The Bolsheviks introduced political, economic and social reforms as they sought to consolidate power between 1917-1924. These policies appealed to many of Russia’s citizens, as the people believed that the reforms would give them a better future. There would be a redistribution of land, better working conditions and wages, a withdraw from the World War that had destroyed the economy, and the promise of ‘Peace, Land, Bread’. At the beginning of 1917, Russia was in a poor state; people starved, the population decreased, and conscription was hard to enforce. The Treaty of Brest Litovsk, War Communism and the New Economic Policy contributed to the Bolsheviks consolidation of power.
After the Bolsheviks came to power, Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolsheviks, signed the ‘Decree on Peace’, that
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The NEP was successful in increasing agricultural production and reintroducing private firms. Control over banks, railways, mines, and trade was given to the state while communities controlled factories. The peasants benefited from this policy because it gave them land, which is what the Bolsheviks promised before the Revolution. The peasants would give a portion of their crops as a tax to the state and kept the rest and sold it privately. Private firms were given back to their owners and plans were made to encourage more production. This plan gave the economy a boost and created social solidarity between the working class and peasants because they were able to work better together. Lenin’s plan to slowly introduce socialism along with communism would reconcile those who suffered during the Russian Civil War. By allowing a community to advocate for production, distribution, and trade, the people felt less controlled and less politically repressed. The NEP laid the groundwork for a socialist economic system that would better Russia in the