Dealing with problems after October revolution - Food Shortages

What were the problems with having to deal with the food shortages?

land peasants refusing to make more grain as they were seizing land for their own intentions

What were many peasants conscripted of?

conscripted of their land and their animals

What were peasants focused on?

stealing land and not growing food

Who had land been lost to in the war?

land was lost to germany

What was Lenins solutions with dealing with food shortages?

war communism
grain requisitioning and surplus from peasants
NEP

Who did the government blame resistance on?

the kulaks who were blamed for hoarding grain which was forcing prices to go up

What did Lenin do to the kulaks?

he becomes more harsh
in 1920 lenin ordered in a letter that 100 kulaks were hung in public to terrify people

What was the NEP?

it was an attempt for peasants to grow more food in order to gain back support from the workers

What was government requisitioning?

taking grain and surplus from peasants

Who was government requisitioning done by?

by 75 men armed with 3 machine guns

When did government requisitioning happen?

1918 - 1921 requisition squads systematically terrorised countryside

What happened in 1918 with government requisition squads?

july 1918 cheka requisition units went into the countryside to take grain by force

What was war communism?

was to tighten government control over agriculture in order to be able to force peasants to provide more food

How successful did Lenin deal with dealing with food shortages?

partially successful

Why was dealing with food shortages partially successful?

less food was being grown and food shortages worsened however after the NEP there was an increase in grain levels

What did war communism take away for the peasants?

took away the incentive for the peasants to grow extra grain causing 5 million russians to die of starvation

What happened to harvests after the NEP?

harvests increased by 20 mil tonnes but it did not re-reach the levels of 1913 harvests

What problems did Lenins solutions on dealing with food shortages cause?

people were starving
grain harvests were not producing as much
there as a famine

How many people were starving?

pravda admitted 1 in 5 were starving and blamed it on the kulaks

What did the Bolsheviks do to help with the famine?

accepted foreign aid and lenin was forced to ask for international help which made him look weak

Who helped the Bolsheviks with the famine?

usa contributed food for 10 million russians known as the ARA