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Economy + Society - Coggle Diagram
Economy + Society
Agriculture
Tsars + Communists:
- Both had similarities when it came to policy making in agriculture
- Agriculture always came second to industry so gov. policies focused on reforms that increased food production + productivity to provide sustenance for expanding urban proletariat
- Those working on land treated as second-class citizens - poor treatment of peasants reflected the view that industry had to come first so that Russia would catch up + compete with the west
- All Russian leaders failed to deal with land ownership effectively - under the tsars land distribution policies never met the rising expectations of the peasants + under the communists all land was appropriated and managed by the state, this fuelled resentment.
Alexander ll:
- Emancipation failed to effectively divide the land like it was supposed to, which was a key issue of agricultural policy - BUT grain production increased to 34 million tonnes in 1880
- Kept them under control of landowners + still tied to the mir in land distribution
Alexander lll:
- He with Bunge created the Peasant Land Bank in 1855 to help peasants purchase their own farm + abolished poll + salt tax in the 1880s to try to encourage greater productivity
- Peasant character (resentful, disrespectful,intoxicated) was blamed for failures to raise food production as there was a disastrous famine in 1891 so Land captains were introduced - a special kind of local office to keep discipline in rural areas
- Grain production increased to only 36 million tonnes in 1890, not much development
- Medele'ev Tariff in 1891 protected Russian industry from foreign competition - BUT relied on grain exports whilst there were significant shortages at home - led to famine of 1891 (~ 350,000 deaths)
Nicholas ll:
- Rural unrest peaked during the years 1905-7 + Nicholas responded by appointed Stolypin as finance minister
- Stolypin's 'Wager on the Strong' allowed peasants to buy more land from the Peasant land bank + consolidate strips
- BUT planned backfired as it led to an expansion in the numbers joining wealthier class of peasants, kulaks (~2 million) who were resented by many
- Grain production rapidly increased to 80 million tonnes in 1913 + Russia became world's leading grain exporter
- Redemption payments were cut to allow the peasants to be free from debt + prevent rebellion - led to migration to cities as they were freer from debt
Lenin:
- Prov Gov. did little to resolve land issues - during the July Days, peasants seized land by force
- Bolsheviks claimed that they were the party representing peasant + worker interests
- Lenin introduced the Decree on Land which abolished private ownership + property rights of landlords - took land and redistributed it amongst the peasants however peasants were still treated as an underclass by the communists like the Tsars did
- War communism - forceful taking of grain from peasants, kulaks blamed for food shortages + were punished by having food + personal property confiscated - kulaks were treated better under the NEP but still had significant restriction
- NEP - Kulaks suffered from higher taxes, were disenfranchised (deprived of the rights of full participation in society) + their children refused entry to state schools
- Grain production dropped significantly + rose to only 72 million tonnes in 1926
Stalin:
- Collectivisation - small farm units were brought together to form bigger farms - peasants would then collaborate to produce as much food as possible to feed themselves + the growing urban proletariat. Farms would be managed so that land was utilised in the most optimum way to ensure that nobody starved
- Mass collectivisation took place after the famine of 1927-8 - involved getting rid of the NEP + eradicating kulaks
- Dekulakisation - kulak houses would be stripped bare in an attempt to locate hidden wealth, clothes, food, fuel + other personal belongings were confiscated + sold - in anticipation they would sell their goods, slaughter their animals + abandoned their homes - 6-18 million kulaks were deported + ~ 30,000 kulaks were shot, Stalin achieved his aim to 'liquidate the kulaks' as a class
- Famine in 1932-4 suggested that collectivisation were likely to contribute to food shortages rather than help relieve them - famine was largely 'man made'
- Grain production rose to 99 million tonnes by 1950
Krushchev:
- He created larger blocs + tried to fix higher prices for peasants in his State Farming Mechanism - however food production was not significantly raised
- The Virgin land Scheme - increase the amount of land to be cultivated, 96 million acres of land given over to the production of wheat - use of 'virgin soil' eg Serbia + Ukraine led to issues with soil erosion + slowing of production + productivity
- Led to bad weather resulting in a terrible harvest in 1963 - riots broke out in the countryside but more seriously in towns many historians believe that this scheme was the main reason for Krishchev's downfall
- Grain production rapidly increased to 140 million tonnes in 1962 but due to the bad harvests (mainly due to droughts) it fell to 107 million tonnes - imports were required from the West
Industrial development
Alexander ll:
- Von Reutern's (finance minister) financial reforms - his Free Trade Era provided an average growth rate of 6% between 1862 - 1878.
- Transport - continued railway construction where railway increased from 570 miles in 1855 to 14,200 in 1880 which allowed break-bulk materials to be transported around Russia BUT Trans-Siberian railway was unfinished which saw its -ve impact in the Russo-Turkish war
- Heavy industry - Modernisation + expansion occurred within the 'staples' (iron,coal, textiles) as well as the newer industries (e.g oil) - coal production increased to 3.2 million tonne
- Allowed foreign investors + experts to come into Russia to develop industry eg Nobel brothers. J.J. Hughes from Britain transformed iron + steel production
Alexander lll + Nicholas ll:
- New finance minister, Witte in charge of the 'Great Spurt' (rapid + forceful industrialisation) - focused mainly on industry rather than agriculture - leading to more investment being made in industry than agriculture
- He took out foreign loans, raised taxes + interest rates to boost available capital for investment in industry
- Also, like Reutern, encouraged foreign experts to come to Russia - by 1900, around half of Russia's heavy industry was foreign owned but Russian empire was world's 4th largest producer of steel
- Heavy industry - most investment went on heavy industry - coal production doubles, steel + iron seven-fold + production went up 7.5% per year
- Technology - Oil + chemical industries developed under the 'Great Spurt'
- Transport - in charge of overseeing the planning + construction of the Trans-Siberian railway - length of railway increased to 31,000 miles in 1905 - allowed transport into distant parts of the empire, allowed for the construction + operation of factories etc
Criticism of Witte's policies:
- Relied on foreign loans seen as dangerous as loans can be recalled at short notice
- Railway system very costly + most investment made in Trans-Siberian railway which wasn't even completed - rushed + poorly constructed
- Agriculture neglected leading to rural unrest
- Were only short-term reforms as the russian economy fell apart during WWl
Nicholas ll:
- Witte dismissed in 1903 + replaced by Stolypin - Russian growth increased on average by 3.5 % after 1905 revolution but production was still 10% lower than Britain
- During the war, rouble fell off the Gold Standard, taxes increased + inflation rose to 300%
- Coal production increased to 33.8 million
Lenin
- Created 'State Capitalism' - where the state takes complete control of the economy until it could be 'safely' handed over to the proletariat
- War Communism led to the complete militarization of labour (forced to work to meet the needs of the war)+ takeover of all industry + grain requisitioning (majority of food taken from a household to feed army + urban workers- led to starvation in rural areas)
- Civil war led to the halving of production, the collapse of the rouble to 1% of its worth in 1917 + the payment of workers 'in kind' rather than currency - coal production dropped to 6 million tonnes from the previous 33.8 million tonnes under Nicholas ll
- Heavy industry - still under state control with NEP but with trusts leading to the rapid increase of industrial output
- NEP - denationalisation of small-scale enterprise + return to private ownership - allowance of small workshops to flourish + produce consumer items eg clothes + shoes. A new, revalued rouble was introduced + rationing was ended. An end to grain requisitioning + a return to peasants being able to sell surpluses in local markets
- BUT there was an emergence of the 'Scissors crisis' where the supply in food increased at a rate that far exceeded domestic demand - resulting in fall in prices
Stalin:
- Stalin kept the NEP till 1929 where he abandoned it + created the Great Turn after blaming the kulaks for economic problems
- Stalin aimed to achieve economic autarky (when a country can provide all of the resources it needs without having to trade) through the Five Year Plans - there were 7 plans + production targets were made which managers at local level were ordered to achieve
- GOSPLAN - a group which was set up initially in 1921 to plan for industrialisation + economic growth - under Stalin were given the task of researching + calculating figures for industries BUT there was very little guidance on how targets were to be met
- Transport - railway increased to 66,000 miles + a higher freight traffic than US level
- Heavy industry - coal production went from 35 million tonnes in 1927 to 261 million tonnes in 1950
- Technology - 10x electricity production + new development in plastics + synthetics
- Each plan had a fair amount of success - greatest achievement was post-war as ordinary Russian people worked hard to rebuild their country rather than effective planning
BUT statistics need to be treated with some caution as they are based on 'official records' as under the first two plans, managers submitted false claims about production levels as they feared consequences (saving their job or even life) of not achieving the targets that were set for them
Krushchev:
- Technology - added more diversification such as nuclear technology
- Continued centralised planning like stalin which resulted in further economic growth
- He created a Seven Year Plan - his 1st one was abandoned + his 2nd plan correlated with a slowdown in the rate of growth which makes Krushchev's achievements less impressive than Stalin's
- Transport - railways increased to 90,000 miles + by 1960 it was hauling half of all railway freight in the world
- Heavy industry - coal production increased to 578 million tonnes in 1965
Education
Alexander ll:
- Increased provision of primary, secondary +further education
- Expansion of elementary schools mostly controlled by Zemstva - n.os attending schools doubled up to 1870
- Tolstoy (Minister of Education) in 1870 reduces Zemstva's power over education + restricts uni entry
- 23,000 primary schools in 1880
Alexander lll:
- Put a tighter state control on school entries - 'lower class' children could no longer attend secondary schools in 1884
- Unis - autonomy of unis removed
Nicholas ll:
- 1896 - Literacy increased to 28% - there were 79,000 primary schools
- In 1906, Duma announces plans for universal primary education
- More than half the 81,000 primary schools came under Zemstva control - 91% of young children in school
- 1915 - literacy increased to 35-40%
Communists:
- Lenin produced a Decree on illiteracy in 1919 which required all illiterate people to learn to read + write however the amount of children in school reduced to 25% in 1920 - non-Russian languages were also to be taught in schools by 1925
- Stalin achieved Nicholas ll's objective of primary school education for all students - in 1935, literacy rate increased to 75%
- Under Krushchev, literacy in 1963 increased to 99%!
- Communists changed Tsarist grammar secondary education to more vocational training + unis moved to a polytechnic model (applied skills training)
Civil Rights
Personal freedoms:
- Both tsars + communists limited it under the law - through force (police, secret police, army), propaganda + censorship
- Generally people were allowed to exercise their free will as long as it did not conflict with interests of autocracy + totalitarian rule - when a more liberal climate was formed it was short lived or faced by repressive measures
Political freedoms:
- On occasion, individuals were allowed to belong to political parties + trade unions + some even allowed to vote - BUT political rights were never universal or consistently granted
- Alex ll introduced the Zemstva in 1864 who its members could be voted in
- Alex lll had greater censorship + clamping down on opposition groups
- There were growth of political parties BUT trade unions were banned in 1905
- Prov Gov. had a more tolerant approach and had the 8 principles - but little was delivered
- Lenin used the cheka for widespread censorship + the Constituent Assembly was closed after 1 day + SRs were attacked
- Stalin promised a 1936 constitution but there were no freedoms + there were widespread purging of opponents + kulaks
- Krushchev relaxed censorship but no real freedom
Religious freedoms:
- It was limited under the law - places of worship + promotion of belief were controlled - the ideas of social control under the tsars + 'opium of the people' under the communists influenced how religion was monitored
- Alex ll - church was central to Russian political life + to daily life of peasants
- Alexander lll - Anti-semitism took place but other religious groups were tolerated - priests got a salary from the states
- Nicholas ll - there were 80,000 churches and chapels by 1914
- Lenin - beginning of attacks on the church, where many were closed + their property confiscated - ~ 1,200 priests were executed + those who practised Orthodox Christianity were excluded from the Party
- Stalin - Stalin continued to close churches, by 1938 there were only 16 churches - 130,000 preists were arrested + 95,000 killed during the Great Terror
- Krushchev - he began an anti-religious campaign in the late 50s + replaced religion with the communits 'Moral Code'
- Overall religion was never banned but was very difficult for believers to carry on with their practice without being scrutinised by authorities
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Cultural policy:
- Tsarist culture was based around grandeur + Russian traditionalism
- Lenin created a more +ve tone to the arts
- Stalin attempted to engineer a cultural revolution by taking even tighter control over the arts + tried to force all music, literature, art + cinema to promote 'socialist realism'