War Communism 1918-1921

Question 1

War Communism

Answer 1

economic policy between 1918-1921

Question 2

In May 1918 Russia was in economic collapse

Answer 2

In May 1918 Russia was in economic collapse

workers control made the situation worse
there was a shortage of raw materials = industrial output fell
this led to a shortage of goods = inflation → value of the rouble collapse

peasants wouldn’t provide food to cities unless there were goods to trade
food shortages worsened and many food riots broke out in 1918
workers started fleeing in search of food leaving factories short of workers
Urban workers spent 3/4 of their income on food

Question 3

why was war communism developed?

Answer 3

a more centralised system of control was needed to run the economy
war communism was developed and was popular with party ideology as the fastest route to socialism

Question 4

Grain Requisitioning

Answer 4

may 1918 = a food supply dictatorship with setup
red guards forcibly requisitioned food from presents

Question 5

Rationing

Answer 5

class-based system of rationing introduced
reds and workers given priority
smallest portion to the middle class

Question 6

Labour discipline

Answer 6

fines for lateness and internal passports introduced
managers reintroduced to factories

Question 7

Private trades

Answer 7

private trade was banned but factories weren’t producing enough consumer goods and an enormous black market developed which most people wouldn’t have survived without

Question 8

Nationalisation of Industry

Answer 8

1918 = the bolsheviks limited nationalization to large Enterprise
1920 = all private enterprise was nationalised

Question 9

Ideological or pragmatic

Answer 9

the collapse of money was a result of inflation rather than an Economic Strategy

War communism had ideological origins to strengthen and centralised bolshevik power
centralisation + nationalization certainly fitted with communist principles

But it was also a pragmatic response to Civil War

Question 10

By 1921

Answer 10

production in 1921 was 1/3 of what it had been in 1913
compared to the economy under Tsar Nicholas II, the communist economy was terrible

Aug 1920- June 1921 = Tambov uprising = most serious revolt
army of 70,000 peasants → put down by reds using poison gas