1.2 War Communism and the New Economic Policy

Question 1

Why was war communism introduced? (3)

Answer 1

• due to the desperate curcumstances of civil war, bolsheviks introduced a series of measures to ensure that Red Army was supplied with enough resources to win
• these measures included greater government intervention in economy and became known as war communism
• was also a response to problems of past bolshevik policies that gave control to workers and proved unworkable

Question 2

Key Factors of War Communism (8)

Answer 2

• Nationalisation
• Vasenkha (Supreme Council of National Economy)
• hierarchical structures in industry (to instill discipline)
• military-style discipline in factories
• private trading was banned (caused black market to develop)
• bartering
• forcible requisitioning of food
• rationing

Question 3

Nationalisation (2)

Answer 3

• key feature of war communism

- state ownership of all industry with more than ten workers

Question 4

Vasenkha (4)

Answer 4

• key feature of war communism
• (supreme council of national economy)
• all industry placed under control of state through vasenkha
• 1917

Question 5

Military-style discipline in factories (4)

Answer 5

• key feature of war communism
• death penalty for strike
• unemplyed forced to join ‘Labour Armies’ and worked on projects such as road building
• all wokers expected to volunteer on ‘communist saturdays’

Question 6

Forcible requisitioning of food (4)

Answer 6

• key feature of war communism
• grain etc. was seized in order to feed army and the towns
• result was rise in tension in the countryside; outbreaks of violence
• malnutrition and starvation

Question 7

rationing (3)

Answer 7

• key feature of war communism
• to ensure that workers in the cities were fed despite food shortages
• workers whose work was crucial for war effort received better treatment

Question 8

When was NEP introduced?

Answer 8

1921

Question 9

Why did the Government abandon War communism? (2)

Answer 9

• hugely negative impact on economy

- deterioration in political position of Bolsheviks

Question 10

Why was NEP introduced? (Economic considerations) (3)

Answer 10

• by end of civil war, heavy industry and food production was at an all time low and some had stopped all together
• because of lack of food, disease and famine killed over 20 million in the 1920s
• army soldiers had to be resettled into civilian life

Question 11

Why was NEP introduced? (unpopularity of war communism) (2)

Answer 11

• system of rationing during war communism was disliked, as the size of rations depended on the person’s classification
• use of managers and hierarchical system in factories caused resentment among industrial workers

Question 12

Why was NEP introduced? (Uprisings) (4)

Answer 12

• resentment of war communism in countryside mostly due to forcible requisitioning and plans to get rid of mir
• peasant resentment caused series of uprisings in 1920-21
• Tambov uprising= in central russia, peasants reacted violently to requisitioning teams and 50 000 red army troops had to be sent
• Kronstadt mutiny= revolt by sailors due to the increase in power of party and its officials at the expense of workers. was supressed by red army, but was shock to Bolshevik gov. and key factor in Lenin’s decision to change his economic policy

Question 13

Mir (2)

Answer 13

• organisation made up of village elders that controlled the peasants and their agricultural work
• Bolsheviks disliked mir because it provided an obstacle to their own control over the countryside, so under war communism they made plans to remove mir

Question 14

Key features of NEP (agricultural) (2)

Answer 14

• end to requisitioning, replaced by system of taxation, which allowed peasants to sell any remaining food at market for a profit
• no forced programme of collectivisation, so the mir would stay as way of peasants self-regulating their farming activities

Question 15

Key features of NEP (Industrial) (5)

Answer 15

• returned small-scale industry to private hands but state kept control of heavy industry, transport and banks
• piecework and bonuses used to increase production in state-owned factories (seen by some as capitalist)
• reintroduction of currency for paying wages (seen by some as return to capitalism)
• legalisation of private trade, to stop black market
• development of ‘Nepmen’, the private business people who gained from NEP

Question 16

Despite left-wing bolsheviks’ hostility towards NEP, what were Lenin’s reasonings for NEP? (2)

Answer 16

• Lenin knew they were in desperate economic circumstances and the revolution would not be secure without making compromises.
• Lenin saw the NEP as a short-term remedy for restoring the economy.