Russia 1.5 Flashcards
What were growth rates by 1980?
0.6%
In 1970, the richest 10% of Americans were __ wealthier than the bottom 10% compared to just __ in Russia. What did this mean for the USSR?
7x, 3x.
As a result, coupled with a shortage of several consumer goods and a large social benefit programme, there was less incentive for workers to improve on the social mobility ladder —> low productivity.
By the early 1980s, how many tractors did Gosplan demand to be produced, and how many were not used?
In 1986, what percentage of machinery did Gosplan estimate was never used?
By the early 1980s Gosplan demanded the production of 400,000 tractors every year but at least 20% were never used due to the shortage of tractor drivers.
In 1986, Gosplan estimated that 12% of machinery was never used.
What was military spending by 1985 in the USSR, compared to the USA?
17% by 1985.
Just 6% in the US.
By the early 1980s, how many PCs did the USA have comapred to the USSR?
USA - 3 million
USSR - 50,000
How much was given to Cuba and Vietnam in aid and oil subsidies between 1981 and 1985?
How much in oil subsidies did the Warsaw Pact receive annually?
$4 bn.
$6 bn.
$3 bn.
Who wrote the Novosibirsk Report and what did it draw attention to?
Leading economic sociologist, Tatyana Zaslavskaya - drew attention to the growing crisis in agriculture caused by state inefficiency and inflexibility. Of the ageing Politburo members, Gorbachev was the only one not to ignore it.
What were the three stages of Gorbachev’s economic reforms according to Richard Sakwa?
Rationalisation, 1985-86 - period of uskorenie (acceleration), initial economic reforms. Designed to stimulate higher growth rates and higher levels of production.
Reform, 1987 - Mar 1990 - Reforms to introduce market forces into the Soviet economy. Initiated political reforms at the same time in order to build support for greater economic change.
Transformation, Mar 1990 - Aug 1991 - Gorbachev began to abandon fundamental aspects of the system such as single-party rule and the command economy. The Party lost control of the process.
By the mid 1980s, alcohol accounted for what percentage of all household spending?
15%
What did Gorbachev say in April 1985 about alcohol.
‘We can’t build Communism on vodka’.
How did Gorbachev try to reduce alcoholism in the USSR?
In May 1985 Gorbachev reduced alcohol production at state-run factories by 50% and assigned 55,000 Party members to a new task force to stop the illegal production of alcohol. The cost of vodka tripled in shops.
Why did the policy fail?
Soviet citizens began drinking samogon, illegal moonshine liquor. The government made less tax revenue from vodka sales - dropped by 67 billion roubles (9% of GDP). Campaign was abandoned in 1988.
What was the aim of uskorenie?
Uskorenie was designed to end economic stagnation through the traditional Soviet method of increasing investment with a focus in science and engineering. This approach was to be implemented in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan.
How much of an increase in industrial production over the next 15 years did Gorbachev predict?
20%
Why did Uskorenie and the Twelfth Five-Year Plan fail?
A major reason was the fall in oil price from $70 a barrel in 1981 to $20 a barrel in 1985. Soviet oil revenues fell by ⅔. In 1985, fuel accounted for 55% of exports.
Soviet industry became notorious for using equipment that was out of date and prone to breaking down.
Money was often needed to import food and the amount of money the government had fell significantly (Oil and Alcohol) and so the importing of new technology was slow and minimal.
Gorbachev’s failure to boost the economy worsened this and the War in Afghanistan and the USA’s SDI ensured that military spending remained high during this period.
Rather than leading to economic growth, acceleration created an economic crisis.
How did Gorbachev finance uskorenie and why did this become an issue?
Gorbachev financed uskorenie from borrowing from Western countries. The deficit increased from 2.4% of GDP to 6.2% (1985-86).
How did Gosplan fail uskorenie?
Part of the problem was the level of opposition to any real change and much of this came from the Gosplan. In June 1986, Gorbachev admitted, ‘Take Gosplan … What they want, they do.’
Changes to reductions in investment in military technology often led to resistance, the same occurred in Industry.
Did productivity improve during the Twelfth Five-Year Plan?
No improvements in productivity. Reached a point where additional investment in agriculture had no effect.
Focus remained on quantity rather than quality.
In 1987 what did Gorbachev admit?
He admitted that the first two years had been wasted.
When was the encouragement of joint ventures and what did it do?
Jan 1987 - the government allowed foreign firms to establish businesses in the Soviet Union, usually in joint enterprises with the state. Moscow got its first McDonald’s in 1990. Hoped this would increase access to foreign technology.
When was The Law on State Enterprises and what did it do?
June 1987 - allowed a loosening of state controls over wages and prices - weakened the authority of Gosplan. Also allowed an element of election in the choice of managers. Factories could produce what they liked once targets had been met. This instead meant that the government had to pay higher prices for goods, further increasing their debt.
When was the Law on Co-operatives and what did it do?
1988 - allowed small-scale private enterprises to be established.
By 1990 how many co-operatives had been set up?
200,000
In the first year alone, by how much did the turnover of the co-operatives increase to?
29.2 million roubles to 1.04 billion roubles.
How much more were the incomes of co-operative members when compared to people employed by state enterprises?
2 - 3 times higher
When was Gosplan abolished?
1990
By how much did food production growth rate rise between 1986 and 1987?
How much was imported?
1 - 2%
20% of foodstuffs were still imported
How did uncertainty over supplies create a food crisis?
Uncertainty over supplies encouraged a wave of hoarding by the population. Shops were quickly emptied and food rationing was introduced in some cities. In 1988, meat was rationed in 26 out of the 55 regions of Russia.
By how much did urban wages rise in 1989?
13%
By the end of 1990 how many foreign joint-ventures were there in the USSR, and why were they largely unsuccessful.
3000
Foreign companies were faced with endless bureaucracy that made progress slow.
Most were small-scale operations that had little impact on the economy.
How were reforms sabotaged?
Reforms were undermined by officials, or even ignored or sabotaged. In Leningrad the city administration withdrew all sausages from shops and buried them.
How many enterprises did strikes affect in 1990 and in 1991?
260 enterprises (1990) to 1755 enterprises (1991)
What was the budget deficit in 1988
10%
What was the change in the price in a kilo of beef between January 1990 and April 1990?
Beef (kilo) 2 roubles (Jan 1990) to 7 roubles (April 1990).
What was the change in Gorbachev’s approval rating between December 1989 and November 1990?
Gorbachev’s approval rating dropped from 52% (Dec 1989) to 21% (Nov 1990).
Why and when did Gorbachev announce the ‘500 Day Programme’ and what was it?
As a result of the chaos.
August 1990.
Gorbachev accepted the need to introduce a full market economy.
The ‘500 Day Programme’ was a plan for the economic transition.Proposed widespread privatisation and complete marketisation in two years.
Why did Gorbachev stop supporting the proposal?
Gorbachev initially supported the proposals, but under pressure from hardline communists (Ryzhkov) he backed down.
Why did the government not adopt an overall plan in 1991?
Radical reform continued during 1991 but the government did not adopt an overall plan, largely because of Gorbachev’s refusal to act decisively.
What laws were passed in January 1991 and April 1991?
Jan 1991 - Supreme Soviet introduced private property. In April, a law was passed to allow citizens to trade stocks and shares
How much did oil production fall between 1990 and 1991?
9%
What did an official government report in 1991 say about the economy?
An official government report stated that the Soviet economy was moving beyond crisis to catastrophe.
By mid 1990 how many consumer goods were rarely on sale and how many man hours were put into queueing annually?
By mid 1990 over 1000 consumer goods were rarely on sale and rationing became widespread. Queueing became the national pastime - estimates put it at 30-40 billion man (or rather woman) hours a year.
By how much did social benefits rise in 1990?
Social benefits rose by 21% in 1990. The plan for 1990 was an increase in 10bn rubles, but it turned out to be 28 bn.
Between 1987 and 1989, how much did imports from the West rise and what effect did this have on the currency?
People protested and imports from the West rose by almost a half between 1987 and 1989. So by 1989 the USSR could not service its hard currency.
By how much did Soviet ouput decline between 1990 and 1991?
Soviet output declined by 20% between 1990 and 1991. Critics - perestroika had led to catastroika (economic collapse)
What did any political reform risk doing?
Any policy which weakened the authority of the Party risked weakening the Soviet Union, as the Communist Party held the Union together.
Khrushchev’s reforms had threatened Soviet control of Hungary
What led to the pressure for reform?
This tension between the reality of the Soviet government and Communist ideals created discussion and led to pressure for reform.
What led to the widespread cynicism of the Soviet people? Why did many tolerate it?
Over time, the difference between the official goals of the Party and living standards led to widespread cynicism - Soviet people became aware of corruption. Many still tolerated the government as the Party as living standards were improving. Idealists hoped that reform would finish the journey started by Lenin.
What were Gorbachev’s objectives?
Key political aim to revitalise the Soviet Union. Wanted to end stagnation, corruption and the cynicism of the Soviet people.
Chernobyl Incident April 1986 - what happened and what did it show?
The Soviet government’s response to the Chernobyl nuclear accident in April 1986 convinced Gorbachev that glasnost was essential. No official announcement until the government was forced to after Scandinavian scientists picked up high readings of radioactivity. An evacuation of people was delayed, adding to the human cost as well as an increase in cases of leukaemia and birth deformations.
The affair reflected the weaknesses of the USSR (power plant was badly managed, used outdated equipment and had poor health and safety and its deficiencies were covered by secrecy). The affair did little to help Gorbachev’s international reputation.
When did Gorbachev first speak for the need for openness?
December 1974
What did Gorbachev do to criticise hardliners who opposed openness?
He invited intellectuals to criticise hardliners and support his reforms, and saw them as natural allies against hardliners.
Example of Gorbachev dealing with corruption and how did it affect the Party?
Attacks on corrupt Party officials were popular with the public but caused a lot of resentment within the Party. Brezhnev’s son-in-law, Churbanov, was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment. Also replacing Kunayev with Kolbin.
What did Gorbachev do to criticise hardliners who opposed openness?
He invited intellectuals to criticise hardliners and support his reforms, and saw them as natural allies against hardliners.
At the Twenty Seventh Party Congress, what did the new programme commit the Party to?
When was the last time before this since the Party had adopted a new set of priorites?
When was the Congress?
Did Gorbachev set out a detailed plan?
What was the signficance?
Feb + Mar 1986 - set out a new programme for the Communist Party. This was the first time the Party had adopted a new set of priorities since 1961.
New programme committed the Party to the ‘systematic and all round improvement of socialism’.
Including ‘genuine democracy’. Gorbachev linked democratisation to glasnost.
However, there were few signs of genuine openness at the Party Congress nor did Gorbachev set out detailed proposals for achieving this. Its adoption does show a symbol that Gorbachev wanted to break with the past.
Following the 1986 Congress, who did Gorbachev appoint to be responsible for the Soviet media and why did Gorbachev want to liberalise it?
Yakovlev.
Done in order to create an alliance between communists, reformers and Russian intellectuals - believed it would allow intellectuals to criticise the Party and develop new ideas.
How did Yakovlev promote Glasnost?
Yakovlev appointed new radical editors - newspapers began to publish accounts of the scale of Stalin’s atrocities + problems in the Soviet economy. Yakovlev permitted the publication of previously banned books, plays and films by anti-communist intellectuals. E.g. Repentance, 1984 (Film) which was highly critical of Stalin’s terror.
Who did Gorbachev begin to start releasing from prison?
Who did he invite back from exile in Gorky and when?
Gorbachev also authorised the release of dissidents from prison. Sakharov was invited to Moscow from exile in Gorky in Dec 1986 to support political reform.
