War communism was applied between 1918 and 1921.
War communism was a political and economic model that was launched during the winter of 1918 in Russia . Promoted by the Bolsheviks , the plan had the objective of overcoming the difficulties derived from the civil war and advancing the construction of socialism.
The design and execution of war communism was carried out by the Council of People's Commissars , the main governing body. The program began in the final stretch of 1918 and extended until the beginning of 1921 , when it was replaced by the NEP (New Economic Policy) .
The historical context of war communism
To understand what war communism is, we must first analyze its historical context. Beginning with the Russian Revolution of 1905 , the Empire headed by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia ceased to be an absolute monarchy and became a constitutional monarchy .
Twelve years later, in 1917 , a new revolutionary action ended with the dissolution of the Russian Empire and the abdication of the tsar. With the February Revolution , tsarism fell and a provisional government was established, while the October Revolution ended said government and gave power to the Bolsheviks.
This Bolshevik sector, with Vladimir Lenin as leader, constituted a faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDP) . He proposed an alliance of workers with peasants to overthrow the autocracy and sought the establishment of a dictatorship of the proletariat to promote the construction of socialism . The other major faction of the RSDLP was the Mensheviks .
The October Revolution , thus, allowed the creation of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic ( Russian SFSR , better known as Bolshevik Russia or Soviet Russia ), governed by the Council of People's Commissars that had Lenin as its first president. .
Beyond the founding of the Russian SFSR , the so-called Russian Civil War broke out in 1917 . In this conflict, the Red Army of the Bolsheviks faced the White Army made up of supporters of the tsar, liberals, conservatives and even Mensheviks. The confrontation lasted until 1923 , causing an enormous economic crisis and generating serious social consequences.
Vladimir Lenin was the top leader of Soviet Russia when war communism developed.
Grain supply
In this framework, the Bolshevik government decided to implement war communism in 1918 with the objective of guaranteeing the sustenance of the Red Army and providing food to the cities to combat hunger. It was applied by the Council of People's Commissars through the Supreme Council of Economy , which had powers for the confiscation and expropriation of property.
The main justification for war communism was the grain shortage . The First World War wreaked havoc on the peasantry and Bolshevik ideas were not well received in that sector, so the withholding of grain became frequent.
Faced with this reality, war communism carried out forced requisitions of surplus grain to supply the inhabitants of the cities and the soldiers who were on the war front. This practice became known by the Russian name prodrazviorstka .
As part of the measures of war communism, the collectivization of the land was also carried out, giving rise to cooperative collective farms ( kolkhozes ) and state farms ( sovkhozes ).
War communism and nationalization
To achieve the dismantling of capitalism , war communism advanced with the nationalization of companies and sectors of the economy. Thus, for example, all companies that had more than five employees were nationalized.
This nationalization was accompanied by the centralization of the administration . Foreign trade, in turn, remained under absolute state control. On the other hand, the workers themselves were encouraged to get involved in the management of the industries.
This war economy also included the rationing of basic products and their centralized distribution in the main cities of Bolshevik Russia .
One of the objectives of war communism was to solve the Red Army.
Consequences of these policies
The centralized planning of the economy that led to war communism did not have a successful result. The very dynamics of the civil war made the application of many measures difficult, while others did not bear the expected results. In addition, there was a strong rejection from sectors of peasants and workers, with which rebellions and revolts broke out.
War communism ended up accentuating the famine . Agricultural production fell, worker management of the industry was poor, and a black market emerged to evade official restrictions.
From war communism to the NEP
The economic and social situation made evident the need for change. In this way, at the 10th Congress of the Russian Communist Party that was held in March 1921, it was decided to leave war communism behind and implement the New Economic Policy , known as NEP by its Russian acronym.
The NEP marked a return to some capitalist forms. Certain forms of private property were enabled, the arrival of foreign capital was encouraged with concessions and the requisition of agricultural surplus was replaced by taxes in kind. A monetary reform was also carried out.
According to analysts, the NEP contributed to the recovery of the Russian economy, which had deteriorated with the First World War and then as a consequence of the civil war. However, it did not serve to promote industrialization . In 1928 , with Joseph Stalin ( Joseph Stalin or Joseph Stalin ) at the helm, it was replaced by the first five-year plan .
The creation of the USSR
It cannot be omitted to mention that, while war communism lasted, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( USSR ) was born. The creation treaty was signed at the end of 1922 .
Thus, the Russian SFSR joined the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Ukrainian SSR) , the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) and the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Byelorussian SSR) to establish a new state . While each republic maintained autonomy for internal administration with its own Communist Party in charge, the legislative power of the USSR was granted to a Supreme Soviet , in charge of electing the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet and the Council of Ministers .