Chapter 7 - Economic and social developments 1918-24

Question 1

Why was it not easy or straightforward for the Bolsheviks to implement communism?

Answer 1

• It was essential for them to gain political control and secure the regime against their enemies
• It was necessary to resolve the internal debates within the Party and hammer out the precise policies to be implemented
• Needed to adapt their ideology and policies to the terrible conditions of the country

Question 2

When were banks nationalised?

Answer 2

December 1917

Question 3

When was war communism introduced?

Answer 3

June 1918

Question 4

What years was war communism implemented for?

Answer 4

1918-21

Question 5

When were factories and railways nationalised?

Answer 5

September 1918

Question 6

When did compulsory grain requisitioning start?

Answer 6

January 1919

Question 7

When was the outbreak of the Tambov Revolt?

Answer 7

August 1920

Question 8

Describe industrial production in December 1920

Answer 8

At 20% of 1913 levels

Question 9

When was the NEP introduced?

Answer 9

March 1921

Question 10

When was the Kronstadt rising?

Answer 10

March 1921

Question 11

When was the final defeat of the Tambov Revolt?

Answer 11

June 1921

Question 12

How long did the Tambov Revolt last?

Answer 12

10 months

Aug 1920 - June 1921

Question 13

What was state capitalism?

Answer 13

A ‘halfway house’ between capitalism and socialism

Until the USSR was ready to fully embrace socialism, the state would manage key parts of the economy while private markets continued in other parts of the economy

Question 14

Give three examples of state control under state capitalism

Answer 14

1. The nationalisation of Russia’s banks (1917) and railways (1918)
2. The establisment of Veshenka
3. The establishment of GOELRO

Question 15

When was Veshenka set up and why?

Answer 15

1917

to start managing Russia’s economy

Question 16

When was GOELRO formed and why?

Answer 16

1920

to organise the production and distribution of electricity across Russia

Question 17

What were 3 of the main problems with state capitalism?

Answer 17

• Lenin’s measures were a disappointment
• Allowing factories to be taken over by workers caused sharp drops in production because the workers lacked the necessary management skills
• Letting peasants have control over the selling of grain meant higher prices, but state-controlled industries needed cheap grain so that workers didn’t have to be paid higher wages

Question 18

Why were Lenin’s measures a disappointment? (state capitalism)

Answer 18

Many Bolsheviks didn’t want a ‘halfway house’: they demanded state control of every part of the economy.

Question 19

What are some of the main reasons for the hardships that many Russians faced during the civil war?

Answer 19

• falling industrial production
• fighting in the countryside
• food shortages in the cities
• disease and starvation

Question 20

Give more detail on why/how falling industrial production caused hardship during the civil war

Answer 20

• Factory supplies were disrupted by the fighting
• Workers left to join the Red Army or to return to the countryside
• The drop in production led to rising prices, producing inflation
• Peasants hoarded grain because there were no products to buy

Question 21

How did Russia’s urban proletariat change during the civil war?

Answer 21

3.6 million Jan 1917
1.4 million Jan 1919
(dropped by over 50%)

Question 22

Give more detail on why fighting in the countryside caused hardship during the civil war

Answer 22

Villages were attacked and sometimes destroyed by both Whites and Red

Question 23

Why were peasants often better off than urban workers in the civil war?

Answer 23

They could grow the food they needed to live on

Question 24

Give more detail on why/how food shortages in the cities caused hardship during the civil war

Answer 24

• Important agricultural regions were lost because of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
• Trade blockades meant hostile foreign powers refused to supply Russia with grain
• Peasant hoarding was a major reason for food shortages
• Many resorted to buying food or trading for it through the black market

Question 25

What was the bread ration in Petrograd in 1918?

Answer 25

50g per person per day

Question 26

Give more detail on how disease and starvation caused hardship during the civil war

Answer 26

Unsanitary living conditions, food shortages and a lack of medical supplies and doctors led to millions of deaths

Question 27

How many people died in the civil war from starvation and disease?

Answer 27

approximately 5 million

Question 28

What was the primary reason for the introduction of war communism?

Answer 28

To ensure that the Red Army was supplied with munitions and food

Question 29

What were the three key features of war communism?

Answer 29

Nationalisation Grain requisitioning (and repression as a result of requisitioning) Labour discipline and rationing

Question 30

Why was war communism much more socialist than state capitalism?

Answer 30

The state now controlled production and private trade was banned

Question 31

Nationalisation (key features of war communism)

Answer 31

* By Nov 1920, nearly all factories and businesses had been nationalised * Private trade and manufacture were banned * The railways were placed under military-style control

Question 32

Grain requisitioning (key features of war communism)

Answer 32

* The Food Supplies Dictatorship was set up * Peasants were supposed to be paid a fixed price for their grain but low-value vouchers often offered instead (to be exchanged for money at a later date) * Peasant opposition meant the Cheka had to be used extensively to make the policy work at all

Question 33

When and why was the Food Supplies Dictatorship set up?

Answer 33

May 1918 To organise the requisitioning of peasants' grain to feed the Red Army and workers in the cities

Question 34

Labour discipline and rationing (key features of war communism)

Answer 34

* Workers lost the rights and freedoms given to them by the Decree on Workers' Control of Factories * The workers' soviets, which had run the factories, were abolished * Strict discipline re-imposed on workers * Fines for slackness, lateness and absenteeism * Wages replaced with ration-card workbooks

Question 35

How did rationing work under war communism?

Answer 35

Rations given out in accordance to class status: Red Army and factory workers got the most, and the bourgeoisie got the least (or nothing at all)

Question 36

What were the two main effects of war communism?

Answer 36

Famine in the countryside Depopulated cities

Question 37

What is a kulak?

Answer 37

A peasant who is able to hire others to work with them

Question 38

Describe the harvest of 1921

Answer 38

Produced 48% of 1913's harvest

Question 39

What were the effects of grain requisitioning in the countryside?

Answer 39

Kulaks worst hit → entire stocks sometimes seized Peasants with little or no own land treated slightly better (viewed as allies of the proletariat) Grain supplies reduced to dangerously low levels Peasants forced to eat the animals they used for ploughing and farm work Peasants sowed less grain in protest of the requisitions Poor harvests led to widespread famine Millions died of starvation and disease

Question 40

What was Russia's population in 1913?

Answer 40

170.9 million

Question 41

What was Russia's population in 1921?

Answer 41

130.9 million

Question 42

How did workers feel about state control of factories?

Answer 42

Some welcomed it because it meant their factories were more likely to stay open Others went on strike or fled to the countryside in hope of finding food

Question 43

What was industrial output in 1921?

Answer 43

20% of pre-war levels

Question 44

How did the populations of Petrograd and Moscow change as a result of war communism?

Answer 44

By the end of 1920 compared to 1917 levels: Petrograd pop -57.5% Moscow pop -44.5%

Question 45

Why did the party lack popular support at the time of the Red Terror?

Answer 45

Worsening conditions in the cities and countryside Concern over Bolshevik policies

Question 46

What was the trigger for the launch of the Red Terror?

Answer 46

An assassination attempt on Lenin in Aug 1918

Question 47

What happened in response to the trigger for the Red Terror?

Answer 47

The Cheka rounded up Mensheviks, SRs, anarchists and anyone else considered a threat. It's estimated that 500,000 were executed

Question 48

Describe the Tambov Revolt

Answer 48

Aug 1920, a 70,000 man peasant army rose up against govt forces Spread over large areas of south-east Russia and lasted until June 1921 100,000 Red Army soldiers used to crush the revolt Brutal approach, whole villages destroyed

Question 49

Describe the Kronstadt rising

Answer 49

March 1921, 30,000 sailors at Kronstadt naval base rebelled because of food rationing Trotsky sent the Red Army to put down the uprising: 15,000 rebels imprisoned and ringleaders shot

Question 50

Why were there strikes and riots in the cities in 1921?

Answer 50

further reductions in food rationing

Question 51

What was the impact of the Kronstadt uprising

Answer 51

Caused divisions within the Bolshevik Party The Workers' Opposition Group

Question 52

Who set up the Workers' Opposition Group?

Answer 52

Alexander Shlyapnikov and Alexandra Kollontai

Question 53

Why was the Workers' Opposition Group set up?

Answer 53

To protect workers' rights and oppose the continuation of war communism

Question 54

What did the members of the Workers' Opposition Group believe?

Answer 54

That the Bolshevik leadership was becoming too authoritarian and was straying too far from its original mission of ‘all power to the soviets’

Question 55

When was Gosplan established and why?

Answer 55

Feb 1921 to advise on a New Economic Policy (NEP)

Question 56

When was the NEP introduced?

Answer 56

At the Tenth Party Congress, March 1921

Question 57

What did the NEP aim to do?

Answer 57

Fix the problems caused by war communism

Question 58

Why didn't Lenin allow a vote on whether to introduce the NEP?

Answer 58

He knew many Bolsheviks would oppose to it because it was an ideological step backwards

Question 59

Features of the NEP in the countryside

Answer 59

* Grain requisitioning ended * Ban on private trade ended * Peasants still had to give a quota of grain to the state but could sell their surplus produce

Question 60

Features of the NEP in the cities

Answer 60

* The state kept control of key large-scale industries (coal, oil steel etc) * Small-scale industries became private again * Rationing ended * Inudstries had to pay workers out of their own profits * Workers could be paid according to how much they'd worked rather than a low, centrally set wage

Question 61

The economic impact of the NEP on agriculture

Answer 61

Agricultural production recovered quickly, peasants grew more to earn more money from private trade

Question 62

What was the ‘scissors crisis’?

Answer 62

So much food was grown that prices dropped Manufactured products were still quite scarce so prices remained high Risked grain hoarding restarting

Question 63

How was the ‘scissors crisis’ prevented?

Answer 63

The peasants' quota became a money tax, forcing peasants to sell grain to pay the tax The price of industrial products was capped

Question 64

The impact of the NEP on businesses

Answer 64

Private businesses reopened and grew quickly Cities regained services such as shops and restaurants

Question 65

How were Nepmen important and who hated them?

Answer 65

They helped to get the economy moving through private trading but were hated by many Bolsheviks as representatives of capitalism

Question 66

Economic impact of the NEP

Answer 66

* reopening of small businesses * Nepmen * the ‘scissors crisis’ * Increased agricultural production

Question 67

What did the ‘ban on factions’ mean in practice?

Answer 67

There could be discussions about policy but once the Central Committee had made a decision, every Party member had to follow it Disagreeing (forming a faction) would mean expulsion from the Party

Question 68

When was the ‘ban on factions’ introduced?

Answer 68

1921

Question 69

Why was there a crackdown on any kind of opposition within the Party in 1921

Answer 69

Because Lenin knew many socialists would be unhappy about the NEP

Question 70

What was the Cheka renamed to and when?

Answer 70

the GPU in 1922

Question 71

Give some examples of crackdown on opposition within the Party

Answer 71

* the Menshevik and SR parties were banned in 1921 and thousands were arrested * crackdown on Nepmen * the Cheka was give more power to root out possible counter-revolutionaries * censorship increased * the Church came under pressure, thousands of priests arrested * the introduction of the nomenklatura system

Question 72

Describe the nomenklatura system

Answer 72

- Introduced in 1923 - Approved lists of those who showed complete loyalty to the party who should be considered for promotion in the Party and government jobs

Question 73

What was the Red Terror and what was the intention behind it?

Answer 73

A new period of intense political repression intended to remove all Bolshevik enemies (or potential enemies)