2. Whatiswarcommunism
● War Communism was an economic policy that was put into effect by the
Bolshevik party during the Russian Civil War. It was introduced in June
1918 and lasted until March 1921. They seized private businesses, the
nationalization of industry throughout Soviet Russia, and ordered for all
surplus grain from and food products from the peasants to be given to the
government.
3. Reasoningbehindwarcommunism
● When Russia pulled out of WWI to do the signing of the Treaty of
Brest-Litovsk in March 1918, meant that the Bolshevik government lost
territory on which; of the country’s industrial resources had been lost.
Production was temporarily halted, and grain deficits were exacerbated by
the lack of industrial goods to exchange with the countryside.In grain
producing areas the practice of forced grain requisitioning was
implemented forcing all resources to be directed to the front line.
● The requisitioning of food was not only implemented to secure food
supplies, but also to introduce class warfare. This was perfect to abolish
private property, free market and trade.
4. ImpactofWarCommunism:Economy
● The economic strength of Russia fell below the 1914 level.
● The state wanted to become the sole distributor and producer of food.
○ Food was distributed by the 4:3:2:1 ration where 40% of the food was given to those in
higher risk jobs and 10% of it was given to those in lower risk jobs.
○ Though the industrial class was favored, little food was provided.
● This led to economic issues as malnourished and exhausted workers
couldn’t work causing large factories to shut down due to lack of skilled
labor and fuel.
○ By 1921, industrial production had dropped to one-fifth of 1913.
○ Wages of urban workers had declined by about two-thirds in three years.
5. ImpactofWarCommunism:Economy(cont.)
● Inflation took place which deemed the Russian Rouble worthless, causing,
the government to resort to the exchange and distribution of goods and
services without the use of money.
● By early 1921, the public was so upset with the state of the economy they
had many strikes and protests which led to the Kronshtadt Rebellion in
March of that year.
○ Because of this, the Bolsheviks had to adopt the New Economic Policy which caused the
group to temporarily stop all attempts to reach a socialist economic system by
government demand.
6. ImpactofWarCommunism:Social
● Malnutrition and disease were common.
● Peasant farmers grew only for themselves because anything extra would
be taken by the state without any type of payment.
● Many believed the only way they could eat was to move to the countryside
and to grow food for themselves.
○ Between 1916 & 1920, the cities of northern and central Russia lost 33% of their population
to those moving to the countryside.
○ The number of those working in the factories and mines dropped by 50%.
○ The countryside became crowded and the amount of food was reduced even there.
● This caused the famine of 1921, which provoked the Bolshevik’s to go
against their own beliefs and receive help from the capitalist America, as
their situation was so problematic.
7. WasWarCommunismreallyCommunism?
I believe War Communism was truly a form of communism. This
is due to the abolition of private property and free market.
The Nationalization of Industry, with private ownership
being to minimized to small businesses. Food requisitioning
and distributing it equality followed the marxist idea of
“to each according to his needs.” The decreasing value of
money during the civil war was even seen as a communist
victory. Labor mobilization on Saturdays and Sundays could
even be seen as an attack on religion.
8. WasWarCommunismPractical?
● War communism was practical from the perspective of solving the
military problem of keeping the army fell fed through food requisition and
well armed through the nationalization of factories
● However, war communism left the peasants starving due to there not
being enough food to distribute and a rail system unable to distribute
goods well
● Droughts during the civil war were so severe that it thought peasants
would rather eat grain seed than sowing it
9. TowhatextentshouldwarcommunismbeseentohaveFailed
● It led to famine in the Russian countryside
● widespread opposition from the Russian population, most notably from the Kronstadt sailors
● peasants were being made to produce a quota of crops in an attempt to get food for the
soldiers in the Red Army.
● Cheka requisition squads were sent into the countryside to take the peasantry’s grain by
force. During the years between 1918-21 the squads terrorized peasants after Lenin’s order to
surpress them
● kulaks were targeted for particularly brutal treatment and whole villages would be
massacred.
● War Communism had triggered a national famine. A fifth of the population was starving,
while many even resorted to cannibalism.
● Workers were now in control of the factories but were seriously inefficient, general problems
in the cities also had a negative effect on the factories’ outputs. The shortage of goods led to
soaring price inflation and the value of the rouble collapsed, over half of Petrograd’s workforce
had fled from the city by 1919. As a result, there were simply not enough workers to run fully
functioning factories
10. TowhatextentshouldwarcommunismbeseentohaveFailed
● It established equality of men and women. women had to assume the
factory positions typically held by men whilst their husbands were away
fighting the war
● economic policy equipped and fed the Red Army
● It was also used to strengthen and unite the role and power of Lenin and
his Bolshevik party.
● It also intended to ensure and maintain the newly established Communist
regime. The heavily enforced policy was able to eliminate capitalist aspects
of Russia such as private property and implement communist economics
11. EfficiencyofWarCommunism
Successful Outcomes
● It reunified the tattered fragments of the Czardom into a functioning state, saving millions from the Whites.
● The Reds forced men into compliance by any means necessary, including extortion, hostages and heavy taxation..
● The soldiers received a lot of food from the efforts of the farmers.
● As well as the military use of railways, the soldiers managed to gain resources rather easily and made use of
that to win the civil war.
● Under War Communism, all goods were produced, allocated, and distributed according to a government plan
rather than the market need.
● Private trade was banned and food was requisitioned from the peasants to feed the Red army and ensured the
workers were properly replenished.
12. EfficiencyofWarCommunism
Unsuccessful Outcomes
● The requisition of grains was disliked by the farmers because they lost the motivation to work long
hours to gain a lot of grains as most of them will be taken away by the government.
● The farmers refused to relinquish their crops to the government and began to destroy their surplus
crops. As a result, famines occurred which had killed millions and some people even resorted to
cannibalism.
● This new set of policies also resulted in workers leaving for the countryside to ensure food security. This
further decreased the possibility for barter of industrial goods for food and worsening the plight of the
remaining urban population.
● This resulted in reduction in populations in major cities. Petrograd lost 72% of its population, and
Moscow lost 53% of its population.
● As a result, numerous rebellions broke out within Bolshevik Russia, the most prominent ones being the
Tambov rebellion and the Kronstadt rebellion. The Kronstadt rebellion was very serious for the Bolsheviks, as the
Kronstadt sailors were huge supporters of the regime and the fact that they had turned against the Bolsheviks
made Lenin realize such a policy was unsustainable. Finally on March 21 1921 Lenin announced the New Economic
Policy (NEP), which took on a more capitalist form of economy.
13. EfficiencyofWarCommunism
● Though it might have saved the revolution of 1917, it was at a cost of millions of lives.
● All these measures also went along with the future policies of Bolshevism and so War Communism is argued
that it brought Russia to the closest ever to true Communism.
● When the civil war was over, all these problems threatened stability within the Bolshevik regime and caused
huge problems for the Bolsheviks in consolidating their rule.
