Agriculture and industry

Lenin’s perception of leisure time

Socialism had no time for leisure and he had little sympathy for laziness, people would find their work fulfilling so leisure time would be unnecessary - his policies reflected this

State capitalism

March 1918

• Large industries nationalised and small factories ran buy workers or capitalists

• very unpopular (similar to before the revolution)

Problems facing Russias economy 1917

• extremely under developed ‘backwards’

• WW1 shattered the economy

Marx view of communist economy

Deliberately vague about the nature of a future communist society, but it would be extremely advanced economy

What was Lenin’s vision for the economy

Lenin’s ultimate goal was to ingrain communism into every aspect of life including the economy, this meant that there would be no private trade and a classless society - eliminating the bourgeoise

What was war communism

War communism was an emergency measure in the summer of 1918 aiming to address immediate challenges like feeding the red army to win the civil war

• abolishment of market

• grain requisitioning and rationing

• stricter regulations within workplaces

How did Lenin abolish the market

• abolition of money and trade

• Conscription - workers forced to work in factories or fight in the army

Step towards socialist economy (centrally planned) - destroyed power of the capitalist class

Positive aspects of war communism

1. Fed the red army and kept them supplied

2. Truest form of communism - Burkrain even welcomed economic collapse arguing it was necessary to destroy capitalism before socialist could start to develop

Negative aspects of war communism

POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC COLLAPSE

1. Tambov and Kronstadt

2. 1921 harvest 44% of 1914 - famine killing 6 million due to no incentive to work

3. Industrial 1/3 of levels under Tsar (workers left city for food 3-1.2M workers)

4. Black market - 60% of food came from black market

Why was the NEP introduced

Kronstadt rebellion 1921 party congress

• Previously loyal supporters of Bolsheviks now calling for the end to war communism

• Lenin said that it was ‘the flash that lit up reality’ - showed how war communism was falling terribly

What was the NEP

Introduced in 1921, mixed elements of capitalism with communism. It allowed a degree of private ownership and trade + grain requisitioning ended

COMPROMISE - political stability

• communists were not concerned about economic collapse rather the political problems

Positive aspects of NEP

POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC STABILITY

1. Grain and industrial back at 1913 by 1926 - incentive to work (excluding pig iron and steel)

2. Peasants ‘happy’ (80% pop)

Negative aspects of NEP

1. scissors crisis 1923

2. industrial plateaued in 1926 (failed to provide money necessary to build large scale factories)

3. corruption - drugs and gambling

4. inequality - NEP men ‘parisites’ selling luxury goods (industrial workers and peasants stayed relatively poor)

5. Hated by some of the party

Consequences of NEP

Positive - famine ended due to rising motivation, higher rates of grain production, output levels were back at 1913 levels excluding pig iron and steel

Negative - corruption returned, scissors crisis, 1926 levels plateau, NEP men emerge, not communist - officials didn’t like

What was the scissors crisis

1923 - agriculture production recovered far quicker than industrial production so whilst the prices of grain fell peasants couldn’t afford industrial goods creating inequality

What was the great turn

1928- Stalins shift from NEP to rapid industrialisation and collectivisation in the hopes of catching up to western powers within 15 years

What were the overall aims of the 5 year plans

Primary objective was to industrialise Russia by combining centralised planning with large scale investment

• very ambitious - he claimed Soviet Union was 100 year behind Britain and the USA but could catch up in 15 years

• Eliminate the inefficiencies of the NEP, specifically NEP men

• Military concerns

• Assert his own authority

Nature of the 5 year plans

1. Gosplan formulated production targets and workers and managers were responsible for meeting these ambitious targets

2. Propaganda campaigns

• essentially a list of targets backed by propaganda - no attempt to make sure factories had what they needed or any ideas what the goods would be used for (command rather than planned)

What were the achievements of the 5 year plans

• heavy industry

• transport

• labour productivity

• Rearmament

Heavy industry in the 5 year plans

1927-40

1. coal : 35-165 tons

2. Oil : 11-31 tons

• this was done by building new factories to exploit the Soviet unions natural resources

Transport in the 5 year plans

The Moscow metros train lines opened in 1935, this allowed people to travel around Moscow more easily

Labour productivity in the five year plans

Extremely low in the first 5 year plan due to long hours and low pay - lack of incentives, however this was addressed

• nationwide initiative in 1935 Stalin authorised higher payments and a system of rewards for the most productive workers

• Stankanhovites

Between 1936 and 40 electricity production increased by 50%

• did create problems - stankhovite workers were resented by other colleges or management

Rearment in the 5 year plans

As war approached, gov spending was directed to rearmament 1/3 by 1940

• allowed Russia to fight off the Germans

• However shortages of quality materials held eg: steel held up arms production

Production in the 5 year plans

1. Targets were set for quantity not quality, managers were rewarded for high output therefore quality suffered

2. 40% of what was produced was wasted in the first 5 year plan this was because there was little coordination between different factories, materials decayed rather than being used

3. Unrealistic targets - Gosplan set overly ambitious targets putting managers under high amounts of pressure leading to falsified figures

Consumer goods in the 5 year plans

Stalin was willing to let consumer goods suffer in order to prioritise heavy industry and defence

• led to rationing but in the late 1930s there was such severe shortages government couldn’t even supply the bare minimum

Queues for clothes and shoes in Leningrad numbered over 6000 in 1938

Housing and living conditions in the five year plans

• Managers in magnitorsk lived in state of the art houses which had belonged to US specialists however majority of workers lived in wooden shacks or tents

• Food rationing expect for the 3 good years

• Harsh working conditions - lateness and absentism were criminalised

The black market in the 5 year plans

Failed to end the free market, shortages of materials meant workers would steal these from workplaces and sell them to highest bidders

• this was made possible due to the inefficiencies of the plan

When was collectivisation introduced

Between 1928-41 20-150 families

Falsified figures during the plans

Due to the enormous amounts of pressure to meet the unrealistic targets figures were falsified and manipulated in order to make it seem like targets were met

• Officials claimed that in the first 5 year plan coal production was 45M more than reality

This led to worsened working conditions and resource misallocation

why was communist ideology the cause of collectivisation

• Private property was the foundations of capitalism, causing inequality eg : NEP people grew rich NEP MEN

• Make Russians see superiority of socialism

Why did the faliure of the NEP cause collectivisation

By 1928 agricultural production fell because there was no market for additional farmed goods - limit to amount of food they wanted

• grain procurement crisis - Kulaks decreased production to increase profit ‘Kulak grain strike’

Dekulakisation

Requisitioning was reintroduced to solve the ‘Kulak grain strike’ peasants responded with violence

• liquidation of kulaks as class - twenty five thousanders attempted to stop this, 1.5 M send to labour camps

Destruction of Soviet farming under collectivisation

Peasants responded by destroying crops animals and machinery - rather destroy their farms than hand them over to the government

• 60M sheep and goats

Famine under collectivisation

Holomodor - caused by Stalin to destroy resistance 4-7M deaths

• unable to meet targets and resistance had been high in Ukraine

• Stalin seized livestock and refused to accept international offers for help

Mechanisation under collectivisation

Governments allowed farms to hire tractors from tractor stations around the country

• 75,000 made a limited impact

Why was quality of goods produced during WW2 bad

Due to the lack of skilled labour after Stalins purges

Grain procurement under collectivisation

Despite the horrific impacts grain procurement increased to 5M tons in 1931 allowing Russia to industrialise

Long term impacts of collectivisation

1934-41

• despite the record harvest in 1937 grain levels were less than those under NEP this was because private farming was more efficient

• WW2 - couldn’t meet the needs of the army, relied on US imports to provide 1/5 of the calories consumed by the army

Initial reduction in grain production

73M - 67M 1928-1934 This was due to

• Dekulakisation - most experienced and successful farmers

• No incentives because there was no profit

The 4th five year plan (post war)

• Extremely high industrial growth, 88% investment went to heavy industry and output grew by 80%

• Consumer goods doubled

• Wages kept low meaning there was more money for reconstruction and women were forced to go out and work

Post war agriculture

Agriculture recovered slowly, severe shortages

What was the impact of the war on GDP

GDP fell by around 34% during WW2, one of the biggest contractions in history

How did Khrushchev improve incentives for farming

He changed the relationship between collective farms and the government by offering higher prices for their produce, he also reduced the quota of goods Stalin had set

• 250% rise in the incomes of farmers 1952-56

How did Khrushchev invest in resources for agriculture

In order to modernise agriculture he invested in a number of farm equipment such as new tractors and fertiliser factories

• led to a 30% rise in tractors

What was the virgin land scheme

In 1954 Khrushchev implemented his most ambitious agricultural policy, exploiting previously uncultivated land for crop production (most significantly southern Siberia and Kazakhstan)

Successes of the virgin land scheme

initially it was extremely successful, agricultural production rose by around 35%, temporarily there was a greater availability of food and workers incomes doubled

Failures of the virgin land scheme

Despite being accompanied by high enthusiasm, this did not make up for the caress planning and various inefficiencies

• it was extremely expensive due to Kazakhstan’s dry climate which required sophisticated irrigation systems

• labour intensive - only 5% of the American population worked in agriculture despite producing double the amount the Soviet Union were

What led to slower agricultural growth rates between 1958-64

• MTS (machine and tractor stations were abolished) - less able to obtain modern farming equipment

• He repeated reformed the ministries dealing with agriculture, contradictory reforms led to administrative confusion

The corn campaign and judgment

1958 - aimed to increase corn production in Ukraine which would be used to feed animals and therefore increase the availability of meat

• failure - based of the US model, due to Russias inferior technology, lower productivity and differences in climate Soviet farms were only able to produce half of the corn per hectare

Overall judgment of Khrushchevs agricultural policies

Whilst grain production did slightly increase during the 1950s, this was mostly due to greater output in traditional areas rather than the corn campaign or the virgin land schemes

7th year plan

The plan aimed to increase consumer goods and agricultural production by improving fertilisers which could be used to produce more crops and clothes

• in theory this would lead to a higher quality of life

Judgement of the 7 year plan

Whilst chemical and consumer goods production did increase, the targets were too ambitious which meant none were met

• 60% rise in consumer goods

Why was Khrushchevs personality a problem for his economic policies

His naturally impulsive personality meant that he continually introduced new economic reforms which were either counter productive or were so short lived they didn’t have time to work

• this is evident through 1957 sovnarkom reforms which decentralised power from Gosplan to 105 regional planning agencies

Consequently economic growth worsened due to the central coordination of the plan being abolished

Why was Khrushchev so optimistic

Khrushchevs optimism, which caused him to set unrealistic targets during the 7 year plan, stems from the apparent successes of the virgin land schemes and the success in the space race

What was grain production in 1926

Returned to 1913 levels at 80M tons

How much output was wasted in the 1st 5 year plan

40%

Evidence for lack of consumer goods 5 year plans

shoe queues exceeded 5000 late 1930s

how much did grain production decrease in collectivisation

In 1928 73.3 tons and in 1934 67.6 tons

evidence for peasants destroying farms during collectivisation

60% of sheep and goats

What was heavy industry like 5 year plans

Between 1927-40

• coal increased from 35M to 166M tons

• Oil increased from 11M to 31M tons

What were the kosgin reforms

1968 January-August

• stimulate light industry by cutting investment in inefficient collective farms and diverting money

• He also proposed judging success based on profit as opposed to production levels, forcing them to give consumers what they want

Results of the Kosgin reforms

Similar reforms led to a Czechoslovakian rebellion against the Soviet Union, discrediting Kosgins programme. Reforms were halted in August

Brezhnev increase in military spending

His goal was to achieve parity with USA in terms of nuclear firepower - this was because Khrushchev was forced to backdown to USA due to a lack of firepower

• Brezhnev didn’t want this to happen again

• 11% of GDP in 1964 - 13% in 1970

Consequences of increased military spending 64-70

Consequently, this caused a strain on resources less money spent on agricultural and industry