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New Economic Policy (NEP) - Origins

New Economic Policy (NEP) - Origins. Civil war led to increased opposition from groups previously in support of the Bolsheviks Food shortages due to underproduction by peasants & severe drought (1920-1) Strikes & demonstrations by urban workers Revolts in eastern Ukraine & Western Siberia

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New Economic Policy (NEP) - Origins

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  1. New Economic Policy (NEP) - Origins • Civil war led to increased opposition from groups previously in support of the Bolsheviks • Food shortages due to underproduction by peasants & severe drought (1920-1) • Strikes & demonstrations by urban workers • Revolts in eastern Ukraine & Western Siberia • Kronstadt Naval mutiny • Mass arrest of Mensheviks & SRs across the country • Move toward fully socialist system in order to avoid revolution (NEP)

  2. NEP Origins • Under NEP • Peasants allowed to sell surplus produce for profit after taxes • Small-scale private enterprise was allowed • Incentives and bonuses for workers • NEP viewed as temporary by Bolsheviks • Prevent another revolution • Allow economic recovery • Solidify political control • Consequences • Kulaks built up large, profitable farms • Traders began flourishing in cities

  3. NEP Years • Dictatorship of the party: a monopoly of power must be retained by the party • Scissors crisis – prices fluctuated wildly, but government imposed price controls • Political repression intensified as the economy became more liberal • Cheka abolished & replaced by GPU (more power & ran network of concentration camps, Gulags) • SRs condemned on charges of counter-revolution – saved by international protest • Workers’ Opposition suppressed

  4. NEP Years • New constitution drawn up in 1923 (mainly by Stalin) • Country called USSR • Peoples’ Commissars remained the government • Congress of Soviets remained the legislature • GPU replaced with Unified State Political Administration (OGPU) • Nikolai Bukharin was the chief supporter of the NEP, Trotsky opposed it & Stalin was non-committal

  5. Rise of Stalin • Member of Politburo (committee in charge of gov’t policy) when Lenin died • Rise to power seemed unlikely • “The party’s most eminent mediocrity…a man destined to play second or third fiddle.” –Leon Trotsky • “He is too crude, and his defect becomes unacceptable in the position of General-Secretary…they should devise a means of removing him from his job.” – Vladimir Lenin

  6. Rise of Stalin • Other more promising candidates: • Leon Trotsky (organizer of the Red Army) • Lev Kamenev (head of Moscow party organization) • Grigori Zinoviev (head of Leningrad party organization & Comintern) • Nikolai Bukharin (rising intellectual star of the party)

  7. How did Stalin eliminate his rivals? Trotsky’s brilliance worked against him • Arrogant & condescending • Long-term members resented his joining the party shortly before the November revolution • Critical of Kamenev, Zinoviev & Bukharin triumvirate • Resulted in them working to prevent Trotsky from becoming leader • Almost all support disappeared by the end of 1924 • Forced resignation as Commissar for Military & Naval Affairs

  8. How did Stalin eliminate his rivals? Stalin was underestimated by Politburo members • Lenin’s advice to remove him was ignored • Missed several chances to get rid of him • Pragmatic, great political skill & intuition • Excellent judge of character • Exploited peoples’ weaknesses • Played the waiting game with his colleagues • When disagreements arose he would pit them against each other until he was in charge.

  9. How did Stalin eliminate his rivals? Stalin used his position cleverly • Full powers of appointment & promotion to important jobs • Placed his supporters in important & strategic party positions • Party Conferences gradually filled with his supporters • All the top bodies and congresses were packed with Stalin-backers by 1928

  10. How did Stalin eliminate his rivals? Stalin used disagreements to his own advantage • Vagueness over how communist society should be organized • “dictatorship of the proletariat” • “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” • NEP departed from socialist principles • Right wing led by Bukharin • Left wing led by Trotsky, Kamenev & Zinoviev

  11. Stalin gains supremacy • Opponents eliminated one by one • First Trotsky (question of international revolution) • Then Kamenev & Zinoviev (over NEP) • Then Bukharin (over NEP…Stalin flip-flopped) • Used politics to gain advantageous position • Stalin was supreme by 1929 • Were all of Stalin’s moves purely political or were his decisions genuine?

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