The economic policy of white and red during the Civil War

During the Civil War, white and red by any means sought to achieve power and complete annihilation of the enemy. The confrontation was not only on the fronts, but also in many other aspects, including in the economic sector. Before analyzing the economic policies of white and red during the Civil War, it is necessary to study the main differences between the two ideologies, the confrontation of which led to a fratricidal war.

The main aspects of the economy of the Reds

The Reds did not recognize private property, they defended the belief that all people should be equal both in legal and social terms. For the Reds, the Tsar was not the authority, wealth and intellectuals they despised, and the working class, in their opinion, was to become the leading structure of the state. The religion of the Reds was considered opium for the people. The churches collapsed, believers mercilessly exterminated, atheists were in high esteem.

Beliefs of Whites

For the white sovereign, the priest, of course, was the authority, the imperial power - the basis of law and order in the state. They not only recognized private property, but also considered it to be the main landmark of the country's well-being. Intellectuals, science and education were in high esteem.

White could not imagine Russia without faith. Orthodoxy is the basis of the foundations. It was on him that the culture, self-consciousness and prosperity of the nation were based.

A visual comparison of ideologies

The polar policy of the Reds and Whites could not but lead to confrontation. The table clearly demonstrates the main differences:

Social, cultural and economic policies of the white and red had their supporters and ardent enemies. The country was divided. Half supported the Reds, the other - the Whites.

White politics during the Civil War

Denikin dreamed about the day when Russia will once again become great and indivisible. The general believed that the Bolsheviks need to fight to the end and eventually completely destroy them. With him, the Declaration was adopted, which retained the right to land for the owners, and also provided for the protection of the interests of the working people. Denikin abolished the decree of the Provisional Government on the grain monopoly, and also developed a plan of the "Land Law", according to which the peasant could redeem the land from the landlord.

Priority in the economic policy of Kolchak was the allocation of land to landless peasants and those peasants who do not have land at all. Kolchak believed that the seizure of red property - this is arbitrariness and looting. All the loot must be returned to the owners - the owners, the landlords.

Wrangel created a political reform, according to which the large landed estates were limited, land plots for middle peasants increased, and provision was made for providing peasants with industrial goods.

And Denikin, and Wrangel, and Kolchak abolished the Bolshevik Decree on the Land, but, as history shows, they could not come up with a worthy alternative. The ineffectiveness of the economic reforms of the white regimes was the fragility of these governments. If not for the economic and military assistance of the Entente, the white regimes would have fallen much earlier.

The policy of the Reds during the Civil War

The Reds adopted the Decree on Land during the Civil War, which abolished the right to private ownership of land, which, to put it mildly, did not please the landlords, but became a joyful news for the common people. Naturally, for the landless peasants and workers, neither Denikin's reform nor the innovations of Wrangel and Kolchak were as welcome and promising as the decree of the Bolsheviks.

The Bolsheviks actively pursued the policy of "military communism", according to which the Soviet government took the policy of full nationalization of the economy. Nationalization is the transition of the economy from private hands to state. Also, a monopoly on foreign trade was introduced . The fleet was nationalized. Partnerships, large entrepreneurs lost property overnight. The Bolsheviks strived to maximally centralize the management of the national economy of Russia.

Many innovations were not liked by the common people. One of such unpleasant innovations was the forced introduction of labor service, according to which the unauthorized transition to a new job was prohibited, as well as absenteeism. There were introduced "subbotniks" and "Sundays" - a system of unpaid labor, mandatory for all.

The food dictatorship of the Bolsheviks

The Bolsheviks realized the monopoly on bread, which the Provisional Government had proposed in its time. The control of the rural bourgeoisie, which harbored grain stocks, was introduced by the Soviet government. Many historians emphasize that this was a compulsory provisional measure, since after the revolution the country lay in ruins, and such redistribution could help to survive in the famine years. However, serious excesses on the ground caused a mass expropriation of all food supplies in the countryside, which led to a severe famine and extremely high mortality.

Thus, the economic policy of the Whites and the Reds had serious contradictions. A comparison of the main aspects is given in the table:

As can be seen from the table, the economic policies of white and red were directly opposite.

Cons of both directions

The policy of white and red in the Civil War was radically different. Nevertheless, none of them was 100% effective. Each strategic direction had its drawbacks.

The "Communists" even criticized "military communism". After the adoption of this policy, the Bolsheviks expected an unprecedented growth of the economy, but in reality everything turned out differently. All decisions were economically illiterate, as a result of decreased productivity, people were starving, and many peasants saw no incentive to process. Decreased output of industrial products, there was a decline in agriculture. In the financial sector, hyperinflation was created, which was not even under the tsar and the Provisional Government. People hungered for hunger.

The big drawback of the white regimes was their inability to conduct a sensible land policy. Neither Wrangel, nor Denikin, nor Kolchak have developed a law that would support the masses in the person of workers and peasants. In addition, the fragility of the White authorities did not allow them to fully implement their plans for the development of the state's economy.