Topic 4 - Economic And Social Changes 1928-1939

Question 1

What was collectivisation

Answer 1

Collectivisation was bringing all individually run farms into large state run farms. This meant the state could control what was produced as peasants had to meet production targets

Question 2

What were the two types of collective farm

Answer 2

Sovkozy - large, state farms run by a manager

Kokhozy - run by committees of peasants

Question 3

Where did peasants borrow equipment from

Answer 3

Machine and Tractor Stations (MTS)

Question 4

Why did Stalin introduce collectivisation

Answer 4

• more food needed to be produced (feed town people, to export for money towards machinery)
• it would destroy the Kulaks

Question 5

What is mechanisation

Answer 5

Moving from working mostly / exclusively by hand or with animals to doing that work with machinery

Question 6

Why would mechanisation be easier on collective farms

Answer 6

The state could provide machinery to the peasants and make them use it

Question 7

Who were the Kulaks

Answer 7

Peasants who had used the NEP to become wealthy and make enough profit to buy more land and maybe even employ other peasants.

Question 8

Who opposed most to collectivisation

Answer 8

The Kulaks

This is because they had the most to lose and had worked very hard for their money

Question 9

Why did Stalin want to modernise Russia quickly

Answer 9

Stalin felt that changes had to be made quickly to the Soviet Union in order to catch up (industrially) with the west (Russia was 50-100 years behind). He was paranoid that if he did not do this, the West would try to crush communism

Question 10

Why were many peasants opposed to collectivisation

Answer 10

They didn’t like being told what to do
Didn’t want to give up their land
They preferred the traditional farming style and did not feel responsible to feed the people in the city

Question 11

Stalins response to opposition to collectivisation

Answer 11

Sent officials to find hidden crops
Purged the kulaks
From 1928 onwards, collectivisation was enforced and those who did not co-operate were shot or arrested

Question 12

When did Stalin enforce collectivisation

Answer 12

1928

Question 13

Achievements of collectivisation

Answer 13

• by 1935 over 90% of farms were collectivised
• more young people went to agricultural school
• by 1934, rationing if most items ended

Question 14

Failures of collectivisation

Answer 14

• famine 1932-33
• many peasants were resentful, therefore only just worked hard enough to avoid punishment
• new machinery was made quickly by unskilled workers, bad quality

Question 15

Famine of 1932-33

Answer 15

Peasants were destroying crops and animals as a reaction to forced collectivisation, and this effected everyone. 3 million people starved

Question 16

The Kolkhoz charter, 1935

Answer 16

This allowed peasants about an acre of land to grow their own crops on and keep cows and pigs

Question 17

Why was the Kolkhoz charter implemented

Answer 17

To stop peasants resenting collectivisation

Question 18

What were the 5 year plans?

Answer 18

The 3 Five-Year Plans set industrialisation targets. This was a strategy for the Soviet Union that was broken down so that every factory, mine, or electricity plant had its own targets. However these were often reviewed so that workers would feel encouraged when they reached them

Question 19

The first 5 year plan

Answer 19

1928-33
Targets for production of iron, steel, coal, oil, and electricity
‘Official’ figures said they completed it in 4 years, they didn’t actually until 1940 = propaganda

Question 20

The second 5 year plan

Answer 20

1932-37
Began early (was planned for 1933), because of the ‘success’ of the first plan
Targeted the same industries as the first plan, but also with production for tractors, combine harvesters, and the extension of railways
With its head start and lower target, it met its goals

Question 21

The third 5 year plan

Answer 21

1938-41
The first to include ‘luxury’ items like radios and bikes
Interrupted by WW2

Question 22

Achievements of the 5 year plans

Answer 22

• Soviet Union was industrialised to defeat Nazi invasion in 1941
• unemployment dropped sharply
• higher living standards
• cities developed quickly; now had paved roads, electricity, drains
• by 1936, one third of people now lived in cities

Question 23

Why emphasis on productivity was a problem

Answer 23

People were making goods quickly and with little thought put in, just to reach targets. Quality suffered as a consequence

Question 24

What was Gosplan

Answer 24

A Government planning office that decided how much industry in the Soviet Union was to grow in each five year period.

Question 25

How did Stalins attitude towards ethnic minorities change from 1932?

Answer 25

He used to encourage republics to celebrate nationality. However after 1932, he wanted there to be a dominant Russian culture (Russification) and enforced it in states most likely to revolt.
Stalin also encouraged atheism

Question 26

What reforms did the Bolsheviks introduce involving women

Answer 26

• non-church marriage was set up
• divorce was made simple
• equal voting rights
• equal pay for equal work
• equal education opportunities

Question 27

Effects of industrialisation on women

Answer 27

• they were needed for factory work, by 1940 there were over 13 million women working in all types of industry
• laws were passed to make them more equal to me
• free nurseries and laundries were opened so women could get to work

Question 28

What was progressive piecework

Answer 28

Introduced in 1934
Workers no longer had a set wage, they were paid for thee amount they produced. This along, with the rewards system, encouraged high production

Question 29

Russification

Answer 29

1932
Stalin wanted all the Soviet Union to have a dominant Russian culture, since he saw all others as inferior. Russification was patchy and most strongly enforced in areas most likely to revolt