war communism - Russia

lenin wanted to replace the capatalist economic system with communism.

• 2nd december - lenin creates the supreme council of national economy to control russia's economy
• 14th december - army took over all the banks putting them in communist control
• 21st january - lenin declares foreign debts incurred by the tsar - won't pay them.
• during december workers took control of factories setting own hours - production fell

the economy was working on a barter system with black markets being established for products not available this lasted till the break out of the civil war

war communism established :

• supreme economic council
• decree on nationalisation ( meant goverment could nationalise any buisness, from 1920 37,000 buisnesses where nationalised )
• private trade banned
• grain surpluses seized
• decline in money ( even completely gone for a while) people given rations
• terror used to force slave labour

the goverment found it difficult to completly wipe out the free market - black market flourished.commisariat of supplies gave ration based on workers out put.

war communism allowed the communists to win the civil war with the whites

HOWEVER

• great loss of life
• 1917 - 1920 over half urban population dissapeared
• majour famine in 1921 (partly from war,partly from war communism partly because peasents stopped producing as much grain for it to be taken) between 1 and 2 million died
• people died through the war
• lead to peasent uprisings - tambou province
• production levels still low

at the tenth party congress lenin reappraised war communism and ending it for it to be replaced with the NEP