Between and political actors from across the spectrum espoused an enlarged role for the state in organising the wartime economic, political, social and cultural life of the country.
In , a policy of state control of grain transactions was set out by the Kadets and Mensheviks in the Provisional Government. Activities of people outside of the Bolshevik leadership also drove events. Nationalisation was carried out at times in response to demands by local activists, workers, and even managers that state organs take over the running of factories threatened with closure due to supply shortages or lack of effective organisation.
It is hard to measure precisely the impact of war communism due to a lack of reliable data. Just because something happened under war communism, moreover, does not necessarily mean it happened because of war communism. Policies were enacted patchily across Bolshevik-controlled territory.
What can be said is that by the Bolsheviks had achieved military victory in the Civil War and driven the capitalist bourgeoisie to the margins of society. There had been a catastrophic fall in industrial production, however. The railways were breaking down and crop sowings had dropped. The hungry towns were emptied of much of their population and agricultural regions were on the brink of starvation. The illegal market was supplying an estimated 65 to 70 percent of the food necessary for survival.
The party was split over issues such as internal party democracy and the role of the trade unions in the Soviet state. Workers protested against economic decline, punitive labour laws and the loss of functions of trade unions and factory committees. In the Tambov region peasants were in open revolt.
These uprisings culminated in a rebellion by sailors at the Kronstadt naval base in March The long-term legacies of war communism are open to debate. Particularly contentious has been the extent to which this period paved the way for Stalinist totalitarianism. Some features that marked the Soviet system throughout its existence though can be seen solidifying under war communism. These include a one-party state, buttressed by a radical version of Marxism and a political police with extensive powers, extreme economic centralisation, the abolition of most private ownership, replacement of debate with agitation and transmission of ideas, and bureaucratic mobilisation of the population in the interests of the state.
Peeling, Siobhan: War Communism , in: online. The NEP did improve the efficiency of food distribution and especially benefited the peasants. Lenin has thrown communism overboard. His signature appears in the official press of Moscow in August 9, abandoning State ownership, with the exception of a definite number of great industries of national importance - such as were controlled by the State in France, England and Germany during the war - and re-establishing payment by individuals for railroads, postal and other public services.
War Communism, as it was called, came to rely more and more upon repression and outright violence as the main methods of securing meat and grain from the peasants. The Soviets had little recourse other than to appeal for help from abroad, and Herbert Hoover's American Relief Association at once agreed to meet them in Riga to discuss the terms under which they would undertake to meet the disaster.
Russian Revolution. At the time, the economy suffered from the onslaught of transport breakdown, insufficiency of raw material supplies, dislocation of the financial system, a capital investment shortage and unchecked inflation. Moreover, territory on which two-fifths of the country's industrial resources had been concentrated was lost due to the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and the subsequent withdrawal of Russia from the First World War.
The economy was further dislocated with the decrease in production and grain deficit. In this context, the Bolsheviks believed that new economic measures had to be implemented to sustain the needs of the Red Army and the starving cities whilst the Civil War was ongoing. It was the economic and political system that existed in Russia from June to March It was a combination of emergency measures and socialist ideas.
Why was War Communism introduced? The Red Army needed to be supplied with food and weapons to help it win the Civil War against the Whites. The Bolsheviks wanted to take control of industry and food production in Russia to reorganise it more equally. Major policies of War Communism: Nationalisation of land Lenin nationalised Russia by declaring banks and shipping a state monopoly. End of private capitalism Lenin passed a decree on 28 June , which ended all forms of private capitalism in Russia.
By , major industries in Russia were controlled by the state. Abolition of money as a means of exchange It attempted to introduce bartering and a system of natural economy. Most taxes were also abolished. Confiscation of private houses Aside from keeping private ownership to a minimum, private houses were confiscated by the state. Obligatory labour duty The state controlled the labour of the citizens. Malnutrition was common, as was disease.
Those in the cities believed that their only hope was to move out to the countryside and grow food for themselves. Large factories became paralysed through lack of fuel and skilled labour. With little food to nourish them, it could not be expected that the workers could work effectively.
Even if anything of value could be produced, the ability to move it around Russia was limited. In the countryside, most land was used for the growth of food. Crops such as flax and cotton simply were not grown. Therefore, those factories producing cotton related products were starved of the most basic commodity they needed. How did the people react to War Communism? Within the cities, many were convinced that their leaders were right and the failings being experienced were the fault of the Whites and international capitalists.
There were few strikes during War Communism — though Lenin was quick to have anyone arrested who seemed to be a potential cause of trouble. Those in Bolshevik held territory were also keen to see a Bolshevik victory in the civil war, so they were prepared to do what was necessary.
The alternate — a White victory — was unthinkable. The Urals provided Petrograd and Tula with coal and iron for their factories. The Urals was completely separated from Bolshevik Russia from the spring of to November Oil fields were in the hands of the Whites. No foreign country was prepared to trade with the Russia controlled by the Bolsheviks, so foreign trade ceased to exist. Between and November , the Allies formally blockaded Russia.
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