Theme 2: Agriculture and Industry 1917 - 1985

LENIN
1. CONTROL OVER THE ECONOMY
  1. NATIONALISATION OF INDUSTRY - 'STATE CAPITALISM' was the term for the initial retaining of the bourgeoisie in industry for their expertise in management and technical skills. Key measures of Lenin's initial economic policy included The Land Decree, 1917 which abolished private ownership of land, the Decree on Workers' Control, 1917 placing factory control in hands of the workers, and the amalgamation of private banks into the single, national 'People's Bank of the Russian Republic'.
    1. NEGATIVE EFFECTS - workers voted to give themselves huge pay rises resulting in inflation, managers and those with technical knowledge were dismissed. to exert greater control over the economy the Vesenkha was set up. In this early perios there was obvious tension between worker self management and government control through central planning.
  2. WAR COMMUNISM AND THE NEW ECONOMIC POLICY
    1. WHY? Ideologically it coincided with long term aims of abolishing private enterprise. It also was a response to the reality of economic collapse they had inherited which would need to be solved to win the civil war. Also as a response to the failure of the idealistic but unworkable economic plans from 1917 - the abolition of army ranks was reversed and factory managers were reinstated.
    2. KEY FEATURES OF WAR COMMUNISM - nationalisation of ALL industry which was placed under control of the Vesenkha - reintroduction of the hierarchy in industry such as managers - harsh military style discipline in factories and the introduction of forced 'Labour Armies' - all private trade banned - workers now received wages in goods rather than money due to hyperinflation - forcible requisitioning of food from peasants to industrial workforce and army - rationing to ensure industrial workers and army were fed. EFFECT -Bolsheviks won civil war but economy was left in a state of collapse. Decrease in industrial production, disease and starvation were common in the countryside.
    3. NEP - WHY? The civil war had caused industrial and food production to fall, famine and disease was widespread. - War Communism was unpopular due to rationing, reintroduction of management and food requisitioning. - the series of uprising which emphasised peasant unrest e.g. Tambov Rising - the Kronstadt Mutiny where naval sailors revolted over increasing party power at the expense of workers
      1. FEATURES OF THE NEP
        AGRICULTURE - Food requisitioning replaced with a taxation system, peasants could keep remaining food and sell for profit - no forced program of collectivisation INDUSTRY - small businesses returned to private hands, although heavy industry, transport, and banks remained nationalised - bonus' given in factories - currency reintroduced for paying wages in 1921 - legalisation of some private trade - development of so called 'Nepmen' (people who benefitted from the NEP
        RESULT - a mixed economy where private ownership and state control coexisted - rapid increase of industrial output - corruption flourished through black markets and prostitution - imbalance in price between agricultural and industrial products, food falling and industrial prices rising, this discouraged peasants from farm work, the 'scissor crisis'
STALIN
1. MOVE TO A COMMAND ECONOMY
  1. Stalin favoured keeping the NEP due to its past success however circumstanced led to him changing his mind, favouring greater control over the economy. Circumstances = fears of an imminent attack on the USSR. State control of the economy would ensure adequate production and distribution of the materials needed to support industrial and urban growth e.g. food. It would also ensure these resources could be maximised. POLITICALLY would remove kulaks and Nepmen. Also, Stalin needed to outmanoeuvre opposition from the right of the party (Bukharin, Tomsky and Rykov) who were in favour of retaining the NEP. When the first Five Year Plan was introduced in 1929, the right were simultaneously removed.
  2. THE IMPACT OF THE FIVE YEAR PLANS Industry - Aims were to move away from capitalist elements of the NEP and large-scale nationalisation and state control would solve this. Also, intended on catching the USSR up with Western powers - seen as patriotic. The plans were announced in 1927 at the Fifteenth Party Congress. Industrialisation was directed by Gosplan the state planning authority who set targets for the key industries and allocated their resources according to importance for industrialisation. 5 Year Plans saw the rapid extension of the state over the economy - Party officials were used at factory level to ensure state orders were carried out. 5 Year Plans brought an end to the mixed economy of the NEP. The bourgeois experts were removed partly due to their open criticism of the unrealistic targets of the 5 Year Plans. They were removed through a series of show trials in 1928. This did ensure more unity of the country however hindered the progress of the 5 year plans.
    1. FIRST 5 YEAR PLAN focused on heavy industry and neglected consumer goods. RESULTS new plants were built and large cities were formed from the fast growing industrial centres such as Magnitogorsk . But, facilities here were primitive and the work was hard with little material rewards. In Moscow only 17% of the workforce was skilled, this was far less in other places. Skilled, hard workers were rewarded with a new flat or bigger food rationings and slackers were ridiculed. Slave labour was used on the undesirable work projects that were poor conditions and often dangerous, e.g. White Sea Canal project where 10,000 Gulag prisoners died. Due to pressure on factory managers to reach targets, corruption became wide spread in industries. Quality was disregarded as production levels were more important.
    2. SECOND AND THIRD 5 YEAR PLANS second plan revolved around technical planning expertise and was far better thought out, Led to rise in production, especially of coal. In light of growing international tension, third plan focused on defence. 1928-1941 saw a 17% growth rate. Building projects were also successful e.g. Dnieper Dam project. Consumer goods received no focus and so there were shortages. The Soviet Command Economy had downfalls as planners in Moscow had little knowledge of local conditions in other areas of USSR and so resources were wasted.
2. AGRICULTURAL COLLECTIVISATION
  1. WHY - Implemented to extend socialism to the countryside, previously private ownership was allowed under the NEP and collectivisation was put aside. It would also help with the industrialisation of the country as the growing workforce needed to be fed. Agriculture also had to be made more efficient through collectivisation. If would need to be mechanised so more peasants could be freed uo for industrial work.
  2. IMPLEMENTATION - When collectivisation was made compulsory it was received with outrage by many peasants who resorted to violence, burning their farms and slaughtering animals. The secret police (OGPU) were sent in to round up kulaks as well as 'de-kulakisation' squads and the Red Army. Stalin slightly slowed down collectivisation to deal with peasant unrest but by 1932 62% of peasant households were collectivisaed and by 1937 this figure was 93%.
    1. RESULTS - devastating and completely unsuccessful economically and politically. Actions of opposing peasants and kulaks stunted agricultural production such as slaughtering livestock. Also was because of lack of machinery. Despite fall in food production, the same amounts of grain were being requisitioned from the peasants to the industrial workers, causing the rural population to starve. Widespread famine in 1932-1933 caused the death of around 4 million people in 1933. The recovery from this for the USSR was slow due to poor planning meaning resources were wasted in some areas and the necessary industrial machinery was not being produced in coordination with its demand, meaning collectives couldn't prosper. CONCLUSION in total collectivization and the resulting famine caused between 5 and 10 million deaths. Its argued that in Ukraine, who were viewed at a nationalist threat during the civil war, the famine was a purposeful policy of Stalins
      1. POSiTIVELY - getting rid of the mir and replacing it with the kolkhoz which was chaired by a party member ensured stronger party influence and control over the rural population.
3. IMPACT OF WWII - Stalin's centrilised economy was effective for mobilising resources of the Soviet Union for war. Factories were converted to produce war materials and many factories were relocated to the east for safety from German invasion. Production rose impressively between 1943-45 particularly for tank and aircrafts. Many food products were imported from abroad, particularly Britain in the Lend-Lease scheme which involved deferred repayment. Production did dramatically decline due to Nazi occupation of certain areas e.g. steel production declined by 6 million tonnes by 1945 since 1940. FOOD PRODUCTION was also severely damaged due to men being conscripted to the army - grain output fell from 95 million tonnes in 1940 to 30 million tonnes in 1942
  1. As a result the government lifted restrictions on private farming to boost production
  2. END OF WAR - 25 million people homeless, over 1,700 towns and 70,000 vvilliages had been destroyed

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Theme 2: Agriculture and Industry 1917 - 1985

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