Due to the lack of necessary raw materials, half of the factories and factories did not function. The number of sown areas was reduced by 25%. In the same year, a terrible famine swept through the country, which claimed the lives of more than 2 million people. Peasant uprisings regularly occurred in the Don, Kuban and Middle Volga regions.

As a result of the economic crisis, inflation in the country exceeded all acceptable standards: a box of matches in Petrograd cost about 2 million rubles. The only way to save the dying economy was to establish a new economic course that could stabilize the situation.

In March 1921, members of the Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) adopted a resolution that replaced the surplus appropriation system with a tax in kind. This was the first step towards establishing a new economic policy.

Society during the NEP period

The NEP policy affected many spheres of society. During this period, compulsory labor service was abolished, small entrepreneurs, including farmers, were allowed to privately own small enterprises. Peasants were no longer forced to unite into communes; the authorities encouraged the organization of cooperatives.

Such reforms gradually improved the state's economy, but the ill-conceived implementation of them led to the fact that after some time the government returned to the old system of regulating economic relations.

If liberal changes were observed in economic life, the political and spiritual sides were shackled by the shackles of emerging totalitarianism. The authoritarian system was consolidated in the state; during this period, persecution of the small opposition began.

The NEP was accompanied by unlimited state intervention in the private lives of citizens. Marxist Leninist ideology was forcibly imposed on society. A new article was introduced into the Criminal Code, which provided for liability for political and spiritual beliefs.

It was during this period that the government began to carry out the first anti-religious campaign, and the clergy was already counted among the oppositionists and enemies of communism, as the main enemies of socialist ideology.

The main socio-economic contradictions of the NEP

The construction of a socialist society contradicted the establishment of de facto capitalist market relations. Also, the course of social equality was absolutely incompatible with the formation of a new layer of “aristocracy” - communist officials.

By introducing the NEP, the Bolsheviks, first of all, unknowingly betrayed their own positions and ideals. The economic growth that was achieved thanks to the new policy did not take hold in the state for long. After all, the main task of the NEP in the eyes of the Bolsheviks was to ensure a gradual transition from capitalism to socialism.

When it became clear that it was impossible to build a socialist society using such methods, the party government leadership abandoned the NEP policy and took the course of a completely new economic development - industrialization.

32 Socio-economic development of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century

Late 19th century was marked by the entry of most developed world powers into the imperialist stage of development. Its main features are: the formation of financial capital and the dominance in the economic sphere of oligarchy and monopolies, which replaced free competition. It was during this period that the world capitalist economic system was formed. Competition for markets has intensified.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia noticeably lagged behind the leading powers in its development. But, despite the fact that transformations in the country began with a noticeable delay, the Russian economy at the beginning of the 20th century, thanks to the reforms of the 60s, showed a significant acceleration in growth rates. The increasing demand for metal, coal, wood, and the construction of railways clearly indicate the economic recovery in the country, which began in 1893. State policy of that time provided for financing of the largest enterprises.

A distinctive feature of Russian industry is the high concentration of production. Trade and business unions evolved into powerful syndicates and cartels. The socio-economic development of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century was also characterized by the concentration of banking capital. Financial flows in the country were controlled by only the 5 largest banks. The financial and industrial sectors merged as bankers invested heavily in the development of a wide variety of enterprises. Thus, a financial oligarchy was born.

The crisis of 1988 led to the strengthening of the positions of the largest banks in Russia: Russian-Asian, St. Petersburg International, Azov-Don. About 3 thousand small and medium-sized enterprises also disappeared, which led to the monopolization of production. It is worth noting that the development of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century was distinguished by the almost complete absence of facts of the export of capital abroad. Money was invested in the development of Russian provinces and outlying lands, and in industry. But, despite the highest rates of development in comparison with the leading countries of Europe, Russia was noticeably losing, having a diversified economic system and still remaining an agrarian-industrial country.

Semi-feudal and early capitalist forms of economy continued to exist in the country - small-scale commodity and manufacturing. All remnants of serfdom in the countryside remained (communalism, patriarchy, exploitation of peasant labor). Peasant labor was characterized by extremely low productivity due to land shortage, patchwork, and allotment peasant land ownership. Some progress was achieved only by increasing the cultivated area and improving the technical equipment of large agricultural enterprises. The severe lag in the agricultural sector required the final overcoming of the remnants of feudalism.

Obvious contradictions can be noted in the social and class structure of society. Class division was characteristic of the feudal era: there were peasantry, philistines, merchants and nobility. But, on the other hand, the formation of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie has already begun. The nobility continued to play the role of the dominant and most privileged class in the country. It was a serious economic and political force and represented the main social support of the tsarist power.

33. International relations and foreign policy of the USSR in the 1920-1930s.

Foreign policy of the USSR in the 20s. identified two contradictory principles. The first principle recognized the need to break out of foreign policy isolation, strengthen the country’s position in the international arena, and establish mutually beneficial trade and economic relations with other states. The second principle followed the traditional Bolshevism doctrine of world communist revolution and demanded that we support the revolutionary movement in other countries as actively as possible. The implementation of the first principle was carried out primarily by the bodies of the Commissariat of Foreign Affairs, the second - by the structures of the Third International (Comintern, created in 1919). In the first direction in the 20s. a lot has been achieved. In 1920, Russia signed peace treaties with Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland (countries that were part of the Russian Empire). Since 1921, the conclusion of trade and economic agreements with England, Germany, Norway, Italy, etc. began. In 1922, for the first time in the post-revolutionary years, Soviet Russia took part in an international conference in Genoa. The main issue on which the struggle unfolded was related to the settlement of Russia's debts to European countries. The Genoa Conference did not bring any results, but during its days Russia and Germany signed the Treaty of Rapallo on the restoration of diplomatic relations and trade cooperation. From that moment on, Soviet-German relations acquired a special character: Germany, which lost the First World War and, under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, was reduced to the position of a second-class European country, needed allies. Russia, in turn, received serious support in its struggle to overcome international isolation. The years 1924-1925 were turning points in this sense. The USSR was recognized by Great Britain, France, Italy, Austria, Norway, Sweden, China, etc. Trade, economic and military-technical relations continued to develop most intensively until 1933 with Germany, as well as with the USA (although the USA officially recognized the USSR only in 1933). The course towards peaceful coexistence (this term, it is believed, was first used by the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs G.V. Chicherin) coexisted with attempts to ignite the fire of the world revolution, to destabilize the situation in the very countries with which mutually beneficial relations were established with such difficulty. There are many examples. In 1923, the Comintern allocated significant funds to support revolutionary uprisings in Germany and Bulgaria. In 1921 - 1927 The USSR most directly participated in the creation of the Communist Party of China and in the development of the Chinese revolution (even to the point of sending military advisers to the country led by Marshal V.K. Blucher). In 1926, trade unions provided financial assistance to striking English miners, which provoked a crisis in Soviet-British relations and their rupture (1927). Significant adjustments to the activities of the Comintern were made in 1928. In the leadership of the CPSU (b), J.V. Stalin’s point of view on building socialism in a single country prevailed. She assigned a subordinate role to the world revolution. From now on, the activities of the Comintern were strictly subordinated to the main foreign policy line pursued by the USSR. THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS, -

The first world organization whose goals included maintaining peace and developing international cooperation. It was formally founded on January 10, 1920 and ceased to exist on April 18, 1946 with the formation of the UN. The ideas and projects proposed since the 17th century found their practical expression in the League of Nations. until the First World War. Of the 65 large states that existed on the planet in 1920, all, with the exception of the United States and Saudi Arabia (formed in 1932), were members of the League at one time or another.

34. Trends in the development of European countries and the United States in the 1920-1930s.

35. International relations in the 1920-1930s

The settlement of international relations after the First World War, as is known, was not comprehensive and indisputable for its participants. In addition to the contradictions between the victors and the vanquished, there were disagreements in the camp of the victors themselves. The stumbling block was the attitude towards the fate of Germany. Here the positions of Great Britain and France differed especially noticeably. The first was interested in establishing a balance of power in Europe and feared the excessive strengthening of France. British politicians advocated helping Germany quickly restore the economy, stabilize political life, and overcome the consequences of war and revolution. France insisted on strict compliance with all the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles in relation to Germany, as well as the unity of action of European states against the possible revival of German economic and military power. Heated disputes arose in 1923-1925. regarding the collection of reparations from Germany and guarantees of its western borders. Germany, feeling the support of Great Britain, began to delay the payment of reparations. In response, France and Belgium occupied the Ruhr region of Germany in January 1923 (it was a center of coal mining, and its withdrawal dealt a severe blow to German industry). The conflict was resolved in the summer of 1924 at an international conference in London, where Great Britain and the USA had the final say. Decisions were made to withdraw French and Belgian troops from the Ruhr, as well as Dawes plan. It provided for the easing of Germany's reparation obligations and providing it with economic assistance in the form of loans, mainly American. With these funds, Germany not only paid reparations, but also recreated its military-industrial complex. December 1925 seven European states have signed the so-called Locarno Accords. The main one was the Rhine Guarantee Pact, according to which France, Belgium and Germany pledged to maintain the inviolability of the German-French and German-Belgian borders. This ensured the stability of Germany's western borders. True, the question of its borders in the east remained open. But this did not bother the Western powers. Moreover, even then the opinion was expressed that they were interested in directing German expansion eastward, towards the Soviet Union. In the fall of 1926, Germany was admitted to the League of Nations. Peacekeeping politicians believed that they could rest on their laurels. The stabilization of international relations in the second half of the 1920s gave rise to contemporaries talking about “ era of pacifism" Supporters of pacifism called for the prevention of international conflicts and wars and the struggle for general disarmament. The Soviet state occupied a special place in international relations of that time. The Western powers looked at him expectantly: when and how the Bolshevik experiment would end. While supporting Germany, they were not averse to making it a force directed against the USSR. In this situation, the Soviet government sought to overcome international isolation in various ways. In the spring of 1926, the USSR signed a neutrality treaty with Germany. The following year, the Soviet government submitted proposals for general and complete disarmament to the preparatory international commission for disarmament, which, however, were not accepted. In 1928, several countries signed the so-called Briand-Kellogg Pact, an agreement prohibiting war as a means of national policy. The Soviet Union was invited (though not immediately) to join. The Soviet state was not only the first to ratify this treaty, but also invited neighboring countries, without waiting for general ratification, to bring it into force between them ahead of schedule.

At the very end of the Civil War, the leadership of the RCP(b) decided to move from the policy of war communism to the NEP. On the one hand, this decision was dictated by the need to revive the economy destroyed by the war, and on the other, by the desire of the Soviet government to achieve recognition on the world stage. For residents of Soviet Russia, the NEP was an era of temporary revival of small private enterprise and the resumption of commodity-money relations. In foreign policy, the NEP and the associated issue of the first stable Soviet currency - the golden chervonets - became the first steps towards Soviet Russia gaining international recognition.

Many distinctive features The NEP contradicted fundamental communist teachings. By the end of the 20s, the NEP fulfilled the function of improving the economy, and the state switched to a policy of forced cooperation of privately owned farms with the subsequent establishment of full state control over established enterprises and the elimination of the free market.

The NEP policy assumed:

1. high food tax from peasants
2. limiting the number of large private banks to the list
3. replacement of surplus appropriation with tax in kind
4. precise fixation of limited norms for the delivery of grain by peasants to the state
5. some freedom of enterprise for citizens
6. free trade in consumer goods
7. allowing industrial enterprises to freely enter foreign markets
8. permitting the rental of small enterprises by private individuals
9. creation of concessions involving foreign capital
10. opening labor exchanges to eliminate unemployment
11. introduction of a hard national currency
12. creation of a national banking system
13. development of state capitalism in its various forms
14. cash wages
15. introduction of a tariff system of remuneration
16. development of production and consumer cooperation
17. close economic interaction between city and countryside
18. the right granted by the state to engage in individual labor activity for the purpose of making a profit
19. government-granted right to employ hired labor
20. the right granted by the state to engage in trade and intermediary activities.
21. During the years of the New Economic Policy, “firm”, fixed prices for industrial and food products were introduced

From a letter written during the NEP years by a “bourgeois specialist” (as he calls himself): “Of course, there are limits to nationalization, and the new economic policy, by returning to the former owners a number of small enterprises that were unnecessarily and unreasonably taken from them, itself clearly outlines these limits.” . Name a word that explains what kind of enterprises (by size) we are talking about.

The food tax, introduced in 1921, provided for the gratuitous delivery to the state of part of the output of peasant farms with the right to sell the rest on the market.

Socio-economic consequences of the NEP:

1. revival of trade
2. improving living standards
3. recovery Agriculture

Excess - rising unemployment

The absolute number of unemployed people registered by labor exchanges increased during the NEP period (from 1.2 million people at the beginning of 1924 to 1.7 million people at the beginning of 1929), but the expansion of the labor market was even more significant (the number of workers and employees in all sectors of the national economy increased from 5.8 million in 1924 to 12.4 million in 1929), so that in fact the unemployment rate decreased.

NEP is the introduction of economic methods of economic management.

During the NEP years, the number of working class:

In 1921, Russia was literally in ruins. The territories of Poland, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Western Belarus, the Kara region of Armenia and Bessarabia departed from the former Russian Empire. According to experts, the population in the remaining territories barely reached 135 million. Losses in these territories as a result of wars, epidemics, emigration, and a decline in the birth rate have amounted to at least 25 million people since 1914. During the hostilities, the Donbass, the Baku oil region, the Urals and Siberia were especially damaged; many mines and mines were destroyed. Factories shut down due to a lack of fuel and raw materials. Workers were forced to leave the cities and go to the countryside. The total volume of industrial production decreased by 5 times.

The equipment has not been updated for a long time. Metallurgy produced as much metal as it was smelted under Peter I. The volume of agricultural production decreased by 40% due to the depreciation of money and a shortage of industrial goods. Society has degraded, its intellectual potential has weakened significantly. Most of The Russian intelligentsia was destroyed or left the country.

Kronstadt uprising (rebellion)

The peasants, outraged by the actions of the food detachments, not only refused to hand over grain, but also rose up in armed struggle. The uprisings covered the Tambov region, Ukraine, Don, Kuban, Volga region and Siberia. The peasants demanded a change in agrarian policy, the elimination of the dictates of the RCP (b), and the convening of a Constituent Assembly on the basis of universal equal suffrage. Units of the Red Army were sent to suppress these protests.

Discontent spread to the army. On March 1, 1921, sailors and Red Army soldiers of the Kronstadt garrison under the slogan “For Soviets without Communists!” demanded the release from prison of all representatives socialist parties, holding re-elections of the Soviets and, as follows from the slogan, expelling all communists from them, granting freedom of speech, meetings and unions to all parties, ensuring freedom of trade, allowing peasants to freely use their land and dispose of the products of their farms, that is, the elimination of surplus appropriation. Convinced of the impossibility of reaching an agreement with the rebels, the authorities launched an assault on Kronstadt. By alternating artillery shelling and infantry actions, Kronstadt was captured by March 18; Some of the rebels died, the rest went to Finland or surrendered.

Thus, the main task domestic policy The RCP(b) and the Soviet state consisted of restoring the destroyed economy, creating the material, technical and socio-cultural basis for building the socialism promised by the Bolsheviks to the people.

The New Economic Policy aimed at restoring the national economy and the subsequent transition to socialism. The main content of the NEP is the replacement of surplus appropriation with a tax in kind in the countryside, the use of the market and various forms of ownership, the attraction of foreign capital in the form of concessions, and the implementation of a monetary reform (1922-1924), as a result of which the ruble became a convertible currency.

The main political goal of the NEP is to relieve social tensions and strengthen the social base of Soviet power in the form of an alliance of workers and peasants. The economic goal is to prevent further deterioration, get out of the crisis and restore the economy. Social purpose- to provide favorable conditions for building a socialist society, without waiting for the world revolution. In addition, the NEP was aimed at restoring normal foreign policy relations and overcoming international isolation.

What are the main reasons for the abandonment of the NEP in the USSR?

The NEP made it possible to quickly restore the national economy destroyed by the First World War and the Civil War.

But by 1925 it became clear that the national economy had reached a contradiction: further progress towards the market was hampered by political and ideological factors, the fear of the “degeneration” of power; a return to the military-communist type of economy was hampered by memories of the peasant war of 1920 and mass famine, and fear of anti-Soviet protests.

All this led to discord in political assessments of the situation. In the second half of the 1920s, the first attempts to curtail the NEP began. Syndicates in industry were liquidated, from which private capital was administratively squeezed out, and a rigid centralized system of economic management was created (economic people's commissariats). Stalin and his entourage headed for the forced confiscation of grain and the forced collectivization of the countryside. Repressions were carried out against management personnel (the Shakhty case, the Industrial Party trial, etc.). By the beginning of the 1930s, the NEP was actually curtailed.

NEP (New Economic Policy) was carried out by the Soviet government from 1921 to 1928. This was an attempt to bring the country out of the crisis and give impetus to the development of the economy and agriculture. But the results of the NEP turned out to be terrible, and ultimately Stalin had to hastily interrupt this process to create industrialization, since the NEP policy almost completely killed heavy industry.

Reasons for introducing the NEP

With the beginning of the winter of 1920, the RSFSR plunged into a terrible crisis. It was largely due to the fact that in 1921-1922 there was a famine in the country. The Volga region suffered mainly (we all understand the notorious phrase “The Starving Volga Region”). Added to this was the economic crisis, as well as popular uprisings against the Soviet regime. No matter how many textbooks tell us that people greeted the power of the Soviets with applause, this was not so. For example, uprisings took place in Siberia, on the Don, in the Kuban, and the largest one was in Tambov. It went down in history under the name Antonov uprising or “Antonovschina.” In the spring of 21, about 200 thousand people were involved in the uprising. Considering that the Red Army at that moment was extremely weak, then this was a very serious threat to the regime. Then the Kronstadt rebellion was born. At the cost of effort, all these revolutionary elements were suppressed, but it became obvious that it was necessary to change the approach to managing the country. And the conclusions were made correctly. Lenin formulated them this way:

• The driving force of socialism is the proletariat, which means the peasants. Therefore, the Soviet government must learn to get along with them.
• it is necessary to create a unified party system in the country and destroy any dissent.

This is precisely the essence of the NEP - “Economic liberalization under strict political control.”

In general, all the reasons for the introduction of the NEP can be divided into ECONOMIC (the country needed an impetus for economic development), SOCIAL (social division was still extremely acute) and POLITICAL (the new economic policy became a means of managing power).

Beginning of the NEP

The main stages of the introduction of the NEP in the USSR:

1. Decision of the 10th Congress of the Bolshevik Party of 1921.
2. Replacing the appropriation tax (in fact, this was the introduction of the NEP). Decree of March 21, 1921.
3. Allowing free exchange of agricultural products. Decree March 28, 1921.
4. Creation of cooperatives, which were destroyed in 1917. Decree of April 7, 1921.
5. Transfer of some industry from state hands to private hands. Decree May 17, 1921.
6. Creating conditions for the development of private trade. Decree May 24, 1921.
7. Resolution to TEMPORARILY provide the opportunity for private owners to lease state-owned enterprises. Decree July 5, 1921.
8. Permission for private capital to create any enterprise (including industrial) with a staff of up to 20 people. If the enterprise is mechanized - no more than 10. Decree of July 7, 1921.
9. Adoption of a “liberal” Land Code. He allowed not only the rental of land, but also hired labor on it. Decree of October 1922.

The ideological foundation of the NEP was laid at the 10th Congress of the RCP (b), which met in 1921 (if you remember, its participants went straight from this congress of delegates to suppress the Kronstadt rebellion), adopted the NEP and introduced a ban on “dissent” in the RCP (b). The fact is that before 1921 there were different factions in the RCP (b). This was allowed. According to logic, and this logic is absolutely correct, if economic relief is introduced, then within the party there must be a monolith. Therefore, there are no factions or divisions.

Justification of the NEP from the point of view of Soviet ideology

The ideological concept of the NEP was first given by V.I. Lenin. This happened at a speech at the tenth and eleventh congresses of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, which took place in 1921 and 1922, respectively. Also, the rationale for the New Economic Policy was voiced at the third and fourth congresses of the Comintern, which also took place in 1921 and 1922. In addition, Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin played a major role in formulating the tasks of the NEP. It is important to remember that for a long time Bukharin and Lenin acted in opposition to each other on NEP issues. Lenin proceeded from the fact that the time had come to ease the pressure on the peasants and “make peace” with them. But Lenin was going to get along with the peasants not forever, but for 5-10 years. Therefore, the majority of members of the Bolshevik Party were sure that the NEP, as a forced measure, was being introduced for just one grain procurement company, as a deception for the peasantry. But Lenin especially emphasized that the NEP course is taken for a longer period. And then Lenin said a phrase that showed that the Bolsheviks were keeping their word - “but we will return to terror, including economic terror.” If we remember the events of 1929, then this is exactly what the Bolsheviks did. The name of this terror is Collectivization.

The New Economic Policy was designed for 5, maximum 10 years. And it certainly fulfilled its task, although at some point it threatened the existence of the Soviet Union.

Briefly, the NEP, according to Lenin, is a bond between the peasantry and the proletariat. This is precisely what formed the basis of the events of those days - if you are against the bond between the peasantry and the proletariat, then you are an opponent of the workers’ power, the Soviets and the USSR. The problems of this bond became a problem for the survival of the Bolshevik regime, because the regime simply did not have the army or equipment to crush the peasant revolts if they began en masse and in an organized manner. That is, some historians say that the NEP is the Brest peace of the Bolsheviks with their own people. That is, what kind of Bolsheviks are the International Socialists who wanted a world revolution. Let me remind you that it was precisely this idea that Trotsky promoted. First, Lenin, who was not a very big theorist (he was good practitioner) he defined the NEP as state capitalism. And immediately for this he received a full portion of criticism from Bukharin and Trotsky. And after this, Lenin began to interpret the NEP as a mixture of Socialist and capitalist forms. I repeat - Lenin was not a theorist, but a practitioner. He lived by the principle - it is important for us to take power, but what it will be called is unimportant.

Lenin, in fact, accepted Bukharin’s version of the NEP with its wording and other attributes..

The NEP is a socialist dictatorship based on socialist production relations and regulating the broad petty-bourgeois organization of the economy.

Lenin

According to the logic of this definition, the main task facing the leadership of the USSR was the destruction of the petty-bourgeois economy. Let me remind you that the Bolsheviks called peasant farming petty-bourgeois. You need to understand that by 1922 the building of socialism had reached a dead end and Lenin realized that this movement could only be continued through the NEP. It is clear that this is not the main path, and it contradicted Marxism, but as a workaround it was quite suitable. And Lenin constantly emphasized that new policy- a temporary phenomenon.

General characteristics of NEP

The totality of the NEP:

• rejection of labor mobilization and an equal wage system for all.
• transfer (partial, of course) of industry into private hands from state ones (denationalization).
• creation of new economic associations - trusts and syndicates. Widespread introduction of self-financing
• the formation of enterprises in the country at the expense of capitalism and the bourgeoisie, including the Western one.

Looking ahead, I will say that the NEP led to the fact that many idealistic Bolsheviks shot themselves in the forehead. They believed that capitalism was being restored, and they shed blood in vain during the Civil War. But the non-idealistic Bolsheviks made great use of the NEP, because during the NEP it was easy to launder what was stolen during the Civil War. Because, as we will see, NEP is a triangle: it is the head of a separate link of the party’s Central Committee, the head of a syndicator or trust, and also NEPman as a “huckster,” in modern language, through whom this whole process takes place. In general, this was a corruption scheme from the very beginning, but the NEP was a forced measure - the Bolsheviks would not have retained power without it.

NEP in trade and finance

• Development of the credit system. In 1921, a state bank was created.
• Reforming financial and monetary system THE USSR. This was achieved through the reform of 1922 (monetary) and the replacement of the money of 1922-1924.
• The emphasis is on private (retail) trade and the development of various markets, including the All-Russian one.

If we try to briefly characterize the NEP, then this structure was extremely unreliable. It took ugly forms of merging the personal interests of the country's leadership and everyone who was involved in the "Triangle". Each of them played their role. The menial work was done by the NEP man speculator. And this was especially emphasized in Soviet textbooks, saying that it was all private traders who ruined the NEP, and we fought against them as best we could. But in fact, the NEP led to colossal corruption of the party. This was one of the reasons for the abolition of the NEP, because if it had been maintained further, the party would simply have completely disintegrated.

Beginning in 1921, the Soviet leadership set a course towards weakening Centralization. In addition, much attention was paid to the element of reforming economic systems in the country. Labor mobilizations were replaced by labor exchanges (unemployment was high). Equalization was abolished, the card system was abolished (but for some, the card system was a salvation). It is logical that the results of the NEP almost immediately had a positive impact on trade. Naturally in retail trade. Already at the end of 1921, the Nepmen controlled 75% of trade turnover in retail trade and 18% in wholesale trade. NEPism has become a profitable form of money laundering, especially for those who stole a lot during civil war. Their loot lay idle, and now it could be sold through the NEPmen. And many people laundered their money this way.

NEP in agriculture

• Adoption of the Land Code. (22nd year). Transformation of the tax in kind into a single agricultural tax since 1923 (since 1926, entirely in cash).
• Agricultural cooperation cooperation.
• Equal (fair) exchange between agriculture and industry. But this was not achieved, as a result of which the so-called “price scissors” appeared.

At the bottom of society, the party leadership's turn to the NEP did not find much support. Many members of the Bolshevik Party were sure that this was a mistake and a transition from socialism to capitalism. Someone simply sabotaged the decision of the NEP, and those who were especially ideological even committed suicide. In October 1922, the New Economic Policy affected agriculture - the Bolsheviks began implementing the Land Code with new amendments. Its difference was that it legalized wage labor in the countryside (it would seem that the Soviet government was fighting precisely against this, but it did the same thing itself). The next stage occurred in 1923. This year, something happened that many had been waiting for and demanding for so long - the tax in kind was replaced by an agricultural tax. In 1926, this tax began to be collected entirely in cash.

In general, the NEP was not an absolute triumph of economic methods, as it was sometimes written in Soviet textbooks. It was only outwardly a triumph of economic methods. In fact, there was a lot of other things there. And I don’t just mean the so-called excesses of local authorities. The fact is that a significant part of the peasant product was alienated in the form of taxes, and taxation was excessive. Another thing is that the peasant got the opportunity to breathe freely, and this solved some problems. And here the absolutely unfair exchange between agriculture and industry, the formation of the so-called “price scissors,” came to the fore. The regime increased prices for industrial products and decreased prices for agricultural products. As a result, in 1923-1924 the peasants worked for practically nothing! The laws were such that the peasants were forced to sell approximately 70% of everything that the village produced for next to nothing. 30% of the product they produced was taken by the state at market value, and 70% at a reduced price. Then this figure decreased, and it became approximately 50/50. But in any case, this is a lot. 50% of products are priced below the market price.

As a result, the worst happened - the market ceased to perform its direct functions as a means of buying and selling goods. Now it has turned into an effective time of exploitation of the peasants. Only half of the peasant goods were purchased with money, and the other half was collected in the form of tribute (this is the most accurate definition of what happened in those years). The NEP can be characterized as follows: corruption, a swollen apparatus, massive theft of state property. The result was a situation where peasant production was used irrationally, and often the peasants themselves were not interested in high yields. This was a logical consequence of what was happening, because the NEP was initially an ugly design.

NEP in industry

The main features that characterize the New Economic Policy from the point of view of industry are the almost complete lack of development of this industry and the huge level of unemployment among ordinary people.

The NEP was initially supposed to establish interaction between city and village, between workers and peasants. But it was not possible to do this. The reason is that industry was almost completely destroyed as a result of the Civil War, and it was not able to offer anything significant to the peasantry. The peasantry did not sell their grain, because why sell if you can’t buy anything with money anyway. They simply stored the grain and did not buy anything. Therefore, there was no incentive for the development of industry. It turned out to be such a “vicious circle”. And in 1927-1928, everyone already understood that the NEP had outlived its usefulness, that it did not provide an incentive for the development of industry, but, on the contrary, destroyed it even more.

At the same time, it became clear that sooner or later the new war. Here is what Stalin said about this in 1931:

If in the next 10 years we do not cover the path that the West has covered in 100 years, we will be destroyed and crushed.

Stalin

If you say in simple words- in 10 years it was necessary to raise industry from the ruins and put it on a par with the most developed countries. The NEP did not allow this to be done, because it was focused on light industry and on Russia being a raw material appendage of the West. That is, in this regard, the implementation of the NEP was a ballast that slowly but surely dragged Russia to the bottom, and if this course had been maintained for another 5 years, it is unknown how World War 2 would have ended.

The slow pace of industrial growth in the 1920s caused a sharp rise in unemployment. If in 1923-1924 there were 1 million unemployed in the city, then in 1927-1928 there were already 2 million unemployed. The logical consequence of this phenomenon is a huge increase in crime and discontent in cities. For those who worked, of course, the situation was normal. But overall the situation of the working class was very difficult.

Development of the USSR economy during the NEP period

• Economic booms alternated with crises. Everyone knows the crises of 1923, 1925 and 1928, which also led to famine in the country.
• Absence unified system development of the country's economy. The NEP crippled the economy. It did not provide an opportunity for the development of industry, but agriculture could not develop under such conditions. These 2 spheres slowed each other down, although the opposite was planned.
• The grain procurement crisis of 1927-28 28 and, as a result, the course to curtail the NEP.

The most important part of the NEP, by the way, one of the few positive traits this policy is “lifting up the financial system from its knees.” Let’s not forget that the Civil War has just ended, which almost completely destroyed the Russian financial system. Prices in 1921 compared to 1913 increased 200 thousand times. Just think about this number. Over 8 years, 200 thousand times... Naturally, it was necessary to introduce other money. Reform was needed. The reform was carried out by People's Commissar of Finance Sokolnikov, who was assisted by a group of old specialists. In October 1921, the State Bank began its work. As a result of his work, in the period from 1922 to 1924, depreciated Soviet money was replaced by Chervontsi

The chervonets was backed by gold, the content of which corresponded to the pre-revolutionary ten-ruble coin, and cost 6 American dollars. Chervonets was backed by both our gold and foreign currency.

Historical reference

Sovznak were withdrawn and exchanged at the rate of 1 new ruble 50,000 old signs. This money was called “Sovznaki”. During the NEP, cooperation actively developed and economic liberalization was accompanied by the strengthening of communist power. The repressive apparatus also strengthened. And how did this happen? For example, on June 6, 22, GlavLit was created. This is censorship and establishing control over censorship. A year later, GlavRepedKom emerged, which was in charge of the theater’s repertoire. In 1922, by decision of this body, more than 100 people, active cultural figures, were expelled from the USSR. Others were less fortunate and were sent to Siberia. The teaching of bourgeois disciplines was banned in schools: philosophy, logic, history. In 1936 everything was restored. Also, the Bolsheviks and the church did not ignore them. In October 1922, the Bolsheviks confiscated jewelry from the church, supposedly to fight hunger. In June 1923, Patriarch Tikhon recognized the legitimacy of Soviet power, and in 1925 he was arrested and died. A new patriarch was no longer elected. The patriarchate was then restored by Stalin in 1943.

On February 6, 1922, the Cheka was transformed into the state political department of the GPU. From emergency ones, these bodies turned into state, regular ones.

The NEP culminated in 1925. Bukharin addressed an appeal to the peasantry (primarily to the wealthy peasants).

Get rich, accumulate, develop your farm.

Bukharin

At the 14th party conference, Bukharin's plan was adopted. He was actively supported by Stalin, and criticized by Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev. Economic development during the NEP period was uneven: first crisis, sometimes recovery. And this was due to the fact that the necessary balance between the development of agriculture and the development of industry was not found. The grain procurement crisis of 1925 was the first sound of the bell on the NEP. It became clear that the NEP would soon end, but due to inertia it continued for several more years.

Cancellation of NEP - reasons for cancellation

• July and November plenum of the Central Committee of 1928. Plenum of the Central Committee of the Party and the Central Control Commission (to which one could complain about the Central Committee) April 1929.
• reasons for the abolition of the NEP (economic, social, political).
• was the NEP an alternative to real communism.

In 1926, the 15th party conference of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) met. It condemned the Trotskyist-Zinovievist opposition. Let me remind you that this opposition actually called for a war with the peasantry - to take away from them what the authorities need and what the peasants are hiding. Stalin sharply criticized this idea, and also directly voiced the position that the current policy had outlived its usefulness, and the country needed a new approach to development, an approach that would allow the restoration of industry, without which the USSR could not exist.

Since 1926, a tendency towards the abolition of the NEP gradually begins to emerge. In 1926-27, grain reserves for the first time exceeded pre-war levels and amounted to 160 million tons. But the peasants still did not sell bread, and industry was suffocating from overexertion. The left opposition (its ideological leader was Trotsky) proposed confiscating 150 million poods of grain from wealthy peasants, who made up 10% of the population, but the leadership of the CPSU (b) did not agree to this, because this would mean a concession to the left opposition.

Throughout 1927, the Stalinist leadership conducted maneuvers to completely eliminate the left opposition, because without this it was impossible to resolve the peasant question. Any attempt to put pressure on the peasants would mean that the party has taken the path that the “Left Wing” is talking about. At the 15th Congress, Zinoviev, Trotsky and other left oppositionists were expelled from the Central Committee. However, after they repented (this was called in party language “disarming before the party”) they were returned, because the Stalinist center needed them for the future fight against the Bucharest team.

The struggle for the abolition of the NEP unfolded as a struggle for industrialization. This was logical, because industrialization was task number 1 for the self-preservation of the Soviet state. Therefore, the results of the NEP can be briefly summarized as follows: the ugly economic system created many problems that could only be solved thanks to industrialization.