War communism had a devastating impact on the peasants and proletariat in Russian society between 1918 and 1928. However, the New Economic Policy that followed the Civil War effects was opposite, raising living standards and reinstating support for the Bolshevik party. Vladimir “Lenin” Ulyanov, known as the head of the notorious Bolshevik party, introduced War Communism (1918-1921) and the NEP (1921-1928). As Martin McCauley states “If War Communism was a leap into socialism then the New Economic Policy was a leap out of socialism” The aims of War Communism and the NEP were both successful in a large number of areas, however, the effects of both policies were not all favourable. Most of the population disagreed with both of the policies, however, the benefits and the positive effects outweighed for many.
War Communism had a significant impact on the peasantry and the proletariat, it was extremely unpopular and not successful enough to continue. It has been suggested that War Communism was an attempt by the Bolsheviks to go straight to socialism, it is more likely that it was a reaction to wartime conditions, justified by ideological position. The effect of War Communism on the proletariat was immense, Lenin nationalised businesses to place the economy on a war footing. All industries came under direct control of the state, managers were forced to stay in their positions and private trades were banned. WC was extremely unpopular with the peasants who felt they had no
Many encounter the beneficial effects of communism encouraged within world-wide governments; however, its negative outcomes are also revealed to the members in these societies. Communism is commonly described as a political theory that advocates social organization in a way that controls the economic and social activity as to make each member of society equivalent to their peers while highlighting the lives of its’ creators. In Ayn Rand’s novella, Anthem, each character faces the influences from this type of governing from the way they dress to their everyday professions. In addition to this novella, “Survival Ship”, by Judith Merril, also has a similar way of controlling the passengers harbored on the ship.
Between the years 1861 and 1914, many Russians thought the treatment of peasants remained unjust despite their emancipation. There were an immense amount of peasants compared to the general population, yet they were treated with very little value. Many thought the peasants should receive education, resolve the conditions of the areas of their residence and receive more rights. Many Russians thought the peasants should receive education to increase their treatment. In a Russian government report, between seventy years of change there was only a nineteen percent increase in literacy rates of the rural population, whereas the general population increased that same nineteen percent in only seventeen years (Doc 12).
He ended up resorting to “war communism” during the Russian Civil War, and the Bolsheviks needed to quickly produce goods. When the war was over, Lenin became sick and Trotsky began ruling after him. Trotsky took the role of controlling the corrective measures
The author says that perhaps many citizens may be drawn to Communist ideology if the social injustices become more prevalent, and urges the readers to look into the problems of Communist civilizations. This article is an example of how many felt during the Red Scare and Cold War in regards to communism. It shows that people felt a collapse
The Industrial Revolution was a turning point for Western Europe. This revolution forever altered Western Europe and in turn Europe’s colonial subjects as well. The Revolution is responsible for the biggest successes and failures of Western Europe, as well as changing the technology, economics, politics, and society from what it was. The industrial revolution changed western Europe’s civilization in the terms of technology.
It was seen as a revolutionary political philosophy that promoted social conservatism, fiscal prosperity, and ultra-nationalism. In the early 1910s Bolsheviki Communism was
Lenin continued to give Stalin power and the people could not do anything to stop it. After Lenin’s death in 1924, Stalin had complete control over the communist party. By the late 1920s, he was the dictator of the Soviet Union. Stalin kept finding way to get more power and the people were not able to do anything to fix
Since there was such a large peasant population it was easy for them to rebel and win. Many troops were just simply peasants in uniform and when the tsar order the soldiers to shoot the people rebelling they didn’t and the tsar had no power.(doc.2).These peasant were known as proletariats, the growing class of factory and railroad workers, miners, and urban wage earners.(doc.4).Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik party spread the works of Karl Marx to many factory workers with other socialist.(doc.4).Lenin was profoundly affected by his older brother Alexander’s 1887 execution for being involved in a plot to assassinate the tsar.(doc.5).The peasants tried to make a petition to overthrow the tsar’s reign but he refused to meet with them.(doc.1)This gave the peasants almost no choice but to revolt. Finally, in March the tsar is overthrown and within about a day there were no signs of the tsar because the peasants had burned or taken down everything that even made you think of him. Little did the Russians know that it was more difficult to construct a government than to destroy
Communism, an ideology developed by Karl Marx, was a key component in the revolution of USSR. Marx envisioned a society where the lower and upper classes were equal in regards to property and rights. During the Russian Revolution, an extensive amount of propaganda was used to promote communism. Although propaganda was used in various forms, the posters made a huge impact in convincing the population of Soviet Union to support the communist cause. The posters contained several healthy messages about the effects of the revolution in Soviet Union.
Therefore he introduced the theory of War Communism, in order to keep his army stronger by funnelling all resources from the agricultural and industrial sectors directly into his army. However the people of Russia did not take a liking to Lenin’s implementation of war communism and so began the riots. But in the end it was the NEP that brought Russia out of its crash, and this was not seen as communism. In March of 1917 over 200 000 workers went on strike to over throw the Tsar.
“A spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of communism.” (Communist Manifesto, p. 14) Communism is considered to be a controversial topic, as it is discussed differently as there are different people. When a person asks, “What is communism?” many respond negatively often criticizing communism.
Stalin resisted Trotsky’s policies and the two had a bloody clash over what would be Stalingrad. When the communist forces won the Russian Civil War of 1920, Trotsky focused on economic reconstruction. Most of his ideas were unsuccessful. In the winter of 1920-1921 there was an issue about the future role of trade unions. The crisis came to a head in 1921, and at this point Trotsky sided with Lenin, backing the suppression of open factional activities within the party.
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION ___________________________ 1. How could the Russian Revolution have been avoided? What factors could have been changed that might have stemmed the call for revolution? Or, was the Russian Revolution inevitable? Why?
“Is what you want? A miserable little bourgeois republic? In the name of the great Soviet republic of labour we declare war to the death on such a government!” (Bukharin, 1917) . The Russians were fed up of being poorly treated by their own country, so they decided to take a stance.
Karl Marx (1818-1883) considered himself not to be a sociologist but a political activist. However, many would disagree and in the view of Hughes (1986), he was ‘both – and a philosopher, historian, economist, and a political scientist as well.’ Much of the work of Marx was political and economic but his main focus was on class conflict and how this led to the rise of capitalism. While nowadays, when people hear the word “communism”, they think of the dictatorial rule of Stalin and the horrific stories of life in a communist state such as the Soviet Union, it is important not to accuse Marx of the deeds carried out in his name.