurt’:
A
- Coal production doubled.
-Steel production increased 7 fold. - Amount of railway tracks opened increased from 17,000 in 1891 to 31,000 in 1901.
- Capital from abroad increased on average 120% a year between 1893-1898.
- Income from industry increased from 42 million in 1893 to 161 million in 1897.
22
Q
What did Witte create in Russia through his economic policies?
A
The Russian Gilded Age - expansion of the Russian economy had become self sustaining.
23
Q
What arguments are there that Witte’s achievements have been exaggerated?
A
- Only focussed on heavy industry - short-sighted as to an extent the demand for metals came from industries like textiles.
- Reliance on foreign investment considered dangerous as they could be recalled.
- Whilst railway increased considerably, by 1914 Russia had 11 times fewer tracks than Germany.
- Lack of attention on agriculture caused rural discontent.
- The Russian economy fell apart during the war.
24
Q
Who was Witte replaced by as finance minister?
A
Pytor Stolypin.
25
What position did Witte take after being finance minister under Nich II?
- After the Russo-Japan war Witte was appointed PM.
26
Evidence of Stolypin improving the economy:
1909-1913 industrial output increased on average by 7%.
GNP increased by 3.5% a year
27
Evidence that in 1913, Russia was still economically behind the west:
Russian coal production at the start of the war was 10% of that produced by Britain.
28
Why despite industrialisation was Russia still economically behind the west?
- Vasts amounts of labour employed to compensate for the lack of modern technology.
- Majority of workers employed in small-scale enterprises.
- Many of the gains were masked by the substantial increase in the size of the population.
29
Why was the gold standard abandoned during the war?
- Despite having the largest gold reserve in Europe Russia still couldn't pay for its armaments.
- Money was borrowed from abroad and the gold standard was abandoned.
30
Evidence of inflation in Russia during WW1:
- Price of food and fuel quadrupled in the first 2 years of the conflict.
31
How was state capitalism under Lenin implemented in 1917?
- 1917 Decree on Land - involved the division of private landholding that were then given over to the peasants.
- 1918 Decree on workers control.
- 1917 - Formation of the Supreme Economic Council - formed to manage key industries nationalised by the Bolsheviks.
32
How was nationalisation implemented under Lenin?
- All industries employing more than 10 people were nationalised without compensation.
33
What was the impact of Lenin's policy of nationalisation?
By 1920 -30,000 industries were nationalised in Russia.
34
How did the Civil War (1917-21) impact Lenin's State Capitalism?
- nullified any potential positive impacts.
- Production of coal fell from 29 million tonnes in 1913 to 8.9 million in 1921.
- Inflation meant that by October 1930, the rouble was with only 1% of its value in 1917,
35
What were the key features of War Communism under Lenin?
- Nationalisation of large enterprises - meant that people lost all ownership over the means of production.
- Partial militarisation of labour - disliked as people were forced to war solely to meet the needs of the war.
- Forced requisitioning of grain - disincentivised people to grow more than what was needed - led to starvation in rural areas.
36
What was War Communism replaced by?
The New Economic Policy (NEP).
37
What were the key features of the NEP?
- De-nationalisation of small scale enterprise and return to private ownership.
- Removal of restrictions on private soles of goods and services.
- Return to the encouragement of foreign trans and foreign expertise.
- End of grain requisitioning - peasants could sell surplus to local markets.
38
What was the short term impact of the NEP?
- Industrial output increased rapidly.
- Development of the Nepman - by 1923 they were responsible for 60% of retail trade.
- What Trotsky termed the 'scissor crisis' - supply of food exceeded domestic demand leading to a fall in prices - manufactured foods increased at a slower pace - peasants were therefore reluctant to sell surplus at a low price.
39
What were the main aims of Stalinist economic policy?
- To launch a war against Russia's tsarist past - Stalin believed that Russia had failed to keep up with the West because of the incompetence of the tsars.
- Prepare for potential conflict with Russia's capitalist enemies .
- Creating economic autarky.
40
How did Stalin believe he would achieve his aim of creating economic autarky?
- Abandoning the NEP, replacing it with a policy revolving around strict state control and centralised planning.
- Industrialisation to be stimulated by targets eg 5 Year Plans.
(1929-1964 there were seven 5 year plans.)
41
What where the two things that the tsars and commissars had in common in terms of their approach to agriculture?
- Agriculture was seen as subservient to the needs of industry.
- Those who worked on the land were treated as second class citizens.
42
What evidence is there that the emancipation of the serfs was not a great success?
- Emancipation of the serfs passed in 1861.
- By 1917 the issue of peasant land ownership was still large.
43
What was Alex III's relationship with agriculture in Russia like?
Poor.
During his reign there were three famines.
They were believed to be a result of the poor farming techniques used by the peasants - Alex III responded by employing Land Captains to keep discipline in rural areas.
44
What was Stolypin's wager on the strong a response to?
- The rural unrest between 1905-6.
45
What was Stolypin's wager on the strong?
- Wanted to use land distribution to create a more able and educated peasant class.
- Unused land was made available through the peasant land bank.
- Peasants who were still farming strips were given the right to consolidate their land on small holdings.
46
Why did Stolypin's wager on the strong backfire?
- Led to an expansion of a wealthier class of peasants who in theory would be more loyal to the tsar - however they were still not happy with the stipulations of stolypins reforms.
- By 1914, 2 million peasants had left village communes leaving areas short of rural labour - WW1 accelerates this trend.
47
What did the Bolshevik's promise in terms of land?
"peace, bread and land".
48
How were Kulaks treated during war communism?
- Blamed and punished for food shortages.
- Committees of the village poor and the Cheka were used to unleash a 'class war' on the kulaks.
49
How were Kulaks treated during the NEP?
- Viewed as the more cultured and educated peasants.
- Whilst being more tolerant they were still treated severely
- Kulaks more willing to vocalise their concerns about peasant living and working conditions .
- They suffered higher taxes and were disenfranchised.
50
Why was collectivisation implemented?
- Peasants would collaborate to create was much food as possible.
- The system was based on the belief that shortages were created by surpluses being hoarded until they could be sold in markets at the highest possible price.
51
When Stalin becomes leader how many farms are collectivised?
When Stalin comes to power only 3% of peasant farmers worked on collectives.
52
What caused Stalin to push for mass collectivisation?
- The 1927-28 famine.
- Wanted to create 'Socialism in the countryside'.
53
How were Kulaks treated under Stalin's 'dekulakisation'?
- Wealthy peasants visited by Komsomols and plenipotentiaries.
- Houses would be stripped to locate hidden wealth.
- Personal belongings were confiscated or sold.
- They were either relocated poor land and set unrest;asitic targets - often meant they were deported to Siberia.
-Sent to concentration camps.
54
Between 1928-1930 how many people were estimated to have been deported for being Kulaks?
1 million - 3 million families.
55
How many Kulaks were shot between 1928-1930?
30,000.
56
By March 1930, how many households did Stalin claim had been collectivised?
58%.
57
Examples of opposition to Stalin's collectivisation:
- The case of Bryansk-Oblast - peasant drove way a party of Komsomols who were insistent on commandeering the church bells
- In Khazakstan, collectivisation destroyed the nomadic way of life, the population fell by 75% within a few years.
58
Evidence of the success of renewed collectivisation:
- by 1973 93% of peasants were under Kolkozhy.
- farms organised by Motor Tractor Stations.W
59
What were Motor Tract Stations?
- Originally organisation's in which tractors were leant to peasants.
- responsible for distributing seed, collecting grain and establishing levels of payment for produce.
60
By 1948, what percentage of farmers lived on collectives?
98%.
61
Why was collectivisation opposed by the peasants?
- Removed their traditional way of life - abolition of the mir in 1930 was considered a blow to village autonomy.
- Collective deprived peasants of the right to make extra income.
- 1932-4 famine suggested that collectives were likely to contribute to food shortages.
62
What changes to agriculture were made under Khrushchev?
- Changed the role of the Ministry of Agriculture to be an advisory body.
- Abolished MTS.
- Raised the prices for state procurements.
- Reduced taxes on peasants.
63
Examples of riots in the countryside under Khrushchev?
- Budyenni Locomotive Works where the KGB ended up killing 23 protestors.
64
What was the aim of the Virgin Land Campaign (1954)?
- To increase the amount of land that could be cultivated.
65
What was the impact of the Virgin land Campaign?
- 1950 - 96 milloin acres of land given to the production of wheat.
- 1964, this had increased to 156 million acres.
66
Why was the Virgin Land Campaign flawed?
- The land was overused with little attention paid to crop rotation.
- Little was done to counter soil erosion - much of the virgin land was in the arid regions of Central Asia.
- Led to a disastrous harvest in 1963 where grain production fell by 23 million tonnes.
