AS FP3 : Social and Economic developments, reasons for the great turn Flashcards
(14 cards)
Conceptual Awareness
What was “The Great Turn”?
Between 1927 and 1929 there was a dramatic shift in economic policy, ‘The Great Turn’, the NEP was abandoned as the regime committed itself to rapid industrialisation and previous concessions towards the peasantry were scrapped to make way for the brutal enforcement of collectivisation.
This change in direction marked the end of the first, Leninist phase of the Bolshevik State and the start of Stalinism.
Historiography
How have some historians described the Great Turn?
As a “second revolution” and the “revolution from above”.
Conceptual Awareness
Provide a timeline for the Great Turn.
1925, 14th Party Congress : Called for the transformation of the country from an agrarian one into an industrial one, capable by its own efforts of producing the necessary means.
1926, NEP maintained although concerns were raised over the amount of investment needed to drive industry forward.
1927 : Fifteenth Party Congress, End of the NEP and beginning of the First Five Year Plan.
Conceptual Awareness
What was the state of the Russian economy in the years between 1921 and 1927?
- Degree of industrial recovery but it was slow and patchy.
- Production weakened by strikes, managerial inefficiency and low levels of mechanisation.
- Officials blamed NEPMEn for obstructing central planners
- Factory managers blamed government officials for interfering and demanding unrealistacally low prices.
- By 1928, less than 5% of the peasant population were living on collective farms.
Conceptual Awareness
What was the export of grain like under the NEP? + Agriculture
In 1913, Russia had exported 12 million tons of grain, in the best years of the NEP the amount had never exceeded 3 million. Agriculture still very backwards, in 1927 over 5 million wooden ploughs were still in use.
Conceptual Awareness
What was the NEP’s impact on foreign trade?
Between 1926 and 1927, exports were at 33% and imports at 38% of what they had been in 1913 due to diminishing grain exports.
Conceptual Awareness
What caused the grain procurement crisis of 1927-1928?
The scissor crisis had caused peasants to stop producing grain and return to subsitence farming. The grain procured at the end of 1927 was 3/4 of what it had been in 1926.
How did Stalin react to the grain procurement crisis?
Stalin sent out officials, backed by police, to sieze grain. In January 1928 he himself went to the Urals and West Siberia on a requisitioning campaign.
What was the consequence of the Ural Siberian method?
It got more grain but the relationship between the peasants and government was breaking down , however he used them again in 1928 after the poor harvest caused bread rations.
What was the impact of the NEP on the Industrial workers?
It had not brought great rewards for the industrial workers. Real wages had, by 1928, only just passed their pre-war levels and most industrial organisations were still hierarcheal with trade unions still acting as tools of their regime.
Was there unemployment under the NEP?
Yes, unemployment persisted throughout the NEP with thousands of workers not having jobs at all. There was a gap between wages with bourgeois officials and specialists reaming better paid.
What was the situation of women under the NEP?
Women were forced out of their jobs when the red army demobilised, large numbers of unemployed and unsupported women ended up on the streets.
What was housing like in the cities under the NEP?
Housing was still a problem and most workers lived in overcrowded, poor-quality houses and flats. For instance, in Smolensk in 1929, the factory committe of a cement works reported that many workers have families of five or six living in one room. There was also a mounting crime problem due to the number of orphans.
What does the Acronym : “Lenin Gave Stalin Many Socialst Cues” stand for?
1) Living Standards
2) Grain supplies
3) Self-sufficiency
3) Military strength
4) Socialism
5) Credentials
Reasons for the Great Turn.
