The economic and social impact of the Russian Civil War: State Capitalism and War Communism

Before the Civil War: State Capitalism

• After the Bolsheviks took power, they introduced State Capitalism to faciliate economic recovery and serve as a transition to socialism
• Capitalist elements: money, private trade and factories managed by private individuals or groups
• Socialist elements: nationalised banking (December 1917), began to nationalise industry (February 1918) and set up the Vesenkha (the Supreme Council of State Economy) in December 1917 to manage all major sectors of the economy

During the Civil War: War Communism

• From March 1918, the Bolsheviks introduced War Communism because industry was collapsing (it was producing only 30% of 1913 levels because workers' committees were not good at running factories)
• As a result of the industrial problems, there were shortages of raw materials, very few consumer goods and prices soared
• There were also significant…