economic and social changes Flashcards
(118 cards)
1
Q
Why did agriculture change under Stalin?
A
Fear of invasion
Disappointing output
Communist principles
Leadership
Control of the people
Industrialisation
Problems with the NEP
Grain crisis in 1927-28
2
Q
Why was the fear of invasion a factor to change in agriculture?
A
- West had helped Whites in Civil War
- Fear of attack
- Modernisation of industry + agriculture strengthen country and deter opponents
3
Q
Why was disappointing output a factor to change in agriculture?
A
- NEP didn’t prod. enough to feed workers
- Soviet industrial output very low
- Stalin wanted rapid expansion in industry to outstrip West
4
Q
Why were communist principles a factor to change in agriculture?
A
- ftted in w comm. ideas
- NEP was making kulaks (farmers) have proft
- create a strong state based on comm. principles
5
Q
Why was leadership a factor to change in agriculture?
A
- discredit main contender Bukharin, and Rykov, Tomsky
- strengthen Stalin’s position
6
Q
Why was control of the people a factor to change in agriculture?
A
- control over peasantry and countryside
- saw peasants as enemies
|–> Kronstadt rebellion after Lenin’s War Communism - remove threat of peasants
7
Q
Why was industrialisation a factor to change in agriculture?
A
- needed surplus agriculture to sell overseas
- fund Five Year Plans
- sufcient food for workers and peasants
8
Q
Why were the problems of NEP a factor to change in agriculture?
A
- peasants were wary abt growing too much food
- knew it would be seized by govt.
- not enough food for workers
- grain crisis in ‘27 - ‘28
9
Q
What was the 1927-28 grain crisis?
A
- war scare in ‘27
- peasants hoarded food
- Stalin made them reach grain quotas
- peasants reduced prod.
- convinced Stalin to collectivise
10
Q
Who were kulaks?
A
Peasants that became wealthier after the NEP by selling profit.
11
Q
Why did Stalin attack the kulaks?
A
- bolshevik pressure to remove them
- accused of being capitalists
- accused of being anti-communist
- removed as a class by collectivisation
12
Q
What year is collectivisation introduced as a voluntary option?
A
1929
13
Q
What year is collectivisation made compulsory?
A
1930
14
Q
What was the Russian word for collective farm?
A
kolkhoz
15
Q
How did a kolkhoz work?
A
- 80 families in one farm
- provide fxed quote of food for low price
- small wage
- keep any surplus grain
16
Q
How were the kolkhoz workers organised?
A
- brigades
- worked set hours
17
Q
What was set up to mechanise the kolkhoz?
A
- MT: Machine Tractor Stations
- one for every 40 kolkhoz
- did ploughing
- some OGPU ofcers in MT
- give ST political control over peasants
18
Q
What did the state give peasants in the kolkhoz?
A
- tractors
- seeds
- tools
- low wage cuz we ain’t capitalist
19
Q
What was a sovkhoz?
A
very big kolkhoz
- had its own tractors
- ‘factory w out roof’
20
Q
How did peasants rebel against collectivisation?
A
Instead of handing over crops:
- burn feld
- slaughter animals
21
Q
How did Stalin respond to the rebellion?
A
- de-kulakisation squads (OGPU)
- peasants killed or deported
22
Q
What year did the collectivisation opposition take place?
A
1930
23
Q
What was the impact of collectivisation?
A
- Stalin forced to slow down collectivisation
- made some concessions
- went back by late ‘30
24
Q
How much of peasant households had been collectivised by 1932?
A
62%
25
What happened in Ukraine 1932-'33?
- giant famine
- huge agricultural source for USSR
- resisted collectivisation
- Stalin took away food and gave no aid
- 3 million Ukrainians dies
26
What was the impact of collectivisation for agriculture and young people?
- schools on some of the collectives
- young people learned modern farming methods
27
What was the impact of collectivisation for grain production?
- gradually began increasing
- rationing ended by 1934
28
What was the impact of collectivisation on foreign export?
Grain export increased
had money to invest in industrialisation.
29
What was the impact of collectivisation on industrialisation?
- led to peasants moving to cities
- increasing the industrial workforce.
30
What was the impact of collectivisation for Stalin's political control?
- really good
- ppl didn't like NEP
- control of countryside
- food supply for fve year plans
31
What was the impact of the liquidation of kulaks on collectivisation?
removed experienced farmers
32
What other sector contributed 30% of USSR's food products?
kolkhoz private plots
33
What was introduced to make it harder for peasants to leave the kolkhoz?
Internal passports
34
Why was Soviet agriculture still unproductive?
Kolkozniks did as little work as possible.
35
Why did peasants flee the kolkhoz?
- govt. seized grain for industry
- moved to towns to look for food
36
What years did a national famine take place?
1932 - 1933
37
What were the five year plans?
Production targets for industry.
38
Why did Stalin introduce the five-year plans?
- wanted USSR to transform into industrial superpower
- thought west would invade; needed weaponry and money
- modernise agriculture; machinery
- oppose NEP; communist
39
What was Gosplan?
in charge of NEP
- state planning authority
- set targets and allocated manpower/raw mat.
40
What was the first five-year plan?
- focus on coal, steel iron
- new: electricity, vehicles, chemicals,, rubber
- textiles and consumer goods neglected
41
Where were new industrial factories built?
- eastern areas like Kazakhstan
- far away from possible attacks by west
42
Give one example of a factory that focused on iron and steel.
Magnitogorsk
43
What were the impacts of the first plan?
- workers had to work as hard as possible
- shamed publicly for not
- increase in absenteeism
- checks - forced labour in Siberia
44
What were attitudes to the five year plans?
Enthusiastic
- seen as new country under socialism.
45
What years was the first plan active under?
1928 - 1932
46
What years were the second five year plan active under?
1933 - 1937
47
What was the second plan's initial focus?
Increasing consumer goods.
48
What mistakes from the first plan did the second avoid?
Setting targets too high
stopping rationing
not permitting strikes.
49
Why did the focus of the second plan change?
- fear of Nazi invasion
- heavy industry (coal, armaments, chemicals)
50
Which industries soared during the second plan?
- coal, chemical, electricity, minerals
|--> using technical expertise
- oil production no
51
Which industry trebled in this time?
Production of armaments.
52
Who became an industrial hero to the USSR?
Alexei Stakhanov
53
Why was Alexei a 'hero'?
He was claimed to have lifted 15 times the normal amount of coal.
54
What actually happened with Stakhanov?
He had two helpers.
55
What was the impact of the Stakhanovite movement?
- encouraged to work harder
- development of shock brigades
56
What benefits did Stakhanovites receive?
Medals, new houses, and free holidays.
57
Why was the Stakhanovite movement quietly dropped in the late '30s?
The number of Stakhanovites killed by fellow workers increased.
58
What time was the Stakhanovite period active for?
1935 to late '30s
59
What years was the third five year plan active for?
1938 - 1941
60
What were the third five year plans focused on?
Household goods and luxury items, such as bicycles and radios.
61
What happened in '41 that changed industry focus?
- Hitler's invasion of USSR - barbarossa
- heavy industry
62
What problems were there with heavy industry?
- purges removed senior ofcers
- problems in steel and oil
63
What was the overall positive impact of industrialisation?
- second largest industrial power behind USA
- by 1940
64
How was industrial production impacted by the five-year plans?
- 80% increase coal and oil
- 90% increase iron
- 170% increase electricity
65
What were the problems facing industrialisation at the beginning of the five year plans?
- illiterate, unskilled, undisciplined
- drunkenness
- absenteeism
66
What was done to improve the skill of workers during the five-year plans?
- investment in training and education
- skilled workers emerge
|---> teacher, scientists, engineers
67
What incentives did Stalin establish to attract high-calibre people?
- higher standard of living
- better housing
- not communist
68
How were cities developed during the five year plans?
Population increased
big construction projects.
69
What major construction projects happened?
Dnieper HEP dam
Belomor Canal
Moscow Metro.
70
What were the impacts of unrealistic targets?
- many unachieved
- false prod. fgures to satisfy gosplan
- overlooked missed targets
- quality compromised
71
What was an impact of low quality products?
Tractors broke down for kolkhoz.
72
What was the impact of inefficient production techniques?
waste and confusion
lower productivity than other industrialised countries.
73
What was the problem with rapid industrialisation?
quantity over quality
shortage of skilled workers -
raw parts never arrived due to confusion
74
Why did millions of peasants die due to industrialisation?
- peasants not used to harsh industrial regime
- dangerous conditions
- bad living conditions
- lived in tents and queued for basics
75
What did Stalin stress to force people into working?
- USSR was constantly under threat of invasion
- anyone complaining was an enemy of state
76
What were working conditions like in towns and cities?
Strict discipline and punctuality were enforced
very high demands
77
What kind of punishments did workers face?
- fnes for lateness and bad workmanship
- fred absent more than a day
- 'saboteurs' sacked or gulags
- encouraged to sneak on each other to secret police
78
Why did crime, alcoholism, and juvenile delinquency increase?
- poorly paid
- shortage of consumer goods
- no workers for domestic repairs
79
Why were strikes and demands for higher pay and better working conditions banned?
They were seen as acts of selfishness.
80
What were the family benefits during industrialisation?
Free health services,
paid holidays
an insurance scheme.
81
What could workers do for leisure?
sports and fitness,
attend clubs
enjoy film shows.
82
What did the USSR avoid that many western countries faced?
Economic depression.
83
What was life in towns like?
Communal housing
food rationing
better pay and conditions than rural areas
no concern for worker safety/harsh punishments
84
What was life in the countryside like?
Basic housing
low pay with all food going to the state
dependence on subsistence farming
- worked as little as possible/ very hard
85
How did Soviets stop people fleeing to urban areas or moving?
They implemented internal passports.
86
What was the role of gulags in the five year plans?
- biggest construction plans (Moscow Metro)
- forced labour
- mostly peasants who opposed collectivisation
87
Why were the cities overcrowded?
Rapid population increase l
no space
weak infrastructure.
88
What made work easier for peasants in the countryside?
Mechanisation sped up work.
89
Why did rural peasants hate collectivisation?
- forced to hand over livestock
- Stalin removed kulaks and forced collectivisation
- monitored by secret police
- churches removed
- food shortages as food taken to industrial
90
What did Stalin do to produce new leaders?
ladder system t
better housing and healthcare to those higher up.
91
What was Soviet life like for peasants?
Worse conditions than in cities,
with kulaks removed through purges.
92
What was Soviet life like for the proletariat?
- technical jobs and management jobs
- poor living conditions
93
What was Lenin's 1917 decree about women?
- equal pay to women
- easier for divorce
- easier for abortion and contraception
- education for women
94
Why did the state want to establish kindergartens and nurseries? Why was this abandoned?
- so women could work
- too costly
95
Why did Stalin change rules for women in the 1930s?
- falling birth rates
- homeless and unruly children due to absent fathers
- men were still sexist
96
What year did Stalin establish changes to the position of women?
1936
97
What changes did women face after 1936?
- abolition of Zhenotdel
- stricter conditions for divorce
- control on contraception and abortion
- lots of money for mothers w 6 kids (incentive)
.
98
What were crèches?
State nurseries.
99
What was the problem with women working?
- expected to work full time
- expected to do household chores and look after family
- worked longer than men in total
100
What was the women's political party within the USSR called?
Zhenotdel
101
What was the role of the Zhenotdel?
- increase female involvement in politics
- monitor where the revolution was not followed
- published women's pages in papers
102
What excuse was the Zhenotdel abolished under?
declared that women's issues had been solved
party reorganisation.
103
What was the Revolution's policy towards ethnic minorities?
- accept them
- encourage people to be proud of their nationality
- right to education in own language
104
Why did Stalin want to turn ethnic minorities Russian?
- wanted unity under one language and culture
- distrusted national groups
105
How did Stalin re-introduce a policy of Russification? What time period?
- 1930s
- discouraged from own language and culture
- Russian compulsory in school
- key jobs to Russians
- discriminated against
106
What was the treatment of ethnic minorities in early 1920s?
- rights
- self government under USSR
- encouraged national culture
107
What was the treatment of ethnic minorities in late 1920s?
- problem
- Soviet nationalism began/ independence
- civil war
- criticised for bourgeoises nationalism
108
What was the treatment of ethnic minorities in 1930s?
Stalin suspicious of enemies of people
109
What was the treatment of ethnic minorities in 1932 - 1941?
purges and forced exiles
110
What were the three main reasons for persecution of ethnic minorities?
1. bourgeoises nationalism
2. resistance to collectivisation
3. threat to USSR
111
Why was bourgeoise nationalism a reason for persecution?
- put ethnic identities ahead of Soviet identity
- not loyal to USSR?
112
Why was resistance to collectivisation a reason for persecution?
- usually strongest where nationalities were
- famine of '32-33 blamed on Ukrainians
113
Why was threat to USSR a reason for persecution?
- ethnic link to other countries
- German soviets/ Korean soviets
- civil war alliances
114
Describe features of deportation by Stalin.
- many died during forced transportation
- nationalist tendencies diminished
115
What seven ethnic groups were deported en masse?
Volga Germans, Kalmyks, Crimean Tartars, Chechens, UNgush, Karachai, Balkars
116
What was Stalin's actions against Ukraine?
- deliberate famine
- purged leading U intellectuals
- murdered, deported to gulags
- falsely accused of plotting armed rebellion
117
What were Stalin's actions against the Korean community?
- largest deportation
- moved to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan
- spies for 'Japanese secret service'
118
In what order were ethnic minorities deported?
1: Western - Finns, Germans, Poles, Latvian, Estonian
2: national identity - Koreans
3. German exiled to Siberia
