Topic 7 - Economic and Social Developments

Question 1

What was State Capitalism?

Answer 1

Lenin’s policy of State Capitalism was a pragmatic response to the problems facing Russia in 1918. Lenin hoped that nationalisation would lead to greater efficiency as the Government could employ experts to run the economy. Control of the nationalised industries was then centralised.

Question 2

What years was State Capitalism?

Answer 2

1917-1918

Question 3

What years were War Communism?

Answer 3

1918-1921

Question 4

What years were New Economic Policy?

Answer 4

1921+

Question 5

What ran all nationalised industries?

Answer 5

The Supreme Soviet of the National Economy - Vesenkha.

Question 6

What was Vesenkha?

What was it designed to do?

Answer 6

A group of economic experts. The Vesenkha was designed to:

• re-establish worker discipline by offering higher pay to productive workers.
• ensure factories were properly managed by placing them under the control of well-paid specialists.
• co-ordinate economic production to meet the needs of the new society.

Question 7

Why was the establishment of War Communism important?

Answer 7

For the survival of the Bolshevik regime during the Civil war. The economy needed to meet the demands of the war effort.

Question 8

What was the state of the economy by May 1918?

Answer 8

The country was in a state of economic collapse: food prices soared, industrial production shrank and the value of the rouble collapsed.

Question 9

What was War Communism designed to ensure?

Answer 9

• high levels of industrial production of war goods.
• an efficient allocation of workers.
• food production to feed soldiers, workers and the civilian populations.

Question 10

What was grain requisitioning during War Communism?

Answer 10

Cheka squads were authorised to seize grain and other forms of food from peasants without payment.

Question 11

What was rationing during War Communism?

Answer 11

The Supply Commissariat rationed the seized foods from grain requisitioning. The largest rations went to workers and soldiers, while the smallest rations were given to members of the Bourgeoisie.

Question 12

What was the abolition of money during War Communism?

Answer 12

In the short term, the government simply printed more money, which led to hyperinflation. Money became worthless, leading to workers being paid through their rations and many public services, such as tram services, were provided freely.

Question 13

What was the abolition of trade during War Communism?

Answer 13

Private trade was made illegal.

Question 14

What was complete nationalism during War Communism?

Answer 14

All businesses were taken over by the state.

Question 15

What was conscription during War Communism?

Answer 15

Workers were assigned either to work in factories or fight in the army.

Question 16

What did War Communism succeed in?

What did it lead to?

Answer 16

War Communism succeeded in keeping the Red Army supplied and allowing the Bolsheviks to win the Civil War. However, it led to economic collapse and political crisis.

Question 17

What was the Red Terror?

Answer 17

The assassination attempt on Lenin on 30th August 1918 launched a ferocious campaign of violence. The repression that accompanied the spread of Bolshevik control over Russia by 1921 became known as the Red Terror. The Bolsheviks used the Cheka and the Red Army as the tools of terror.

Question 18

How many deaths were there in the Red Terror?

Answer 18

Official records put the figure for deaths at the hands of the Cheka during this period as 13,000. But estimates put the real figure at 500,000.

Question 19

How did the Civil War cause problems?

Answer 19

The conflict ruined the economy. Droughts in 1920 and 1921 made the situation worse, threatening famine.

Question 20

What was the Tambov Revolt?

Answer 20

From Autumn 1920, peasants in Tambov, led by Aleksander Antonov, began a rebellion against Communist grain requisitioning and a Cheka brutality. By January 1921, Antonov had a force of 50,000 anti-Communist fighters. Antonov’s revolt spread throughout the spring of 1921. By March 1921, there were peasant attacks on Government grain stores all along the Volga River.

Question 21

Who led the Tambov Revolt?

Answer 21

Aleksander Antonov.

Question 22

What was the Kronstadt Rising?

Answer 22

Sailors at the Kronstadt naval base, horrified by the Communist suppression of Petrograd strikes, started a rebellion. The Kronstadt sailors demanded a series of reforms which would turn Russia into a soviet democracy. This demand was summed up in their slogan ‘soviets without Communists.’

Question 23

Why was the new economic policy needed?

Answer 23

The scale of the Tambov Revolt, which ended up being the largest peasant rebellion since the eighteenth century, concerned senior Communists. Equally, the Kronstadt Rising was a propaganda disaster as the Kronstadt sailors had been some of the most loyal supporters of the Communists since 1917. The political crisis even affected the Communist Party, with internal divisions emerging within it. A new direction was needed to ensure the government’s survival.

Question 24

What did the New Economic Policy create?

Answer 24

A mixed economy.

Question 25

What did the NEP do?

Answer 25

• Farming was left to the free market. Peasants could buy, sell and produce freely. Grain requisitioning ended and was replaced by a tax in kind.
• Small factories and workshops were denationalised and allowed to trade freely. Many were returned to their former capitalist owners.
• Large factories and major industries remained nationalised.
• Money was reintroduced.

Question 26

What impact did the NEP have agriculture?

Answer 26

Ending grain requisitioning was extremely popular among the peasants. Free trade also encouraged peasants to grow more food. Therefore, the famine ended and farming revived compared with 1921.

Question 27

What happened to grain production from 1913 to 1924?

Answer 27

1913 = grain harvest 80.11 million tonnes.
1920 = grain harvest 46.1 million tonnes.
1921 = grain harvest 37.61 million tonnes.
1922 = grain harvest 50.3 million tonnes.
1923 = grain harvest 56.6 million tonnes.
1924 = grain harvest 51.4 million tonnes.

Question 28

What impact did NEP have on the industry?

Answer 28

The NEP led to industrial growth. Lenin authorised a major electrification campaign which revived and industry that had effectively been destroyed by the Civil War. However, industrial recovery was extremely slow.

Question 29

What happened to the economic growth under the NEP? (1913-1926)

Answer 29

1913 = industrial production 10,251 million roubles.
1920 = industrial production 1,410 million roubles.
1921 = industrial production 2,004 million roubles.
1922 = industrial production 2,619 million roubles.
1923 = industrial production 4,005 million roubles.
1924 = industrial production 4,660 million roubles.
1925 = industrial production 7,739 million roubles.
1926 = industrial production 11,083 million roubles.

Question 30

What was the political impact on NEP?

Answer 30

Lenin coupled economic reform with much tighter political control. At the same time as introducing NEP, Lenin introduced a ban on factions within the Communist Party. Lenin also supported ‘democratic centralism’.

Question 31

What was the ban on factions?

Answer 31

members of the Communist Party were not allowed to form groups that were independent from Lenin’s control.

Question 32

What is ‘democratic centralism’?

Answer 32

All other political parties were banned and decisions made by Lenin and the Politburo had to be supported by all Communists.