economic developments 1953-64

Question 1

how did khrushchev try to reform soviet economy

Answer 1

• once defeated malenkov he focused on consumer goods and raising standard of living
• increasing food production was always one of his aims & regarded himself as an agricultural expert

Question 2

agriculture

Answer 2

• 1953 khrushchev made first honest assessment of state of soviet agriculture since collectivisation:
  - productivity too low
  
  • livestock numbers compared very unfavourably with 1928 & numbers of cows falling
  • farmers’ incomes too low as state procurement prices far too low
  • high taxes on private plots discouraged production
• series of measures followed to change situation
• procurement prices raised & taxes cut
• investment in needs of agriculture was to go up
• costs to the collective farms for transport & hire of equipment cut
• major initiative was his virgin lands campaign

Question 3

virgin lands campaign

Answer 3

• khrushchev loved contact with peasants & workers unlike stlain
• this campaign was a huge operation designed to plough up a vast tract of virgin & fallow land in kazakhstan, urals & siberia for grain cultivation
• more than 300k komsomol volunteers were mobilised to settle & cultivate the aream
• would be joined by even larger contingents of students, soldiers and truck drivers who were trasported on a seasonal basis
• like the five year plans it was run like a miltary campaign with emphasis on speed
• much ppublicity & little listening to advice
• colossal waste of billions of roubles, machinery & labour
• cost the country dearly
• harvest in 1956 announced as a great victory was largest in soviet history
• over half of the 125mill tons of grain produced came from new regions
• results never reached that level again & by early 1960s reliance on single crop cultivation taken its toll on fertility of soil & failure to adopt anti-erosion measures led to millions of topsoil blowing away
• by 1963 grain harvest was disastrous & virgin lands produced their smallest crop for years

Question 4

other agricultural change

Answer 4

• mts abolished, had maintained & hired out machinery and now the kolkhozy had to buy the machinery
• had to pay too much too quickly for machinery and no barns on farms to store it
• khrushchev restricted the size of private plots putting pressure on peasants to sell their cows to the kolhoz
• interferred too much with different campaigns forced upon farms often with little regard for local condition & he reorganised things continually

Question 5

the maize obsession

Answer 5

• with virgin lands campaign underway, maize could not be grown in traditional grain-producing areas
• would provide cattle-feed & revive meat/dairy farming which was languishing
• wanted it grown everywhere
• whilst a valuable crop in ukraine, barely ripens elsewhere
• whilst 85mill acres planted only 1/6 harvested ripe
• claimed in 1957 ussr would catch up with usa in per capita meat output by 1960
• this required a threefold increase
• one provincial party achieved such an increase only by slaughter of dairy cattle & false accounting
• couldn’t be maintained

Question 6

industry

Answer 6

• spectacular achievements in space programme & more attention was given to consumer goods
• wanted to catch up and overtake US standard of living
• major interest always lay in agriculture rather than industyr

Question 7

seven year plan

Answer 7

• covered 1957-65
• wanted a rapid expansion of the chemical industry to provide more mineral fertilisers for agriculture
• large investments in oil and natural gas & focus on investment in areas of east
• overall industrial progress was impressive & was major increase in consumer goods
• soaring expenses of space/missile programme & increased military expenditure placed heavy strain on scarce skills/specialist equipment
• growth rates suffered & in 1963/4 fell to lowest in peacetime since planning began

Question 8

space programme

Answer 8

• took lead in space research & exploration
• aug 1957 first successful test of an inter-continental ballistic missile carried out & 2m later that rocket used to launch first satellite into space
• even more in 1961 when gagarin became first man in space which was huge boost to soviet prestige

Question 9

khrushchev’s reorganisation

Answer 9

• khrushchev’s devolution of powers to republics strengthened party rather than ministry control & influenced his power & influence
• between 1954-5 about 11k enterprises transferred from central to republican control
• may 1957, 105 regional economic councils established taking place of central economic ministers which was a factor into people challenging him
• overcame his opponents but regional economic councils abolished soon after khruschev ousted