Russia Unit 2

Cards (80)

  • Lenin’s vision of a socialist economy:
    • L believed that a socialist economy would be very efficient.
    • Believed that it required modern technology, expert management ,well-educated and disciplined workforce.
    • Workers would be free from the capitalists.
    • L’s vision of socialism dedicated no time for leisure.
    • No sympathy for laziness.
    • Assumed that following the revolution people would find their work fulfilling and therefore leisure would be unnecessary.
    • L’s econ policies reflected his faith in expertise, desire for efficiency and disciple
  • State capitalism
    • Ended capitalism
    • Took industry away from middle-class owners
    • L's state capitalist economy based on nationalisation of industry
  • Economic experts
    • Designed to ensure factories were managed by placing them under the control of well-paid specialists
    • Co-ordinate economic production
  • Industries nationalised
    • Large industries
    • Small factories controlled by workers or back to capitalists.
    • All industries nationalised
    • Run by Vesenkha
  • L ignored opposition, state capitalism was official policy of the new government
    Little change from state capitalism and life before the revolution
    Many rejected state capitalism in favour for workers' control
    When Civil war broke out, State capitalism changed
  • Land reform:
    • In order to win support and stimulate agriculture, Lenin pushed out land reform.
    • Took land from the church and aristocrat owners. And gave them to the peasants.
    • Therefore the land reforms were very popular with peasants.
  • War communism designed to ensure:
    • High levels of industrial output of war goods.
    • Efficient allocation of resources.
    • Food production to feed soldiers, workers and civilian population.
  • Food dictatorship: (War Communism)
    • Lenin’s food dictatorship’ consisted of:
    • Grain requisitioning:
    • Cheka seized grain from peasants without payment.
    • Rationing: Supply Commissariat rationed the seized foods.
    • Largest rations went to workers and soldiers, smallest rations given to members of the bourgeoisie.
  • Labour discipline:
    • War communism brought out labour discipline:
    • In 1918, working day extended to 11 hours.
    • In 1918, work was made compulsory to all people who were able.
    • Harsh punishments given to people who were late or caught slacking.
  • Abolition of the Market: (War Communism)
    • Following measures introduced to try to abolish the market:
    • Abolition of money:
    • More money printed which had led to hyperinflation
    • Abolition of trade, private trade made illegal.
    • Complete nationalisation, all businesses taken over by state
    • Conscription: Workers assigned to either work or fight in the army.
    • L’s argument that abolition money was a big step away from capitalism and move in direction of a socialist economy.
    • Where econ production, distribution centrally planned.
  • Consequences of War Communism:
    • Kept Red Army supplied and won civil war.
    • Led to economic collapse.
    • Failed to abolish market.
  • Economic Collapse:
    • Grain req led to lower rates of agricultural production.
    • Peasants not paid for their grain or labour
    • Therefore the peasants had no incentive to work.
    • Secondly, industrial production declined.
    • Too few incentives to work.
    • Hunger led to workers leaving the cities and seek work on farms where there was a greater chance being fed.
    • Total workforce declined from 3 million workers in 1917- to 1.2 million in 1922.
  • Growth of a black market:
    • L’s economic controls failed to abolish the market.
    • Historians estimate that only 40% of the food consumed in Russia’s cities came from rationing of food during the Civil War.
    • Workers forced to steal government resources to make goods that could be bartered for food.
    • Metal workers would steal scrap metal and fuel to make lighters.
  • Mass poverty:
    • By 1921, Russian economy was collapsing.
    • Shortages of all kinds of commodities.
    • By 1920, workshops in the major cities were closing due to a lack of fuel.
    • Fuel was in short supply, therefore government officials would order the destruction of wooden buildings in Petrograd in order to use the wood for fuel.
    • Unemployment rose and harvests declined.
    • Famine began as a result.
  • Political crisis:
    • Mass starvation deepened economic crisis, led to political crisis.
    • Between August 1920-June 1921, peasants in the Tambov region rebelled against the Communist Government.
    • In Kronstadt, soldiers who had supported the communists without question, had turned against the government, demanding a return to free trade.
    • In March 1921, the sailors mutinied with a response from the government of extreme force, defending itself  and crushing the rebellions in the Don region.
  • War Communism conclusion:
    • Led to military victory, but also economic ruin.
    • Ideological victory, abolition of money and the capitalist market led to many Communists believing that War Communism was the new foundation for a socialist society.
    • Bukharin favoured the economic crisis.
    • Further rebellions led  to a large risk to the end of the Communist Government.
  • Build socialism
    1. By 1921, clear that a European revolution wouldn't happen
    2. L needed an economic policy that would build Russia for socialism without foreign aid
  • L argued that the Communist Party must learn to trade and use capitalism to build Communism
    L also emphasised that the NEP would create peace with the peasants
    As 1921, L argued that the NEP, over War Comm was the correct economic foundation on which to build socialism
    Revive the economy - Lenin needed a policy to stimulate grain production and end famine
    In that sense, Lenin made an economic compromise
    Launched to keep political power, L described NEP as an economic retreat
  • Measures:
    • Agricultural production left free market to end famine, allowed peasants to buy, sell and produce freely.
    • Grain requisitioning ended and replaced by a tax.
    • Small factories and workshops employing fewer than 20 people were denationalised, small factories allowed to trade freely.
    • Large factories and major industries remained nationalised.
    • Money reintroduced, L emphasised need for stable currency and for all factories and workshops to make a profit.
    • Even gov- run industries were expected to make money.
    • People had to pay for services, even transport which was free during Civil War.
  • Political and economic stability:
    • Ending grain req was very popular amongst the peasants.
    • Free trade encouraged peasants to grow more food, so famine ended.
    • Growth in grain production:
    Grain harvest (million tons)
    1920: 46.10
    1925: 72.50
    • End in grain requisitioning led to a return of political and economic stability by ending famine.
    • Also led to the removal of a very unpopular policy.
  • Industrial growth:
    • Market stimulated production, government invested money gained from tax in reopening factories closed during civil war.
    • By end of 1921, L argued that NEP was not merely the right policy for creating economic growth, but the best way to industrialise the USSR and lay the foundations for socialism.
    • Whilst taxing peasants provided sufficient funds to reopen and modernise existing factories, it did'nt provide the money necessary to build new large scale factories.
    • Therefore industry plummeted from 1926-1928.
  • Scissors crisis: 
    • Agriculture quick recovery, industry recovered much slowly.
    • A gap opened up between farmers’ incomes and industrial prices, Trotsky titled this crisis as the “Scissor Crisis”
    • Gap of farmers’ incomes and industrial prices hit crisis point.
    • Farmers couldn't buy industrial goods and therefore no incentive for farmers to produce large quantities of grain.
    • Gov intervened, subsidized prices of industrial products, wider availability for peasants.
    • But, less money available to improve the economy.
    • This showed that NEP was failed to industrialise econ.
  • Inequality and corruption:
    • NEP led to the re-emergence of inequality and corruption, “Nepman” traders made money, finding gaps in the market.
    • Nepmen would travel to the country, transporting desirable goods from factories or farms to the markets.
    • Communist government regarded the Nep as parasites.
    • Produced nothing, made money from selling luxurys.
    • Often, Nepmen arrested by Cheka for profiteering, Nepmen grew rich.
    • Corruption, gambling and prostitution grew under the NEP.
    • Led to lot of social and economic problems.
    • Widespread poverty among women in the 1920’s.
  • State control of industry and agriculture:
    • NEP led to debate within the Communist Party.
    • All Communists agreed that the USSR must industrialise.
    • However, they disputed the path to industrialisation.
    • On left: Trotsky and followers wanted radical socialist policy, dictatorship of Industry.
    • On right: Bukharin and supporters wanted a continuation of the NEP, to maintain social peace.
    • Centre: Stalin and followers prepared to follow which ever policy worked.
  • The Left: the Dictatorship of Industry:
    • Trotsky, favoured a policy of force agricultural collectivisation.
    • Merged farms under state control.
    • Allowed the state to take all profits generated by farms, Used money to invest in industrialisation.
    • T argued this scheme would end private property, end capitalist market and therefore end inequality.
    • He knew that it would lead to massive discontent among the peasants.
  • The Right: building socialism with capitalist hands:
    • Right-wingers like Bukharin argued that the NEP would be the best way to industrialise.
    • Argued that the NEP was slowly allowing the economy to grow and industrialisation would happen eventually.
    • The left argued that the policy of “riding the peasants nag” to socialism, was dangerous.
    • They argued it would lead to a re-emergence of capitalist class determined to overthrow Communism.
  • The Centre: Whatever works:
    • Centrists or pragmatists like Stalin argued that the best policy was the one that actually worked.
    • S argued that economic policy wasn’t an ideological issue, but a practical issue.
    • Until 1927, S supported NEP, it was leading to econ growth.
    • When growth rates declined, Stalin shifted.
  • War Communism Legacy:
    • Left wanted a return to policies similar to War Communism.
    • NEP was period of time of compromise, War Comm was heroic period in which government implemented true socialist policy.
    • The right argued that War Communism had proved that extreme measures would lead to chaos + rebellion.
  • Economic debate and the leadership struggle:
    • “Great Industrialisation Debate” central part of leadership struggle.
    • Contenders presented rival economic plans to Party Congress.
    • During 1920’s, right wingers consistently won the debate.
    • The leaders associated with NEP held on to power.
    • Most Communists were centrists.
    • When NEP failed, S began advocating for a new more left-wing economic policy.
  • The Five Year Plans and industrial change: From 1928-41
    Main economic objectives:
    • Industrialise Russia
    • Ambitious goals
    • Catch up with the west
    • Eliminate Nepmen
  • Nature of the Five Year Plans:
    Lot of propaganda used to inspire workers to fulfil objectives of FYP.
    • Focused on heroic objectives of the plans
    • Celebrated successes of the plans
    • Plans will lead to destruction of capitalism
    Simply a list of targets, nothing to do with how the economy would function and create a strong economy, merely a propaganda campaign used to try and achieve the targets set by Stalin.
  • Heavy industry:
    Production of iron, steel, coal and electricity increased greatly.
    Industry 1927 1940
    Electricity (million tons)5.05 48.30
    Oil (million tons) 11.7 31.1
    Pig iron (million tons) 3.3 14.9
    Steel (million tons) 4 18.3
    Coal ( million tons) 35.40 165.90
    Achieved by building new factories to exploit the USSR’s natural resources.
  • Transport:
    Major success of the Plans, Moscow Metro’s first lines opened in 1935, easy transport around Moscow, therefore transported goods more efficiently.
  • Labour productivity:
    • Low in the USSR, workers less productive in USSR than West.
    • No incentive to work hard, low pay and long hours. (1st FYP)
    The Stakhanovite movement began during second FYP in 1935 as a new stage of socialist competition.
    The Stakhanovite movement took name from Aleksei Stakhanov, who mined 102 tons of coal in less than 6 hours.
    As a result, workers who wanted to be like him, wanted to beat his records and hence productivity rose.
    Industry: Estimated productivity gains:
    Chemicals 34%
    Electricity 51%
    Coal mining 26%
    Oil production25%
  • Rearmament:
    • FY plans very successful in terms of rearmament.
    • Economic planner’s priorities arms production as war approached.
    • By 1940, 1/3 of government spending priorities, were on arms production.
    However, shortages of quality materials like steel, slowed down arms production.
  • Issues with the plans:
    • Low production quality, plans set production targets, not quality.
    • Factory managers rewarded for producing large quantities, regardless of what was actually produced.
    • Plans didn't specify what materials should be used for, so little coordination between different factories.
    • Materials produced were often stored at a factory and left to decay, rather than being used, 40% of production wasted.
    • S purged economic planners and industrial managers.
    • S attacked members of Gosplan, 3rd 5YP was never finished.
    • Huge pressure on the Gosplan to meet the demands of 5YPs.
  • Consumer goods:
    Constant shortages of consumer goods like food shoes and clothing. The shortages were the result of the following:
    • S’s priorities: Heavy industry and defence rather than consumer production.
    • Poor planning, planners did not anticipate the needs of general consumers.
    • Poor production techniques. By the mid 1930’s, the soviet economy was good at producing large quantities of raw materials such as iron and steel. But consumer goods required more complex techniques which the economy still didn’t have.
  • Housing and living conditions:
    • Significant issue from 1928-41. The plans required a huge increase in the urban workforce. However necessary housing never built.
    • Poor living conditions from 1928-1941.
    • A better living standard was not a priority for Stalin.
    • Consumer goods rationing was a constant feature under S’s economy.
    • Working conditions harsh, workers forced to work 7 days a week.
  • Black Market:
    Five Year Plans failed to end the free market and therefore the shortage of goods led to a growth of a black market where consumers could buy goods stolen by workers, who justified it by covering up falsifying paperwork.
  • Communist ideology - Cause of Collectivisation
    • Private property was the foundation of capitalism.
    • During period of NEP, peasants with large farms able to grow rich, and therefore communists wanted to abolish private property and replace private farming with state run farms, ending capitalism and inequality.
    • Create an efficient economy, large farms likely to be more efficient than small, expertise and equipment shared to increase production.