Economy Flashcards
(138 cards)
1
Q
What were the positive impacts of collectivisation? (3)
A
- Grain income and exports increased
- Funded industrialisation and Gigantomania
- Complete control achieved by 1941
2
Q
What were the negative impacts of collectivisation? (3)
A
- Kulaks exiled and peasants killed in famine
- Workers’ food prices increased due to productivity decline
- Internal passports needed to prevent emigration
3
Q
Roughly how many kulaks were exiled 1930-33?
A
2.3 million
4
Q
How many peasants died in 1933 due to famine?
A
4 million
5
Q
How many Russian civilians died in WW2?
A
25 million
6
Q
How many Russian military members died in WW2?
A
10 million
7
Q
What was the purpose of the 4th 5 Year Plan?
A
Recovery following WW2
8
Q
What were the negative outcomes of the 4th 5YP? (3)
A
- Grain and leather fell short of targets
- Rouble devalued by 90%
- Taxes increased and peasants’ wages were 1/5 that of workers
9
Q
What were the positive outcomes of the 4th 5YP? (3)
A
- USSR became second only to the USA
- Coal, oil and electricity hugely exceeded targets
- USSR looted machinery from East Germany in reparations
10
Q
What were the features of Brezhnev’s economy?
A
- Corruption
- Re-Centralisation
- Agriculture
- Military Industrial Complex
- Productivity
11
Q
How was Brezhnev’s economy corrupt?
A
- Black markets emerged like a second economy
- Nepotism and gerontocracy failed to create innovation
12
Q
What were the weaknesses of Brezhnev’s agriculture?
A
Produced 1/6 compared to USA and still imported grain from abroad
13
Q
What percent of Brezhnev’s GDP was spent on the military?
A
18%
14
Q
What fraction of the working population was employed in the military?
A
1/5
15
Q
What were the successes of Brezhnev’s economy? (3)
A
- More spent on consumer goods and living standards
- More emphasis on technology
- Investment in agriculture
16
Q
What were the failures of Brezhnev’s economy? (3)
A
- Lagging living standards (alcoholism)
- Low productivity
- Only 2% annual growth by the end of the era
17
Q
What were the positive impacts on living standards under Khrushchev? (2)
A
- Minimum wage introduced in 1956
- Meat consumption rose by 55%
18
Q
What were the negative impacts on living standards under Khrushchev? (2)
A
- Poor quality new housing
- Lagging consumer goods
19
Q
What were the positive impacts on industry under Khrushchev? (2)
A
- Improvement in transport and output of heavy industry
- First man in space
20
Q
What were the negative impacts on industry under Khrushchev? (2)
A
- Remained inefficient
- Managers pressured by government targets
21
Q
What were Khrushchev’s industrial reforms? (6)
A
- Regional Economic Councils
- Split industrial and economic departments
- Light industry
- Liberman Plan
- Vocational training
- Space Race
22
Q
What was the Liberman Plan?
A
Gave more incentives to local managers and handed them more power
23
Q
What were the problems with Khrushchev’s industrial reforms? (3)
A
- Inconsistent
- Lacked political support
- Failed to catch the West
24
Q
How did the USSR succeed in the Space Race?
A
Launched the first satellite and first man into space
25
How many acres of Virgin Land was to be farmed?
33 million
26
What were the successes of the Virgin Land Scheme? (3)
1. Ploughed 33.5 million hectares by August 1954
2. Contributed to 50% of total grain harvest
3. Farmers' wages doubled
27
What were the failures of the Virgin Land Scheme? (3)
1. Unreliable harvests and over-production
2. MTS stations closed and abandoned as engineers returned to the city
3. Khrushchev too involved in unrealistic targets
28
What were the aims of Khrushchev's agricultural reforms? (3)
1. Catch the West
2. End cycle of famine
3. Improve living standards
29
What were Khrushchev's agricultural reforms? (3)
1. Regional Economic Councils gave power to local experts
2. Increased size of collective farms
3. Allowed private plots for peasants
30
What was the 'Maize Craze'?
Khrushchev's obsession with corn which demoralised farmers with unrealistic targets - meeting with Roswell Garst
31
What did Lenin promise with State Capitalism?
Bread, Land and Peace
32
What were the 3 decrees of State Capitalism?
- Decree on Workers' Control
- Land Decree
- People's Bank of Russia
33
When was State Capitalism?
1917-8
34
What was the Decree on Workers' Control?
Placed control of the factories into the hands of the workers
35
What was the Land Decree?
Abolished private land and gave the peasants the land they worked on
36
What was the People's Bank of Russia?
The nationalisation of all banks
37
What were the positives of State Capitalism? (3)
1. Popular
2. Increased living standards
3. Wage and land increases
38
What were the negatives of State Capitalism? (3)
1. Reduced Lenin's control over workers
2. Inflation due to wage increases
3. Lost support of managers
39
What is a command economy?
Centralised economy - products match needs of people and money is allocated to spend on public services
40
What are the strengths of the command economy? (3)
1. Money spent on public services
2. Smaller wealth divide
3. Economy prepared for crisis
41
What are the weaknesses of the command economy? (3)
1. People have less control over the economy
2. No motivation for promotion
3. Potential for corruption and oligarchy
42
When was NEP?
1921-8
43
What are the 'commanding heights' of the economy?
Heavy industry, banking, transport, trade
44
What were the aims of the Command Economy? (3)
- Recover a crippled economy
- Increase popularity
- Increase food production
45
What were the industrial features of NEP? (4)
- Legalised private business
- Smaller factories given back to managers but commanding heights remained state controlled
- 50% tax replaced grain requisition
- currency reintroduced in 1921 to pay wages
46
What were the positives of NEP? (3)
- Created stability and support
- Food production rose by 1925
- Industry returned to pre-war levels by 1926
47
Who were NEPmen?
Private business people and traders who gained from NEP
48
What were the negatives of NEP? (3)
- Internal opposition
- Rise in corruption, prostitution and unemployment
- Low food prices discouraged peasants from growing food for the market
49
When was War Communism?
1918-21
50
What were the aims of War Communism? (3)
1. Supply Red Army with food and weapons
2. Fulfil Communist ideology
3. Win Civil War
51
What were the features of War Communism?
- Supreme economic councils
- NAtionalisation of industry
- Private trade banned
- Grain requisition
- Money abolished
- Terror
52
What was the positive impact of War Communism?
Helped win Civil War and increase control
53
What were the negative impacts of War Communism? (3)
- Industry collapsed to only 1/5 of 1913 production
- 5 million died in famine
- Unrest
54
What was the plan for Collectivisation?
- Pull together small private farms into big state farm
- Farmers had to meet quotas to feed cities
- Industrialisation achieved
55
What was de-Kulakisation?
Anyone refusing collectivisation was deemed a kulak and executed or exiled
56
What is a Kulak?
Rich peasant
57
How many party members were dispersed to force collectivisation?
25,000
58
What was Smychka?
Alliance between industry and agriculture, industry improves so farm equipment improves, agriculture improves so food production improves
59
What were the positive impacts on living standards of Stalin's 5YP? (2)
- Mass education of the workforce
- Female workers
60
What were the negative impacts on living standards of Stalin's 5YP? (3)
- Inequality of wealth grew
- Horrendous conditions and rationing
- Halved wages, high food prices
61
What were the positive impacts on industry of Stalin's 5YP? (3)
- Economic growth
- Urbanisation
- Increase in heavy industry
62
What were the negative impacts on industry of Stalin's 5YP? (3)
- Purges led managers to lie about economic success
- Purges removed experienced managers
- Targets not met - quantity over quality
63
What was the Stakhanovite movement?
Stakhanov was a coal miner who set a record for mining a record amount of coal, becoming a national celebrity and inspiration
64
What is a positive and negative impact of the Stakhanovite movement?
P - Drove success of 1st 5YP
N - Aims to rebreak records was detrimental overall
65
What was the Dnieper Dam?
Largest Soviet power plant and largest dam in Europe, blown up by retreating Russian soldiers during WW2
66
When was the White Sea Canal built?
1933
67
How many gulag prisoners were used in the White Sea Canal and what fraction died in the first Winter alone?
- 180,000
- 10,000
68
Why was the White Sea Canal a failure?
Depth reduced from 22 to 12ft - useless for shipping
69
Why was the White Sea Canal a success?
Propaganda success, marketed as a triumph
70
What were the successes of Magnitogorsk? (2)
- highly trained and motivated 'shock workers'
- land was a major industrial centre
71
What were the failures of Magnitogorsk? (2)
- used gulag prisoners
- bad conditions meant workers lasted on average 82 days before finding a new job
72
What were the principles of Stalin's 5YP?
- Gigantic projects
- Rapid industrialisation
- Ideology (attacked NEPmen)
- Targets were unrealistic
73
What were the strengths of Stalin's 5YP? (3)
- Increased production and total employment
- Ended stagnation
- Prepared for war
74
What were the weaknesses of Stalin's 5YP? (5)
- Unrealistic
- Quantity over quality
- Low living standards, neglected housing and consumer goods
- Progress was unbalanced due to chaotic implementation and planning
- High human cost
75
What was Gosplan?
State organisation that planned and ran the economy, controlled by the Politburo
76
NEP - Lenin
'one step backwards, two steps forwards'
77
1932-3 famine - Duranty
'they were more like caged animals than human beings... debris and jetsam, victims of the march to progress'
78
Khrushchev's economic failures - Ilic
'rather than feasting on the success of Communism, the people were feeding from the scraps off a capitalist table'
79
War Communism - Figes
'draconian system of war communism'
80
Purpose of War Communism - Figes
'a set of policies to make class war against the peasantry and other social 'enemies''
81
Workers' reaction to NEP
'new exploitation of the proletariat'
82
5YP - Figes
'the 5YP promised to create a society of universal abundance for the proletariat'
83
Kulaks - Figes
'The war against the 'Kulaks' was not a side effect but the driving force of collectivisation'
84
White Sea Canal - Figes
'fantastically ambitious project'
85
Success of WSC - Figes
'built on top of bones, the canal was a fitting symbol of the Stalinist regime, whose greatest propaganda successes were achieved with total disregard for the millions of lives they cost'
86
Gigantomania - Figes
'the speed of change in the USSR in the early 1930s was intoxicating'
87
Moscow metro - Figes
'inspiring civic pride and reverence'
88
Alcoholism - Figes
'Alcoholism was the national disease'
89
Human labour - Figes
'the Bolshevik view of human beings as raw material'
90
How much coal did Alexei Stakhanov produce in 6 hours in 1935?
102 tonnes - 14x the target
91
What was Magnitogorsk?
Industrial city, redesigned in Stalin's 5YP to become a one-industry town for steel production
92
What were the agricultural features of NEP?
Created a compromise with the peasantry, allowing them to sell remaining grain for profit. Also stated there would be no forced programme of collectivisation
93
Who caused much of the growth under NEP?
NEPmen who set up small businesses for profit
94
What were People's Commissariats?
Set up under the 5 year plans to coordinate different branches of industry and ensure orders were carried out at a factory level
95
How were NEPmen treated under the 5 year plans?
Small businesses and shopkeepers were forced to join cooperatives
96
Who were 'bourgeois experts'?
Pre-revolutionary industry experts who maintained positions under nationalism due to skill and expertise
97
What happened to the 'bourgeois experts' under the 5YPs?
Removed from their positions to allow more employment opportunities for loyal communists - the loss of this group hindered economic progress
98
When was the first 5YP and what was its aim?
1928-32, concentrated on rapid growth in heavy industry, neglected consumer goods
99
When was the second 5YP and what was its aim?
1933-37, higher targets for consumer goods but focus redirected to defence
100
When was the third 5YP and what was its aim?
1938, producing arms to meet the threat of Germany
101
Why were the unrealistic production quotas of the 5YPs often over-fulfilled?
Not to do so was seen as a sign of lack of commitment to the Revolution
102
How did the population figures expand in Magnitogorsk between 1929-1932?
25 - 250,000
103
What were 'shock brigades' and what was their purpose?
Groups of the best workers, the Government often relied on them to inspire the general workforce
104
How did the 5YPs promote regional development?
Much of new industry was located in areas such as Kazakhstan, promoting a more even distribution of industrialisation
105
What was the economic growth in the period 1928-41?
17%
106
What was the political purpose of collectivisation?
Extend socialism into the countryside via liquidisation of the kulaks
107
What were the MTS?
Machine Tractor Stations - government run centres that supplied farm machinery to the collectives and persuade peasants of the benefits of socialism
108
How did many kulaks protest to collectivisation?
Slaughtered livestock
109
What was the consequence of kulaks' protests to collectivisation?
Shortages in meat and dairy and not enough animals to pull ploughs
110
How much did grain production fall between 1928 and 1934?
73.3 million to 67.6 million
111
Why did the USSR's fear of invasion in 1927 lead to NEP being abandoned?
Peasants began hoarding food, confirming to Stalin that the peasantry were holding back industrial growth and so wider state control was necessary
112
What did Stalin believe about state control that lead to the NEP being abandoned?
That is was necessary to allow the government to direct the economy and ensure adequate production and distribution - enables rapid industrialisation
113
What had NEP allowed which opposed Stalin's ideology?
The creation of wealthy members of society such as NEPmen and kulaks
114
What was the Russian term for Regional Economic Councils and how many were there?
Sovnarkhozy, 105
115
How did Khrushchev's industrial reforms incentivise managers?
They were allowed to keep 40% of the profits made by their factory
116
When was the Liberman Plan introduced?
1962
117
When did Yuri Gagarin make it into space?
1961
118
What was a fundamental flaw of consumer goods under Khrushchev and Brezhnev?
Quantity over quality
119
What was the growth rate of the Soviet economy in the 1950s?
7.1%
120
How did the Sovnarkhozy hinder economic planning?
Made national planning more difficult as the requirements of local enterprises were hard to foresee
121
Who resisted Khrushchev's economic reforms?
Party bureaucrats who benefitted from Stalin's focus on heavy industry
122
What and when were the Kosygin Reforms?
1965 - aimed to unleash creativity in the decision making process, improve productivity and incentivised managers to use resources more productively
123
Why were the Kosygin Reforms unsuccessful?
They were sabotaged by conservative party members such as Brezhnev
124
What percentage of families had TVs in 1980?
85%
125
What percentage of families had washing machines in 1980?
70%
126
What was Soviet economic growth in the 1970s?
3%
127
When was the German invasion of the USSR?
June 1941
128
What economic advantage did the USSR gain following WW2?
Economic exploitation of Eastern European states
129
Which problems persisted in the 4th 5 year plan?
Consumer industries remained neglected and failure to adapt to new technologies
130
When did living standards begin to recover following WW2 in the USSR?
1948
131
Why did agriculture in the USSR struggle following WW2?
Able bodied men and animals were killed in war/had moved to urban areas
132
What altered in agriculture in 1955?
Individual collectives were given greater powers to make decisions at a local level
133
What increased in agriculture under Khrushchev?
Mechanisation, fertilisers and irrigation
134
What was State Capitalism?
The transitional phase between the old bourgeois economy and the new proletariat one
135
What did War Communism introduce to factories?
Military-style discipline
136
What did food production fall to under War Communism?
48% of 1913 figure
137
What percentage of investment was in agriculture in 1976?
26%
138
What was the flaw in agriculture under Brezhnev?
Inefficient despite investment - large and unskilled workforce with aged and breaking machinery, lots of food produced but rotted before it got anywhere
