Prodrazvyorstka

Prodrazvyorstka

Prodrazvyorstka (also Prodrazverstka) (Russian: Продразвёрстка, продовольственная развёрстка, prodovolstvennaya razvyorstka), translated as food apportionment or surplus appropriation system, was a governmental program in Russia which obliged peasantry to surrender the surpluses of almost any kind of agricultural produce for a fixed price. The absolute limit of a given product for personal or household needs was pre-determined by the state.

The term is commonly associated with war communism during the Russian Civil War when it was introduced by the Bolshevik government. However Bolsheviks borrowed the idea from the grain razvyorstka introduced in the Russian Empire during the World War I, in 1916.

Contents

World War I grain razvyorstka

1916 was the year of food crisis in the country. While the harvest was good in Lower Volga Region and Western Siberia, its transportation by railroads collapsed. In addition, the food market was in disarray. Fixed prices for government purchases were unattractive. Razvyorstka was introduced by the decree of November 29, 1916 (signed by Aleksandr Rittich (Александр Риттих), of the Ministry of Agriculture) as collection of grain for defense purposes. The Russian Provisional Government established after the February Revolution of 1917 could not propose any incentives for peasants, and their state monopoly on grain sales failed to achieve its goal.[1][2]

Soviet prodrazvyorstka

In 1918, the center of the Soviet Russia was cut off from the most important agricultural regions of the country. The reserves of bread were running short, causing hunger among the urban population, where support for the Bolshevik government was strongest. In order to satisfy the minimal food needs, the Soviet government introduced a strict control over the food surpluses of the prosperous rural households. Since many peasants were extremely unhappy with this policy and tried to resist it, they were branded as "saboteurs" of the bread monopoly of the state and advocates of the free "predatory", "speculative" trade. Lenin believed that prodrazvyorstka was the only possible way to procure sufficient amounts of bread and other agricultural products for the population of the cities during the war.[3]

Prodrazvyorstka began in the second half of 1918 in the regions of Tula, Vyatka, Kaluga, Vitebsk and others. It was introduced all over the Soviet Russia on January 11, 1919 by the Decree of the Sovnarkom. Prodrazvyorstka was also introduced in Ukraine and Belarus (1919), Turkestan and Siberia (1920). In accordance with the decree of the People's Commissariat for Provisions on the procedures of prodrazvyorstka (January 13, 1919), the amount of different kinds of products designated for collection by the state (some historians call it an outright confiscation) was calculated on the basis of the data on each guberniya's areas under crops, crop capacity and reserves of the past years. In guberniyas, the collection plan was broken down between uyezds, volosts, villages, and then separate peasant households. The collection procedures were performed by the agencies of the People's Commissariat for Provisions and prodotryads (продовольственный отряд, food brigades) with the help of kombeds (комитет бедноты, committees of the poor) and local Soviets.

Initially, prodrazvyorstka covered the collection of bread and fodder. During the procurement campaign of 1919-1920, prodrazvyorstka also included potato and meat. By the end of 1920, it included almost every kind of agricultural products. According to the Soviet statistics, the authorities collected 107.9 million poods (1.77 million metric tons) of bread and fodder in 1918–1919, 212.5 million poods (3.48 million metric tons) in 1919–1920, and 367 million poods (6.01 million metric tons) in 1920–1921.

Prodrazvyorstka allowed the Soviet government to solve an important problem of supplying the Red Army and urban population and providing raw material for different industries. Prodrazvyorstka left its mark on the commodity-money relations, since the authorities had prohibited selling of bread and grain. It also influenced many, if not all, aspects of relations between the city and the village and became one of the most important elements of the system of the war communism.

With the end of the Russian Civil War, prodrazvyorstka lost its actuality. Moreover, it did much damage to the agricultural sector and caused peasants' growing discontent. As the government switched to NEP, prodrazvyorstka was exchanged for prodnalog (food tax) by the decree of the 10th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) in March 1921.

See also

References

  1. ^ Nikolai Dronin, Edward Bellinger (2005) "Climate Dependence and Food Problems in Russia, 1900-1990: The Interaction of Climate and Agricultural Policy and Their Effect on Food Problems", ISBN 9637326103 , pp.65, 66
  2. ^ The 14 февраля 1917 г. session of State Duma where Rittich reports about the introduction and results of the grain razvyorstka (Russian)
  3. ^ Lenin, V.I., Collected Works, volume 32, 1965. Moscow: Progress Publishers. pp. 187

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Collectivisation dans l'Union soviétique — La collectivisation dans l Union soviétique est une politique menée par le gouvernement de Joseph Staline entre 1928 et 1940. L objectif de cette politique était de consolider la structure agraire dans des fermes collectives : les kolkhozes… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Prodnalog — (Prodovolstvenniy nalog) (Продналог, продовольственный налог in Russian, or food tax) was a fixed food tax in Soviet Russia, introduced by the Decree of the All Russian Central Executive Committee on March 21, 1921 instead of prodrazvyorstka. The …   Wikipedia

  • Vladimir Lenin — Lenin redirects here. For other uses, see Lenin (disambiguation). Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Владимир Ильич Ленин …   Wikipedia

  • Colectivización en la Unión Soviética — En la Unión Soviética, la colectivización (en ruso: Коллективизация, transliterado como Kollektivizatsiya) fue una política puesta en marcha por Iósif Stalin entre 1928 y 1933, para consolidar la tierra en manos privadas y la mano de obra en… …   Wikipedia Español

  • New Economic Policy — For the Malaysian New Economic Policy, see Malaysian New Economic Policy. Soviet Union This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the Soviet Union …   Wikipedia

  • History of Siberia — The history of Siberia may be traced to the sophisticated nomadic civilizations of the Scythians (Pazyryk) and the Xiongnu (Noin Ula), both flourishing before the Christian erahuh. The steppes of South Siberia saw a succession of nomadic empires …   Wikipedia

  • War communism — Part of the series on Communism …   Wikipedia

  • Tambov Rebellion — Infobox Military Conflict caption= conflict=Tambov Rebellion partof=Russian Civil War place=Tambov Governorate, Soviet Russia date=1919 1921 result=Decisive Red Army victory combatant1= peasant rebels combatant2= Red army commander1= commander2=… …   Wikipedia

  • Aleksandr Vasilevsky — Infobox Military Person name=Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky born= birth date|mf=yes|1895|9|30 died= death date and age|mf=yes|1977|12|5|1895|9|30 placeofbirth=Novaya Golchikha, Russian Empire placeofdeath=Moscow, Soviet Union… …   Wikipedia

  • Collectivization in the Soviet Union — was a policy pursued under Stalin between 1928 and 1940. The goal of this policy was to consolidate individual land and labour into collective farms (Russian: колхоз, kolkhoz, plural kolkhozy). The Soviet leadership was confident that the… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”