Section 3: Economic and Social Developments Flashcards
(46 cards)
What production process was Stalin too focused on?
Heavy industry, starved agriculture of investment.
What did Khrushchev attempt to change with the production process?
Shift industrial production towards that of consumer products to improve everyday lives of the Soviet people.
What was set out in Khrushchevs Seven Year Plan?
Set higher production targets for consumer goods. The growth of light and consumer industries were supposed to grow faster than the heavy industry.
What period did the Seventh-year plan cover?
1959-1965
What was the problem with the Seven Year Plan?
Heavy industry carried on outpacing production of consumer goods. The needs of Soviets therefore were served badly. Quality of consumer goods were also poor.
What were the problems with a planned economy?
- Resourcing the needs of 210 million Soviets through central planning was far too complex
- Prioritised quantity over quality. Managers would manipulate the system to meet their targets.
- No innovation as planners feared missing targets
- The state and party officials were far too powerful to allow investment to move from them to consumer products. Heavy industry blocked Khrushchevs reforms and the growing space industry used up scarce resources and skilled workers.
What did the sovnarkhozy reforms aim to do?
Decentralise economic control down to regional level, meaning resources would be reached where they needed to instead of being hoarded by individual ministries.
How did the reforms towards sovnarkhozy actually worsen the system?
- Supply chains broke down as central ministries had organised them across regions
- Problem of localism occurs, where regions disregarded needs of other regions/ USSR
- All other problems still existed as planning was still centralised.
What did Khrushchev do to patch up the problems from the Sovnarkhozy?
Merged the sovnarkhozy so their numbers reduced from 105 to 47 in 1963, by splitting central planning into different functions, and introducing new committees that replaced old ministries.
What was the problem with Khrushchev trying to patch up problems from the Sovnarkhozy?
No one knew who was responsible for what.
What was the legacy of Stalins agricultural system?
Food production in 1953 was lower per head of the population than in 1913.
What three areas did Khrushchev focus his agricultural reforms?
- Increase price paid to collective farms (kolkhozes) for their agricultural products
- Open new crop-growing regions
- Introduce crop changes - maize to feed livestock, increase butter and milk production.
By how much did grain production increase between 1953 and 1956?
25%.
By how much did Kolkhoz incomes increase between 1952 and 1958?
68% (compared to only 27% in US).
What did price rises towards agricultural products cause?
Rapid increase in production.
What other changes were introduced to encourage peasants to produce more?
- quotas reduced, so they’d produce more for sale
- taxes reduced
- collectives could set their own production targets.
What were state farms called?
Sovkhozes.
How did state farms compare to collective farms?
They were much bigger, more mechanised, more efficient and had more skilled farmers.
Workers earned a wage instead of redistributions of farm earnings.
What were collectivised farms encouraged to do under Khrushchev?
Join together to form state farms.
How did the number of collectivised farms change between 1950 and 1960?
Halved.
What was the purpose of releasing economic statistics by the USSR?
As propoganda, to show how the Soviet system was better than Capitalism as it met the needs of the people.
Why did Khrushchev have a special interest in agriculture?
Due to his peasant background, he enjoyed spending time in the countryside and spoke to peasants with an ‘earthly’ language. He also felt Stalins mis-informed nature towards agriculture.
Where were the Virgin Land Schemes?
North of Kazakhstan.
What did Khrushchev aim to do with the VLS?
increase grain production.
