The main reason for the transition to NEP is. Prerequisites for the transition to the new economic policy NEP

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 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 go over to the 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 1917 coup, the Civil War are not just words.

Millions of dead, destroyed factories and cities, empty 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 their experience suggested. The transition to NEP made it possible to increase the number of jobs in a short time.

Economic disaster

The Russian economy at the beginning of the twentieth century practically collapsed. Production has 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 the 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, a system of payment in kind was introduced. The workers were paid in rations, but they were too small.

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 they faced a famine, 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 to go over to the 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 preconditions for the transition to NEP were not only social. Monstrous inflation devalued the ruble, and the products were not so much sold as exchanged.

However, if we recall that the state ideology assumed 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, shoes just like that, according to the list. The state machine is not equipped 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 city dwellers work for food, the peasants work 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 previously rejected market relations, temporarily postponing the construction of an ideal state.

Brief essence of the 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 entrepreneurship 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 of 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 the 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 a rather 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, gross agricultural product approached 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 of 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 boards. They could create trusts, independently determining what and how much to produce. Such enterprises independently purchased the necessary materials and independently sold products, managing 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 brought back the already half-forgotten term “bankruptcy” to the country.

At the same time, the state did not forget that the reforms were temporary in nature, and gradually introduced 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, so the state attracted financiers who had significant work experience during the 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 transition 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 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 production facilities were launched, which were inherited from the previous regime. 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.

NEP (New Economic Policy) was carried out by the Soviet government during the period from 1921 to 1928. It 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 in the end Stalin had to hastily interrupt this process in order to create industrialization, since the NEP policy almost completely killed heavy industry.

Reasons for the introduction of NEP

With the beginning of the winter of 1920, the RSFSR plunged into a terrible crisis, largely due to the famine in the country in 1921-1922. The Volga region was mainly affected (we all remember the infamous phrase " The starving Volga regionAdded to this was the economic crisis, as well as popular uprisings against the Soviet regime. No matter how much the textbooks told us that people greeted the power of the Soviets with applause, this was not the case. For example, uprisings took place in Siberia, on the Don, in the Kuban, and the largest - in Tambov. It went down in history under the name of the Antonov uprising or “Antonovshchina.” In the spring of 21, about 200 thousand people were involved in the uprisings. Considering that the Red Army by that time was extremely weak, it was a very serious threat Then the Kronstadt rebellion was born. At the cost of efforts, but all these revolutionary elements were suppressed, but it became obvious that it was necessary to change the approach to managing the side. And the conclusions were correct. Lenin formulated them as follows:

the driving force of socialism is the lititoria, 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 the whole 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 impulse to develop the economy), SOCIAL (social division was still extremely acute) and POLITICAL (the new economic policy became a means of managing power).

The beginning of the NEP

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

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

The ideological beginning of the NEP was laid at the 10th congress of the RCP (b), which gathered in 1921 (if you remember its participants went directly 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. Logically, and this logic is absolutely correct, if economic concessions are introduced, then inside the party must be a monolith. Therefore, no factions and divisions.

The ideological concept of the New Economic Policy was first given by V.I. Lenin. This happened at a speech at the tenth and eleventh congresses of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b), 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 an important role in the formulation of the tasks of the NEP. It is important to remember that for a long time Bukharin and Lenin acted in the role of opposition to each other on the issues of NEP. Lenin proceeded from the fact that the moment had come to reduce 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, most members of the Bolshevik party were convinced that the NEP, as a forced measure, was introduced for only one grain-procurement company, as a snag for the peasantry. But Lenin especially emphasized that the NEP course was taken for a longer period. And then Lenin said a phrase that showed that the Bolsheviks keep their word - "but we will still return to terror, including economic terror." If we recall the events of 1929, then this is exactly what the Bolsheviks arranged. 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.

In short, according to Lenin, the NEP is a bond between the peasantry and the proletariat. This is 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 enemy of the workers' power, the Soviets and the USSR. The problems of this bond became the problem of the survival of the Bolshevik regime, because the regime simply did not have an army or equipment to crush peasant riots if they began in a massive and organized manner. That is, some historians say - NEP is the Brest Peace of the Bolsheviks with their own people. That is, what kind of Bolsheviks - International Socialists who wanted a world revolution. Let me remind you that it was this idea that Trotsky promoted. First, Lenin, who was not a very prominent theorist (he was a good practitioner), he defined NEP as state capitalism. And immediately for this he received a full portion of criticism from Bukharin and Trotsky. And after that, Lenin began to interpret the NEP as a mixture of the Socialist and capitalist forms. I repeat - Lenin was not a theoretician, but a practitioner. He lived according to the principle - it is important for us to take power, but it does not matter what it will be called.

Lenin, in fact, adopted the Bukharin version of the NEP with the wording and other attributes ..

NEP is a socialist dictatorship based on socialist relations of production 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. It should be understood that by 1922 the building of socialism had reached a dead end and Lenin realized that this movement could be continued only through the NEP. It is clear that this is not the main path, and it contradicted Marxism, but as a workaround, it was quite amiss. And Lenin constantly stressed that the new policy is a temporary phenomenon.

General characteristics of NEP

The aggregate of the NEP:

rejection of labor mobilization and equal pay system for all.
transfer (partial, of course) of industry into private hands from the state (denationalization).
creation of new economic associations - trusts and syndicates. The widespread introduction of cost accounting
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 idealist-minded Bolsheviks fired a bullet in their foreheads. They believed that capitalism was being restored, and they shed blood in vain during the Civil War. But the non-idealistic Bolsheviks used the NEP very well, because during the NEP it was easy to launder what was looted during the Civil War. Because, as we will see, the NEP is a triangle: it is the head of an individual link in the Central Committee of the party, the head of a syndicator or trust, and also the NEPman as a "huckster", in modern language, through which this whole process is going. In general, it 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 the financial and monetary system of the USSR. It was achieved by carrying out the reform of 1922 (monetary) and by replacing the money of 1922-1924.
The emphasis is on private (retail) trade and the development of various markets, including the All-Russian one.

If you try to briefly describe the NEP, then this design was extremely unreliable. It took the ugly forms of merging the personal interests of the country's leadership and all those involved in the Triangle. Each of them played a role. The speculator Nepman did the dirty work. And this was especially emphasized in Soviet textbooks, they say, it was all private traders who spoiled the NEP, and we fought with them as best we could. But in fact - 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 preserved further, the party would simply have completely disintegrated.

Beginning in 1921, the Soviet leadership took a course towards weakening Centralization. In addition, much attention was paid to the element of reforming the economic systems in the country. Labor mobilizations were replaced by a labor exchange (unemployment was high). Equalization was canceled, the rationing system was canceled (but for some, the rationing system was a salvation). It is logical that the results of the NEP almost immediately had a positive effect on the region's trade. Naturally in the retail trade. Already at the end of 1921, the Nepmen controlled 75% of trade in retail and 18% in wholesale. NEP has become a profitable form of money laundering, especially for those who looted a lot during the civil war. The loot they had was lying idle, and now it could be sold through the NEPmanov. And many people have laundered their money in this way.

NEP in agriculture

Adoption of the Land Code. (22nd year). Conversion of the tax in kind into a single agricultural tax since 1923 (since 1926, completely in monetary form).
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 turn of the party leadership to NEP did not find much support. Many members of the Bolshevik Party were convinced that this was a mistake and the transition from socialism to capitalism. Someone simply sabotaged the decision of the NEP, and especially ideological ones, and even committed suicide. In October 1922, the New Economic Policy affected agriculture - the Bolsheviks began to implement the Land Code with new amendments. His difference was that he legalized hired labor in the countryside (it would seem that the Soviet government fought against this, but it itself did the same). The next stage took place in 1923. This year, what many had been waiting for and demanded for so long happened - the tax in kind was replaced by the 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 superficially a triumph of economic methods. In fact, there was a lot of other things there. And I mean not only 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 raised prices for industrial products and lowered prices for agricultural products. As a result, in 1923-1924 the peasants worked practically for nothing! The laws were such that about 70% of everything that the village produced, the peasants were forced to sell for almost nothing. 30% of the product they produced was taken by the state at market value, and 70% at a lower value. Then this figure decreased, and became approximately 50 to 50. But in any case, this is a lot. 50% of products at below market prices.

As a result, the worst happened - the market ceased to carry out its direct functions as a means of buying and selling goods. Now it has become an effective means of exploiting the peasants. Only half of the peasant goods were purchased for money, and the other half was collected in the form of tribute (this is the most accurate definition of what was happening in those years). The NEP can be characterized as follows: corruption, swelling apparatus, massive theft of state property. The result was a situation when the products of the peasant economy were 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 originally 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 unemployment rate among ordinary people.

The NEP was originally supposed to establish interaction between town and village, between workers and peasants. But this was not done. The reason - the industry was almost completely destroyed as a result of the Civil War, and it was not able to offer something significant to the peasantry. The peasantry did not sell their grain, because why sell it if money cannot buy anything anyway. They just stacked grain and didn't 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 understood that the NEP has outlived its usefulness, that it does not give an incentive for the development of industry, but, on the contrary, destroys it even more.

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

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

To put it in simple words - in 10 years it was necessary to raise the industry from ruins and put it on a par with the most developed countries. The NEP did not allow this, because it was focused on light industry, and on the fact that Russia was a raw material appendage of the West. That is, in this respect, the implementation of the NEP was a ballast, which slowly but surely pulled Russia to the bottom, and if you hold on this course for another 5 years, then it is not known how World War II ended.

The slowdown in 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. A 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 on the whole, the position of the working class was very difficult.

Development of the USSR economy during the NEP period

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

The most important part of the NEP, by the way, one of the few positive features of this policy, is "raising from its knees" the financial system. Do not forget that the Civil War has just died down, which almost completely destroyed the financial system of Russia. Prices in 1921 compared with 1913 increased 200 thousand times. Just think about this figure. For 8 years, 200 thousand times ... Naturally, it was necessary to introduce other money. Reform was needed. The reform was carried out by the 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, the depreciated Soviet money was replaced by Chervontsy

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

Soviet signs were withdrawn and changed at the rate of 1 new ruble 50,000 old signs. This money was called "Sovznaki". During the NEP, cooperation was actively developing and economic liberalization was accompanied by the consolidation of communist rule. The repressive apparatus also grew stronger. And how did it happen? For example, on June 6, 22, GlavLit was created. This is censorship and the establishment of control over censorship. A year later, GlavRepedKom emerged, which was in charge of the theater's repertoire. In 1922, by the decision of this body, more than 100 people, active cultural workers, were expelled from the USSR. Others were less fortunate, they 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 bypass their "attention". In October 1922, the Bolsheviks confiscated jewelry from the church, allegedly to fight hunger. In June 1923, Patriarch Tikhon recognized the legality of Soviet power, and in 1925 he was arrested and died. The new patriarch was no longer elected. Then Stalin restored the patriarchate in 1943.

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

The NEP culminated in 1925. Bukharin made an appeal to the peasantry (primarily to the well-to-do peasant).

Get rich, accumulate, develop your economy.
Bukharin

Bukharin's plan was adopted at the 14th party conference. He was actively supported by Stalin, and critics were Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev. Economic development during the NEP period was uneven: first a crisis, then a rise. And this was due to the fact that the necessary banas between the development of agriculture and the development of industry was not found. The grain procurement crisis of 1925 was the first ringing of the bell on the NEP. It became clear that the NEP would soon be over, but by inertia he passed 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.
the reasons for the abolition of the NEP (economic, social, political).
whether NEP was an alternative to real communism.

In 1926, the 15th party conference of the CPSU (b) gathered. It condemned the Trotskyite-Zinoviev 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 has outlived its usefulness, and the country needs a new approach to development, an approach that will restore the industry, without which the USSR cannot exist.

Since 1926, a tendency towards the abolition of the NEP began to gradually 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 grain, and the industry was suffocating from overstrain. The left opposition (its ideological leader was Trotsky) proposed to confiscate 150 million poods of grain from the wealthy peasants, who constituted 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 solve the peasant problem. Any attempt to put pressure on the peasants would mean that the party followed the path that the "Left Wing" says. At the 15th Congress, Zinoviev, Trotsky and other left-wing oppositionists were expelled from the Central Committee. However, after they repented (this was called in the party language "disarm before the party") they were returned, because the Stalinist center needed them for the future struggle against the Bucharest team.

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

With the end of the civil war, the policy of "war communism" reached a dead end. It was not possible to overcome the devastation generated by 4 years of Russia's participation in the First World War and aggravated by 3 years of the Civil War. The threat of restoration of pre-revolutionary agrarian relations disappeared, so the peasantry no longer wanted to put up with the food appropriation policy.

There was no organized tax and financial system in the country. There was a sharp drop in labor productivity and the 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 more 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. 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", led by the SRs and former officers, in February-March 1921 created armed formations of several thousand people, seized almost completely the territory of the Tyumen province, the cities of Petropavlovsk, Kokchetav, etc., interrupting the railway communication between Siberia and the center of the country for three weeks.

They avoided the surplus appropriation by hiding grain, transferring grain to moonshine and in other ways. Small-scale agriculture did not have an incentive to maintain production at the current level, let alone expand. Lack of traction, labor force, deterioration of equipment led to a reduction in production. The absolute number of the rural population from 1913 to 1920 remained almost unchanged, but the percentage of able-bodied workers in connection with the mobilizations and the results of the war dropped noticeably from 45% to about 36%. The area of \u200b\u200bplowing decreased in 1913-1916. by 7%, and for 1916-1920. - by 20.3%. Production was limited only by their own needs, by the desire to provide themselves with everything necessary. In Central Asia, the cultivation of cotton has practically ceased, instead they began to sow grain. Sugar beet sowing has sharply decreased in Ukraine. This led to a decrease in the marketability and productivity of agriculture, because beets and cotton are highly commercial crops. Agriculture was becoming natural. It was necessary, first of all, to economically interest the peasantry in restoring the economy and expanding production. To do this, it was necessary to limit his obligations to the state within a certain framework and provide the right to freely dispose of the rest of the products. The exchange of agricultural products for basic industrial goods was supposed to strengthen ties between town and country, and to promote the development of light industry. On the basis of this, it was then possible to create savings, organize a financial economy, in order to then raise heavy industry.

To implement this plan, freedom of circulation and trade was necessary. These goals were pursued by the resolution of the 10th Congress of the RCP (b) and the Decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of March 21, 1921 "On the replacement of food and raw materials appropriation with a natural tax." He limited the natural obligations of the peasantry to strictly established norms and allowed the sale of agricultural surpluses in the exchange of goods in local markets. This allowed the resumption of local circulation and product exchange, as well as, within narrow limits, private trade. Subsequently, the need arose very quickly to restore complete freedom of trade throughout the country, and not in the form of natural exchange of products, but in the form of monetary trade. During 1921, obstacles and restrictions for the development of trade were spontaneously broken down and canceled by law. Trade expanded more and more, being during this period the main lever for the restoration of the national economy.

Later, due to limited funds, the state abandoned the direct management of small and partly medium-sized industrial enterprises. They were transferred to the jurisdiction of local authorities or leased to private individuals. A small part of the enterprises was leased to foreign capital in the form of concessions. The state sector was made up of large and medium-sized enterprises, which formed the nucleus of socialist industry. Along with this, the state abandoned the centralized supply and marketing of products, giving enterprises the right to resort to market services to purchase the necessary materials and to sell products. Self-financing began to be actively introduced into the activities of enterprises. The national economy from the strictly regulated economy of the natural type of the period of "war communism" gradually moved to the path of a commodity-money economy. In it, along with a significant sector of state-owned enterprises, enterprises of the private capitalist and state capitalist type also appeared.

The decree on the tax in kind was the beginning of the elimination of the "War Communism" methods of management 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 main 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 was handled by the Price Committee.

Thus, until 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 drastic socio-economic changes.

They were colossal. By the beginning of the 1920s, the country, having retained its independence, still hopelessly lagged behind the leading Western countries, which threatened to result in the loss of the status of a great power. The policy of "war communism" has exhausted itself. Lenin faced the problem of choosing a path of development: to follow the dogmas of Marxism or proceed from the prevailing realities. Thus began the transition to NEP - New Economic Policy.

The reasons for the transition to NEP were the following processes:

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; The “militarized” economy did not provide the state with everything it needed; forced labor was ineffective;

There was an economic and spiritual gap between town and country, between peasants and Bolsheviks; the peasants who received the land were not interested in the necessary industrialization of the country;

Anti-Bolshevik demonstrations of workers and peasants began across the country (the largest of them: "Antonovism" - peasant protests against the Bolsheviks in the Tambov province; the Kronstadt mutiny of sailors).

2. The main activities of the NEP

In March 1921. at the X Congress of the CPSU (b), after fierce discussions and with the active influence of V.I. Lenin made a decision on the transition to the New Economic Policy (NEP).

The most important economic measures of the NEP were:

1) replacing the dimensionless surplus (food layout) with limited tax in kind. The state began not to confiscate grain from the peasants, but to buy with money;

2) abolition of labor service : labor has ceased to be a duty (like a military one) and has become free

3) was allowed small and medium private property both in the countryside (land lease, hiring farm laborers) and in industry. Small and medium-sized factories and plants were transferred to private ownership. New owners, people who earned capital during the NEP years began to be called "Nepmen".

When the NEP was carried out by the Bolsheviks, exclusively command-administrative methods of managing the economy began to be replaced: state-capitalist methods in large industry and private capitalist in small and medium production, service sector.

In the early 1920s. all over the country, trusts were created, which united many enterprises, sometimes entire industries, and managed them. The trusts tried to operate as capitalist enterprises, but at the same time they were owned by the Soviet state, and not by individual capitalists. Although the authorities were powerless to stop the surge of corruption in the state capitalist sector.

Private shops, shops, restaurants, workshops, and private farms in the countryside are being created throughout the country. The most common form of small-scale private farming was cooperation - unification of several persons for the purpose of carrying out economic activities. Production, consumer and trade cooperatives are being created across Russia.

4) Was the financial system was revived:

Restored State Bank and allowed to create private commercial banks

In 1924. along with the depreciated "sovznaki" in circulation, another currency was introduced - gold duct - monetary unit equal to 10 pre-revolutionary tsarist rubles. Unlike other money, the chervonets was backed by gold, quickly gained popularity and became the international convertible currency of Russia. An uncontrolled outflow of capital abroad began.

3. Results and contradictions of the NEP

The NEP itself was a very peculiar phenomenon. The Bolsheviks, ardent supporters of communism, attempted to restore capitalist relations. The majority of the party was against the NEP ("why carried out a revolution and defeated the whites, if we again restore society with a division into rich and poor?" But Lenin, realizing that after the devastation of the Civil War, it was impossible to start building communism, said that NEP is a temporary phenomenon, designed to revive the economy and save up strength and resources to start building the social welfare organization.

Positive results of the NEP:

The level of industrial production in the main sectors reached the level of 1913;

The market was filled with basic necessities that were lacking in the Civil War (bread, clothing, salt, etc.);

The tension between the city and the countryside decreased - the peasants began to produce goods, earn money, some of the peasants became wealthy rural entrepreneurs.

However, by 1926 it became obvious that the NEP had exhausted itself, did not allow to accelerate the pace of modernization.

Contradictions of the NEP:

The collapse of the "chervonets" - by 1926. the bulk of enterprises and citizens of the country began to strive to make payments in chervonets, while the state could not provide a growing mass of money with gold, as a result of which the chervonets began to depreciate, and soon the government ceased to provide it with gold

Sales crisis - the majority of the population, small enterprises did not have enough convertible money to buy goods, as a result, entire industries could not sell their goods;

The peasants did not want to pay excessive taxes as a source of funds for the development of industry. Stalin had to force them by force, creating collective farms.

NEP did not become a long-term alternative; revealed its contradictions forced Stalin to curtail the NEP (since 1927) and move on to the forced modernization of the country (industrialization and collectivization).

Ulyanovsk State Agricultural

Academy

Department of Russian History

Test

By discipline: "Domestic history"

On the topic: "The new economic policy of the Soviet state (1921-1928)"

Completed by a 1st year student of SSO

Faculty of Economics

Correspondence department

Specialty "Accounting, analysis

and audit "

Melnikova Natalia

Alekseevna

Code No. 29037

Ulyanovsk - 2010

Preconditions for the transition to the New Economic Policy (NEP).

The main task of the internal policy of the Bolsheviks was to restore the economy destroyed by the revolution and the civil war, to create the material, technical and socio-cultural basis for building socialism, promised by the Bolsheviks to the people. In the fall of 1920, a series of crises broke out in the country.

1. Economic crisis:

Decrease in population (due to losses during the civil war and emigration);

Destruction of mines and mines (Donbass, Baku oil region, Ural and Siberia were especially affected);

Lack of fuel and raw materials; shutdown of factories (which led to the decline in the role of large industrial centers);

A massive outflow of workers from the city to the countryside;

Termination of traffic on 30 railways;

Inflation growth;

Reduction of cultivated areas and lack of interest of peasants in expanding the economy;

Decrease in the level of management, reflected in the quality of decisions made and expressed in the violation of economic ties between enterprises and regions of the country, the fall of labor discipline;

Massive famine in the city and countryside, a decline in living standards, an increase in morbidity and mortality.

2. Socio-political crisis:

Workers' dissatisfaction with unemployment and lack of food, infringement of trade union rights, the introduction of forced labor and its equalizing pay;

Expansion of strike movements in the city, in which the workers advocated the democratization of the country's political system, the convocation of the Constituent Assembly;

Indignation of the peasants by the continuation of the surplus appropriation system;

The beginning of the armed struggle of the peasants, who demanded a change in agrarian policy, the elimination of the diktat of the RCP (b), the convocation of the Constituent Assembly on the basis of universal, equal suffrage;

Intensification of the activity of the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries;

Fluctuations in the army, often involved in the fight against peasant uprisings.

3. Intra-party crisis:

Stratification of party members into an elite group and a party mass;

The emergence of opposition groups that defended the ideals of "true socialism" (a group of "democratic centralism", "workers' opposition");

The increase in the number of persons claiming leadership in the party (L.D. Trotsky, I.V. Stalin) and the emergence of the danger of its split;

Signs of moral degradation of party members.

The theory crisis.

Russia had to live in a capitalist encirclement; hopes for a world revolution did not come true. This required a different strategy and tactics. VI Lenin was forced to reconsider the internal political course and admit that only the satisfaction of the demands of the peasantry can save the power of the Bolsheviks.

So, with the help of the policy of "war communism" it was not possible to overcome the devastation generated by 4 years of Russia's participation in the First World War, revolutions (February and October 1917) and deepened by the civil war. A decisive change in the economic course was required. In December 1920, the VIII All-Russian Congress of Soviets took place. Among his most important decisions, the following can be noted: a bribe for the development of "war communism" and the material and technical modernization of the national economy on the basis of electrification (GOELRO plan), and on the other hand, the rejection of the mass creation of communes, state farms, a stake on the "diligent peasant" it was supposed to stimulate financially.

NEP: goals, essence, methods, main activities.

After the congress, the State Planning Committee was created by decree of the Council of People's Commissars of February 22, 1921. In March 1921, at the X Congress of the RCP (b), two important decisions were made: on the replacement of the surplus appropriation system with a natural tax and on the unity of the party. These two resolutions reflected the internal inconsistency of the New Economic Policy, the transition to which meant the decisions of the Congress.

NEP - an anti-crisis program, the essence of which was to recreate a multi-structured economy while maintaining the "commanding heights" in the hands of the Bolshevik government. The levers of influence were to be the sovereignty of the RCP (b), the public sector in industry, a decentralized financial system, and a monopoly of foreign trade.

The goals of the NEP:

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

Economic: to prevent devastation, get out of the crisis and restore the economy;

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.

Achieving these goals led to the gradual curtailment of the NEP in the second half of the 20s.

The transition to NEP was legally formalized by decrees of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars, decisions of the IX All-Russian Congress of Soviets in December 1921. NEP included a complex economic and socio-political events:

Replacement of surplus appropriation with food tax (up to 1925 in kind); products remaining on the farm after payment of the tax in kind was allowed to be sold on the market;

Private trade permit;

Attracting foreign capital to the development of industry;

Leasing by the state of many small enterprises and retaining large and medium-sized industrial enterprises;

Lease of land under state control;

Attraction of foreign capital to the development of industry (some enterprises were leased out to foreign capitalists);

Transfer of industry to full cost accounting and self-sufficiency;

Hiring labor force;

Cancellation of the card system and equalizing distribution;

Payment for all services;

Replacement of a cash wage in kind, set depending on the quantity and quality of labor;

Abolition of universal labor service, introduction of labor exchanges.

The introduction of the NEP was not a one-time measure, but represented a process stretched out over several years. So, initially, trade was allowed to peasants only near their place of residence. At the same time, Lenin counted on exchange of goods (exchange of products of production at fixed prices and only

through state or cooperative stores), but by the fall of 1921 he recognized the need for commodity-money relations.

NEP was not only an economic policy. This is a complex of measures of an economic, political and ideological nature. During this period, the idea of \u200b\u200bcivil peace was put forward, the Code of Labor Laws, the Criminal Code were developed, the powers of the Cheka (renamed OGPU) were somewhat limited, an amnesty for white emigration was announced, etc. But the desire to attract specialists necessary for economic progress (salary increase technical intelligentsia, the creation of conditions for creative work, etc.) were simultaneously combined with the suppression of those who could pose a threat to the domination of the Communist Party (repressions against the ministers of the church in 1921-1922, the trial over the leadership of the Right Socialist Revolutionary Party in 1922, the expulsion abroad of about 200 prominent figures of the Russian intelligentsia: N.A. Berdyaev, S.N.Bulgakov, A.A.Kizevetter, P.A. Sorokin and others).

In general, the NEP was regarded by contemporaries as a transitional stage. The fundamental difference in positions was associated with the answer to the question: "What does this transition lead to?" different points of view:

1. Some believed that, despite the utopian nature of their socialist goals, the Bolsheviks, by going over to the NEP, opened the way for the evolution of the Russian economy to capitalism. They believed that the next stage in the country's development would be political liberalization. Therefore, the intelligentsia needs to support Soviet power. This point of view was most vividly expressed by the "Smena Vekhi" - representatives of the ideological trend in the intelligentsia, named after the collection of articles by the authors of the cadet orientation "Change of Vekhi" (Prague, 1921).

2. The Mensheviks believed that the prerequisites for socialism would be created on the tracks of the NEP, without which, in the absence of a world revolution, socialism in Russia could not exist. The development of the NEP would inevitably lead to the abandonment of the Bolsheviks' monopoly on power. Pluralism in the economic sphere will create pluralism in the political system and undermine the foundations of the dictatorship of the proletariat.

3. The Socialist-Revolutionaries in the NEP saw the possibility of implementing the "third way" - non-capitalist development. Taking into account the peculiarities of Russia - a multi-structured economy, the predominance of the peasantry - the Socialist-Revolutionaries assumed that for socialism in Russia it was necessary to combine democracy with a cooperative socio-economic system.

4. The liberals developed their own concept of the NEP. They saw the essence of the new economic policy in the revival of capitalist relations in Russia. According to the liberals, the NEP was an objective process that made it possible to solve the main task: to complete the modernization of the country, begun by Peter I, to introduce it into the mainstream of world civilization.

5. Bolshevik theorists (Lenin, Trotsky, and others) viewed the transition to the NEP as a tactical move, a temporary retreat caused by an unfavorable balance of forces. They tended to understand NEP as one of the possible

paths to socialism, but not direct, but relatively long. Lenin believed that although the technical and economic backwardness of Russia did not allow the direct introduction of socialism, it could gradually be built, relying on the state of the "dictatorship of the proletariat." This plan presupposed not "softening", but the all-round strengthening of the regime of the "proletarian", but in fact the Bolshevik dictatorship. The "immaturity" of the socio-economic and cultural preconditions of socialism was intended to compensate (as in the period of "war communism") terror. Lenin did not agree with the measures proposed (even by individual Bolsheviks) for some kind of political liberalization - allowing the activities of socialist parties, a free press, the creation of a peasant union, etc. He proposed expanding the use of execution (with the replacement of expulsion abroad) to all types of activities of Mensheviks, Socialist-Revolutionaries, etc. Remnants of a multi-party system in the USSR

the persecution of the church was liquidated, the internal party regime was tightened. However, part of the Bolsheviks did not accept the NEP, considering it a surrender.

The development of the political system of Soviet society during the NEP years.

Already in 1921-1924. reforms in the management of industry, trade, cooperation, credit and finance are being carried out, a two-tier banking system is being created: the State Bank, the Commercial and Industrial Bank, the Bank for Foreign Trade, a network of cooperative and local communal banks. The emission of money (the issue of money and securities, which is a monopoly of the state) as the main source of income for the state budget is replaced by a system of direct and indirect taxes (trade, income, agricultural, excise on consumer goods, local taxes), service charges are introduced (transport , communications, utilities, etc.).

The development of commodity-money relations led to the restoration of the all-Russian internal market. Large fairs are being recreated: Nizhegorodskaya, Baku, Irbitskaya, Kievskaya, etc. Trade exchanges are opened. A certain freedom of development of private capital in industry and trade is allowed. The creation of small private enterprises (with no more than 20 workers), concessions, leases, mixed companies is allowed. According to the conditions of economic activity, consumer, agricultural, handicraft cooperatives were placed in a more advantageous position than private capital.

The rise of industry and the introduction of hard currency stimulated the recovery of agriculture. The high growth rates during the NEP years were largely due to the "recovery effect": the already existing, but idle equipment was loaded, the old arable lands abandoned during the civil war were put into circulation in agriculture. When, at the end of the 1920s, these reserves dried up, the country was faced with the need for huge capital investments in industry - in order to reconstruct old factories with worn out equipment and create new industrial

Meanwhile, due to legislative restrictions (private capital was not allowed in large, and to a large extent in medium-sized industry), the high taxation of a private owner, both in the city and in the countryside, private investments were extremely limited.

The Soviet government is also not successful in its attempts to attract foreign capital in any significant amount.

So, the new economic policy ensured the stabilization and restoration of the economy, but soon after the introduction, the first successes were replaced by new difficulties. The party leadership explained its inability to overcome crisis phenomena by economic methods and the use of command-directives by the activities of class "enemies of the people" (Nepmen, kulaks, agronomists, engineers and other specialists). This was the basis for the deployment of repression and the organization of new political processes.

The results and reasons for the clotting of NEP.

By 1925, the restoration of the national economy was basically completed. The total industrial output for the 5 years of the NEP increased more than 5 times and in 1925 reached 75% of the 1913 level, in 1926 this level was exceeded in terms of gross industrial output. There was an upturn in new industries. In agriculture, the gross grain harvest amounted to 94% of the harvest in 1913, and in many indicators of animal husbandry, pre-war indicators were left behind.

The abovementioned improvement of the financial system and the stabilization of the domestic currency can be called a real economic miracle. In the 1924/1925 financial year, the state budget deficit was completely eliminated, and the Soviet ruble became one of the hardest currencies in the world. The rapid pace of restoration of the national economy in the conditions of a socially oriented economy, set by the existing Bolshevik regime, was accompanied by a significant increase in the living standards of the people, and the rapid development of public education, science, culture and art.

The NEP also gave rise to new difficulties, along with successes. The difficulties were mainly due to three reasons: imbalance between industry and agriculture; purposeful class orientation of the internal policy of the government; strengthening of contradictions between the diversity of social interests of different strata of society and authoritarianism. The need to ensure the independence and defense capability of the country demanded further development of the economy and, first of all, the heavy defense industry. The priority of industry over the agrosphere resulted in an open transfer of funds from village to city by means of price and tax policies. Sales prices for manufactured goods were artificially raised, while purchasing prices for raw materials and products were lowered, that is, the notorious price “scissors” were introduced. The quality of the supplied industrial products was low. On the one hand, there was an overstocking of warehouses with expensive and bad manufactured goods. On the other hand, the peasants, who had good harvests in the mid-1920s, refused to sell grain to the state at fixed prices, preferring to sell it on the market.

List of references.

TM Timoshina "Economic history of Russia", "Filin", 1998.

N. Vert "History of the Soviet State", "Whole World", 1998

"Our Fatherland: the Experience of Political History" SV Kuleshov, OV Volobuev, EI Pivovar et al., "Terra", 1991

“Recent history of the fatherland. XX century "edited by AF Kiselev, EM Shchagin," Vlados ", 1998

LD Trotsky “Revolution Betrayed. What is the USSR and where is it going? " (http://www.alina.ru/koi/magister/library/revolt/trotl001.htm)