War Communism also had severe implications for the social aspects of life in Russia. Because of the policy of Prodrazvyorstka, peasants soon could see no incentive to plant large amounts of crops. As it was, the Cheka led acquisition squads set the minimum level of grain needed by the peasants far too low, and so as they became more and more discontent, they planted less and less grain. Before long, and coupled with bad winters, a food shortage developed in Russia that was only exacerbated by many peasant uprisings, such as the Tambov Rebellion of 1919-1921(Wikipedia - War Communism[www]). Before long, there was famine throughout all of Russia, and millions died. Despite this though, Lenin remained convinced that all of these problems would sort themselves out, and were a part of “the cause for which people have fought”(Russian Revolution. Lenin in October 1917 [www]). This may have been true, but due mainly to a lack of experience, Lenin did not think it necessary for him to outline the plans of Russia in the future to the people, and so they continued to suffer in anger, amplifying many problems that otherwise would not have arisen.
War Communism was based primarily in the economic sector, as it was through strict control of this sector that Lenin hoped to be able to win the civil war. To this end, and the end of a direct shift to communism, wages and other forms of payment were abolished. Without being paid for their work, workers soon were leaving the cities and moving to the country where there was more likelihood of finding food. This only compounded the inherent problems of the war, in which eighty percent of all industry was destroyed (Welles ,O. Ten days that shook the world [Video]). As a direct result of this, industry output fell, poverty took a hold, and soon there were just as many dispossessed as there was before the Bolshevik revolution, if not more. Lenin would not admit to this being the fault of a policy that the people were not ready for. To him it was because the apparatus that they had was still the one that they had inherited, the Tsarist “hotchpotch”(Wikipedia - War Communism [www]) which people had tried hard to get away from. Lenin later goes back on this however, and says that Russia was not really ready for Socialism, the transition state between capitalism and communism, according to the works of Marx and Engel. As proof to his growing experience and maturity, Lenin is able to, through the New Economic Policy, able to revive industry within Russia, but he was still a long way off of leading Russia to better conditions.
After five years of War Communism, Lenin found himself in a most peculiar situation for a leader. He had faced opposition from outside of what he controlled, and defeated it, yet he had not even begun to look at things within his power. The efforts of both the White Army and the Red Army had seen the peasants of Russia hard pressed for both food and new recruits. This pressure manifested itself in the Tambov Rebellion, amongst the peasants, and even more so in the Kronstadt Rebellion of March 1921. The rebellion in the military barracks full of some of his most loyal supporters had a shocking effect on Lenin. It was here that Lenin realised that:
This peculiar situation demands of us an ability to adopt ourselves…(Russian Revolution. Lenin in October 1917 [www])
This is the time when Lenin realised that his revolution had created a new kind of peasant in Russia, one that was previously politically oblivious for so long, but had been thrown into the throes of political awareness (Russian Revolution. Lenin in October 1917 [www]). Lenin had shown them that they had the power to get what they wanted, and had started on the path to get what Lenin had promised them in the beginning: “Land, Bread, Peace”. It was this realisation, this development in maturity that led Lenin to create and introduce the New Economic Policy in the hopes of giving the peasants what they wanted, while staying in power and driving Russia towards true communism.
Having gained the “practical experience”(Tuohy,C. Speech on the Nationalisation of the Banks [www]) that Lenin had earlier said that he had needed, he introduced a series of reforms called the New Economic Policy (NEP). This policy reflected the desires of the peasants, and was the turning point in the fortunes of Russia. It encouraged peasants to take up farming again by introducing a tax system, where peasants grew grain for themselves, to cover the tax, and to sell what remained. This soon led to the end of famine in Russia, and people were able to see that Lenin had finally delivered his promise of bread. The NEP “increased agricultural production enormously and ended the ongoing famine”(Wikipedia – New Economic Policy [www]), which was a major step forward for Lenin and his consolidation of power. Enough food meant that people were happy with Lenin, and allowed him some room to breathe. This emphasis on agriculture came about because Lenin had the ability to see that Russia, with the apparatus that was left over from the Tsarist years, was “not civilised enough for socialism”(Wikipedia – New Economic Policy [www]). By seeing this, Lenin was able to structure policies that would slowly drag Russia up to a high enough level of civilisation, to enable him to be able to implement socialism with little problems: all it needed was time and patience, two things Lenin had learnt were very precious during his revolutionary years.
Despite this however, the biggest changes that the NEP made were in the economic sector. By borrowing concepts from Capitalism, Lenin was able to strike up a compromise between socialism and capitalism that made nearly everyone happy. To the average Russian, it meant that they could own their own businesses (of up to 30 employees) and were legally allowed to own small stalls, cafes and many other smaller businesses (T.E.E. Revision Centre. The Russian Revolution). At the same time, the government controlled all major industry, such as coal and iron mining, and steel production. These reforms that legalised this small enterprise in Russia met stiff resistance from many of the more right wing communists in the party, but was generally met with acceptance. It was, according to Lenin, “taking two steps forward and one step back”(Class notes.). This wise change in policy revived industry in a Russia where eighty percent of the industry had been destroyed by war and Lenin’s earlier policies. It was a wise move by Lenin, despite some opposition from within his own party, but it was born of a wisdom gained through “practical experience", and past events are often the surest way to tell the direction of something. Lenin realised that he, unlike the leaders of Tsarist Russia, would listen to the people and give them what they wanted to keep them complacent, Lenin in power, and Russia advancing forwards.
It is, from the changes that the NEP implemented, clear to see that Lenin had matured and developed. He had beaten his first obstacle, the White Army, and then was able to deal efficiently with the next problem that arose: the discontent of the peasants. With clever and intelligent policy reform, Lenin was able to deliver on his promises of “peace, bread and land” as well as “liberty, equality and eternity”(Welles ,O. Ten days that shook the world [Video]). He had removed Russia from all military conflict, had created an agricultural boom that ended widespread famine, and had allowed people some small capitalist concessions such as ownership of land and a tax system. For once the Russian people felt free, equal with each other as the peasants were now thought of, and Lenin had declared that, while being a transition stage, the “NEP is… for a long time”(Wikipedia – New Economic Policy [www]). With this to his record, Lenin had gone from someone who had created a famine and a war resulting in more than nine million deaths to being someone who had saved the Russian peasant from being forgotten once again by the power structure of Russia.
It was a tragedy when Lenin died however. He had a long, drawn out death, but this allowed him to plan for the future of Russia. Lenin, while incapacitated on his deathbed, dictated several letters to the CC, carrying Lenin’s plans for the future of the party. It was in one such letter that Lenin urged the CC not to allow Stalin into power, but, despite this, Josef Stalin soon had gained ultimate power in the Communist party. From here, Stalin implemented his own system of communism in Russia, scrapping the NEP and replacing it with his Five Year Plans. The real tragedy to Lenin’s death comes not in the form of Stalin, but in the form of Stalin’s policies. They were the “most destructive departure from NEP approach”(Wikipedia – New Economic Policy [www]) that you could find, destroying all of the positive work that Lenin had finally managed to achieve. The death of Lenin’s policies and the birth of Stalin’s policies meant the loss of all the maturity and “practical experience” that Lenin had accumulated over the years through the suffering of the Russian people, and a return to the neglect of a leader who did not have the depth of character to see his own flaws.
Over fifty years the Russian people have achieved much, and endured much. An industrial transformation in history from Lenin’s victory of the civil war to a personal freedom that was greater than at any time under Tsar Nicholas.” (Welles ,O. Ten days that shook the world [Video])
This was Lenin’s life. He had achieved this for the Russian people while he was alive. However, with his death, the years of suffering and tragedies became for naught, and very soon the peasants of Russia were once again locked in a perpetual stranglehold with no means of escape. In his lifetime, Lenin had proved that he was a wise leader, who had great depth of character. It has been said that “a wise communist will not be afraid of learning from a capitalist”. (Lenin’s NEP [www]) Lenin proved that he was both very wise and brave, for embracing aspects of capitalism while still retaining his overriding ideals. He was one of the only leaders in history that was able to create policies that suited his people, not who tried to change his people to suit his policies, and for this he will always be remembered as a unique man, who led a people to a new level of freedom, albeit it short lived.
Sources
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“Russian Revolution. Lenin in October 1917” Available at: (Online: Accessed on 30 April 2005)
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T.E.E. Revision Centre. (2004) A Revision Guide for T.E.E. History- Revolutions: The Russian Revolution T.E.E. Revision Centre: Perth
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Tuohy, C. (1997) “Speech on the Nationalisation of the Banks” Available at: (Online: Accessed on 30 April 2005)
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“War Communism” (2005) Available at: (Online: Accessed on 30 April 2005)
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Welles, O. 10 Days that Shook the World [Video] Granada Television