Theme 2 - USSR Economics

What were Lenin’s three economic policies, with dates?

• State capitalism (March-June 1918)

• War Communism (1918-21)

• NEP (1921-28)

Give three features of state capitalism

• Nationalisation of large industries

• Small factories controlled by workers/capitalists

• Vesenkha would coordinate and direct production/manage factories

What two important economic decrees were passed in Oct-Nov 1917, and what did they do?

• Decree on Land - gave peasants the right to seize land from nobility and Church

• Workers’ Decrees - 8-hour working day, minimum wage

Give three reasons why War Communism was introduced

• Military - provide food for Red Army to win Civil War

• Ideological- centralised control, extend class struggle to crush middle class and kulaks

• Economic - deal with shortages and inflation by controlling food supply

Give two policies in War Communism that made a ‘food dictatorship’

• Grain requisitioning

• Rationing

Give two examples of growing labour discipline under War Communism

• Working day extended to 11 hours

• Work compulsory for all people 16-50

• Harsh punishment for lateness

Give two policies in War Communism that aimed to abolish the free market

• Abolition of trade

• Nationalisation of all businesses

Give three economic or social consequences of War Communism

• Falling agricultural production (46% of 1913 in 1921)

• Famine killed millions

• Growth of black market (60% of food)

Give two political consequences of War Communism

• Tambov Rising

• Kronstadt Uprising

Give two reasons for the introduction of NEP

• Placate peasants - to keep political power

• Revive the economy

Give three key features of the NEP

• ‘Tax in kind’ in the countryside

• Denationalisation of small factories

• Reintroduced money

Give two consequences of the NEP

• Restored political and economic stability

• Rise in agricultural production (38m to 77m tonnes 1921-26)

Give three limitations of NEP

• Scissor Crisis (1923) - rise in industrial prices which farmers could not afford

• Inequality and corruption (NEPmen)

• Political divisions in the Party

What did left-wing communists such as Trotsky argue for in the late 1920s?

Forced collectivisation and ultimately industrialisation

What did right-wing communists such as Bukharin argue for in the late 1920s?

Continue NEP

Give three aims of Stalin’s industrialisation

• Ideological - state-controlled economy, stronger proletariat

• Economic - rapid growth through central planning and large-scale investment

• Foreign policy - make the USSR self-sufficient and competitive globally

• Politcal - strengthen Stalin’s position

What was the central agency that did economic planning under Stalin?

Gosplan

Which propaganda movement encouraged workers to improve productivity?

Stakhanovite movement

Give an example of something built as part of ‘gigantomania’

Magnitogorsk, Moscow metro

Give three pieces of evidence that industrialisation was a success

• Increase in heavy industry (10x electricity, 5x coal and steel, 3x oil)

• Productivity rose to 50%

• Rearmament (1/3 of spending on the military by 1940)

Give three pieces of evidence that industrialisation was not a success

• Shortages of consumer goods - queues in Leningrad up to 6000

• Waste/inefficiency - poor transport and coordination meant 40% of what was made was wasted

• Unrealistic targets - managers lied about production levels for fear of punishment

What was the purpose of the Labour Decrees (1938 and 1940)?

Increase discipline over workers and managers (eg. ban absenteeism) working day and week increased)

Describe three reasons why Stalin introduced collectivisation

• Ideological - destroy kulaks, communist ideals, end NEP problems

• Stalin’s power - discredit Bukarin and right-wingers, easier to control population

• Economic - improve productivity, produce more grain to feed cities and to export

Why was dekulakisation carried out?

• To remove opponents to collectivisation

• To terrify peasants into submission

How did Stalin ensure enough people were deported as kulaks?

He gave the OGPU/volunteers quotas of kulaks in each area to arrest

How many and what percentage of peasants were moved into collective farms in the first part of 1930?

60 million/50% of Soviet peasants

Describe two methods of resistance that was used against collectivisation

• Slaughtering animals/burning crops

• Killing communist officials

What was set up near many collective farms to help observe and control the peasants?

Machine Tractor Stations

Give three pieces of evidence that collectivisation failed

• Grain production fell from 73 mil tonnes in 1928 to 67 mil in 1934

• Famine in Ukraine (Holodomor)

• Lower productivity than private farms - 320kg of grain per hectare compared to 410kg

Give one piece of evidence to show that collectivisation succeeded

• Government grain procurement increased from 10.8 mil tonnes to 22.6 mil from 1928-33

• Grain exports rose from 1 mil tonnes to 5 mil 1928-31

Give two pieces of evidence of economic failure during WW2

• US imports provided 1/5 of calories for the Red Army

• Harvests fell from 96 mil tonnes to 47 mil

• Bread rations fell 40%

What were the aims and dates of the fourth 5-year plan?

• 1945-50

• Recover from WW2 and prepare for new conflict with the West