The goal of the October Revolution was, no less, the building of an ideal state. A country in which everyone is equal, where there are no rich and poor, where there is no money, and everyone does only what they love, at the call of the soul, and not for a salary. But reality did not want to turn into a happy fairy tale, the economy was rolling down, and food riots began in the country. Then it was decided to switch to NEP.

A country that has survived two wars and a revolution

By the 20s of the last century, Russia had turned from a huge rich power into ruins. The First World War, the coup of 1917, the Civil War are not just words.

Millions of dead, destroyed factories and cities, deserted villages. The country's economy was practically destroyed. These were the reasons for the transition to NEP. Briefly, they can be described as an attempt to return the country to a peaceful track.

The First World War not only depleted the country's economic and social resources. It also paved the way for a deepening crisis. After the end of the war, millions of soldiers returned home. But there were no jobs for them. The revolutionary years were marked by a monstrous increase in crime, and the reason is not only the temporary anarchy and confusion in the country. The young republic suddenly found itself flooded with people with weapons, people unaccustomed to a peaceful life, and they survived as experience prompted them. The transition to NEP made it possible to increase the number of jobs in a short time.

Economic disaster

The Russian economy in the early twentieth century practically collapsed. Production decreased several times. Large factories were left without leadership, the thesis "Plants for workers" turned out to be good on paper, but not in life. Small and medium-sized businesses were practically destroyed. Craftsmen and merchants, owners of small manufactures were the first victims of the struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. A huge number of specialists and entrepreneurs fled to Europe. And if at first it seemed absolutely normal - an element alien to communist ideals was leaving the country, then it turned out that there were not enough workers for the effective functioning of industry. The transition to NEP made it possible to revive small and medium-sized businesses, thereby ensuring the growth of gross output and the creation of new jobs.

Agricultural crisis

Agriculture was just as bad. The cities were starving, and a system of payment in kind was introduced. The workers were paid in rations, but they were too small.

In order to solve the food problem, surplus appropriation was introduced. At the same time, up to 70% of the harvested grain was confiscated from the peasants. A paradoxical situation arose. The workers fled from the cities to the countryside to feed themselves on the land, but even here hunger awaited them, even more severe than before.

The work of the peasants has become meaningless. To work for a whole year, what then give everything to the state and starve? Of course, this could not but affect the productivity of agriculture. Under such conditions, the only way to change the situation was the transition to NEP. The date of the adoption of the new economic course was a turning point in the revival of dying agriculture. Only this could stop the wave of riots that swept across the country.

The collapse of the financial system

The prerequisites for the transition to NEP were not only social. The monstrous inflation devalued the ruble, and the products were not so much sold as exchanged.

However, if we remember that the state ideology presupposed a complete rejection of money in favor of payment in kind, everything seemed to be fine. It just turned out that it is impossible to provide each and every one with food, clothing, and footwear just like that, according to the list. The state machine is not designed to carry out such small and precise tasks.

The only way that War Communism could offer to solve this problem was food appropriation. But then it turned out that if the inhabitants of the cities work for food, then the peasants work in general for free. Grain is taken from them, without giving anything in return. It turned out that it is practically impossible to establish a commodity exchange without the participation of a cash equivalent. The only way out in this situation was the transition to NEP. Briefly describing this situation, we can say that the state was forced to return to the previously rejected market relations, temporarily postponing the construction of an ideal state.

Brief essence of NEP

The reasons for the transition to NEP were not clear to everyone. Many considered such a policy a huge step backward, a return to the petty-bourgeois past, to the cult of enrichment. The ruling party was forced to explain to the population that this was a forced measure of a temporary nature.

Free trade and private enterprise were revived in the country.

And if earlier there were only two classes: workers and peasants, and the intelligentsia was just a stratum, now the so-called Nepmen have appeared in the country - traders, manufacturers, small producers. It was they who ensured the effective satisfaction of consumer demand in cities and villages. This is how the transition to NEP looked like in Russia. The date 03/15/1921 went down in history as the day when the RCP (b) abandoned the tough policy of war communism, once again legalizing private property and monetary market relations.

The dual nature of NEP

Of course, such reforms did not mean a full-fledged return to the free market. Large factories and plants, banks were still owned by the state. Only it had the right to dispose of the country's natural resources and conclude foreign economic transactions. The logic of administrative and economic management of market processes was of a fundamental nature. The elements of free trade resembled rather thin ivy sprouts, entwining the granite rock of a rigid state economy.

At the same time, there were a huge number of changes that were caused by the transition to NEP. Briefly, they can be characterized as granting a certain freedom to small producers and traders - but only for a while, to relieve social tension. And although in the future the state was supposed to return to the previous ideological doctrines, such a proximity of the command and market economy was planned for quite a long time, sufficient to create a reliable economic base that would make the transition to socialism painless for the country.

NEP in agriculture

One of the first steps towards the modernization of the previous economic policy was the abolition of food appropriation. The transition to the NEP provided for a food tax of 30%, which was handed over to the state not free of charge, but at fixed prices. Even if the cost of grain was small, it was still an obvious progress.

The peasants could dispose of the remaining 70% of the production on their own, albeit within the boundaries of local farms.

Such measures not only stopped hunger, but also gave impetus to the development of the agricultural sector. The hunger has receded. By 1925, the gross agricultural product approached the pre-war volumes. This effect was ensured precisely by the transition to NEP. The year when the surplus appropriation was canceled was the beginning of the rise in agriculture in the country. The agrarian revolution began, collective farms and agricultural cooperatives were massively created in the country, and a technical base was organized.

NEP in industry

The decision to move to the NEP entailed significant changes in the management of the country's industry. Although large enterprises were subordinate only to the state, small ones were relieved of the need to obey the central administrations. They could create trusts, independently determining what and how much to produce. Such enterprises independently purchased the necessary materials and independently sold their products, disposing of their income minus the amount of taxes. The state did not control this process and was not responsible for the financial obligations of the trusts. The transition to NEP returned to the country the already half-forgotten term "bankruptcy".

At the same time, the state did not forget that the reforms were temporary in nature, and gradually imposed the principle of planning in industry. The trusts gradually merged into concerns, uniting enterprises engaged in the supply of raw materials and manufacturing products into one logical chain. In the future, it was precisely such production segments that were to become the basis of the planned economy.

Financial reforms

Since the reasons for the transition to the NEP were largely economic in nature, an urgent monetary reform was required. In the new republic, there were no specialists of the proper level, therefore the state attracted financiers who had significant work experience during the time of tsarist Russia to work.

As a result of economic reforms, the banking system was restored, direct and indirect taxation was introduced, payment for some services that were previously provided free of charge. All expenditures that did not correspond to the income of the republic were ruthlessly abolished.

A monetary reform was carried out, the first government securities were issued, and the country's currency became convertible.

For some time, the government managed to fight inflation, keeping the value of the national currency at a sufficiently high level. But then the combination of the incongruous - planned and market economies - destroyed this delicate balance. As a result of significant inflation, the chervontsy that were in use at that time lost their status as convertible currency. After 1926, it was impossible to travel abroad with this money.

Completion and results of the NEP

In the second half of the 1920s, the country's leadership decided to switch to a planned economy. The country reached the pre-revolutionary level of production, and in fact, in achieving this goal, there were the reasons for the transition to the NEP. Briefly, the consequences of applying the new economic approach can be characterized as very successful.

It should be noted that the country did not have much sense to continue the course towards a market economy. Indeed, in fact, such a high result was achieved only due to the fact that the production capacities that were inherited from the previous regime were launched. Private entrepreneurs were completely deprived of the opportunity to influence economic decisions, representatives of the revived business did not take part in governing the country.

Attracting foreign investment in the country was not welcomed. However, there were not so many who wanted to risk their finances by investing in the enterprises of the Bolsheviks. At the same time, there were simply no own funds for long-term investment in capital-intensive industries.

We can say that by the beginning of the 30s, the NEP had exhausted itself, and this economic doctrine was to be replaced by another, one that would allow the country to start moving forward.

Introduction

Studying the history of the Soviet state, it is impossible not to pay attention to the period from 1920 to 1929.

To find a way out of the current economic crisis, not only the experience of other countries, but also the historical Russian experience can be useful. It should also be noted that the knowledge acquired through experience as a result of the NEP has not lost its value today.

I made an attempt to analyze the reasons for the introduction of the NEP and solve the following tasks: first, to describe the purpose of this policy; secondly, to trace the implementation of the NEP principles in agriculture, industry, finance and planning. Thirdly, examining the material at the final stage of the NEP, I will try to find an answer to the question of why a policy that has not exhausted itself has been replaced.

NEP- it is an anti-crisis program, the essence of which was to recreate a multi-structured economy while maintaining the "commanding heights" in politics, economics, ideology in the hands of the Bolshevik government.

Reasons and prerequisites for the transition to NEP

• - A deep economic and financial crisis that gripped industry and agriculture.
• - Mass uprisings in the countryside, performance in cities, and the army and at the front.
• - The collapse of the idea of ​​"introducing socialism by eliminating market relations"
• - The desire of the Bolsheviks to retain power.
• - The decline of the revolutionary wave in the West.

Goals:

Political: relieve social tension, strengthen social. the base of Soviet power in the form of an alliance of workers and peasants;

Economic: get out of the crisis, restore agriculture, develop industry based on electrification;

Social: without waiting for the world revolution, to provide favorable conditions for building a socialist society;

Foreign policy: overcome international isolation and restore political and economic relations with other states.

The leading ideologists of the NEP, besides Lenin, were N.I. Bukharin, G. Ya. Sokolnikov, Yu. Larin.

By a decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of March 21, 1921, adopted on the basis of decisions of the 10th Congress of the RCP (b), the surplus allocation was canceled and replaced by a natural tax in kind, which was approximately half as much. Such a significant relaxation gave a certain incentive to the development of production, the peasantry, tired of the war.

The introduction of the tax in kind was not a single measure. The X Congress proclaimed the New Economic Policy. Its essence is the assumption of market relations. NEP was seen as a temporary policy aimed at creating conditions for socialism.

There was no organized tax and financial system in the country. There was a sharp drop in labor productivity and real wages of workers (even taking into account not only the monetary part of it, but also supplies at fixed prices and free payments).

The peasants were forced to surrender all surplus, and most often part of the most necessary, to the state without any equivalent, because there were almost no industrial goods. The products were forcibly confiscated. Because of this, mass demonstrations of peasants began in the country.

From August 1920, in the Tambov and Voronezh provinces, the "kulak" rebellion, led by the Socialist-Revolutionary A. S. Antonov, continued; a large number of peasant formations operated in the Ukraine (Petliurists, Makhnovists, etc.); insurgent centers arose in the Middle Volga region, on the Don and Kuban. The West Siberian "rebels", headed by the Socialist-Revolutionaries and former officers, in February-March 1921 created armed formations of several thousand people, seized almost the entire territory

Tyumen province, the cities of Petropavlovsk, Kokchetav and others, interrupting the railway connection between Siberia and the center of the country for three weeks.

The decree on the tax in kind was the beginning of the elimination of the methods of management of "War Communism" and a turning point towards the New Economic Policy. The development of the ideas underlying this decree was the basis of the NEP. However, the transition to NEP was not seen as the restoration of capitalism. It was believed that, having strengthened its position in the basic positions, the Soviet state would be able to expand the socialist sector in the future, displacing the capitalist elements.

An important moment in the transition from direct product exchange to a monetary economy was the decree of August 5, 1921 on the restoration of mandatory collection of payments for goods sold by state bodies to individuals and organizations, incl. cooperative. For the first time, wholesale prices began to form, which were previously absent due to the planned supply of enterprises. The establishment of wholesale, retail, procurement prices and charges on the prices of monopoly goods were handled by the Price Committee.

Thus, up to 1921, the country's economic and political life proceeded in accordance with the policy of "war communism", the policy of complete rejection of private property, market relations, and absolute control and management by the state. Management was centralized, enterprises and local institutions did not have any independence. But all these dramatic changes in the country's economy were introduced spontaneously, were not planned and viable. Such a tough policy only exacerbated the devastation in the country. It was a time of fuel, transport and other crises, the fall of industry and agriculture, a shortage of grain and rationing distribution of products. The country was in chaos, there were constant strikes and demonstrations. In 1918, martial law was introduced in the country. To get out of the disastrous situation that had arisen in the country after the wars and revolutions, it was necessary to make cardinal socio-economic changes.

In 1921-1941. the economy of the RSFSR and the USSR went through two stages of development:

• 1921-1929 biennium - the period of the New Economic Policy, during which the state temporarily moved away from total administrative-command methods, went to a partial denationalization of the economy and the admission of small and medium private capitalist activities;
• 1929-1941 biennium - the period of return to the complete nationalization of the economy, collectivization and industrialization, transition to a planned economy.

A significant change in the country's economic policy in 1921 g. was caused by:

b The policy of "war communism", which justified itself in the midst of the civil war (1918 - 1920) , became ineffective during the transition of the country to a peaceful life;

b The “militarized” economy did not provide the state with everything necessary, forced unpaid labor was ineffective;

ь Agriculture was in an extremely neglected state; there was an economic and spiritual rupture between town and country, peasants and Bolsheviks;

ь Anti-Bolshevik actions of workers and peasants began across the country (the largest: "Antonovism" - the peasant war against the Bolsheviks in the Tambov province under the leadership of Antonov: the Kronstadt mutiny);

ь The slogans “For soviets without communists!”, “All power to soviets, not parties!”, “Down with the dictatorship of the proletariat!” became popular in society.

With the further preservation of "war communism", labor conscription, moneyless exchange and distribution, benefits by the state the Bolsheviks risked completely losing the confidence of the majority of the masses - workers, peasants and soldiers who supported them during the civil war.

At the end of 1920 - beginning of 1921. there is a significant change in the economic policy of the Bolsheviks:

b At the end December 1920 the GOELRO plan is adopted at the VIII Congress of Soviets;

b B March 1921 at the 10th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, a decision was made to end the policy of "war communism" and start a new economic policy (NEP);

b Both decisions, especially about NEP, are made by the Bolsheviks after fierce discussions, with the active influence of V.I. Lenin.

GOELRO plan- The state plan for the electrification of Russia proposed to carry out work on the electrification of the country within 10 years. This plan provided for the construction of power plants throughout the country, power lines; distribution of electrical engineering, both in production and in everyday life.

According to V.I. Lenin, electrification was supposed to be the first step to overcome the economic backwardness of Russia. The importance of this task was emphasized by V.I. Lenin's phrase: “ Communism is Soviet power plus the electrification of the whole country "... After the adoption of the GOELRO party, electrification became one of the main directions of the economic policy of the Soviet government. To the beginning 1930s in the USSR as a whole, a system of electric grids was created, the use of electricity was widespread in industry and in everyday life, in 1932's on the Dnieper was launched the first large power plant - Dneproges. Subsequently, the construction of hydroelectric power plants began throughout the country.

The first steps of NEP

1. Replacing the surplus appropriation system in the countryside with a tax in kind;

Food appropriation is a system of procurement of agricultural products. It consisted in the obligatory delivery by the peasants to the state at fixed prices of all surpluses (in excess of the established norms for personal and economic needs) of grain and other products. It was carried out by food detachments, commissars, local Soviets. Planned tasks were deployed in counties, volosts, villages, peasant households. This caused discontent among the peasants.

2. Abolition of labor service - labor has ceased to be obligatory (like military service) and has become free;

Labor service - voluntary opportunity or statutory obligation to perform socially useful work (usually low paid or not paid at all)

• 3. Gradual refusal from distribution and introduction of money circulation;
• 4. Partial denationalization of the economy.

When the NEP was carried out by the Bolsheviks exclusively command-and-control methods began to be replaced:

b State capitalist methods in large industry

b Partial capitalist methods in small and medium production, service sector.

At the beginning 1920s across the country are being created trusts, which united many enterprises, sometimes - industries and managed them. The trusts tried to work as capitalist enterprises (they independently organized production and sales of products based on economic interests; they were self-financing), but at the same time they were owned by the Soviet state, and not by individual capitalists. Because of this, this stage NEP got the name state capitalism(as opposed to "war communism", its management-distribution and private capitalism of the USA and other countries)

Trusts - this is one of the forms of monopoly associations, within the framework of which the participants lose their production, commercial, and sometimes even legal independence.

The largest trusts Soviet state capitalism were:

b "Donugol"

ь "Chem coal"

ь "Yugostal"

ь "State Trust of Machine-Building Plants"

ь "Severles"

ь "Sakharotrest"

In small and medium-sized production, the sphere of services, the state decided to allow private capitalist methods.

The most common uses for private equity are:

• - Agriculture
• - Small trade
• - Handicraft
• - Service sector

Private shops, shops, restaurants, workshops, and private farms in the countryside are being created throughout the country.

“... By the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars, the layout is canceled, and a tax on agricultural products is introduced instead. This tax should be less than the grain distribution. It should be appointed even before the spring sowing, so that each peasant can take into account in advance what share of the crop he should give to the state and how much will remain at his complete disposal. The tax should be levied without mutual guarantee, that is, it should fall on an individual householder so that a diligent and hardworking owner does not have to pay for a sloppy fellow villager. Upon the fulfillment of the tax, the surplus remaining with the peasant goes to his full disposal. He has the right to exchange them for food and inventory, which will be delivered to the village by the state from abroad and from its factories and plants; he can use them to exchange for the products he needs through cooperatives and in local markets and bazaars ... "

The tax in kind was initially set at about 20% of the net product of peasant labor (that is, to pay it, it was required to hand over almost half as much grain as in the surplus appropriation), and subsequently it was planned to be reduced to 10% of the harvest and converted into monetary form.

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

The most common form of small-scale private farming was cooperation - unification of several persons for the purpose of carrying out economic or other activities. Production, consumer, trade and other types of cooperatives are being created in Russia.

In 1920, the civil war was drawing to a close, and the Red Army was victorious on the fronts of its opponents. But it was too early for the Bolsheviks to rejoice, since a severe economic and political crisis broke out in the country.

The national economy of the country was completely destroyed. The level of production fell to 14% of the pre-war (1913). And in some industries (textile) it fell to the level of 1859. In 1920, the country produced 3% of the pre-war sugar production, 5-6% of cotton fabrics, 2% of cast iron. In 1919 almost all blast furnaces went out. They stopped producing metal, and the country lived on old reserves, which inevitably affected all industries. Due to the lack of fuel and raw materials, most factories and plants were closed. Donbass, the Urals, Siberia, and the Baku oil region were particularly affected. Transport is becoming a sore spot in the economy. By 1920, 58% of the locomotive fleet was out of order. The loss of the Donbass mines and the Baku oil, the deterioration of the rolling stock of the railways caused a fuel and transport crisis. He bound cities and towns with cold and hunger. Trains ran rarely, slowly, without a timetable. Huge crowds of hungry and half-naked people gathered at the stations. All this aggravated the food crisis, gave rise to massive epidemics of typhoid, cholera, smallpox, dysentery, etc. Infant mortality was especially high. There are no exact statistics on casualties during the years of the civil war. According to many scientists, the death rate during the civil war only from hunger was 5-6 million people, and from various diseases - about 3 million people. Since 1914, a total of about 20 million people have died in Russia, while losses on the fronts of the civil war on both sides totaled 3 million people.

To overcome the crisis, the authorities tried to take extraordinary measures. Among them was the separation of "shock groups" of factories, supplying raw materials and fuel in the first place, continuous labor mobilization of the population, the creation of labor armies and the militarization of labor, an increase in rations for workers. But these measures did not give much effect, since it was impossible to eliminate the causes of the crisis through organizational measures. They were hidden in the very policy of War Communism, the preservation of which after the end of hostilities caused the discontent of the majority of the population, primarily the peasantry.

As already noted, in the conditions of the civil war, the peasantry, not wanting to return to the old order, supported the Reds, agreeing to the surplus appropriation. It is also impossible to speak of a complete coincidence among the Bolsheviks and peasants of views on the future prospects of the country's development. Some researchers even believe that during the Civil War, the peasants helped the Reds to destroy the Whites, in order to then deal with the Reds. The preservation of the surplus appropriation system in peacetime deprived the peasants of the material interest in expanding production. The peasant economy acquired an increasingly natural character: it produced only the most necessary for a given peasant and his family. This led to a sharp reduction in acreage, a decrease in the number of livestock, the cessation of sowing of industrial crops, i.e. to the degradation of agriculture. Compared with 1913, the gross agricultural output has decreased by more than a third, the sown area has decreased by 40%. Food appropriation plan for 1920-1921 was only half completed. The peasants preferred to hide their grain than to hand it over to the state for free. This caused a toughening of the activities of procurement bodies and food detachments, on the one hand, and armed resistance of the peasantry, on the other.

It is noteworthy that along with the peasants, representatives of the working class also took part in the riots, in which significant changes took place during the years of the civil war. First, its numbers were reduced, since the countless mobilizations to the front were carried out primarily among the workers. Secondly, many workers, fleeing hunger and cold, went to villages and settled for permanent residence. Thirdly, a large number of the most active and conscientious workers "from the bench" were sent to government agencies, the Red Army, the police, the Cheka, etc. They have lost touch with the working class, they have ceased to live by its needs. But even those proletarians who remained in the few operating enterprises, in fact, also ceased to be workers, being interrupted by odd jobs, handicraft, "baggage", etc. The professional structure of the working class deteriorated, it was dominated by low-skilled strata, women and youth. Many of yesterday's workers turned into lumpen, joining the ranks of beggars, thieves, and even fell into criminal gangs. Disappointment and apathy reigned among the workers, and discontent grew. The Bolsheviks understood that they idealized the proletariat, speaking of its messianic exceptionalism. Under the conditions of war communism, he not only did not show high consciousness and revolutionary initiative, but, as already noted, took part in anti-Soviet peasant uprisings. The main slogans of these speeches are "Freedom of trade!" and "Soviets without communists!"

The bureaucratic management system that developed during the years of War Communism also proved to be ineffective. It was impossible to manage and regulate from the center in such a huge country as Russia. There were no funds and experience to establish accounting and control. The central leadership had a vague idea of ​​what was being done on the ground. The activities of the Soviets were increasingly replaced by the activities of executive committees and various emergency bodies (revolutionary committees, revolutionary troikas, fives, etc.) under the control of the party apparatus. Elections to the Soviets were held formally with low activity of the population. Although from February 1919 Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks took part in the work of local Soviets along with the Bolsheviks, nevertheless the political monopoly under the conditions of War Communism belonged, as is known, to the Bolsheviks. The growing crisis in the country was associated with the erroneous policy of the Bolsheviks, which led to a drop in the authority of the party among the people and an increase in discontent among all strata of the population. The apogee of this discontent is usually considered the Kronstadt mutiny (February - March 1921), in which even the sailors of the Baltic Fleet, who had previously been the most reliable stronghold of Soviet power, opposed the Bolsheviks. The mutiny was suppressed with great difficulty and considerable blood. He demonstrated the full danger of preserving the policy of War Communism.

The erosion of moral and ethical criteria in society, which is natural for situations in which the system of moral values ​​collapses, also posed a threat to Soviet power. The religion was declared a relic of the old world. The death of a huge number of people devalued human life, the state was unable to guarantee the safety of the individual. Increasingly, the ideas of equalization and class priorities were reduced to a simple slogan "plunder the loot". A wave of crime swept over Russia. All this, as well as the disintegration of the family (the new authorities declared the family a relic of bourgeois society, introduced the institution of civil marriage and significantly simplified divorce proceedings), family ties caused an unprecedented increase in child homelessness. The number of homeless children reached 7 million by 1922, so a special commission was even created under the Cheka headed by F.E.Dzerzhinsky to combat homelessness.

By the end of the civil war, the Bolsheviks had to endure the collapse of yet another illusion: the hopes for a world revolution finally collapsed. This was evidenced by the defeat of the socialist uprising in Hungary, the fall of the Bavarian Republic, an unsuccessful attempt in Poland with the help of the Red Army to "drive humanity to happiness." It was not possible to take the "fortress of world capitalism" by storm. It was necessary to proceed to its long siege. This required a rejection of the policy of war communism and a transition to a search for compromises with the world bourgeoisie both domestically and in the international arena.

In 1920, the RCP (b) was also affected by a serious crisis. Having turned into a ruling party, it is growing very rapidly in numbers, which could not but affect its qualitative composition. If in February 1917 there were about 24 thousand people in its ranks, then in March 1920 there were 640 thousand people, and a year later, in March 1921, there were 730 thousand people. Not only conscious fighters for social justice rushed into it, but also careerists, crooks, whose interests were far from the needs of the working people. Gradually, the living conditions of the party apparatus begin to differ significantly from those of ordinary communists.

At the IX Conference of the RCP (b), in September 1920, the discussion was about a crisis within the party itself. It manifested itself, firstly, in a separation between the "top" and "bottom", which caused great discontent of the latter. A special commission was even created to study the privileges of the higher party apparatus. Secondly, in the emergence of an internal party discussion about the ways and methods of building socialism, called the discussion about trade unions. It dealt with the role of the masses in building socialism, the forms of government and methods of interaction between communists and non-party people, as well as the principles of the party itself. The participants split into five platforms and fiercely argued among themselves.

The results of the discussion were summed up by the X Congress of the RCP (b) in March 1921. Most of the participants agreed that in the conditions of the crisis in the country it is an impermissible luxury and leads to a weakening of the authority of the party. At the suggestion of V. I. Lenin, the congress adopted a resolution "On Party Unity", which, on pain of expulsion, contained a ban on participation in factions and groupings.

Thus, the crisis of the end of 1920 was of a systemic nature and became the main reason that prompted the Bolsheviks to abandon the policy of war communism.

The situation in Russia was critical. The country lay in ruins. The level of production, including agricultural products, fell sharply. However, there was no longer a serious threat to the power of the Bolsheviks. In this situation, in order to normalize relations and social life in the country, at the 10th Congress of the RCP (b), a decision was made to introduce a new economic policy, abbreviated as NEP.

The reasons for the transition to the New Economic Policy (NEP) from the policy of war communism were:

• the urgent need to normalize relations between town and country;
• the need to restore the economy;
• the problem of stabilizing money;
• the discontent of the peasantry with the surplus appropriation system, which led to the strengthening of the insurrectionary movement (kulak rebellion);
• striving to restore foreign policy ties.

The NEP policy was proclaimed on March 21, 1921. From that moment, the surplus appropriation system was canceled. It was replaced by half the tax in kind. He, at the request of the peasant, could be contributed both in money and in food. However, the tax policy of the Soviet regime became a serious deterrent for the development of large peasant farms. If the poor were exempted from payments, then the wealthy peasantry bore a heavy tax burden. In an effort to elude their payment, wealthy peasants, kulaks, crushed their farms. At the same time, the rate of fragmentation of farms was twice as high as in the pre-revolutionary period.

Market relations were again legalized. The development of new commodity-money relations entailed the restoration of the all-Russian market, as well as, to some extent, of private capital. During the NEP period, the country's banking system was formed. Direct and indirect taxes are introduced, which become the main source of government revenue (excise taxes, income and agricultural taxes, service fees, etc.).

Due to the fact that the NEP policy in Russia was seriously hampered by inflation and the instability of monetary circulation, a monetary reform was undertaken. By the end of 1922, a stable monetary unit appeared - the chervonets, which was backed by gold or other values.

An acute shortage of capital led to the beginning of active administrative intervention in the economy. At first, the administrative influence on the industrial sector increased (Regulation on state industrial trusts), and soon it spread to the agricultural sector.

As a result, the NEP by 1928, despite frequent crises provoked by the incompetence of the new leaders, led to noticeable economic growth and a certain improvement in the situation in the country. The national income has increased, the material situation of citizens (workers, peasants, as well as employees) has become more stable.

The process of the restoration of industry and agriculture proceeded rapidly. But, at the same time, the lag of the USSR from the capitalist countries (France, the United States and even Germany, which had lost the First World War), inevitably increased. The development of heavy industry and agriculture required large long-term investments. For the further industrial development of the country, it was necessary to increase the marketability of agriculture.

It should be noted that the NEP had a significant impact on the culture of the country. Management of art, science, education, culture was centralized and transferred to the State Commission on Education, headed by A.V. Lunacharsky.

Despite the fact that the new economic policy was, for the most part, successful, after 1925 attempts to curtail it began. The reason for the curtailment of the NEP was the gradual intensification of contradictions between economics and politics. The private sector and resurgent agriculture sought to provide political guarantees for their own economic interests. This provoked an internal party struggle. And the new members of the Bolshevik Party - peasants and workers who were ruined during the NEP - were not satisfied with the new economic policy.

Officially, the NEP was curtailed on October 11, 1931, but in fact, already in October 1928, the implementation of the first five-year plan began, as well as collectivization in the countryside and the forced industrialization of production.

In the conditions of the Civil War and the military-communist policy, the population was deprived of any material incentives for production. However, it seemed to the leaders of the Bolsheviks that their policy was not extraordinary and forced, but quite natural. They were building a classless society of the future, free from commodity-money relations, communism. In response, one after another, powerful peasant uprisings break out in different parts of the country (in the Tambov province, the Middle Volga region, on the Don, Kuban, in Western Siberia). By the spring of 1921, there were already over 200 thousand people in the ranks of the rebels against the Bolshevik dictatorship. The surplus appropriation system was not carried out in 1920; enormous efforts were spent on suppressing rebellions and peasant uprisings.

In March 1921 sailors and Red Army men of Kronstadt, the largest naval base of the Baltic Fleet, marched against the Bolsheviks with arms in hand. Against the power of the Bolsheviks, who spoke of the dictatorship of the proletariat, the workers' movement rises. A wave of strikes and workers' demonstrations is growing in the cities. IN AND. Lenin was forced to characterize the situation in the winter of 1920 and spring 1921 as an economic and political crisis of the Soviet regime.

The power of the Bolsheviks was under threat. L. D. To overcome the crisis, Trotsky demanded to tighten the measures of "war communism": to separate the peasants from the land, create gigantic labor armies and use them on the construction sites of communism. Trotsky also proposed strengthening the punitive and repressive organs for organized violence against those who do not voluntarily join the labor armies. His opponents from the so-called "workers' opposition" (A.G. Shlyapnikov, A.M. Kollontai and others) suggested, on the contrary, abandon the leading role of the Bolsheviks and transfer control to the trade unions.

Lenin assessed the situation most soberly dangerous for the Bolsheviks. He refuses to attempt an immediate transition to communism through violence. Domestic policy is built in two directions:

1. In the economic sphere, the Bolsheviks abandoned their previous course. In order to save their power, they are ready to make concessions to the peasants, to liberate economic life from total state control.

2. In the political sphere, the previous course was tightened. Centralization and the struggle against opposition forces intensified, and the dictatorial character of Bolshevik rule remained.

The first "anti-crisis" measure of the Bolsheviks was the replacement of surplus appropriation by natural tax in kind. It was approved by the X Congress of the RCP (b), held on March 8-16, 1921. The replacement of the surplus appropriation tax in kind and the permission of free trade marked the beginning of the New Economic Policy (NEP).

With the introduction of the tax in kind (it was less than the surplus allocation and was announced in advance, on the eve of sowing), the peasant had surpluses that he could freely dispose of, i.e. trade. Freedom of trade led to the destruction of the state monopoly not only in the distribution of agricultural products, but also in the management of industry in the city. Enterprises are being transferred to self-financing, which made it possible to gradually transition to self-sufficiency, self-financing and self-government. Material incentives for workers were introduced. Many businesses were leased to cooperatives, partnerships or individuals. Thus, the decree on the nationalization of the entire small and handicraft industry was canceled.

According to the new regulation of July 7, 1921, it was possible to open handicraft or industrial production, but not more than one per owner. It was allowed to hire up to 10 workers in mechanized production ("with a motor") and up to 20 - without mechanization ("without a motor"). More specialists began to be attracted to state-owned factories. The abolition of the law on universal labor service in 1921 made it possible to engage in entrepreneurship. The process of the formation of the "Soviet bourgeoisie" (Nepmen) began.

The beginning of the NEP coincided with the famine - a consequence of the previous policy of "war communism", which deprived agriculture of any reserves, made it defenseless against any crop failure. The grain-growing regions of Ukraine, the Caucasus, Crimea, the Urals and the Volga region in 1921 were seized by a drought. In 1921-1922. starving about 40 provinces with 90 million people, of which 40 million were on the verge of death.

The government was strenuously looking for a way out. A number of famine relief commissions were established. The Russian Church began a campaign to voluntarily donate their valuables to the Fund for the Rescue of the Hungry; valuables began to come from Russian emigrants. However, persecution soon began on the church. For the purchase of food, church property was seized, often cruelly. Works of art were sold abroad. The Soviet government appeals to the world for help. It is offered and rendered by the American Aid Administration (ARA), the international proletariat, and European states.

One of the most important elements of the NEP was the monetary reform of 1922-1924. (People's Commissar of Finance G.Ya.Sokolnikov). The reform began at the end of 1922 with the release of the Soviet chervonets. From that time to March 1924, there was a steady gold coin and a falling sovznak in circulation at the same time. In 1924 the State Bank bought the remaining Soviet money from the population. The gold ducat was valued above the British pound sterling and was equal to 5 dollars 14.5 US cents. The ruble has become an international currency.

Among the most important laws adopted by the Soviet government in the early 1920s is the law on concessions (permission, assignment). Under an agreement, the Soviet country transferred natural resources, enterprises or other economic facilities to foreign entrepreneurs for a certain period of time. Through concessions V.I. Lenin saw the opportunity to acquire the necessary machines and locomotives, machine tools and equipment, without which it was impossible to restore the economy.

Concessions were concluded between the government of the RSFSR and the Great Northern Telegraphic Society (1921) for the operation of underwater telegraph lines between Russia, Denmark, Japan, China, Sweden and Finland. In 1922 the first international airline Moscow - Koenigsberg was opened. Special joint-stock enterprises are being created - Russian, foreign, mixed. But in the future, concessions and mixed enterprises did not receive their development due to government intervention, which limited the freedom of entrepreneurs.

The cooperatives, which during the years of "war communism" were an appendage of the People's Commissariat of Food, gained relative independence. The efficiency of cooperative production was at least twice that of state-owned industry. It was provided by a freer organization of labor. In industry by the mid-1920s. 18% of enterprises were cooperative. 2/3 of the cooperative commodity products fell on the cities. By 1927, one third of all peasant households were covered by agricultural cooperatives. It consisted of about 50 different types of associations: credit, beet, potato, butter, etc.

The agrarian policy of the Soviet government supported the economically impoverished poor and middle peasants. At the same time, the growth of large peasant (kulak) farms is restrained with the help of a tax policy and regular redistribution of land. The share of large farms did not rise above 5% of the total number in the country. However, they were the producers of marketable products. Farms are locked into production for their own consumption, and not for sale. Population growth leads to the fragmentation of peasant households. Production stagnates and falls. At the same time, prices for agricultural products are artificially lowered by the state, which makes their production unprofitable.

The needs for agricultural products of the urban population and industry are growing, but they cannot be satisfied. A state that has retained control over the "command" heights, i.e. over large-scale industry and banks, constantly sought to dictate their terms in other sectors of the economy. Funds to support large-scale industry were constantly withdrawn from other sectors of the economy, hindering their development. The inflated prices of manufactured goods made them inaccessible to the countryside. These are the most important reasons for the crises of the NEP of 1923, 1925, 1928, which, in the end, led to the establishment of a rigid command-administrative system, military-communist in its content.

Literature

1. NEP. Side view: Collection / comp. V.V. Kudryavtsev. - M. -1991. - S. 42-56.

2. Russia and the world. Study book on history. In 2 hours / under total. ed. A.A. Danilov. - M .: VLADOS, 1994 .-- Part 2. - S. 101-131.

3. Talapin, A.N. National history. Course of lectures: textbook. manual for students of non-humanitarian faculties of higher professional education / A.N. Talapin, A.A. Cindicus. - Omsk: Publishing house of OmGPU, 2012. - S. 98-99.