economy and society in depth Flashcards

1
Q

Kolkhoz

Sovkhoz

A

corporate body ran by a committee that rented land from the state and delivered a fixed quote from the harvest- collective

sovkhoz- State owned farms- workers employed to work the land in the same manner as factory workers

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

How many collective farms by ____?

what had the peasants resulted to as a result of the revolution?
how many MTS for each collective farm? what did it do?

A

1933- 250,000 collective farms

as the role of the mir strengthened more peasants reverted to a conservative, agriculturally insufficient institution
one MTS for every 30 collective farms

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What did Stalin call for against the Kulaks?
What did Dekulakisation take place within the context of? what did this begin with?
By 1930 how many people displaced by collectivisation?
by 1930 how many people shot during collectivisation?

A

‘a resolute offensive against the Kulaks’

Dekulakisation took place within the context of the early show trials which began with the prosecution of ‘bourgeois specialists’ in 1928

1930- 2.6 million displaced by collectivisation
including(1.8 million deported to other areas of Soviet Union, 400,000 to areas in their own province, 390,000 to newly made prison camps)

1930- 21,000 people shot

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

How many peasant uprisings 1930?
March 1930- there was a concerted campaign to what?
what was the reaction to this?
what did Stalin admit to Churchill?

A

130,000 peasant uprisings 1930

March 1930 there was a concerted campaign to socialise all livestock and close peasant markets.
Peasant reaction: 25-30% all cows, pigs and sheep killed
17 million horses killed
that his confrontation with the peasantry was a greater challenge than war with Nazi Germany

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

How did Stalin respond to criticisms of the ‘excess’?
March to June 1930 % of collectives
grain harvest 1930-29

A

accused local officials in Pravda of being ‘dizzy with success’
55%-23%

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

How did Stalin respond to criticisms of the ‘excess’?
March to June 1930 % of collectives
grain harvest 1929-30
1935 % of households collectivised

A

accused local officials in Pravda of being ‘dizzy with success’
55%-23%
71-83 million tonnes
83%

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

famine:date

what were put in place to prevent disaster?

A

1932-33
collective farm market- peasants were allowed to sell their excess grain after they had given their quota. also reductions in quotas were made in certain areas

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

what happened? how did central government react?
where was most effected?
how many died?
who argued that collectivisation was __ ____ _ ___ __ _________ _________ ________.

A

poor harvest- much of the peasantry failed to meet their quota
government reacted by enforcing quotas and taking grain instead of reducing the quotas
Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Volga region
5-8 million

Robert Conquest suggested that collectivisation was in part a war on remaining nationalist elements, particularly in the Ukraine.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

in what way was collectivisation a success?

A

if Stalins aims were political and social and to consolidate the Communist regiimes control over rural society then

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

in what way was collectivisation a success?

  • percentage of harvest requisitioned 1928-1940?
  • less reliance on..
A

Successful in: consolidating the communist regime’s control over the peasantry

  • ending the threat of peasant revolt and the need for a compromise with the peasantry
  • 10% increase in industrial production?
  • 14%-39%
  • less reliance on imported agricultural products allowed for greater investment in foreign machinery
  • failure of agriculture drove more peasants into towns and factories in search of a better life
  • agriculture felt all negative effects while industry was unharmed.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

how was collectivisation a failure?

A

famine 1932-33
10% increase in agricultural production
dekulakisation removed the most productive peasants

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

When was Gosplan established?
what was it?
how was Gosplan strengthened in 1927?
Who suggested that “the mid 1920’s were a time of genuinely innovative economic thinking in the Soviet Union?”
who was involved in developing soviet economic policy?

A

1921
role was to work out and coordinate a single general state economic plan
-the State commissions of the different Soviet republics were brought under its authority
-Alec Nove
-mensheviks and other nonparty economists

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

what two lines of thought competed with eachother?

which one was more popular and why?

A

geneticists vs teleologists
geneticists- focused on methods required to achive industrialisation
teleologists- focused on setting targets for outcomes
teleological approach found greater favour- ambitious targets could be set and raised furtheer and could be achieved by idealistic energy and graft. To object to target setting on the grounds of realism became a dangerous counter revolutionary act.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q
what was in the initial variant of the five year plan?
what was the optimal variant?
what purpose did this have?
what was this made clear in?
1928 Coal production.
1932 initial Goal
1932 Optimal Goal
1932 Actual production
A

initial= highly optimistic targets for increased investment and production
optimal=even further targets.
political purpose but also served as a crude economic incentive- failure to strive towards them was proof of disloyalty
the early show trials starting with Shakhty in 1928.

35.4mt
68
75
64

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

First 5 year Plan: What did the Politburo decide in 1929
what was there a clear incentive for?
Examples of Major industrial projects:
how many completed new industrial projects?

A
  • it was to be completed one year early +coal production to be tripled instead of doubled
  • for officials to fabricate results which fed the regime with data that encouraged them to push for more
Centres for iron and steel-Sverdlovsk 
Tractor factories in north east of ukraine- later the base for arms production
expanded mining in Donbass region
Magnitogorsk in the Urals
150
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

what was one of the most disruptive aspects of continually inflated targets?

what was the reality of this?

what did Alec Nove argue?

A
  • Shock constructions which suddenly diverted resources towards prestigious projects to complete them quickly and to the detriment of lesser projects
  • in reality the plan was constantly revised and interfered with resulting in logistical chaos
  • Nove suggested however, that sociaalist competition and sotialist emulation did have a noticeable effect in improving productivity and technical expertise, reducing costs and increasing output.
16
Q

how many peasants entering the towns per week?
what was the result of this?
what didnt production targets take into account?
-what did unreliable supply lead to?

A

50,000

  • inadequate housing provision and inexperienced workers without training in machinery. In rushed production, working conditions were hazardous and quality of work could be poor.
  • production target setters never took into account the railway’s maximum capacity to transport materials.
  • unreliable supply led to competition between enterprises.
17
Q
  • As before, in the early years of the civil war….
  • what was the solution to this?
  • what did workers do when they were unhappy and how did the government counteract this?
A
  • …the all out effort, focused on industrialisation in this case, resulted in the uncontrolled printing of money and soaring inflation
  • legalisation of the collective farm market and abandonment of wage egalitarianism
  • workers, unhappy, would move onto new sites in search of better conditions.
  • greater labour discipline and restrictions on movement
18
Q

Second 5 year plan:
who was it under?
what did the mid 1930s see?
what were the aims of the 2nd 5 years plan?

A

Kuibyshev
-the mid 1930s saw the lionisation of the technical expert

aims: to complete the myriad of projects begun in the first 5 year plan
invest in the overworked and inadequate transport structure
attempt to improve living standards through more substantial investment in consumer goods and end rationing in 1935

19
Q

Success 2nd 5 year plan:

A
  • by end of 1936- 4500 completed industrial projects

- machine tool and metallurgy industries had achieved self sufficiency

20
Q

failures 2nd 5 year plan:
when were the 3 good years?what made them the 3 good years?
why was there industrial slowdown after 1936?
how did Stalin react to the setback in industrial performance?
what was the effect of this?

A

-1933-36- rationing ended and families had more disposable income
-industrial slowdown as a result of emphasis on completing projects rather than constructing new ones.
-he denounced ‘wreckers’ and ‘saboteurs’ within the industry who he claimed were responsible for the failings. He purged both the party and a great range of qualified personnel- engineers, managers, technicians, statisticians
weakened the soviet union economically but increased -perceived- greater political security

21
Q

Third 5 year plan:
What was the drafting process very seriously affected by?
who was replaced by who and what did they set out to do?
what was harsh and where did investment shift away from?

A
  • drafting process was seriously affected by the purges, as gosplan functionaries were removed from their offices.
  • Kuibyshev was replaced by Vosnesensky as the head of Gosplan and set about reconstructing the organisation.
  • the winter was harsh and investment shifted away from consumer goods.
22
Q

-By 1940, steel production had only reached __% of what was planned, and rolled metal only __%
-what had hardly expanded?
-who suggested an explanation for this?
-there was however, dramatic growth in… and the successful conversion of…
-where had industry been strategically developed?
-what did increase in defence expenditure do?
what were increased as a result? what was lengthened?

A
  • By 1940, steel production had only reached 5.8% of what was planned, and rolled metal only 1.4%
  • oil industry hardly expanded
  • Alec Nove suggested the ongoing effects of the purges and the deployment of thousands of the Soviet Unions specialist engineers as forced labour in prison camps.
  • the armaments industry up by 250% and the successful conversion of the tractor plants into tank production
  • industry strategically developed to the East of the Ural Mountains in anticipation of invasion from the west.
  • increase in expenditure drove up collective farm free market prices
  • office retail prices increased as a result, and the working day was lengthened.
23
Q

New industrial centres and projects:

  • The expansion of the network of…
  • mining of…
  • centres of iron, steel and other metallurgical manufacture established at…
  • what factories where? what were they used for?
A

-The expansion of the network of hydroelectric power stations on the river Dneiper in Ukraine

-The mining of coal in the Donbass region
and in the new industrial city of Stalinsk in western Siberia
-Sverdlovsk, Magnitogorsk
-Tractor factories in Stalingrad which served as bases for development of armament production.

24
Q

Involvement of foreign companies:
thousands of foreign engineers helped develop soviet technical expertise- where were most of them from?
what were they in search for?
What American company was commissioned to assist what? what were they frustrated by?

A
  • American and German
  • in search for employment following the devastating effects of the Great Depression triggered by the Wall Street Crash in 1929
  • Arthur G. McKee was commissioned to assist the replication of a US- style steel mill at Magnitogorsk. They were frustrated with the unrealistic demands and incompetent peasant labour
25
Q

-1926-1939 how much did the urban population grow?
-how much did the average floor space per individual drop?
-in the three years running up to the war, wages rose by __% but free market prices rose by 200%
-what was ended?
-the demand for what did what?
-1928-1940 how many women were wage earners
-what was there substantial spending in? how many children in school 1928-1941?
what expanded?
what increased social mobility? what did this mean for peasants?
what did economic changes allow for?

A

-1926-1939- 26 to 56 million
-8.3-6.7 m2
-unemployment ended.
-demand for labour brought many women into the workplace
1928-1940- 24-39%
-1028-1941- 12-35 million
-higher education geared towards technical training expanded rapidly.
-expansion of industry increased social mobility, a poor peasant might rise to a managerial position in a few years
-economic changes allowed for the cretion of a moderately prosperous technical class who could be grateful to Stalin in material terms

26
Q
Stakhanovite movement:
when?
who?
what?
what was this used as?
what was the effect of this on productivity?
A

1935
Aleksei Stakhanov a coal miner in the Donbass region managed to drill 14 times his quota of coal
-Party insisted on more ambitious work norms
and functioned as a way of removing excuses from those accused of failing.
-Nove argues that, alongside fines for absenteeism and new technology, this led to greater productivity.

27
Q

In what ways were the 5 year plans successful?

A

-Soviet Union industrialised up to a level comparable with the United States. Impressive considering it occurred over a 10 year period
-1928-1940 overll industrial output trebled
-control of foreign trade enabled high level of investment in machinery
-

28
Q

Success of the first 5 year plans:

A
  • national income doubled 1928-33
  • output of capital goods nearly trebled
  • Nove- third 5 year plan machinery and engineering output increased by 59% but production of steel, rolled metal, cement and oil fell well short of their targets
29
Q

what is difficult to ascertain?

A

it is difficult to ascertain whether a culture of overoptimistic plans and forced labour acted as a boost to production or whether the consequent lack of coordination, compromise on quality and strain on infrastructure and society meant that more realistic plans would’ve been more productive

30
Q

failures of the 5 year plans

A

two major setbacks 1932 and 1937 caused by counter productive political suppression
poor quality of work/ dangerous conditions
poor quality of life for workers and peasants alike
-supply of labour remained insufficient for required expansion- June 1940 a million school leavers conscripted into labour reserve schools
-

31
Q

Stalins speech: date and what did he say?

A

“We have fallen behind the advanced countries by fifty to a hundred years. We must close the gap in ten years. Either we do this or we’ll be crushed”