Lenin tackled the problems after the civil war through the New Economic Policy (NEP), which he described as a "tactical retreat." The NEP abolished grain requisitioning and allowed private ownership of small businesses and a return to a money economy. It led to increases in food production, industrial output, and trade in the early 1920s. However, there were also issues like corruption from private traders and a "scissor crisis" as peasants were reluctant to sell grain. Politically, there was no liberalization - censorship remained, political rivals were attacked, and the church faced restrictions. The state also became more centralized and less democratic over this period.