Industrial and agricultural change, 1917–85 Flashcards
(63 cards)
1
Q
What problems was Russia facing in the early twentieth century?
A
- Russia had begun to industrialise and between 1890 and 1914 the economy grew significantly. Even so, Russia was still far behind more developed nations in terms of industrialisation.
- Therefore the majority of Marxists and socialists in Russia at the time of the February Revolution expected the revolution to lead to capitalism, and that a socialist revolution was many years away.
- It was also shattered during the First World War.
2
Q
What is state capitalism introduced by Lenin?
A
- In essence, Lenin’s state capitalist economy was based on the nationalisation of industry.
- All nationalised industries were run by the Supreme Soviet of the National Economy, or Vesenkha – a group of economic experts. The Vesenkha was designed to:
- ensure factories were properly managed by placing them under the control of well-paid specialists
- co-ordinate economic production to meet the needs of new society.
- Only large industries were nationalised. Small factories and workshops were either controlled by workers or handed back to capitalists.
3
Q
Why was state capitalism extremely unpopular?
A
- In many ways, there was very little difference between state capitalism and life before the revolution.
- Therefore many workers and radicals like Bukharin rejected state capitalism in favour of workers’ control.
- Nonetheless, Lenin ignored this opposition and state capitalism was the official policy of the new government from March to June 1918.
4
Q
What was Land Reform introduced by Lenin?
A
- In order to win support and stimulate agriculture, Lenin introduced land reform. Following Lenin’s 1917 Decree on Land, large estates belonging to the Church or to aristocratic landowners were broken up and peasants were allowed to own the land they worked.
- Land reform was extremely popular with the peasants.
5
Q
What is War Communism?
A
War Communism was created as a series of emergency economic measures to ensure communist victory in the Civil War. It ensured:
- High levels of industrial production of war goods.
- An efficient allocation of workers.
- Food production to feed soldiers, workers and the civilian population.
6
Q
What was ‘Food dictatorship’ as a measure of War Communism?
A
- Grain requisitioning: Cheka squads were authorised to seize grain and other forms of food from peasants without payment.
- Rationing: The Supply Commissariat rationed the seized foods. The largest rations went to workers and soldiers, the smallest rations were given to members of the bourgeoisie.
7
Q
What was ‘Labour discipline’ as a measure of War Communism?
A
- In 1918 the working day was extended to eleven hours.
- In 1919 work was made compulsory for all able-bodied people between 16 and 50 years of age.
- Harsh punishments were given to workers who were late or were caught slacking.
8
Q
What was ‘The abolition of the market’ as a measure of War Communism?
A
- The abolition of money: In the short term, the government simply printed more money, which led to hyperinflation. Money became worthless, workers were paid through their rations and many public services, such as tram services, were provided freely.
- The abolition of trade: Private trade was made illegal.
- Complete nationalisation: All businesses were taken over by the state.
- Conscription: Workers were assigned either to work infactories or fight in the army
9
Q
How was ‘Economic collapse’ a consequence of War Communism?
A
- The peasants were not paid for their grain or their labour and therefore the policy provided no incentive to work.
- Hunger also led many workers to leave the cities and seek work on farms where there was more chance of being fed. In total, the industrial workforce declined from 3 million workers in 1917 to 1.2 million in 1922, partly due to the war and partly due to workers escaping the cities.
10
Q
How was ‘Growth of the black market’ a consequence of War Communism?
A
- Historians estimate that only 40 per cent of the food consumed in Russia’s cities came through rationing during the Civil War.
- Around 60 per cent of the food came from the black market. Moreover, workers were forced to steal government resources in order to make goods that could be bartered for food.
- For example, metal workers would steal scrap metal and fuel to make cigarette lighters.
11
Q
How was ‘Mass poverty’ a consequence of War Communism?
A
- By late 1920 workshops in the major cities were closing due to a lack of fuel.
- Fuel was in such short supply that the government ordered the destruction of wooden buildings in Petrograd in order to use the wood for fuel.
- The 1921 harvest was only 46 per cent of the 1913 harvest, and in rural areas a famine began, which led to the deaths of around 6 million people.
12
Q
How was ‘Political Crisis’ a consequence of War Communism?
A
- Between August 1920 and June 1921 peasants in the Tambov region rebelled against the Communist Government.
- In Kronstadt, too, sailors who had supported the communists unquestioningly in 1917 turned against the government, demanding a return to free trade and new multiparty elections to the soviets.
- Although both rebellions were crushed, Lenin realised that the political crisis meant the end of War Communism.
13
Q
Why did Lenin introduce the New Economic Policy?
A
- To retain political power: Lenin described the NEP as an economic retreat, which was designed to stop a political defeat. In that sense, Lenin made economic compromises in order to retain political power.
- To revive the economy: Lenin needed a policy that would stimulate grain production and end the famine.
- To build socialism: By 1921 it was clear that a European revolution would not happen. Therefore Lenin needed an economic policy that would allow Russia to build socialism without foreign aid.
14
Q
How did the NEP create a mixed economy that had both socialist and capitalist elements?
A
- Agricultural production was left to the free market. Peasants could buy, sell and produce freely. Grain requisitioning ended and was replaced by a tax in kind.
- Small factories and workshops employing fewer than 20 people were denationalised. Small factories were allowed to trade freely. Many were returned to their former capitalist owners.
- Large factories and major industries remained nationalised.
- Money was reintroduced.
15
Q
How was ‘Political and economic stability’ a consequence of the New Economic Policy?
A
- Ending grain requisitioning was extremely popular among the peasants. Free trade also encouraged peasants to grow more food. Therefore the famine ended, and food of all kinds became widely available in country and city markets.
- The end of grain requisitioning led to a return of political and economic stability by ending War Communism unpopular with the peasants who made up 80 per cent of Russia’s population.
- **Grain Production 1921: 37 million tons
- Grain Production 1926: 76 million tons**
16
Q
How was ‘Industrial growth’ a consequence of the New Economic Policy?
A
- The market stimulated production, and the government invested the money gained from taxing the peasants in reopening factories that had been closed during the Civil War.
- Lenin argued that the NEP would allow the communists to ‘build socialism with capitalist hands’.
- By 1926, industrial production, with the exception of pig iron and steel, had recovered to 1913 levels.
- However, it failed to provide the money necessary to build new large-scale factories. Therefore from 1926 to 1928, the industrial economy plateaued.
17
Q
How was ‘Scissors crisis’ a consequence of the New Economic Policy?
A
- The NEP led to uneven economic growth. A gap opened up between farmers’ incomes and industrial prices.
- The rise in industrial prices meant that farmers could not afford to buy industrial goods and therefore there was no incentive for farmers to keep producing large quantities of grain.
- The scissors crisis indicated to radicals like Trotsky that the NEP was not capable of industrialising the economy.
18
Q
How was ‘Inequality and corruption’ a consequence of the New Economic Policy?
A
- NEP led to the emergence of ‘Nepmen’ traders who made money by spotting gaps in the market. Nepmen grew rich by trading, while ordinary peasants and industrial workers stayed relatively poor in spite of their hard work.
- Gambling, prostitution and drug dealing all took place under the NEP.
19
Q
What did the leftists believe regarding the dictatorship of industry?
A
Left-wingers, like Trotsky, favoured a policy of forced agricultural collectivisation.
- Merging farms together and placing them under state control would allow the state to take all of the profit generated by farming and use the money to industrialise quickly.
20
Q
What did the rightists believe regarding building socialism with capitalist hands?
A
Right-wingers, such as Bukharin, argued that the NEP was the best way of industrialising the Soviet Union.
- The NEP allowed peasants to own and work their own farms, which kept them satisfied. Bukharin argued that the slow pace of economic growth was necessary in order to keep the peasants happy.
21
Q
How did economic debate and the leadership
struggle relate?
A
The ‘Great Industrialisation Debate’ was a central part of the leadership struggle. Contenders presented their rival economic plans to the Party Congress.
- Nonetheless, most communists were centrists and supported the NEP for pragmatic reasons. Therefore when the NEP started to fail, Stalin started to advocate a new more left-wing policy which attracted a great deal of support from the Left and the Centre of the Party.
22
Q
What were the aims of the Five-Year Plans?
A
- They believed that government-controlled production and distribution would be much more efficient than small-scale disorganised NEP-style trading.
- The Plans also reflected Soviet military concerns. Stalin, and many in the government, feared that Germany would invade the Soviet Union. Defending Soviet territory would require modern industry which could produce the weapons necessary to fight a modern war.
- They would demonstrate that Stalin was initiating a new phase of building socialism.
23
Q
What was the nature of the Five-Year Plans?
A
Gosplan, the Soviet Union’s central economic agency, formulated production targets for every factory, mine and workshop in the Soviet Union, and Soviet workers and managers were responsible for meeting these targets.
At the same time, there was a massive propaganda campaign designed to inspire workers to fulfil the Plans.
These campaigns:
- Focused on the heroic objectives of the Plans
- Celebrated the successes of the Plans
- Claimed that the Plans had led to the destruction of capitalism
- Described the modern, industrial future that the Plans would create.
Stalin’s economy is better understood as a command economy rather than a planned economy.
24
Q
How was heavy industry a success of the Five-Year Plans?
A
This was achieved, in part, by building new factories to exploit the Soviet Union’s natural resources. Magnitogorsk, Kuznetsk, Zaporozhye, Tula and Lipetsk metallurgical works were all built between 1929 and 1936, and contributed to the huge increase in the amount of iron and steel produced.
Coal (million tons):
- 1927: 35.40
- 1940: 165.90
25
How was transport a success of the Five-Year Plans?
- The Moscow Metro’s first **train lines** opened in 1935. Additionally, the Moscow–Volga Canal was constructed between 1932 and 1937.
- The Metro allowed people to travel around Moscow more easily, and the **Moscow–Volga Canal** made the transportation of goods more efficient.
26
How was labour productivity affected by the Five-Year Plans?
- Low productivity can be explained by the long hours, low pay and lack of incentives in the system, at least during the first Five-Year Plan. Low productivity was addressed through a nationwide initiative introduced in 1935. Stalin authorised **higher payments and a system of rewards** for the most productive workers.
- Additionally, **Stakhanovites**, workers who had proved themselves to be exceptionally productive, were able to reorganise their workplaces to ensure that they were efficient.
- The campaign took off in 1936 and in the late 1930s productivity **rose significantly across industry** as Stakhanovites educated other workers in the most effective ways of working.
- **Electricity production estimated productivity gains: 51 per cent**
27
How was rearmament affected by the Five-Year Plans?
- By 1940 **one-third of government spending** was devoted to rearmament. Moreover, the Plans led to the **successful construction of nine military aircraft factories** between 1939 and 1941.
- However, **shortages of quality materials** such as steel held up arms production.
28
How were production problems a failure of the Five-Year Plans?
- The Plans set targets for production, not for quality. Therefore factory managers were rewarded for **producing large quantities of material, regardless of the quality of what was produced**.
- Secondly, the Plans did not specify what **materials** should be used for, and there was **little co-ordination between different factories**.
- In some industries as much as **40 per cent** of what was produced was wasted.
- Equally, Stalin’s terror led to the **purge of industrial managers and economic planners** –the very people necessary to making the Plan work.
29
How were consumer goods a failure of the Five-Year Plans?
Shortages were the result of the following:
- **Stalin’s priorities**: He prioritised heavy industry and defence rather than consumer production.
- **Poor planning**: Planners underestimated the needs of consumers.
- **Production techniques**: By the mid-1930s the Soviet economy was good at producing large quantities of **raw materials such as iron, steel and coal.** However, producing more complex consumer goods required more sophisticated techniques, which the economy still lacked.
- For example, shoe queues in Moscow in the early 1930s often **exceeded 1000 people**. Some reports suggest queues for clothes and shoes in Leningrad numbered over **6000 during 1938**.
30
How were housing and living conditions a failure of the Five-Year Plans?
- Most houses built during the Plans did not have running water. Moreover, bathhouses were scarce. For example, there was not a single bathhouse available for the **650,000 people** living in the Liubertsy district of Moscow.
- Living conditions between 1928 and 1941 were poorer than they had been under the best years of the NEP.
- Food rationing continued for most of the Plan, except for a period known as the **‘three good years’** in the middle of the 1930s.
- **Lateness and absenteeism** was criminalised. Towards the end of the period, **internal passports** were introduced to stop workers moving from town to town in search of better-paid jobs.
31
How was the black market a failure of the Five-Year Plans?
- Shortages of materials led to the growth of a thriving black market. The black market was possible due to the inefficiencies of the Plan.
- Workers would steal goods and material from their workplaces and sell them to the highest bidders. The thefts would be covered up by falsifying paperwork.
32
Why was the failure of the NEP a cause of collectivisation?
- Until 1926 the NEP led to rising agricultural production. However, in 1927 and 1928 agricultural production was **lower than it had been in 1926.**
- The NEP’s economic problems and the threat of **Kulak capitalists holding the government to ranso**m led many communists to believe that the NEP had run its course and needed to be replaced by a more radical policy that dealt with the kulaks and **restored economic grow.**
33
What were the emergency measures taken by Stalin in 1928?
- To end the ‘Kulak grain strike’, Stalin ordered the Red Army and the Cheka to requisition grain from the peasants.
- The requisitioned grain would then be used to feed workers and to sell overseas in order to raise money for industrialisation.
34
What was Dekulakisation?
Peasants responded to the introduction of requisitioning with violence. Stalin claimed that
this resistance was an attack on socialism by the capitalist kulaks. Therefore he initiated the **‘liquidation of the kulaks as a class’**, or dekulakisation.
- In practice it meant mass deportations and
killings of all peasants who resisted government policies. Around **1.5 million peasants** were sent to **labour camps** as a result of the dekulakisation campaign.
35
How was Collectivisation introduces in 1929?
- Farms were forcibly merged, and equipment was taken from richer peasants and given to the poorer peasants. Peasants who worked on collective farms were allowed to keep a small
amount of grain to live on.
- The rest was used to feed workers in the cities or sold abroad to provide money to fund industrialisation.
36
How did collectivisation lead to the destruction of Soviet farming?
Many peasants would rather destroy their farms than hand them over to the government. Therefore, between 1928 and 1934, Stalin’s policies led to the destruction of:
- 17 million horses
- 26 million cattle
- 11 million pigs
- 60 million sheep and goats.
37
Why was there a reduction of agricultural production between 1928-34?
- The execution or deportation of kulaks who were often the most experienced and successful farmers.
- The absence of incentives as farmers were no longer able to make a profit.
38
How did collectivisation lead to the famine?
- Ukrainian farmers were unable to meet government targets for farm production. Moreover, **resistance to collectivisation had been at it fiercest in the Ukraine.**
- Therefore Stalin punished them by seizing their grain and livestock. The result was a **government-created famine** between 1932 and 1933 which resulted in **5 million deaths.**
- He wanted to use the famine to destroy the resistance of the Ukrainian farmers.
39
How did collectivisation lead to the mechanisation?
The government allowed farms to hire tractors from machine tractor stations, which were set up across the country. The **75,000 tractors** that they provided had a limited impact on Soviet farming. At best, they made up for all of the **horses that were lost** due to collectivisation.
40
How did collectivisation lead to the grain procurement?
Collectivisation allowed the government to procure much more grain than the NEP. In 1928, the government procured **10.8 million tons** of grain from the peasants. This had risen to **22.6 million tons** in 1933. Grain exports also rose from less than 1 million tons in 1928 to 4.7 million tons in 1930 and **5 million tons in 1931**.
41
Why was agriculture a long-term consequence of collectivisation?
- Grain harvests were regularly smaller than they had been in the best years of the NEP.
- Although there was a record harvest in 1937, grain production declined again from 1938 to 1940. Low grain harvests were, in part, a result of the fact that collective farms were less
productive than private farms. On average private farms produced around **410 kilos of grain per hectare, whereas collective farms produced about 320 kilos per hectare**.
42
How did agriculture work during the Second World War?
Farming was consistently unable to meet the needs of the citizens and the army. During the war:
- The Soviet Government **relied on US imports** to provide almost a fifth of the calories consumed by the Red Army
- Harvests declined from a pre-war high of **95.5 million tonnes to 46.8 million tonnes in 1945**.
- Bread rations fell by **40 per cent**.
- Potato rations fell by **80 per cent**.
43
What did the Fourth Five-Year Plan (1945-500 lead to?
- Around 88 per cent of investment during the Fourth Five-Year Plan went into heavy industry. As a result, industrial output increased by **80 per cent from 1945 to 1950**.
- By 1952, total military expenditure was almost a quarter of the government’s budget. Military spending meant that there was less money available for other sectors of the economy.
- **Total expenditure in 1952: 476.9
- Military expenditure in 1952: 113.8**
- Only **12 per cent** of investment went into food production and consumer goods.
- Reconstruction focused on factories rather than homes. Therefore, while Kiev was reconstructed quickly, towns in **Dnieper were neglected** until the late 1950s.
- **Wages were kept low**. This had two benefits. First, it meant that there was more money available for reconstruction. It meant that women were forced to go out to work because families needed their income.
44
What happened during Post-war agriculture?
- Stalin’s top economic priority after the war was **industrial reconstruction**. As a result, agriculture suffered severe shortages of resources and workers from 1946 to 1949.
- During the war there had been a small increase in private farming. Stalin ordered an end to private farming and therefore production dropped.
45
How did Khrushchev attempt to improve incentives?
- In 1954, Khrushchev changed the relationship between collective farms and the government in order to **incentivise higher production rates**.
- Khrushchev **reduced the quota and introduced higher prices** for everything that was produced in addition to the quota. This led to a **250 per cent rise in farm incomes between 1952 and 1956**.
46
How did Khrushchev invest in resources?
- In 1954 Khrushchev announced the **construction of new fertiliser factories** and an increase in the **production of tractors**.
- By 1955 this resulted in a **30 per cent increase** in the number of tractors available and a **40 per cent increase** in the amount of fertiliser produced.
47
What was the Virgin Lands Scheme?
- Khrushchev hoped to increase Soviet agricultural production by turning **unfarmed lands** in the northern Caucasus, Kazakhstan, and western Siberia into new farms.
- Launched in September 1953, it required a significant investment, so agricultural investment grew from under **3 per cent a year to 12.8 per cent **of the Soviet budget between 1954 and 1959.
- Expansion of farmland, 1953–64:
- **Total area sown (million
hectares): 1956: 35.3 , 1964: 97.4**
48
What was the Corn Campaign introduced by Khrushchev?
- From September 1958 Khrushchev encouraged farmers in the **Ukraine to grow maize**.
- The maize would be used to feed animals and would therefore increase the **amount of meat available** to Soviet consumers.
49
What were Khrushchevs Agricultural successes between 1954-58?
- Initially, the Virgin Lands Scheme was extremely successful. Grain harvests, meat and milk production all **rose significantly between 1953 and 1958**. Overall, agricultural production increased by around **35.3 per cent** in this period.
- The scheme led to greater availability of food in Soviet shops and therefore a **better standard of living** for Soviet citizens. Greater production also led to a **400 per cent rise in the income of farm workers**.
50
Why was the Corn Campaign a failure?
- Khrushchev’s initiative was based on the success of US farms.
- However, Soviet farms were only able to produce **50 per cent** of the corn per hectare that **US farms** managed due to differences in climate, lower labour productivity and the inferiority of Soviet tractors and fertilisers.
- At the same time, growing more corn meant that Soviet farms produced less hay. As a result the amount of **animal feed** produced by Soviet farms dropped by **30 per cent** between 1958 and 1964.
51
What were Khrushchevs Agricultural problems between 1954-64?
- First, the Virgin Lands Scheme was expensive. Kazakhstan is naturally dry and therefore the farms needed sophisticated irrigation systems, which were expensive to run and maintain.
- During the 1950s and 1960s, between **54 and 44 per cent of the Soviet population** worked on farms. By comparison only **5 per cent of the American population** worked on farms, which produced more than twice as much food.
- After initial success, the Virgin Lands Scheme failed to lead to further growth. Between 1960 and 1964 production slowly increased, so that overall agricultural production was around **15 per cent higher** in 1964 than it had been in 1958.
52
What were the problems with Khrushchev’s policy which led to the slower growth rates between 1958 and 1964?
- **Machine and tractor stations (MTS)** were abolished; therefore farm workers were **less able to obtain modern farming equipment**.
- Centrally directed campaigns were **ineffective because they did not reflect local conditions**. For example, Khrushchev advocated maize production, which was inappropriate to the climate of many Soviet farms. Therefore labour, fertilisers and farmland was wasted.
- Soviet planners did not always deliver the **correct fertiliser** to the farms or deliver it when it was needed.
- Khrushchev repeatedly reformed the ministries dealing with agriculture. Contradictory reforms led to **administrative confusion**.
- Soviet farms often had **inadequate storage facilities**, and therefore some of the food produced was wasted.
- Pay for agricultural workers increased, but **remained inadequate**.
- Khrushchev cut investment in agriculture from **12.8 per cent a year from 1954 to 1959 to 2 per cent a year in 1960**.
- Khrushchev’s investment failed to make Soviet farms more efficient, therefore **long-term problems of inefficiency and waste** continued.
53
What was industrial modernisation between 1953–64?
- During the twentieth century, advanced economies had moved away from heavy industry towards **light industry** which produced more high-tech goods and consumer good.
- However, the planning methods that had been so successful in creating heavy industry were **less effective at creating a modern economy**.
54
Why was High levels of military spending were a continual problem for Soviet leaders after 1953?
- The fundamental problem was that the Soviet economy did not produce **enough wealth to continue high levels of military spending** and improve living standards.
- Khrushchev initiated cuts in military spending in 1955. As a result, military spending **fell from 12.1 per cent of GDP in 1955 to 9.1 per cent in 1958**. However, between 1958 and 1962 there was a series of **nuclear stand-offs** between the Soviet Union and the USA, and therefore in 1962 Khrushchev **increased military spending**.
- By 1964, military spending was around **11 per cent of GDP**.
55
What did the Seven-Year Plan want to accomplish with light industry?
- Launched in January **1959**, the Plan was designed to boost agricultural production and the production of consumer goods by investing in light industry.
- He believed that chemical production through light industry would **encourage growth** in the two sections of the economy that needed to be stimulated in order to **raise the standard of living** in the Soviet Union.
56
What were the successes of the Seven-Year Plan launched in 1959?
- Production of chemicals and consumer goods certainly increased between 1959 and 1965.
- There was a **60 per cent increase** in the production of consumer goods, **5 per cent below** Khrushchev’s target.
- Fertiliser production **increased by 19 million tons, 3.5 million tons short of the target**, and synthetic fibre production also **increased by 241,000 tons, around 200,000 tons below** target.
57
What were the problems of the Seven-Year Plan launched in 1959?
- First, Khrushchev continually introduced economic re- organisation. The reforms were often **counterproductive**, or at least so short lived that they did not have time to work.
- In February 1962 Khrushchev **divided the Party in two**: one half of the Party was responsible for agriculture, one half for industry. These reforms were **deeply unpopular** and took place mid-way through the Seven-Year Plan.
- The Soviet economy itself was not designed to produce consumer goods; the economy was **designed to meet targets**. The lighting industry also set targets in weight. Therefore factories produced light fittings that were **too heavy to hang on walls or ceilings**.
- Consumer industries were **set targets for the value of the goods** that they made. Therefore it made sense for factories to produce a small number of expensive goods rather than large quantities of cheap goods.
58
How did the 'Kosygin reforms' attempt to restore the economy?
- Kosygin advocated reforms that were designed to cut investment in the most inefficient collective farms and divert the money to light industry.
- Additionally, he proposed giving power over production to factory managers and judging their success not by production levels, but **by the profit they made**.
- Similar reforms led to a **Czechoslovakian rebellion** against the Soviet Union. This rebellion discredited Kosygin’s programme, and therefore the reforms were **halted in August**.
59
How did increased military investment attempt to restore the economy?
- Brezhnev increased military investment. His goal was to achieve parity with the USA in terms of their nuclear firepower.
- Military spending increased from around **11 per cent of GDP in 1964 to 13 per cent in 1970**. The policy was a success; nuclear parity was achieved by 1970. However, **achieving and maintaining nuclear parity was a significant drain on the Soviet economy**, which led to growing economic problems.
60
How did the 'Developed socialism' attempt to restore the economy?
- Brezhnev dropped Khrushchev’s commitment to building Communism by 1980.
- This meant abandoning Khrushchev’s promise of Communism by 1980 and replacing it with ‘developed socialism’: an economy in which there was **job security and low prices**. Low food prices were achieved by **importing large amounts of grain from the West**, rather than by expanding the Virgin Lands Scheme or by initiating economic reform.
61
What was Brezhnev's second economy?
- Brezhnev also accepted the second economy, or black economy, as a necessary evil. Rather than trying to stamp out illegal trading Brezhnev allowed it to continue as it **increased access to consumer goods and food**, and therefore aided his goal of raising living standards.
62
What were Andropov's economic reforms between 1982-84?
- **Anti-corruption campaign**: In November 1982 Andropov investigated senior Party officials and industrial managers who were using Soviet resources to make themselves rich. For example, Brezhnev’s **Minister of the Interior** Nikolai Shchelokov was sacked and put on trial for corruption. He took his own life before the end of his trial.
- **Anti-alcohol campaign**: Workers could be sacked for drunkenness and could be fined for damaging machinery or products if they were drunk at work.
- **Operation Trawl**, an anti-drunkenness and anti-absenteeism campaign: KGB officers visited parks, restaurants and train stations arresting people who were drunk or who were absent from work.
63
How did declining growth lead to the economic decline in the 1970s?
- Soviet growth rates declined to an average of 5.3 per cent between 1958 and 1964 and to around 2 per cent in the 1970s.
- The efficiency of existing factories, workshops or mines. Intensive growth relies on good information about how individual factories work. Central planning agencies, even at a regional level did not have the information to improve the efficiency of individual factories.
64
How did the impact of oil prices lead to the economic decline in the 1970s?
- The general rise in the international price of oil
in the early 1970s **masked the problems** of the Soviet economy.
- Rising prices ensured the Soviet Union could make more money from selling oil. Oil production **increased from 243 million tons in 1965 to 603 million tons in 1980 in order to supply international demand**. This allowed the Soviet economy to keep importing grain from the West.
