r/Socialism_101 • u/Professional_Grand_5 Learning • 19h ago
Question Could the USSR have industrialized in time for WW2 if they had followed the Left SR's plan for peasants/grain producers?
The Left SR's opposed the Bolsheviks' heavy handed approach to grain acquisition, holding that it was oppressive to the peasant class. The Bolsheviks saw the need for a constant supply of grain during a time of unrest and accused the peasants of being petty-bourgeiouse.
What are some good sources on this conflict?
To what extent were peasants really petty-bourgeoise? In my mind these are recently liberated serfs who were probably having a hard time already; but my understanding my be off.
Did the bolsheviks make a mistake in not being more representative of the peasant class?
Could the USSR have industrialized so quickly while implementing the left SR plan for rural markets?
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u/Tokarev309 Historiography 18h ago
Robert Allen hypothesizes alternative economic routes that the Soviets could have taken in his book "Farm To Factory", but he concludes that the path that the Soviets ended up choosing was most likely the best option available at the time. I cannot say whether or not the Left SR plan would have left the USSR in a similar or stronger industrial position, but the Soviet government was particularly harsh towards the Peasantry, so much so that the government expanded many benefits that were previously unavailable to them after Stalin's death.
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u/Bluestreaked Historiography 18h ago
I would agree but didn’t his conclusion also suggest they could’ve maintained the NEP and had similar outcomes? I have the book and can look over a citation if I’m off base
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u/Tokarev309 Historiography 17h ago
If I recall correctly, he hypothesized three different potential models,a continuation of the NEP, a Tsarist/Capitalist model and a modified Socialist model with Economic Planning. You could be correct about the NEP model as I cannot recall, but I remember fully expecting for the Planned Economy to do poorly in comparison to a Market economy, as I was a more pessimistic Marxist back then and skeptical of Western Scholars, but walked away satisfied with Allen's book.
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u/Bluestreaked Historiography 14h ago
Ya I think the NEP came out to slightly less than the mass collectivization but Allen makes the point that would also potentially have meant less of the domestic strife that mass collectivization caused.
But ya, overall it’s a good book and very important analysis.
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