Hard Russia Flashcards
(14 cards)
1
Q
Effects on Peasants
War Communism
A
- Grain requisitioning
- Peasants refused to grow excess as it was taken (Production was 37% of what it was in 1913)
- Famine of 1921 (No storages of grain)
- US sent 1m tonnes of grain and 300 aid workers
- 5 million died
2
Q
Effects on workers
War Communism
A
- Black market supplied 70% of food
- 70% of Petrograds population fled, 50% of Moscow
- 4:3:2:1 Rationing
- Many anti-communists fled Russia
- Strikes = execution
3
Q
Reasons for war communism
State Control of Industry
A
- Industry 60% of 1913
- 40% of industrial areas lost in B-L
- 1919 workers can be moved sectors
- 1920 anyone of age could be made to work for state
4
Q
Reasons for war communism
Food shortages
A
- Peasants only had enough to feed themselves
- 1918 state collecting less than 1m tonnes of grain
- by 1920 6m (still too little)
5
Q
Causes of the NEP
Economic Reasons
A
- Famine in the Volga region killed 5mil and affected 20mil
- Hopes that NEP would restart economy
- Element of private ownership would provide incentive for small bussiness
- Needed food supply for cities and to increase farm production
6
Q
Causes of the NEP
Political Crisis
A
- Bolsheviks could not blame Whites for suffering
- 1920, 75% of Petrograd factories striking
- Tambov uprising and Krostandt revolt
7
Q
NEP
Key Points
A
- 10th party congress March 1921
- Free market, no requisition squads
- Factories with <20 workers privatised
- Experts, 1920-25 20k experts brought from US and Canada
- Money
- Traders introduced called Nepmen
8
Q
Impacts of NEP
Economy
A
- Increased production but only to pre-WW1 levels
- Few industries reached 1913 production
- Grain from 50 to 72 mil tonnes but still not back to 80mil in 1913
- By 1925 Russias imports 9x higher than 1921-22
- Pig iron production in tonnes: 1913 (4 mil), 1921 (0.1 mil), 1925 (1mil)
9
Q
Impact of NEP
Peasants
A
- NEP was based on prodnalog, a grain tax
- Taxed grain in 1922 was 1/2 of volume taken in requisitioning in 1920
- Redistribution meant that by 1927 there were 25m peasant holdings and many earned decent livings
- 1928, 5.5m households still used sokha (strip farming)
10
Q
Impact of NEP
Scissor Crisis
A
- 1923 food production meant prices in cities declined
- Low industrial production meant high prices of goods
- Peasants refused to sell grain as they could not buy goods
- Trotsky called it the scissor crisis as food production went down and industry prices went up
11
Q
Opposition to NEP
Ideological
A
- Emergence of Kulaks and Nepmen highly unpopular
- Steps taken in 1925 to curb their profits
- Old bolsheviks felt it was a betrayal - Kamenev “New Exploitation of the Proletariate”
- Lenin had to ban all inter-party groups
12
Q
Impact of NEP
Modernising Russia
A
- Lenin aimed to have a working light bulb in every Russian household
- 1921, 50% of Russian trains off tracks due to damage and lack of workers
- 1923, rail system carried 45% more passengers and 59% more goods
- 1927 number of passengers and goods passed 1913 levels
13
Q
Was Lenin a good leader?
For
A
- Personal - He was modest, a powerful speaker, decisive and a superb organiser and planner
- He was decisive and was clear in shaping the Communist government
- Without him, there would not have been a revolution in 1917. He persuaded other Bolsheviks to seize power
- It was largely due to Lenin that the Communists were able to stay in power after 1917 e.g. abandoning War Communism and introducing the NEP
- He began to allow more freedoms after 1921. Arguments made for him having to use the Cheka to stop chaos.
14
Q
Was Lenin a good leader?
Against
A
- He seized power with a small group which led to a dictatorship
- He would not share power with other socialists which made the Civil War worse
- He was ruthless and used methods of terror to stay in charge. Tens of thousands were murdered by the Cheka
- He stopped other people expressing their opinions. A ban on political parties, no elections, only Communist newspapers and religion was banned
- He made the Communist Party an organisation for carrying out orders. Members could not disagree with each other
- He was prepared to see millions of Russians suffer for his ideals e.g. the peasants
