Topic 2 - Industrial and Agricultural Change Under Brezhnev/Andropov Flashcards
What was the main goal of agricultural and industrial policy under Brezhnev?
Restoration over reform - B’s aim was to stabilise and centralise the economy after the chaos of K’s contradictory reforms
What were the ways in which Brezhnev went about achieving these goals?
- Reversing K’s policies
- Developed socialism
- Kosygin reforms Jan 1961
- Grain imports
- High oil prices
- Absenteeism
- Nuclear parity
- Second economy
Agriculture and industry under B/A - Reversing K’s policies - How were K’s policies reversed under B?
7YP abandoned for more 5YPs – still focused on consumer goods but with far less ambitious targets – industry and agricultural sectors of gov reunited
Agriculture and industry under B/A - Developed socialism - What was developed socialism?
Developed socialism saw B drop K’s commitment to Communism by 1980 and instead argue for an increased standard of living
Agriculture and industry under B/A - Kosygin reforms - What did the Kosygin reforms involve and why were they ended?
- Money cut from collective farms and given to light industry with more control to factory managers
- Judged by profit and not value
- Reforms ended swiftly due to Czech uprising and economy was recentralised
Agriculture and industry under B/A - Grain imports - What did B realise and how did he compromise on this and what did this highlight?
Brezhnev realised that reaching Communism by 1980 would not be possible so compromised by importing grain from the West – ensured job security and lower food prices but highlighted a flaw in the socialist system as it was reliant on the West
Agriculture and industry under B/A - High oil prices - How did the price of oil help mitigate the Soviet economic situation?
Stagnating economy was masked due to global prices rise of oil which the USSR exported in return for grain imports – living conditions rose in spite of economic decline
Agriculture and industry under B/A - Absenteeism - What was absenteeism?
Andropov’s anti-corruption campaign involved the KGB arresting drunkards or people absent from work in the hope of increasing productivity – the campaign was short lived and didn’t have effective results as alcoholism continued to be a prominent issue in Russian society
Agriculture and industry under B/A - Nuclear parity - What was nuclear parity and what did it lead to?
Military spending increased in order to achieve parity with the US by 1970 – economy was drained
Agriculture and industry under B/A - Second economy - What was the second economy and what did it demonstrate?
Allowed the black market to continue as it provided consumer goods – demonstrated weakness of socialism as it has to turn to capitalist methods to fain Western goods in high demand
