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Totalitarianism, War Communism and the NEP, 1918 to 24

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To win the Civil War and keep power, Lenin's government used terror and took control of the economy. Then a naval mutiny forced a sharp change of direction.

Moves towards totalitarianism

The Red Terror began in 1918 after an attempt on Lenin's life: the Cheka arrested and executed thousands of opponents.
Power was centralised in the Communist Party and its Politburo; other parties were banned.
In 1921 the Kronstadt Mutiny, by sailors who had once backed the Bolsheviks, was crushed by the Red Army.
The USSR was formed in 1922.

War Communism, 1918 to 21

Features: factories nationalised, grain requisitioned (taken by force) from peasants, private trade banned, rationing and strict labour discipline.
Why: to feed the Red Army and the cities during the Civil War.
Effects: peasants hid or grew less grain, production collapsed and a terrible famine hit in 1921.

The New Economic Policy (NEP), from 1921

Announced in 1921 after Kronstadt.
Features: requisitioning ended; peasants paid a tax and could sell their surplus; small businesses could trade for profit; big industry stayed under state control.
Reactions: many communists saw it as a betrayal; traders called Nepmen grew rich. Production recovered by the mid-1920s.
Social change: easier divorce, legal abortion (1920), the Zhenotdel women's department, and literacy campaigns.
Worked example

Explain why Lenin introduced the NEP in 1921.

  1. War Communism had caused famine and peasant revolts.
  2. The Kronstadt Mutiny showed that even loyal sailors had turned against the government.
  3. Lenin needed to restore food production and keep power.

Answer: Because War Communism had wrecked the economy and the Kronstadt Mutiny showed the danger of revolt.

Key idea

Terror (Cheka, Red Terror), one-party rule and the Politburo moved Russia towards totalitarianism. War Communism (requisitioning, nationalisation) fed the war but caused famine. After Kronstadt (1921), the NEP allowed small private trade and recovery.

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