The Red Economy And Bolsheviks During The Russian Civil War

Great Essays
During the Russian Civil War (1918-1923) between the Red Army (Bolsheviks) and White Army (counter-revolutionaries), the Soviet Union experienced two vastly differing economies, both incredibly significant for the country. The earlier of the two economic policies - War Communism - was more of a purist’s communism, whereas the later reforms - the New Economic Policy - were a more socialist view on Russia’s economy, which the Bolsheviks were forced to impose due to loss of widespread public support and economic disaster. Both of these economic systems were hugely significant, causing mass starvation, the breakdown of nationwide communications systems and NEPmen - small business owners who greatly benefited from the NEP. Although both systems …show more content…
Requisitioning was the main cause of problems for the Russian peasantry, as the peasants had no motive to produce any excess grain as it would be confiscated by the state, therefore the Bolsheviks had overestimated peasant food stocks. This meant they blamed a minority of richer peasants, the kulaks, for keeping the food to intentionally raise its price. Between April and June of 1918, the Bolsheviks switched from banning private food trade to trying to seize ‘kulak’ food stocks and confiscate their land. As the government had overestimated rural food supplies, this method victimised many innocent farmers without improving requisitioned supplies, and most of the grain used to sow the following years’ crops was taken by requisitioning brigades. This caused widespread famine, of which the death toll was so high that neither the Bolsheviks nor other organisations could accurately measure how many people died of starvation or the resulting diseases, although the figure is thought to be between 5 and 8 million deaths. Officials in one town even put out a statement advising starving workers to dig up the dried bones of animals, grind them into flour and make “bread substitute [that has] a nutritive value of 25 percent more than rye bread”. The famine affected people so much that eventually some turned to cannibalism, with reports of police having to protect cemeteries so they were not raided for human flesh, and human parts being sold on a black market for food. In another report, one woman was caught cooking human flesh - she later admitted to killing her daughter - so she could eat for a few more days. As a result of the devastating famine, many peasants who had fought (and deserted) in WWI revolted against the requisitioning brigades,’a band of hungry “partisans” had attacked a food train’, which often

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Lenin, born 22 April 1870, a revolutionist who played a critical role in the Russian revolution. He was one of the few men who led a successful communist country and also created his own political system, Leninism, a modified communism system. During his time before he rose to power, he joined many political parties such as League of Struggle of the Emancipation of the Working Class, Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks) and the Russian Communist Party. He achieved many things during his life and died in 21 January 1924. Lenin was born in a wealthy middle-class family in Simbirsk, where his family’s relation sparked his interest in politics.…

    • 171 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    If one were to have asked a Russian peasant what revolution means to them, they might answer samovol’shchina, or, translated “doing what you want.” In Sheila Fitzpatrick’s book The Russian Revolution she traces three broad themes through the course of the revolution that existed before 1917 and would continue until about the time of 1934. She examines the class struggle that was an important part of the revolution as well as the leadership that lead the Russian citizens through these tumuloous decades and she also examines the modernization that Russia experienced. Fitzpatrick breaks her book down in a chronological order in which she spends her introduction writing about the immediate events that happened prior to the outbreak of the revolution so that the reader, whether an undergraduate student, graduate student or just a fan of Russian history, can gain a true understanding of the air of change that was happening in…

    • 1258 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Revolution according to the Webster Dictionary "is a sudden, extreme or complete change in the way people live work etc". During the World War 1 Russia witnessed the transition to a different and renewed that brought with itself some good and bad consequences; however it is necessary to analyze and understand each phase of the process in order to create a concept and a point of view. The Russian revolution has three main causes: political, social and economics.…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    War Communism Significance

    • 1507 Words
    • 7 Pages

    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…

    • 1507 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the Russian Revolution of 1917, there was a class of people known as the bourgeoisie. “The English word 'bourgeoisie' is derived from the French word 'bourgeoisie' meaning "... the trading middle class"(MARXISM).” The Russian bourgeoisie in 1917 were basically a class of capitalist, landowning, and wealthy people. They wanted things to change just like everyone else but they expected things to still stay wonderful for them.…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the Soviet Union, the Red Army was the first priority in Stalin’s eyes. Then, it was the urban areas with laborers. The peasants have always fallen under persecution by the collective government. With German invasion, the Soviet Union lost its most arable land, hurting their agricultural sector and affecting their wartime economy. However, this was not the first time the Soviet Union starved due to war.…

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Bolshevik Takeover Essay

    • 1492 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Years of the Great War and the Great Communist Takeover The four year span of World War I caused the death of nearly 8 million civilians alone, and left many more handicapped or injured. The Russian Bolshevik takeover started a revolution that Russia is still feeling to this day. Russia’s descending into the communist lifestyle and the overall devastation that came along with World War I jolted the world out of its comfort zone and propelled us into the modern age, whether we were ready for it, or not.…

    • 1492 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Russian Revolution was a major turning point in Russian history. Destructive, dangerous, harsh, and cruel are words that characterize the Russian Revolution. The Russian Revolution caused major political changes in Russia. The Russian Revolution had many negative outcomes, but it also had some positive outcomes. The Russian Revolution was a failure because there was a loss of many freedoms such as press, speech, and equality.…

    • 965 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    3. Europe was devastated by World War II and the situation was worsened when it was divided between the East and the West. The East being Russian and its puppet satellite states. The West being the US and other democratic nations. When Stalin returned to Russia the country was in a terrible state.…

    • 209 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Autocracy In Russia Essay

    • 713 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A crisis of modernization was one of the many reasons that caused the collapse of the autocracy in Russia, and the first step to allowing Lenin and the Bolshevik party to eventually gain control of the state. In the 19th century, Russia was one of the largest and most backward states on the European continent. The peasants of the country remained serfs until the mid-1800s, and even when they gained their freedom, they were enslaved to debt and redemption payments to their landlords that they would never be able to pay back. When they gained their freedom and were given small plots of land, the legal ties peasants did have to the states were weakened as nobles enhanced their own rights. This left peasants feeling even more detached from their…

    • 713 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For Stalin, grain is also an important issue; however, it is to a lesser degree than Lenin. Stalin blames the grain shortage on unfavorable weather conditions (Stalin, pp. 11). If Stalin had not felt the State to be internally secure against a peasant uprising, he would not have been so dismissive of this famine. Essentially Lenin and Stalin try completely opposite approaches to the same problem.…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    By 1861, Russia had been and would remain a backwards country. Russia possessed a large population and adequate land, both of which had combined to eliminate the urgent need for industrialization that had affected Western Europe. With its primarily agrarian economy and autocratic government, Russia struggled to catch up with the rest of the modernizing countries in Europe. In this historical context, Tsar Alexander II’s 1861 emancipation of all Russian serfs was a shocking first in a series of liberal reforms. However, the freeing of the serfs did not end the overarching state of rural poverty in Russia.…

    • 1094 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The paper I write today will be based off of two Periods of time with similar actions and consequences following major events that followed. The first one of these two Periods I will explain and compare is the Red Scare of 1919 which is when the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia that overtook the former czar state begin to have ripple effects globally and the attackers begin to have an effect on nations in the west. In the United States people were afraid of the communist movement that was happening the east and were especially troubled when a series of Anarchist Bombings begin to happen all over the place. Also many people begin to inspect radical and socialist agents infiltrating the federal government Americans begin to feel that there were…

    • 320 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Peasant Revolution In Russia

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages
    • 3 Works Cited

    The inefficiency of peasant-based agriculture was one of the chief indications of "backwardness" in pre-revolutionary Russia and a problem that the Bolsheviks, upon coming to power, were dedicated to overcoming. The Provisional Government had failed to address the land issue and because of that, “Most Russian peasants, numbering some twenty- three million, were still landless by the turn of the twentieth century, as most land remained in the hands of the rich landlords.” ("Peasants and Peasantry." ) If one looks back in Russian history years prior to the revolution, it is immediately clear that the issue of land had been at the forefront of debate for peasants stemming all the way to the Emancipation of Serfs by Alexander II.…

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages
    • 3 Works Cited
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As the first socialist country in the world, Russia had a lengthy and tough time to change and develop the country in 1917. The Russian Revolution of 1917 covers the major events such as the February Revolution and the October Revolution that result in the established of the Soviet Union. The Russian Revolution caused the encounter of labors and people. Their sacrifices and protests eventually made the revolution come true. Since the socialist government overthrew the czarist government, there were both political and economic exchanges occurred in the revolution.…

    • 1651 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays