The significance of War Communism implemented by the Bolshevik Party from 1918-1921 can be measured in a number of different ways such as how it represented an important turning point for the Soviet Union, how it affected many Russian people and their lives, how it led to other important events, the impact it had on industry and the economy and how it had long-term political consequences. Although War Communism was significant for all those reasons mentioned above it was most significant because of the events that followed it, namely the Kronstadt Rebellion and the introduction of the New Economic Policy (NEP). These are the most significant because it showed Lenin that War Communism was not leading the Soviet Union towards socialism but instead
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However on the other side of the party you had Lenin, Bukharin and Stalin who saw the NEP as not necessarily a good thing but necessary because the economy would have to recover before socialism and in the words of Lenin it was ‘one step backwards, two steps forwards’. Whilst the NEP was accepted for the time being, after he [Lenin] died on the 24th January 1924 there was a power struggle as to who should lead the party and in which Stalin came out as the new leader. Therefore the most significant aspect of War Communism was the events that came around because of it such as Kronstadt, which can be argued as a factor in the introduction of the Nep which in turn can be argued as a factor in Stalin’s gaining of power which was significant for the Soviet Union because it shaped the Soviet Union as well as communism for thirty years until his death in 1953. Another significant aspect of War …show more content…
This is further backed up by the fact that in Petrograd in 1918, 1 in 4 adults was a state official. Unlike the Red Army in which Trotsky used experienced former Tsarist officers to command it effectively, nothing like this was carried out in industry which caused an ineffective workforce and therefore a drop in production. In addition War Communism had an adverse effect on Russia’s economy. For example it caused the rouble, by 1920, to devalue too just 1% of its pre 1917 value because the government just kept on printing more and more money in order to solve its problems. This effectively made money worthless and thus worsened the already dire situation of Russia’s economy. Most wages in this period were paid in kind because money was superfluous and thus War Communism can be argued to have led to ‘the almost total collapse of the Soviet economy’. However, I do not believe this to be the most significant aspect of War Communism because these effects did not last long because after the introduction of the NEP in 1921, Russia’s industry and economy began to slowly recover from the effects of War Communism. Another very significant
However on the other side of the party you had Lenin, Bukharin and Stalin who saw the NEP as not necessarily a good thing but necessary because the economy would have to recover before socialism and in the words of Lenin it was ‘one step backwards, two steps forwards’. Whilst the NEP was accepted for the time being, after he [Lenin] died on the 24th January 1924 there was a power struggle as to who should lead the party and in which Stalin came out as the new leader. Therefore the most significant aspect of War Communism was the events that came around because of it such as Kronstadt, which can be argued as a factor in the introduction of the Nep which in turn can be argued as a factor in Stalin’s gaining of power which was significant for the Soviet Union because it shaped the Soviet Union as well as communism for thirty years until his death in 1953. Another significant aspect of War …show more content…
This is further backed up by the fact that in Petrograd in 1918, 1 in 4 adults was a state official. Unlike the Red Army in which Trotsky used experienced former Tsarist officers to command it effectively, nothing like this was carried out in industry which caused an ineffective workforce and therefore a drop in production. In addition War Communism had an adverse effect on Russia’s economy. For example it caused the rouble, by 1920, to devalue too just 1% of its pre 1917 value because the government just kept on printing more and more money in order to solve its problems. This effectively made money worthless and thus worsened the already dire situation of Russia’s economy. Most wages in this period were paid in kind because money was superfluous and thus War Communism can be argued to have led to ‘the almost total collapse of the Soviet economy’. However, I do not believe this to be the most significant aspect of War Communism because these effects did not last long because after the introduction of the NEP in 1921, Russia’s industry and economy began to slowly recover from the effects of War Communism. Another very significant