Theme 2 Brezhnev and Andropov Flashcards
What were the Kosygin Reforms?
Serious of reforms by Alexei Kogysin in 1965 that encouraged creativity within decision-making body to encourage productivity.
Why did the Kosygin Reforms fail?
Reforms had limited success as Brezhnev empathised with the conservatives and supressed them.
- Central planners disliked the reforms as it gave them less control.
- Party sabotaged reforms so they were watered down and basically un-effective
- Greater focus on output rather than for innovation. No motivation to create new ideas. Economic stagnation.
- Kosygin Side-lined by Brezhnev in 1968.
What evidence is there reformers retained some influence under Brezhnev?
-Major industrial complexes were joined with scientific research institutes in 1973 to keep technology up to date.
- System for targets centralised in 1974 to focus more on cost and profit
Why were these reforms so limited?
They did not have great impact on the system. New technology was held back by the rigid command economy.
- New equipment left to rust and instead old machinery was used.
- Government did not acknowledge the supply and demand of produce (free market economy)
What is a command economy?
an economy where production, investment and prices are determined by a central body such as the government
What is a market economy?
economic system where production and priced determined by competition between privately owned businesses
What evidence is there to suggest Brezhnev continued Khrushchev’s push for consumer goods?
9th 5th Year Plan emphasised consumer goods.
- Rate of growth in consumer goods higher than heavy industry
- By 1980, 80% of families had TVs and 70% had washing machines
- Higher investment into public transport
What is a military-industrial complex?
Powerful bloc that linked armed forces to the sectors of economy involved in military products.
What evidence is there that Brezhnev reversed Khrushchev’s agricultural schemes?
Khrushchev’s Agriculture reforms were reversed
- Power recentralised to Ministry of Agriculture
- Virgin Land scheme was dropped
- By 1976, 26% of all investments in agriculture
- Attention of fertilisers
What evidence is there that Brezhnev still saw the importance in investment in agriculture?
Continued investment into agriculture:
- By 1976, 26% of all investments in agriculture
-Attention to fertilisers industry
- B allowed bigger role for production on peasant’s plots
.What evidence is there that collective farming and agricultural policies had failed under Brezhnev?
Agriculture workforce was large and unskilled due to a decline in Worker’s productivity
- equipment and machinery was prone to breaking
- Food production had failed to meet demand. Caused shortage of food in shops.
-Peasants sold their own produce instead at higher prices. 25% of all produce was made by private farmers. Price of food in markets were double the price of state shops in 1978
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What was the ‘brigade system’ and what happened to it?
Allowed peasants to form “brigades” that could decide how profit was used and distributed.
This was intended to encourage productivity as they were getting payment for their work.
- System was later removed out of fear of returning to the old styles of family farming
- Returned agriculture to a very inefficient and highly invested system
- Failed: continued to import wheat from USA
What evidence is there of Andropov attempting to improve the Soviet economic system through increased
discipline?
- Wanted a more disciplined approach to improve economic performance
- Focused on removal of corruption which removed the faked figures for targets being fulfilled.
- Wanted to improve labour discipline and planned to introduce anti-absenteeism and alcoholism campaigns which punished slackers.
- Andropov died before being able to properly implement any ideas
What did Chernenko do?
Already ill with emphysema when appointed in 1984.
- did not properly implement any economic policies
- Could be understood that he would have returned to a more conservative approach similar to Brezhnev?
- Old
Is it fair to blame Brezhnev for the failure of the Soviet economy?
- Economic decline predated Brezhnev as leader
- Brezhnev preferred to please the central planners (who wanted to retain their power) that to promote innovation which caused economic stagnation.
- Ill health of Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko (and the gerontocracy) restricted the implementation of their plans which failed to fully encapsulate the crisis that was the economy.
