New Economic Policy - Beginnings

Beginnings

On November 7, 1917 the Bolsheviks took control of Petrograd and ousted the provisional government from the Winter Palace. The Bolsheviks declared state power under the Congress of Soviets, but that did not complete the seizure. A brutal Civil War ensued, pitting the Red Army (Bolsheviks) against the White Army. After the Red Army won, economic hardships faced by Russian citizens and the dramatic decrease in Bolshevik support inspired Lenin to retract on his policy of War Communism and shaped how Lenin crafted his New Economic Policy.

The Civil War exacted a devastating toll on Russian cities. The war destroyed lines of communication, modes of transportation (especially railroads) and disrupted basic public services. Infectious diseases thrived, especially typhus. Shipments of food and fuel by railroad and water dramatically decreased. Residents first experienced a shortage of heating oil, then coal, until they had to resort to wood. Although the armies fought the Civil War battles mostly outside of urban areas, urban populations dramatically decreased. Populations in northern towns (excluding capital cities) declined an average of 24 percent. The breakdown of transportation deprived northern towns of relatively more food than southern towns because more agricultural production took place in the south. Petrograd itself lost 850,000 people and accounted for half of urban population decline during the Civil War. Workers migrated south to take hold of peasants’ surpluses. Recent migrants to cities left cities because they still had ties to villages. Poor city conditions drove out residents.

Since the Bolshevik base of support came from urban workers, the exodus posed a serious problem. Hunger drove factory workers out of the cities and towards the rural cottage industry. At the end of the Civil War, Bolsheviks controlled cities, but eighty percent of the Russian population were peasants. Factory production severely slowed or halted. Factories lacked 30,000 workers in 1919. Residents needed to adopt self-sufficient behaviors in order to survive. Residents searched for valuable personal belongings, started creating artisan crafts, and began gardening to trade for and grow food. The acute need for food encouraged residents to obtain 50-60 percent of food through illegal trading. The shortage of cash caused the black market to use a barter system, which was inefficient.

Despite these efforts, a drought, frost, then famine in 1921 caused even urban support for the Bolshevik party to erode. When no bread arrived in Moscow in 1921, workers became hungry and disillusioned. They organized demonstrations against the party’s policies of privileged rations, in which the Red Army, members of the party, and students received rations first. In March 1921, Kronstadt soldiers and sailors staged a major rebellion. Anarchism and populism, brewing since the tsarist bureaucracy of the 17th and 18th centuries, fueled the rebellion. The dysfunctional postwar economy caused much hunger and suffering, which led to a major decrease in Bolshevik support.

In 1921, Lenin replaced the food requisitioning policy with a tax, signaling the inauguration of the New Economic Policy.