Candidate Number:
Part A: Plan of Investigation
How did Lenin’s war communism policy compare and contrast with his new economic policy? (1921-1928).
It is imperative to know the history of the current communism present in Russia and thoroughly understand its roots that started to take roots after the First World War. This paper investigates the similarities and differences that existed in the economic policies during Lenin's reign in Russia. Understanding the War Communism that set the foundation for the New Economic Policy is of importance so at to review the progressive nature of the country's economy. In as much as this paper sets out to show this, it does not delve into the specific details of both policies but rather of the specific landmarks they shared and how they departed from each other. I have used the written journal of a renowned historian with worldly recognition as the primary source, and it will be supplemented with other written works retrieved from the web.
[Word count: 162]
Part B: Summary of Evidence
Summary of the War Communism
The Bolsheviks, led by Lenin are charged with the start of the Civil War that led to the War Communism from 1917-1921 as they marched towards communism.
Ever the revolutionary and a Marxist, Lenin introduced the War Communism in response to the civil war that plagued Russia at the time
All peasants were classified as a “bourgeois” and the Bolsheviks temporarily abandoned the class system they had used previously to classify the peasants.
All industries including the banking and trade were nationalized and the free market was prohibited. Private ownership of small industries was taken over by the Bolsheviks. The sugar industry was the first industry to be completely nationalized. Foreign trade was also classified as a state monopoly.
Peasants were required to hand over excess grain from their farms to the government, and Narkomprod had the authority to use armed force.
Paper money was abolished, and only trade was allowed. The peasants exchanged their goods for ration cards that dictated how much food and services they would receive in return.
The Commissariat of Supply was given the authority over the working force that became militarized and heavy penalties were placed on those who refused to work5.
The industry fell to an all-time low level with over 37,000 industries being nationalized and only about 5,000 of them employing only one person. By 1918, all companies and factories that had more than ten workers were nationalized.
A great famine plagued the peasants as they were unable to produce enough grain for both themselves and the Red Army and in 1921, about 7 million people died of starvation and they was an outcry for a change in the economic policy.
War Communism was characterized by a "hyper-centralized system of industrial administration, an inflation that threatened to destroy the monetary system altogether, and unrelenting reliance on coercion to hold the economy together." The Supreme Economic Council was the body charged with centralization of industry by the Bolsheviks.
In existence as well, was the labor army that was composed of military personnel. The common understanding was that no person was working for themselves but rather, for the greater good of the country which is a key principle of socialism.
A Summary of the New Economic Policy
Lenin is responsible for the introduction of the New Economic Policy in March 1921 as a result of the revolution of the peasants that was against the Bolshevik rule.
He felt that the Bolsheviks were not in a position to lead the country and decided to devise a plan to restore the country’s wrecked economy.
The policy was introduced in a bid to salvage the economy of Russia and reintroduce industrial production.
The policy was aimed at relaxing the control the government had over the industry and it was viewed as a mix of both socialism and capitalism.
Free internal market was reintroduced but only to very small enterprises like shops and restaurants.
The major industries remained under the control of the government.
The agriculture sector was quick to recover with the peasant farmers no longer being forced to deliver grains. On the other hand, the manufacturing industry took longer to recover whereby there arose a "scissor crisis" that saw very high prices of manufactured goods against very low prices for agricultural products.
The peasants opted for middlemen popularly known as Nepmen, who were able to negotiate higher prices and the government also lowered the price of manufactured goods.
Paper currency was reintroduced, and rations of food were abolished. Instead, a new system of taxation was introduced which the peasants were able to pay.
[Word count:536]
Part C: Evaluation of Sources
Bean, Jonathan J. "Nikolai Bukharin and the New Economic Policy: A Middle Way?" The Independent Review. Stanway, Oakland, CA: The Independent Institute, 1997. Print.
This journal gives a blow by blow account of the New Economic Policy in Russia and its effect on the economy of the country. Jonathan Bean is a professor at the Southern Illinois University as well as a research fellow at the Independent Review with published books in various historical studies. He is quite reputable in historical studies thus making him a credible and very resourceful source of the history of the economy of Russia. The journal published the article in 1997 and has since been cited by many individuals in their research and has been an important tool for undergraduate and graduate students. The journal is published for the purpose of preservation of historical information and to serve as a reference in the same. The journal is typically addressed in the third person that goes to show it is not merely the opinion of the person authoring it but rather facts that he is recounting for emphasis of the topic he is trying to write on.
This source is, however, limited in making comparisons to the War Communism or adequate history and the basis of the new Economic Policy to give the reader of a sense of the set up that led to its formulation. Another limitation could be associated with the fact that the author writes the article with an American student in mind without taking into account the preformed opinions and misconceptions capitalists have about Russia as communism.
Cienciala, Anna. “Russia under Lenin and Stalin. 1921-1939.” Web <acienciala.faculty.ku.edu>
This source presented on the web of Kansas University is an edited version of the original book written by Anna Cienciala, a renowned professor at the same university. She was a professor of Russian and Polish history which she recounted with keen detail owing to her Polish roots. This chapter enumerates the differences and similarities that existed between the War Communism and the New Economic Policy and has broken down the facts in a very straightforward manner. The chapter is meant to serve as a source of information for all students and all those interested in the history of Russia. It is written in a manner that makes it very easy to retrieve information that even those who are not familiar with historical facts can understand.
The main limitation of this source is that in its attempt to simplify the facts, it ends up overdoing it and one has to supplement it with other sources with more details. However, it is an excellent tool for highlighting the main historical facts of this era.
[Word count: 455]
Part D: Analysis
War Communism did not work because Lenin was under the impression that the transition to communism would be a direct one. However, he did come to his senses in time to salvage the economy of the country which socialism is largely based on according to Marx and reintroduced capitalism, or some aspects of it. He acknowledged that he had been too hasty and naïve to think change would occur overnight.
Although both the War Communism and the New Economic Policy were fundamentally different, they did share some similarities. Firstly, in both instances, the state retained ownership of the land and the peasants were allowed to work on them. The difference between the two eras as recounted in history books was that in the War Communism while the peasants worked on the land farming grains, they were forced to give the surplus to the Bolsheviks. In the New Economic Policy, the peasants could occupy the land as long as it was cultivated. In return, they were to pay taxes on their foods when they sold their surplus produce in the free market.
A second similarity that existed between the two was the state ownership of firms in all industries especially the major ones like banking. Even after the end of the War Communism in 1921, these industries were still controlled by the state. However, a free market was re-established and private ownership of smaller industries like the service industries.
A similarity that also existed was the unusually high levels of unemployment that were present in both instances. Unskilled labor was substituted for cheaper, skilled labor that led to the collapse of the industry during the War Communism. The high rates of unemployment during the New Economic Policy were brought about by the high rate of rural-urban migration which led to overpopulation in cities.
Significant differences were present in both instances. First, the forcible submission of grains by the peasants was prohibited, and they were allowed to sell their products freely without the interference of the state. There arose a very wealthy and powerful intermediary middlemen class that was responsible for selling the farm produce to large urban towns. They were important in ensuring the farmers got their dues at the beginning of the New Economic Policy when the growth of the agricultural industry overtook the manufacturing industry.Despite this, the peasants were still at a disadvantage and grew to resent the middlemen as they took most of the profits themselves while the peasants languished in poor working conditions.
Secondly, while the War Communism was purely socialist, the New Economic Policy consisted of some aspects of capitalism which Lenin defined as "a state capitalism."Private ownership and leasing of large industries were allowed and a middle class was established in the country.
Thirdly, the government during the New Economic Policy only took 50% of the surplus grain from the peasants and allowed them to sell the rest and as a source of food. During the War Communism, the government could take as much as 90% of the grain and leave the peasants with the rest which was not enough to sustain them and thus led to the famine. “The peasants were asked to feed the country for free, without any advantage for themselves.”
The most important difference that is rather evident is the difference in the industrial growth of the country. During the War Communism, the industry simply collapsed under the government controlled and with each successive year, sunk further. During the New Economic Policy, there was a sudden and sharp rise in the growth of the industry.
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Part E: Conclusion
The paper highlights the similarities and differences that existed during both times and to some extent, their impact. Lenin is one of the most influential leaders Russia has ever had as well as the most ruthless, but he was aware that he needed the mere peasants he did not care about to rebuild the country. He established the roots of socialism once he realized that absolute dictatorship practiced during War Communism could not work anymore, he went on to devise a new plan that would work showing his ability to adapt without changing his ideologies but rather was a sign of pragmatism.
[Word count:100]
Part F: Sources
Bailes, Kendall. “Technology and Society under Lenin and Stalin: Origins of the Soviet Technical Intelligentsia, 1917-1941.” Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978. Print.
Bean, J. Jonathan. “Nikolai Bukharin and the New Economic Policy: A Middle Way?” The Independent Review, Vol. II, No. 1 (Summer 1997). Pg 79-98. Web http://independent.org/
Cienciala, Anna. “Russia under Lenin and Stalin. 1921-1939.” Web <acieciala.faculty.ku.edu>
Lars, T. Lih. “War Communism and Bolshevik Ideals.” The National Council for Soviet and East European Research. Title VIII Program. Washington, DC, 1994.
Nove, Alec. “An Economic History of the U.S.S.R.” New York: Penguin, 1982. Print.
Patenaude, M. Bertrand. “Peasants into Russians: The Utopian Essence of War Communism.” Russian Review. 2001. Web http://www.jstor.org/
Trueman, C. N. “War Communism.” The History Learning Site. 2015. Web www.historylearningsite.co.uk
