WAR COMMUNISM

What was the aim of war communism?

to provide supplies to the army

What did war communism later influence?

Stalin’s 5 year plan

How did the Bolsheviks treat the economy

like a single enterprise

What did war communism not worry about?

the workers, managers or consumers

How does war communism reflect bolshevik ideology?

the good of all was more important than the interests of the individual

What kind of planning did war communism have?

centralised planning

Which industries were favoured due to their importance in he war and what did this cause?

heavy industry, other sectors were starved of resources

What decree did recquisitioning build off of?

socialisation of land decree, february 1918

What was set up to organise requisitioning, when?

food supplies dictatorship, May 1918

What kind of farming was encouraged, unsuccessfully?

collective farming

What did the peasants officially pay for their grain?

a fixed price

Who undertook the requisitioning?

detachments of soldiers and the Cheka

What were peasants offered when more grain was seized than usual?

insufficient coupons

What was seized alongside grain, why?

livestock, carts and firewood, the detachmnents sought boot for themselves

Who was the worse hit by requisitioning?

the kulaks (grasping fists) as they made personal wealth from their grain

What happened to the Kulaks?

entire stocks often seized

What were the poor regarded as?

allies of the urban proleteriat

What did many peasnats do in resistance?

hide or destroy their crops, murdered the detachments

What happened to peasants who resisted?

the cheka dealt with them

What was the first business to be nationalised, when?

Sugar, May 1918

What industry was nationalised second, when?

oil, June 1918

When had nationalisation extended to nearly all factories and businesses?

November 1920

What kind of trade was banned?

private trade and manufacturing

Who were employed by the state to introduce discipline, why was this ironic?

professional managers, often the same specialists who the bolsheviks had removed

What happened to the workers freedom?

lost the freedom from the November 1917 decree, strict discipline, frequent strikes

Why did some workers like the changes?

provides employment but those in non essential biusinesses struggled

What were fines for workers for?

absenteeism, lateness and slackness

What was workers hard work rewarded with?

bonuses and more rations

What was controlled through centralized distribution and regulation?

food, clothing and lodging

What restricted freedom of movement?

internal passports

What was demanded of the non working classes?

mandatory labour

How was rationing distributed?

on a class basis, working class got more and the red army the most

Why did production decline?

transport disruption

What was industrial output like in 1921?

20 percent of pre war levels and rations had to be cut

What was disease like?

rife

What did people call for?

better rations, new elections and a recall of the constituent assembly

What did people ignore?

the internal passports in a desperate attempt to find food

What was the population like in 1920?

Petrograd had fallen by 57.5 percent and Moscow by 44.5 percent of 1917 levels

When was there an aute grain shortage?

1920

How much land was abandoned to grass?

a third

What was the harvest of 121 like?

only 48 percent of 1913 levels

What did a trade pop up in?

dead bodies and cannabilism

What happened to russia’s population?

fell from 170.9 million in 1913 to 130.9 million in 1921