THE Law of winter 1920-1921 proved to the Bolsheviks leadership that the transition of RussiaIn socialism through war communism failed. During the first months of 1921, the population’s discontent was generalized, especially in areas such as western Siberia and southern European Russia, where the confiscation of agricultural products took large. The number of victims of that great starvation of that winter is estimated to overcome the four million people.
The Evolutions of Agricultural Products For the supply of cities, they did not improve the situation in the country. Workers in the urban industries were still exhausted by work, there was a lack of fuel for factories, while famine caused strikes and demonstrations of the population against the Bolsheviks. In early spring 1921, the leadership of the Russian Communist Party concluded that Russia’s rebuilding in Marxist theory and the stabilization of the regime demanded critical decisions.
Small businesses were given the opportunity to operate as well as the opportunity for foreign capital investment.
During the serious crisis of the early 1921, the Vladimir Lenin He proved once again that in addition to the Marxism theorist he was a realistic politician. During the 10th Congress of the Communist Party, and specifically on March 12, 1921, he proposed a new economic policy that would contain elements of market economy. It had already legalized in 1917, immediately after the October Revolution exploded, the conversion of land users into its owners, although this action opposed Marxist theory. Its purpose was to sufficiently refuel cities with food by increasing the purchasing power of farmers.
The farmer was able to sell the excess crop in local markets.
The violent arrangement of agricultural goods was replaced by a fixed tax in kind, which would later turn into money tax. In fact, as the production of the farmerso much this tax would be reduced, while the extraction of the crop, the farmer was able to sell it freely to local markets. It was also given the opportunity to operate small businesses in the country as well as the opportunity for foreign capital investments.
The new economic policy has received the fierce criticism of both the Right and the Left Wing of the Communist Party, although Lenin announced that it was about it. regular step At a specific time and that the ultimate goal was not changed, that is, the transition to socialism. The party’s left wing spoke of a second humiliation after its signature Treaty of Brest-Litovskshowing its annoyance because even partially restored private property and free market. On the other hand, the right wing raised the risk of adopting the positions of Menshevikswith whom the Bolsheviks had ideologically clashed in the past. To avoid a split in the party, Lenin proposed to the same conference the prohibition on the creation of factionist groups within the CCR.
The left wing spoke of a second humiliation, while the right raised a risk of adopting the positions of the Mensheviks.
In general, NOP measures had positive effects. They contributed to the food of cities and the improvement of the early Soviet industry. Within a few years the agricultural and industrial production They reached the levels before the explosion of World War I. However, the course of the NOP was linked to Lenin’s maintenance of power. After a series of strokes that began in May 1922, Lenin died in January 1924.
Column: Myrto Katsigera, Vassilis Minakakis, Antigoni-Despina Poumenidou, Athanasios Syroplakis
