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6 Cards in this Set
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What was the economy like under Alexander II ? |
Proto - management: • Reluctant for industrialisation as that would mean the rise of the proletariat and therefore revolts • The new world discipline was introduced giving rules and regulations for safety Reuturn was appointed: • Railway heavy approach • Foreign technical expertise • Foreign investment capital • Modernisation within the staples (iron, coal, textiles, oil) • 3532 km in 1962 grew to 22,498km in 1878 • Break bulk: Low light, high density goods in large quantities • Industrial output doubled and average annual growth rose to 6% • Clive trebilcock : 'The country's first respectable performance in manufacturing. ' • Approaches to secure foreign money and investment were government bonds, taxation exemptions, monopoly concessions • Alot of privatised industry as the government agreed to bail out any company in financial hardship • 94% of railway lines privatised in 1880 |
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What was the economy like under Alexander III ? |
Bunge (1882-1886): • Abolished salt tax • Abolished poll tax • Created peasant land bank ( a bank set up for peasants to borrow money cheaply in order to purchase land) • State ownership of railways (led to 69% of railway under public control by 1911) • Value of rouble fell - Alexander III blamed this on Bunge and consequently replaced him.
Vyshnegradskii (1887-1892) • Utilised income from taxes, railway, crown properties, state bank and treasury • Medele'ev tariff of 1891 (tariff applied to imports) • Exported large amounts of grain (risking starvation) • 1891 famine caused by mass grain exporting - Vyshnegradskii was blamed for this and replaced
Witte (1893 - 1903) • Total commitment to industrialisation • Wanted to compete wth industrialised nations and improve Russian military capability • Russian elite were suspicious as he invested more in industry than agriculture • Main parts of Witte's plan: 1. Encouraged foreign experts to come to Russia (previously done by Reuturn) 2. Took out foreign loans, raised taxes/interest to boost capital for investment in industry 3. Most investment went into heavy industry and railways 4. Industry moved away from private enterprises 5. (1897 under Nicholas II) Gold standard was introduced to fix the country's currency to a specific quantity and value of gold.
Criticisms of Witte's management of the economy: • Focused on heavy industry as neglected other sectors such as textiles • Focusing on heavy industry was short sighted as demand for metals came from other industries such as cotton industries • Reliance on foreign loans is dangerous as they can be recalled at anytime • Construction of the trans-siberan railway was rushed and poorly constructed • Neglected agriculture due to substitution method causing rural discontent and distrust from other members of the government. |
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What was the economy like under Nicholas II ? |
Witte (1893 - 1903) Witte's aims: • 1897, rouble on the gold standard • Resurrected Reutern's idea of encouraging foreign experts to come to Russia • Took out foreign loans, raised taxes and interest rates to boost capital for investment in industry • Most investment was in heavy industry and the railways • The industry moved away from private enterprises.
Effects = The Great Spurt: • Coal production doubled • Iron and steel increased sevenfold • Development of tech led to the expansion of oil and chemical industry • Railway expanded from 29,183km (1891) to 52,612km (1901) • Foreign growth in capital increased 120% per year (1893 - 1898) • Industry income from 42 million roubles (1893) to 161 million (1897)
Criticisms of Witte: • Neglected other parts of industrial sectors such as engineering and textiles • Focusing on heavy industry was short sighted • Reliance on foreign investment was dangerous as loans can be recalled at anytime • Most of railway investment was on trans-siberan line which was never fully completed in addition they were rushed and poorly constructed • Didn't pay attention to agriculture which led to rural discontent. • Witte was dismissed in 1903 as Witte apposed the expansionist foreign policy Nicholas developed.
Stolypin (1906 - • 1909 - 1913, industrial output increased on average 7%, GNP by 3.5% • During WW1 the Russian economy fell and industry struggled to meet the demands of the war • Russia had the largest gold reserve in the world and still didn't have enough money • Money borrowed from abroad, increased taxes and abandoned the gold standard (causing high inflation) |
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What was the economy like under Lenin and the Bolsheviks? |
War Communism: • Nationalisation of large enterprises. • State monopoly of markets for goods and services, meaning that individuals lost the right to produce and sell goods with freedom of time, place and price. • Partial militarialisation of labour where people worked solely to meet the needs of the war. • Forced requisitioning of agricultural produce. The majority of food was taken from a household to feed the army and the urban workers the result was the 1921 famine. • Kulaks were blamed for food shortages and punished by having food, seed corn and personal property confiscated• Village poor set up committees to denounce the kulaks• Kulaks were used as scapegoats by the Bolsheviks for some economic downfalls
NEP: • Destalinisaon of small scale enterprises and a return to private ownership which allowed small workshops to flourish and produce consumer goods. •The continuation of state control of heavy industry with the use of trusts. Organisations paid strict attention to accounting procedures and were responsible for the purchasing of raw materials, equipment and wage payment. • Rejuvenation of trade which happened through the removal of restrictions on the private sale of goods and services. Rationing was ended and a new rouble was introduced and shops flourished. • Encouragement of foreign trade, investment and expertise • Return to peasants being allowed to sell surplus. Impacts of NEP: • Increase in food and consumer goods in stores. • Grain harvests (mill/tonnes) - 1921, 37.6 1926, 76.8. • Cotton (mill/m) - 1921: 105 1926: 2,286 • The Nepman was created and were the new type of businessmen responsible for over 60% of retail trade. • Scissor crisis: The supply of food increased at a rate that exceeded domestic demand. Whereas the supply of manufactured goods increased at a slower pace leaving prices higher. • Kulaks began to be viewed as the more 'cultured and educated' type of peasant. • Kulaks were charged higher taxes and were defranchised. • Children of kulaks were refused entry to state schools.
State Capitalism - Introduced in stages: • Nov 1917: Decree on land - division of private land holdings which were handed to peasants. • Nov 1918: Decree on workers control: Committees given extra powers to run factories. • Dec 1917: Formation of supreme economic council - formed to manage key industries nationalised by the Bolshevik effect to create over 30,000 nationalised economic entities. Economy during civil war:• Rouble in Oct 1920 was worth 1% of its 1917 value.• 90% of wages paid to worker by 1932 were 'in kind' |
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What did economy look like under Stalin? |
• Stalin believed that Russia had failed to keep up with the west due to the incompetence of the tsarist regime • Stalin believed that tsars were enemies of the workers • The development of heavy industry was key to the modernisation of the armed forces • Economic autarky - When a country can provide all of the resources it needs without having to trade 5 Year Plans • 5 year plans (actually 7) - These came about as Stalin believed Russia needed a point revolving around strict stye control and centralised planning. • Industrialisation was to stimulated though production targets, to be achieved over the 5 year period. • Gosplan (state planning commission) were responsible for research and calculation figures for individual industries • Targets for industries were given to the appropriate commissariat who then frames a plan. • Initially there were 4 commissarts - heavy industry, light industry, timber and food. • The plans were passed onto the regional managers. • However the plans were little more than detailed instructions for achievement, giving little guidance and resources. Achievement of the plans: • Coal (mill/tonnes) 1928: 35.5 - 1960: 510 • Steel (mill/tonnes) 1928: 4.3 - 1960: 65.3 • Tractors (thousands) 1928: 1.3 - 1960: 238 |
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What did economy look like under Khrushchev? |
5 Year Plans were continued. ( 5 6 7) • Plan 5: Period of rapid growth especially agricultural equipment however there were too many resources devoted to projects such as hydroelectric schemes that had little positive effect on the economy • Plan 6: Shift from thee old staple (textiles) to modern industries (plastics/synthetics). However it was targets were too optimistic testing in the plan being abandoned after 2 years. • Plan 7: substantial increase in overall production of a range of goods as well as the setting of more realistic targets. However the rate of growth slowed especially compared to the USA. |
