The situation in Russia was critical. The country was in ruins. The level of production, including agricultural products, fell sharply. However, there was no longer a serious threat to Bolshevik power. In this situation, to normalize relations and social life in the country, at the 10th Congress of the RCP(b), it was decided to introduce a new economic policy, abbreviated as NEP.

The reasons for the transition to the New Economic Policy (NEP) from the policy of war communism were:

• the urgent need to normalize relations between the city and the countryside;
• the need for economic recovery;
• problem of money stabilization;
• dissatisfaction of the peasantry with surplus appropriation, which led to an intensification of the insurrectionary movement (kulak rebellion);
• desire to restore foreign policy ties.

The NEP policy was proclaimed on March 21, 1921. From that moment on, food appropriation was abolished. It was replaced by half the tax in kind. He, at the request of the peasant, could be contributed both in money and products. However tax policy Soviet power became a serious limiting factor for the development of large peasant farms. While the poor were exempt from payments, the wealthy peasantry bore a heavy tax burden. In an effort to evade paying them, wealthy peasants and kulaks split up their farms. At the same time, the rate of fragmentation of farms was twice as high as in the pre-revolutionary period.

Market relations were again legalized. The development of new commodity-money relations entailed the restoration all-Russian market, as well as, to some extent, private capital. During the NEP period, it was formed banking system countries. Direct and indirect taxes are introduced, which become the main source government revenues(excise taxes, income and agricultural taxes, service fees, etc.).

Due to the fact that the NEP policy in Russia was seriously hampered by inflation and instability money circulation, was undertaken currency reform. By the end of 1922, a stable currency unit– a chervonets, which was backed by gold or other valuables.

An acute shortage of capital led to the beginning of active administrative intervention in the economy. First, administrative influence on industrial sector(Regulations on State Industrial Trusts), and soon it extended to the agricultural sector.

As a result, the NEP by 1928, despite frequent crises provoked by the incompetence of new leaders, led to a noticeable economic growth and a certain improvement in the situation in the country. National income increased financial situation citizens (workers, peasants, as well as employees) has become more stable.

The process of restoration of industry and agriculture was rapidly underway. But, at the same time, the gap between the USSR and the capitalist countries (France, the USA and even Germany, which lost the First World War) inevitably increased. The development of heavy industry and agriculture required large long-term investments. For further industrial development The country also needed to increase the marketability of agriculture.

It is worth noting that the NEP had a significant impact on the culture of the country. The management of art, science, education, and culture was centralized and transferred to the State Commission for Education, headed by Lunacharsky A.V.

Despite the fact that the new economic policy was, for the most part, successful, after 1925 attempts to curtail it began. The reason for the collapse of the NEP was the gradual strengthening of contradictions between economics and politics. The private sector and a resurgent agriculture sought to provide political guarantees for their own economic interests. This provoked an internal party struggle. And the new members of the Bolshevik Party - peasants and workers who were ruined during the NEP - were not happy with the new economic policy.

Officially, the NEP was discontinued on October 11, 1931, but in fact, already in October 1928, implementation of the first five-year plan began, as well as collectivization in the countryside and accelerated industrialization of production.

NEP - " new economic policy» Soviet Russia represented economic liberalization under strict political control by the authorities. NEP replaced " war communism» (« old economic policy" - SEP) and had the main task: to overcome the political and economic crises of the spring of 1921. The main idea of ​​the NEP was the restoration of the national economy for the subsequent transition to socialist construction.

By 1921, the Civil War in the territory of the former Russian Empire is generally over. The battles with the half-dead White Guards and the Japanese occupiers were still raging in the Far East (in the Far East), and in the RSFSR they were already assessing the losses brought by the military-revolutionary upheavals:

Loss of territory- Poland, Finland, the Baltic countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia), Western Belarus and Ukraine, Bessarabia and the Kara region of Armenia were left outside Soviet Russia and its allied socialist state formations.

Population losses as a result of wars, emigration, epidemics and a drop in the birth rate, the population numbered approximately 25 million people. Experts calculated that no more than 135 million people lived in Soviet territories at that time.

They were thoroughly destroyed and fell into disrepair industrial areas: Donbass, Ural and Baku oil production complex. There was a catastrophic shortage of raw materials and fuel for poorly functioning plants and factories.

The volume of industrial production decreased by approximately 5 times (metal smelting fell to the level of the beginning of the 18th century).

Agricultural production decreased by approximately 40%.

Inflation exceeded all reasonable limits.

There was and was growing a shortage of consumer goods.

The intellectual potential of society has degraded. Many scientists, technical specialists and cultural figures emigrated, some were subjected to repression, even physical destruction.

The peasants, outraged by the surplus appropriation system and the excesses of the food detachments, not only sabotaged the delivery of grain, but also raised armed insurrections. The farmers of the Tambov region, Don, Kuban, Ukraine, Volga region and Siberia rebelled. The rebels, often led by ideological Socialist Revolutionaries, put forward economic (abolition of food appropriation) and political demands:

1. Changes in the agricultural policy of the Soviet authorities.
2. Cancel the one-party dictate of the RCP(b).
3. Elect and convene the Constituent Assembly.

Units and even formations of the Red Army were sent to suppress the uprisings, but the wave of protests did not subside. Anti-Bolshevik sentiments also matured in the Red Army, which resulted in the large-scale Kronstadt uprising on March 1, 1921. In the RCP(b) itself and the Supreme Economic Council, already in 1920, the voices of individual leaders (Trotsky, Rykov) were heard calling for the abandonment of food appropriation. The issue of changing the socio-economic course of Soviet power has become ripe.

Factors that influenced the adoption of the new economic policy

The introduction of the NEP in the Soviet state was not someone’s whim; on the contrary, the NEP was due to a number of factors:

Political, economic, social and even ideological. The concept of the New Economic Policy was general outline formulated by V.I. Lenin at the X Congress of the RCP(b). The leader called at this stage to change approaches to governing the country.

The concept that the driving force of the socialist revolution is the proletariat is unshakable. But the working peasantry is his ally and Soviet authority must learn to “get along” with him.

The country must have a built-in system with a unified ideology, suppressing any opposition to the existing government.

Only in such a situation could the NEP provide a solution to the economic problems that wars and revolutions posed to the young Soviet state.

General characteristics of the NEP

NEP in Soviet country a controversial phenomenon, since it directly contradicted Marxist theory. When the policy of “war communism” failed, the “new economic policy” played the role of an unplanned detour on the path to building socialism. V.I. Lenin constantly emphasized the thesis: “NEP is a temporary phenomenon.” Based on this, the NEP can be broadly characterized by its main parameters:

	Characteristics
	Overcome the political and socio-economic crisis in the young Soviet state; finding new ways to build the economic foundation of a socialist society; improving the standard of living in Soviet society and creating an environment of stability in domestic politics.
	The combination of the command-administrative system and the market method in the Soviet economy. the commanding heights remained in the hands of representatives of the proletarian party.
	Agriculture; industry (private small enterprises, lease of state enterprises, state capitalist enterprises, concessions); financial sector.
Specifics	The surplus appropriation system is replaced by a tax in kind (March 21, 1921); linking the city and the countryside through the restoration of trade and commodity-money relations; admission of private capital to industry; permission to rent land and hire farm laborers in agriculture; liquidation of the card distribution system; competition between private, cooperative and public trade; introduction of self-government and self-sufficiency of enterprises; abolition of labor conscription, liquidation of labor armies, distribution of labor through stock exchanges; financial reform, transition to wages and the abolition of free services.

The Soviet state allowed private capitalist relations in trade, small and even in some medium-sized enterprises. At the same time, large industry, transport and financial system regulated by the state. In relation to private capital, the NEP allowed the use of a formula of three elements: admission, containment and displacement. What and at what point to use Soviet and party bodies based on the emerging political expediency.

Chronological framework of the NEP

The New Economic Policy fell within the time frame from 1921 to 1931.

	Action	Course of events
	Starting the process	Gradual winding down of the system of war communism and the introduction of elements of the NEP.
1923, 1925, 1927	Crises of the New Economic Policy	The emergence and intensification of the causes and signs of the trend toward the collapse of the NEP.
	Activation of the program termination process.	An actual departure from the NEP, a sharp increase in critical attitude towards the “kulaks” and “NEPmen”.
	Complete dismantling of the NEP.	A legal ban on private property has been formalized by law.

In general, the NEP quickly restored and made the economic system of the Soviet Union relatively viable.

Pros and cons of NEP

One of the most important negative aspects of the new economic policy, according to many analysts, was that during this period the industry (heavy industry) did not develop. This circumstance could have had catastrophic consequences during this period of history for a country such as the USSR. But besides this, not everything in the NEP was assessed with a “plus” sign; there were also significant disadvantages.

	"Minuses"
Restoration and development of commodity-money relations.	Mass unemployment (more than 2 million people).
Development of small businesses in the areas of industry and services.	High prices for industrial goods. Inflation.
Some increase in the standard of living of the industrial proletariat.	Low qualifications of most workers.
The prevalence of “middle peasants” in the social structure of the village.	Exacerbation of the housing problem.
Conditions have been created for the industrialization of the country.	Increase in the number of co-workers (officials). Bureaucratization of the system.

The reasons for many economic troubles that led to crises were the low competence of personnel and the inconsistency of the policies of the party and government structures.

Inevitable crises

From the very beginning, the NEP showed the unstable economic growth characteristic of capitalist relations, which resulted in three crises:

The sales crisis of 1923, as a consequence of the discrepancy between low prices for agricultural products and high prices for industrial consumer goods (“scissors” prices).

The grain procurement crisis of 1925, expressed in the preservation of mandatory government purchases at fixed prices while the volume of grain exports decreased.

The acute grain procurement crisis of 1927–1928, overcome with the help of administrative and legal measures. Closing of the New Economic Policy project.

Reasons for abandoning the NEP

The curtailment of the NEP in the Soviet Union had a number of justifications:

1. The New Economic Policy did not have a clear vision of the development prospects of the USSR.
2. Unsustainability of economic growth.
3. Socio-economic disadvantages (wealth stratification, unemployment, specific crime, theft and drug addiction).
4. Isolation of the Soviet economy from the world economy.
5. Dissatisfaction with the NEP of a significant part of the proletariat.
6. Disbelief in the success of the NEP by a significant part of the communists.
7. The CPSU(b) risked losing its monopoly on power.
8. The predominance of administrative methods of managing the national economy and non-economic coercion.
9. Exacerbation of the danger of military aggression against the USSR.

Results of the New Economic Policy

Political	in 1921, the Tenth Congress adopted a resolution “on party unity,” thereby putting an end to factionalism and dissent in the ruling party; a trial was organized against prominent Socialist Revolutionaries and the AKP itself was liquidated; The Menshevik party was discredited and destroyed as a political force.
Economic	increasing the volume of agricultural production; achieving the pre-war level of livestock production; the level of production of consumer goods did not satisfy demand; rising prices; slow growth in the welfare of the country's population.
Social	a fivefold increase in the number of the proletariat; the emergence of a layer of Soviet capitalists (“NEPmen” and “Sovburs”); the working class has noticeably improved its standard of living; the “housing problem” has worsened; The apparatus of bureaucratic-democratic management increased.

New economic policy and wasn't there until the end understood and accepted as a given by the authorities and people of the country. To some extent, the NEP measures justified themselves, but there were still more negative aspects of the process. The main result was fast recovery economic system to the level of readiness for the next stage of building socialism - large-scale industrialization.

The economic policy of Soviet Russia in the twenties of the last century, which included a return to commodity-money relations, freedom of trade and the replacement of surplus appropriation with an agricultural tax.

The New Economic Policy was carried out by the Soviet government from 1921 to 1928 with the aim of leading the country out of the crisis, developing the economy and agriculture.

Reasons for introduction

After the First World War and the Civil War, the RSFSR faced famine, political and economic crisis. A wave of uprisings against Soviet power swept across the country - on the Don, Siberia, Kuban, Tambov and Kronstadt. In the spring of 1921, 200 thousand people were involved in the uprising. Despite the fact that the uprisings and riots were suppressed, the Soviet government needed changes in the model of governing the country. It was decided to introduce a system that would combine economic liberalization and strict political control.

The reasons for the introduction of the new economic policy can be divided into:

• economic - the country needed an impetus for economic development;
• social - the stratification of society contributed to the growth of social tension;
• political - the NEP became a means of management.

The New Economic Policy was a market-administrative structure, which was characterized by:

• refusal of equal pay system;
• complete completion of labor mobilization;
• partial transfer of state industrial enterprises into private hands;
• the widespread introduction of self-financing;
• the creation of new economic associations - syndicates and trusts;
• the formation of enterprises at the expense of the bourgeoisie.

Financial reform of the NEP

The transition to a new economic policy required reform of the financial monetary system, which consisted of:

• cessation of money emission;
• creating a deficit-free budget;
• introduction of a unified monetary system;
• restoration of the banking system;
• creating a stable currency;
• developing an optimal tax system.

By government decree of October 4, 1921, payment for Kosovo-telegraph and transport services was introduced, the State Bank was formed and savings and loan banks were opened.

In November 1922, in accordance with the decree of the Council of People's Commissars, the production of a parallel currency began - the chervonets, which was equal to one spool - 7.75 grams of gold. Chervonets were intended for service wholesale trade, credit operations State Bank and Industry. In 1923 and 1924, two devaluations of the monetary unit of account were carried out, which made it possible to give the reform a confiscatory character. In 1924, a monetary system with two parallel currencies was liquidated.

The formation of a new monetary system was accompanied by the development of foreign, wholesale and retail, eliminating the budget deficit, revising prices, creating stock exchanges and joint-stock banks. Solid National currency and a deficit-free budget were the most important achievements of financial reform.

NEP in agriculture

The new economic policy in agriculture led to:

• adoption of the land code;
• introduction of a single agricultural tax;
• agricultural cooperation;

The replacement of surplus appropriation with an agricultural tax was enshrined at the legislative level in March 1921 by a decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. Compared to the surplus appropriation system, the tax amount is halved, but the decree limited the freedom of trade in products remaining after paying the tax. The agricultural market did not fulfill its functions, since peasants were forced to sell half of their products at a lower price. market price. The state exploited the peasants, and corruption and theft of state property by officials was widespread. Despite the fact that during the NEP period the potential of agriculture was used irrationally, and peasants were not interested in the development of the industry, in 1925 the volume of sown areas reached the pre-war level.

NEP in industry

The basis of the NEP in industry was the abolition of central boards and the creation of trusts that received complete financial and economic independence. Enterprises that were part of the trusts lost government supplies and purchased resources at open market. The introduction of self-financing allowed enterprises of all forms of ownership to independently manage their income.

The state, in order to build a socialist planned economy, tried to combine two types of trust management - planned and market. This was the main complexity and contradictory nature of the situation. The state strengthened the principle of planning and encouraged the creation of concerns by merging trusts with enterprises producing raw materials and finished products.

Simultaneously with the trusts, syndicates were created - associations of trusts for mutual lending, regulation trading operations on the market and wholesale distribution of products. In 1922, 80% of trusts were part of syndicates.

The private sector during the NEP period

During the period of the New Economic Policy, the private sector played a major role in the restoration of the food and light industry - it produced 20% of industrial products, and its share in retail trade was 83%.

Industry in the private sector was represented by rental, handicraft, cooperative and joint-stock enterprises. Private entrepreneurship has become widespread in the clothing, leather, food and tobacco industries. Despite the fact that the state, using tax pressure, regularly limited the activities of private traders, in the RSFSR there were 325 thousand private enterprises, employing 12% work force countries.

Consequences

The NEP allowed the state to restore the destroyed economy in the absence of highly qualified personnel that were lost during the First World War and the Civil War. Recovery and high rates of economic growth were achieved through the commissioning of pre-war capacities.

Potential for further development the economy turned out to be too low. After all, representatives of the private sector were not allowed into leadership positions, foreign investment was not welcomed, and the country could not afford long-term capital-intensive investment. The implementation of the new economic policy without the participation of experienced production workers, managers and economists became the main reason for serious mistakes and miscalculations.

From the October Revolution until the end of the 1920s, two models were tested in Soviet Russia economic development. The first was called war communism, the second - NEP (new economic policy). In the first years of the development of the socialist state, two directly opposite phenomena collided. How is this possible, and what was the NEP during the USSR? Let's try to understand this issue.

From War Communism to New Economic Policy

November 1920 marked the end of the Russian Civil War. The transition to the peaceful construction of statehood began. This was not easy to implement: during the years of turmoil, the country's population decreased by 20 million people, and the total damage amounted to about 39 billion gold rubles. Productive forces were undermined. Industry in 1920 was only 14% of the pre-war level. Agricultural production decreased by a third, and most transport routes were destroyed. Peasant uprisings raged everywhere, and in some places the white interventionists did not calm down.

The cause of discontent was the system of war communism introduced by the Soviet government in 1918. This policy was to prepare the country for a new, communist society. Industry and agriculture were nationalized. Labor acquired a militarized character: the orientation was mainly towards military products. The people were dissatisfied with the total equalization manifested in the introduction of food allocation. Bread was simply confiscated from the starving population.

The Soviet government was tired of fighting the growing number of riots. The last straw was the Kronstadt rebellion. Its members had previously helped the Bolsheviks seize power. Lenin was one of the first to realize that fighting one’s own people is not good. In 1920, he spoke at the X Party Congress and proposed new economic principles.

The country was completely transformed during the NEP years. Extremely liberal principles and norms were introduced, which caused concern among seasoned revolutionaries and educated Marxists. A Bolshevik opposition emerged, dissatisfied with the bourgeois bias of the leadership. What were the Marxists afraid of? We need to figure it out.

The essence of the NEP

The main goal of the NEP policy during the years of the USSR was the revival of the country's economic sector. A system of measures aimed at eliminating the food crisis was developed. The goals could be achieved by boosting agriculture. It was necessary to liberate the manufacturer and provide him with incentives to develop production.

The years of the NEP were marked, in fact, by the strongest liberalization economic sphere. Of course, there was no question of a market, but in comparison with war communism, the new system was a significant step forward.

So, the reasons for the transition to the NEP policy in the years after the revolution were the following phenomena:

• the decline of the revolutionary wave in the West (in Mexico, Germany and a number of other countries);
• the desire to retain power at any cost;
• the deepest political and socio-economic crisis of power, caused, among other things, by the policy of war communism;
• mass uprisings in villages, as well as protests in the army and navy;
• the collapse of the idea of ​​​​forming socialism and communism by bypassing market relations.

The years of the NEP were marked by the gradual elimination of military mobilization economic model and the restoration of the national economy destroyed during the war.

The main political goal during the NEP years was to relieve social tension. It was necessary to strengthen the social base in the form of an alliance of workers and peasants. Economic purpose was to prevent further deterioration, overcome the crisis and restore the economy. The social task was to provide favorable conditions for the formation of a socialist society without a world revolution.

There were also foreign policy goals during the NEP years. The relatively liberal elite of the Soviet government insisted on overcoming international isolation. One of the reasons for this decision lay in economic changes. For example, concessions, a procedure used during the NEP, became widespread. Commissioning for foreign entrepreneurs various enterprises or land has gained remarkable popularity. This procedure helped to quickly “pull out” many enterprises and lands, although the conservative part of the Bolsheviks was still suspicious of the concession.

Were the goals achieved? There are individual indicators, for example, the growth of national income, improvement in the financial situation of workers, etc. The years of NEP really led to the optimization of the state situation. But did she appear? new policy this economic revolution, or did the Soviet government overestimate its own plans? To answer this question, you need to turn to the basic techniques and mechanisms used during the NEP.

Changes in the economy

The first and main measure of the new economic policy was the elimination of food appropriation. From now on, bread was not confiscated in unlimited quantities. A clear limit for the food tax was established - 20% of the net peasant product. The surplus appropriation system demanded almost twice as much. The peasants could use the remaining products after paying the tax in own needs. You could use it yourself, transfer it to the state, or even sell it on the free market.

Radical changes also affected the industrial sector. The main committees - the so-called central boards - were abolished. Instead, trusts appear - associations of interconnected or homogeneous enterprises. They receive complete financial and economic independence, including the right to produce long-term bonds.

By the end of 1922, about 90% of enterprises were united into 421 trusts. 60% of them were local and only 40% were centralized. The trusts resolved issues of production and state sales of products. The enterprises themselves did not receive state support and were guided only by the purchase of resources on the market.

Syndicates - voluntary associations of several trusts - have become equally popular. They were involved in supply, sales, lending and various foreign trade functions. A wide network of fairs has emerged, trading enterprises and exchanges.

The aggressive policy of war communism implied complete cancellation finance and payment. But the years of NEP in Russia revived commodity-money relations. Tariffs introduced wages, restrictions on increasing earnings and changing jobs were lifted, and universal labor conscription was abolished. The principle of material incentives was taken as the basis. It replaced the non-economic coercion of war communism.

In-kind tax and trade

We should talk in a little more detail about each economic sector that underwent changes during the NEP years. The state and its entire population breathed a sigh of relief when it became known that the food allocation had been cancelled. At the X Congress of the RSDLP, held from March 8 to 16, 1921, it was decided to introduce a special tax that would replace the forcible seizure of property. By the way, the question of in what year the transition to the NEP was officially confirmed by the authorities should be considered within the framework of the Tenth Congress. At it, Lenin proposed a program of new social economic principles, which was supported by 732 thousand party members.

The essence of the tax in kind is simple: from now on, peasants annually hand over to the state a firmly established norm of grain. The forced seizure of almost half of total production is a thing of the past. The tax was halved. The authorities believed that such a step would create an incentive to increase grain production. By 1922, measures to help peasants were completely strengthened: the tax in kind was reduced by 10%. Farmers were freed from choosing forms of agricultural use. Even hiring labor and renting land were allowed.

All measures taken were the most liberal. The commercial and financial side of the NEP concerned the free sale of rural products. At the X Congress, the beginning of the exchange of products between the village and the city was announced. The advantage was given not to the market, but to cooperatives. Initially, the Bolsheviks planned to be based on barter - free exchange without money. For example, 1 pood of rye could be exchanged for 1 box of nails. Naturally, nothing came of this venture. The pseudo-socialist exchange of products was quickly replaced by the usual purchase and sale with money.

Industry during the NEP years

The transition to the use of market mechanisms was completed in the fall of 1921. This prompted the leadership of the RCP(b) to urgently implement reforms in the industrial field. Majority state enterprises had to switch to the principles of economic accounting. State finances equally needed to be reformed - by replacing natural taxes with cash taxes, forming a new budget, establishing control over money issue etc.

The question was raised about the creation of state capitalism in the form of concessions and rental relations. The power-capitalist form of economic management included industrial, rural and consumer cooperation.

The main task of the Bolshevik leadership was to strengthen the socialist sector through the creation of a large state industry. It was necessary to ensure its interaction with other structures. Did such a step contradict the basic principles of the NEP? It is necessary to understand the issue.

The public sector included the largest and most efficient enterprises, which were provided with fuel, raw materials and other products. All large enterprises were subordinate to the Supreme Council of the National Economy (VSNKh). The rest of the enterprises were immediately rented out. The industrial management system was reformed. Of the fifty former branch centers and central administrations of the Supreme Economic Council, only 16 remained. Accordingly, the number of employees was reduced from 300 thousand to 91 thousand people.

The surrender of domestic industry to foreign entrepreneurs, which was used during the NEP years, was called a concession. In essence, production attracted foreign capital. This saved many unprofitable enterprises during the NEP years.

Despite the development of market mechanisms, the Soviet authorities still despised the bourgeois development of society. “Capitalism must be well-trained in our country,” Lenin once said. What could he mean? Most likely, Vladimir Ilyich was going to improve the country in a matter of months with the help of the market and liberal reforms, and then return to the path of socialist development. Capitalism in Russia will not develop fully, but only at the “school” level. After that, he will be liquidated and “schooled out.”

Trade and private capital

A significant step forward was the revival of private capital in the trade sector. Merchants, like small producers, were forced to buy up patents and pay a progressive tax. Merchants were divided into five categories depending on the nature of the trade relations being carried out. These are sellers from hand, in stores, in kiosks and stalls, retail and wholesale, as well as hired workers.

Closer to 1925, the state implemented a shift towards stationary trade. Used by the authorities and widely used during the NEP years, private traders were placed in shops that formed a wide retail network. Wherein wholesale market still remained in the hands of the authorities. Cooperative and large state-owned enterprises predominated here.

Since 1921, exchanges began to revive - points of circulation of mass products. Such authorities were abolished during the years of war communism, but the new economic policy changed everything.

During the NEP years, the number of different exchanges reached the pre-war number. By the end of 1925, about 90 were recorded joint stock companies. All of them were a collection of predominantly cooperative, state or mixed capital. The turnover of trading companies exceeded 1.5 billion rubles. Various forms of cooperation have developed rapidly. This especially affected consumer cooperative institutions, which were closely connected with rural areas.

As already mentioned, a foreign element appeared in trade - concessions. This is the rental of various firms and organizations to foreign tenants and small entrepreneurs, which was used during the NEP years. Already in 1926, there were 117 existing concession agreements. They covered enterprises that employed about 20 thousand people. This is 1% of the total number of products produced in Russia.

Concessions were not the only form of interaction with foreign enterprises. IN Soviet Union a stream of emigrant workers from all over the world arrived. The newly formed country with an unusual way of life, a utopian ideology and a complex form of governance attracted foreigners. Thus, in 1922, the Russian-American Industrial Corporation (RAIK) was created, which included six garment factories in Petrograd and four in Moscow. The credit system has been revived. Before 1925, a number of specialized banks, joint-stock companies, syndicates, cooperatives, etc. appeared.

The situation, I must say, was amazing. The socialists who came to power were simply carried away by bourgeois governance, which is why they were criticized by the conservative part of the revolutionaries. However, the policy being pursued was simply necessary. The devastation in the country required rapid changes, and they could only be achieved through proven, capitalist methods. But can we say that a real market has been formed in the country? Let's try to figure it out further.

Market mechanisms

There was no pure market economy in the form in which we know it in the USSR during the NEP years. This is an obvious fact, despite all the mechanisms and tricks that the Bolshevik government so often resorted to. A market cannot be built in a matter of days from scratch. And the country's economy was truly “empty”. The authorities achieved this phenomenon by aggressively imposing war communism. No matter how actively and effectively all the methods that marked the new years of the NEP were applied, a normal market was still not possible in the country.

At the end of the 1910s, monetary relations were abolished in the USSR. Most goods and services began to be provided free of charge. The Soviet government considered this decision painful, but correct. Radical measures will supposedly bring a happier future closer, and socialism will flourish. However, there was still no happiness. Confusion with accumulated money and unsecured exchange only caused a wave of discontent. The state made concessions, and to improve the economy, a monetary reform was carried out - the first market mechanism.

In the early 1920s, the country introduced the golden chervonets. It was equal to 5 US dollars and was backed by Russia's gold reserves. Appeared a little later National Bank, created on the principles of economic accounting and interested in receiving income from lending to industry, trade and agriculture.

The transition to the NEP meant the abandonment of revolutionary, radical methods economic management. The Soviet authorities realized the ineffectiveness of reactionary policies and did not torture their fellow citizens. However, there is no need to talk about the market. The surrender of revolutionary powers, which was used during the NEP years, does not mean an active and desired transition to capitalism. On the contrary, the authorities were reluctant to introduce new liberal elements. The same concession could not do without strict supervision by the Soviet authorities.

Social contradictions of politics

Most historians argue that the introduction of new economic principles significantly changed social structure and the way of life of Soviet citizens. Colorful figures of the Soviet bourgeoisie appeared - the so-called Sovburs, Nepmen. These are individuals who define the specifics of that era. They were, as it were, outside society. Deprived of voting rights and membership in trade unions, while far from being poor, the Nepmen became a real reflection of the times of the 1920s.

Entrepreneurs felt the fragility and temporary nature of their position. It was difficult and pointless to leave the country. Managing the enterprise from a distance simply wouldn’t work. The Soviet Union itself was a state with an unusual ideology: every person here should be equal, all rich people are despised. Just recently, landowners and merchants were killed or expelled from the country. The Nepmen knew this, and therefore feared for their lives.

Fashion during the NEP years differed little from American fashion during Prohibition. The photo below clearly demonstrates this.

How long can you still hit the jackpot and make money on adventures? Where to put the spent savings and is it worth doing it at all? These questions were asked by every Soviet entrepreneur who made at least small forecasts in his head.

However, the emergence of entrepreneurs in a country most unadapted to this was not the only contradiction during the NEP years. The support used for small lands, as well as the reduction of wealthy farms and the “middle-classization” of the countryside, presented another interesting problem.

It all started with the tax policy - a kind of deterrent. Prosperous industries stopped growing. Support for small farms has received particular development. The so-called averaging has begun - when each owner gets not a little and not a lot, but an average. It was the middle peasants who became staunch adherents of power and traditional culture.

Lenin carried out the policy. He hoped for universal peasant cooperation, and was not too lazy to once again mention the voluntary nature of land divisions. What is the contradiction here? On the one hand, the state had a socialist orientation. It was supposed to forcefully equalize everyone. But the NEP policy, marked by bourgeois principles, did not allow this to be done. The result was a very strange picture: a supposedly voluntary “averageization” with unclear goals, which did not lead to anything at all. A little later, the Soviet authorities will abandon private property and announce the creation of collective farms.

The last contradiction of the NEP is the creation of an exorbitant bureaucracy. The bureaucracy has grown to incredible proportions due to the active interference of the authorities in the industrial and production spheres. Already in 1921 in government institutions About 2.5 million officials worked. For comparison: in tsarist Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, the number of civil servants barely reached 180 thousand people. There is only one question: why does a state whose ideology is aimed at the absence of any power need such an extensive and cumbersome state apparatus? It is difficult to answer this question.

Policy results

The question of in what year the NEP was officially abolished remains relevant to this day. Some talk about 1927, when there was a disruption in state grain procurement. Then a huge amount of food supplies were confiscated from the kulaks. Other historians put forward a point of view about 1928, when the policy of five-year development of the national economy was launched. The country's leadership then set a course for collectivization and accelerated industrialization.

The NEP was not officially cancelled. It should be remembered that the principles of the New Economic Policy were formed by Vladimir Lenin, who died in 1924. His rules worked even after death. Only on October 11, 1931, an official decree on a complete ban was adopted private trade on the territory of the USSR.

What was the main success of the policy? Firstly, this is a partial restoration of the economy, destroyed during two revolutions and a civil war. War communism failed to “cure” the country, but it did so in part through the application of capitalist methods. Economic indicators from 1913 to 1926 doubled. The country received capital-intensive, long term investment. The situation remained contradictory only in the countryside, where pressure was exerted on the kulaks - wealthy peasants.

Finding new ways

The undoubted successes of the new economic policy did not, however, solve all state problems. The sales crisis remained in force, price scissors increased (inconsistency in the cost of goods), and finally, the shortage of goods did not go away.

The authorities had different views on solving the problem. The left, led by Trotsky, insisted on the dictatorship of industry. Problems can be solved only through the efforts of the proletariat with minimal government intervention. There were also rightists, led by Bukharin. They advocated the creation of cooperatives, support for the peasantry and development market economy. Bukharin's famous quote:

Get rich, accumulate, develop your farm! Poor people's socialism is lousy socialism.

Trotsky was defeated quite easily - at the January 1924 party conference, his project was removed from discussion. Bukharin, in turn, became friends with Stalin. At the end of the 20s, he found himself in disgrace due to contradictions with the current government - his arguments against collectivization and industrialization were simply not accepted.

Introduction

1. Features of the NEP policy

Curtailment of the NEP

3. Results of the NEP

4. The significance of the NEP

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

NEP is the economic policy of Soviet Russia, which replaced the policy of “war communism”.

NEP - This abbreviation stands for "new economic policy". The NEP became an entire era, although all its stages fit into one decade: the new economic policy was adopted by the Tenth Congress of the RCP (b) in 1921.

The main goal of the proclamation of the NEP was the restoration of the national economy, destroyed by two fierce wars (First World War and Civil War). By the end of 1920, hostilities had largely ended in the European part of the country. In Siberia and the Far East they continued until 1922. What were the results?

The hopes that Soviet Russia would not be alone for long and that after the victory of the revolutions in the West we would build socialism together with other more developed countries mutually helping each other. Since 1920, the revolutionary wave in Europe began to subside quite quickly. Revolutions in Germany, Austria, and Hungary were suppressed. Hopes for European help turned out to be unfounded. There was also no need to count on loans and other assistance, since the Soviet government canceled all old debts in 1917, and after the end of the civil war it found itself in diplomatic isolation. Consequently, one could now rely only on one’s own strength, which radically changed the situation. It is no coincidence that, speaking at the X Congress of the RCP (b) V.I. Lenin noted: “The socialist revolution in such a country can have final success under two conditions. Firstly, with the support of the socialist revolution in one or more advanced countries. As you know, we have done a lot for this condition compared to the previous ones, but not nearly enough to make this a reality.

Another condition is an agreement between the proletariat exercising its dictatorship or holding state power in its hands and the majority of the peasant population.”

What could we observe inside the country? The economic situation was rapidly deteriorating. Since hostilities took place almost throughout the country, most of the enterprises naturally suffered during these battles. In many places, the economic infrastructure was simply destroyed.

Of course, the idea of ​​the NEP did not appear ready-made overnight. It was a long, painfully difficult search for forms and types of economic ties that would combine possible concessions to the petty-bourgeois and bourgeois strata of the population, and at the same time allow us not to lose sight of the main final task - building a socialist and then a communist economy with all their inherent traits. Therefore, the actual development of the main economic measures that make up the NEP continues from 1921, when it began to be introduced, until 1925-27, when we began the transition to forced development.

The purpose of the work is to consider the reasons for the collapse of the NEP.

1.Features of the NEP policy

The state of Soviet Russia in 1921 was terrifying. The young country lay in ruins.

Immediately after the Great October Revolution, at the end of 1917, the US government stopped relations with Russia, and in 1918 England and France stopped. Soon (in October 1919), the Supreme Council of the military alliance of the leading capitalist states - the Entente - announced the end of all economic ties with Soviet Russia. The attempted economic blockade was accompanied by military intervention. The blockade was lifted only in January 1920. Then an attempt was made by Western states to organize the so-called gold blockade: they refused to accept Soviet gold as means of payment in international payments.

The ideology of the Bolsheviks headed towards socialism; to implement this project it was necessary to first create material and technical support for it.

The policy of war communism, carried out until 1921, aggravated the situation - the peasants began to express their sentiment against the new government, which was embodied for them mainly in the form of food detachments and surplus appropriation systems. It was time to restore the economy. In March 1921, the X Congress of the RCP (b) decided to replace the surplus appropriation tax with a tax in kind, which was half the size of the surplus appropriation tax, established in the form of a share deduction from the products produced, based on the harvest, the number of consumers, the presence of livestock, etc. The tax covered up to 20% of agricultural products. It was later reduced to 10% in March 1922. The tax had a clearly defined class character: for the poor and middle peasants the percentage of deductions was reduced.

It was also important that the surplus product remained the property of the peasant and could be used at his personal discretion. Free trade in food on the market was allowed. In production, they gradually began to move from equalized ration wages to payment in money. At the same time, piecework payment was introduced based on the quantity and quality of labor.

One of the manifestations of the NEP in industry was that private enterprise was again allowed:

) It was allowed to open private enterprises with up to 20 workers.

) Leasing of small and medium-sized state-owned enterprises was allowed.

) The creation of mixed joint stock companies with the participation of state and private capital was allowed.

) To attract foreign capital, concessions were allowed.

) The development of various forms of cooperation was encouraged.

Already these first measures meant not only the admission, but also a sharp expansion of commodity-money relations, which were brought to naught during war communism. Their development was impossible without the restoration of a stable monetary, financial and banking systems.

Market relations were again legalized. The development of new commodity-money relations entailed the restoration of the all-Russian market. During the NEP period, the country's banking system was formed. Direct and indirect taxes are introduced, which become the main source of government revenue (excise taxes, income and agricultural taxes, fees for services, etc.). All this was the prerequisite for the emergence of the NEP.

Due to the fact that the NEP policy in Russia was seriously hampered by inflation and instability of monetary circulation, monetary reform was undertaken. By the end of 1922, a stable monetary unit appeared - the chervonets, which was backed by gold or other valuables.

An acute shortage of capital led to the beginning of active administrative intervention in the economy. First, administrative influence on the industrial sector increased (Regulations on State Industrial Trusts), and soon it spread to the agricultural sector.

As a result, the NEP by 1928, despite frequent crises provoked by the incompetence of new leaders, led to noticeable economic growth and a certain improvement in the situation in the country. National income increased, the financial situation of citizens (workers, peasants, as well as employees) became more stable.

g. attempts to fold it begin. The reason for the collapse of the NEP is the strengthening of contradictions between politics and economics. The private sector and a resurgent agriculture sought to enter politics to support their interests. This contributed to the internal party struggle. And the new members of the Bolshevik Party - peasants and workers who were ruined during the NEP - were not happy with the new economic policy.

The transition to the NEP certainly helped in the formation and strengthening of the power of the Bolsheviks in Soviet Russia, but was curtailed on October 11, 1931, although already in October 1928 the implementation of the first five-year plan began.

2.Curtailment of the NEP

So, by 1925-1926. economic recovery is over. The country was entering a new reconstruction period.

In the second half of the 1920s. the first prerequisites for the curtailment of the NEP appeared. Syndicates began to be liquidated in industry, and private capital began to be squeezed out. The creation of economic people's commissariats served as the beginning of the establishment of a centralized system of economic management.

Soviet history determines the reasons for the collapse of the NEP complex economic factors. But a more careful analysis of the contradictions of the new economic policy allows us to assert that, first of all, the reasons for the collapse of the NEP were the contradictions between the natural functioning of the economy and the political course. So, from the mid-1920s. measures are beginning to be actively taken to limit, and soon completely oust, private producers. The policy is to support cooperative farms and crowd out private capital. new economic policy russia

Since 1928, the economy has finally moved to planned system: the development of the national economy began to take effect.

The New Course meant that the era of the NEP was becoming a thing of the past.

Legally, the NEP was completed on October 11, 1931, with<#"justify">The main reasons for the collapse of the NEP were:

) failure to fulfill export obligations (disruption of grain procurement), which reduced foreign exchange earnings and accordingly entailed a reduction in industrial production and capital construction;

) significantly faster growth of demand in the domestic market compared to supply (increase in the number of workers in industry and construction; a 10% reduction in prices in 1927 with a simultaneous increase in nominal wages of workers increased effective demand);

) the policy of active displacement of private capital since 1926:

· increasing tariffs for the transportation of private cargo;

· suspension state lending private enterprises;

· the introduction in 1927 of a tax on excess profits;

· prohibition of leasing state-owned enterprises to private individuals and renewal of old contracts;

· reduction in the number of foreign concessions (before 1930, most concessions were liquidated; in 1931, private industry was also liquidated);

4) nationalization of distribution: in 1929, the transition to a card supply system was carried out; liquidated in February 1930 commodity exchanges and fairs.

The USSR chose the second of two alternatives:

) low rates of development of the entire economy on the basis of the NEP and a progressive lag behind the leading capitalist countries;

) abandonment of the market, return to administrative methods, concentration of available resources and accelerated development of the main link of the economy - large industry. The NEP policy was a forced tactical step taken under the pressure of circumstances, and not a strategic line.

The collapse of NEP at the end of the 20s was due to the internal economic contradictions of this policy and the contradictory processes that it caused in society.

Among them:

Firstly, industrial recovery continued as before technical base and was not adequately accompanied by the reconstruction of old enterprises. Life, however, did not stand still, and, consequently, the country fell further and further behind the developed countries in technical and economic terms.

Secondly, industrialization, which began in Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. was interrupted by World War I and subsequent events. The country still remained agricultural. Industry employed only 10% of the population and provided only 20-25% of national income. The majority of people lived in rural areas. The suspended industrialization had to be completed.

Thirdly, the Bolsheviks always proceeded from the fact that the victory of socialism is associated in the economy, first of all, with the development of modern large-scale industry with the corresponding socio-economic infrastructure, with the presence of modern agriculture based on machine labor. There are numerous statements by the classics of Marxism that the victory of the new system is ultimately ensured by more high organization production and corresponding labor productivity. Consequently, from a purely doctrinal standpoint, the need for industrialization was also beyond doubt.

Fourthly, the main reason for the curtailment and then liquidation of the NEP was that for the Bolsheviks the immediate threat of losing political power had practically disappeared. Stalin strengthened his power in the party, and further retreat from socialism in the country lost its meaning. Therefore, by the end of the 1920s. NEP was completely eliminated, and Stalin became virtually the sole ruler.

Results of the NEP

The implementation of the new economic policy achieved its intended goal: the destroyed economy was restored. Taking into account the fact that highly qualified personnel were either oppressed or forced to leave the country because of their social origin, the emergence of a new generation of economists, managers and production workers can also be considered a significant success of the new government.

Impressive successes in the restoration and development of the national economy during the NEP era were achieved in the context of fundamentally new social relations. This makes the country's economic recovery environment truly unique.

During the NEP era, key positions in industry belonged to state trusts, in the credit and financial sphere - primarily to state banks, in agriculture the basis was small peasant farms.

Industrial syndicates were folded, and private capital was forced out of them through administrative methods. A rigid centralized system of economic management was created - the People's Commissariats.

Intensive industrial development required more and more resources, but it was not possible to attract private capital. To speed up industry, everything that the peasantry produced was required, but the tax in kind was only 30% of production.

In 1927-1928, a grain procurement crisis arose, requiring the introduction of a rationing system. The problem was solved by returning to the methods of “war communism” - through the forcible seizure of grain.

In October 1928, the government began implementing the first Five-Year Plan, and a course was set to accelerate industrialization and collectivization.

By that time, the New Economic Policy had virtually ceased to exist, but the legal end of the NEP came on October 11, 1931.

4. The significance of the NEP

The New Economic Policy lasted in our country for only a few years - from 1921 to 1928. In the history of the USSR, NEP is a short stage in development preceding the “great achievements of socialism” - industrialization and collectivization.

But the abolition of the state monopoly created the basis for the free movement of products - this is a partial restoration of trade, and therefore capitalist relations.

Paradoxically, from the height of history, the NEP seems rather a short step retreating from the socio-economic development programmed by the revolution, and therefore, without denying its achievements, one cannot help but say that other measures could lead to the same results.

And the uniqueness of the era of new economic policy lies primarily in its influence on culture.

As mentioned above, after the Great October Revolution, Russia lost most of the intellectual elite of society. The general cultural and spiritual level of the population fell sharply.

The new era puts forward new heroes - among the Nepmen who rose to the highest social levels, the lion's share are made up of wealthy private traders, former shopkeepers and handicraftsmen, who were absolutely not touched by the romance of revolutionary trends.

These “heroes of modern times” did not have enough education to understand classical art, but they became trendsetters. In accordance with this, cabarets and restaurants became the main entertainment of the NEP. However, one can make a reservation that this was a pan-European trend of those years, but it was in Soviet Russia, sandwiched between war communism that was reluctantly receding into the past and the approaching dark era of repression, that it made a special impression.

The era of the NEP is over, but the traces of that time are forever preserved in the history of the great country.

Conclusion

The New Economic Policy (NEP) was implemented in the USSR in the 1920s. It included a number of measures that were incompatible with the communist party doctrine, but were necessary to restore the country’s economy, which suffered huge losses during the First World War and the Civil War. However, in the mid-20s the time came to abandon the NEP.

By that time, the development of the NEP had become increasingly controversial. A layer of “private owners” - entrepreneurs - was actively formed in the country, market mechanisms and hired labor were used. But according to the political course, there could be no talk of representatives of the bourgeois classes. Thus, the reasons for the collapse of the NEP were not only economic, but also political. The Soviet government could not, even in an ideological sense, allow representatives of capitalism to come to power, and the capitalist elements in the economy could not further develop without political support.

In addition, the country's leadership from the very beginning considered the new economic policy as a forced, temporary measure that would give the country the necessary opportunities for the transition to socialism.

Therefore, in the second half of the 20s, the NEP began to be gradually eliminated.

List of used literature:

1. Batemsky A.M. New Economic Policy (NEP): History and Modernity. M., 1998

Vinogradov S.V. NEP: experience in creating a multi-structure economy. M., 1996

Yablonskikh E.K. History of the Russian economy (lecture notes), MSTU Stankin 2004

Gimpelson E.G. Political system and NEP: inadequacy of reforms // Domestic History. 1993. No. 3

Golotik S.I., Danilin A.B., Evseeva V.N., Karpenko S.V. Soviet Russia in the 20s: NEP, Bolshevik Power and Society. // New historical bulletin. №2 2000

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