The first measure of Soviet power in the field of economy: history, description and consequences

Long before the first events of the Soviet power in the economy were held, its theoretical political program went through several stages of development. The Bolsheviks were supporters of the extreme left, and their ideas had not yet been implemented in any country in the world. Therefore, their actions were of an experimental nature.

The ideology against the old economy

The Bolsheviks were at the helm after the coup in Petrograd. The seizure of the Winter Palace and the entire capital of Russia was accompanied by repressions against the supporters of the republic. Until the end of the Civil War, the key decisions in the party were taken by Vladimir Lenin and Lev Trotsky. They made their headquarters Smolny, where they coordinated their plans.

The first event of Soviet power was held the day after the coup. On the new calendar, which was introduced a few months later, on the street stood November 7, 1917, when it was announced the beginning of the nationalization of all enterprises and natural resources of the country.

According to the Leninist and Marxist ideology, all property, therefore, passed into the hands of the people (more precisely, the proletariat). In fact, this, of course, was not the case. The property became state property. The first measure of Soviet power was oriented toward the need to mobilize all the resources of Petrograd and the controlled territories to ensure the victory of the Bolsheviks in their struggle against political opponents.

The repressive and confiscatory actions that took place during the Civil War were called "military communism". These were not only laws related to the economy, but also decrees intended for the army, and so on.

Nationalization of banks

The first victim of declared nationalization became banks. It was important for the Party to get as much money as possible, which could then be spent on war. The state bank, located in Petrograd, was captured on the first night of the revolution, when a detachment of soldiers and sailors broke into the building of the institution and confiscated the entire currency. The first month such unsightly pictures could be observed in all areas of the capital.

The Bolsheviks justified their actions by laws adopted retroactively. Only in December there was a decree of the Council of People's Commissars, according to which the largest banks - Noble Land and Peasants' Land - were officially abolished. They were established during the reign of Alexander III and gave loans to the landowners and villagers. Thanks to these loans, many peasants were able to create their own farm from scratch and move to Siberia through the Stolypin program. The nobility bank could no longer exist for the simple reason that the nobility as a social class was abolished by another decree of the SNK. Credits for the peasants in the war also lost their relevance.

Monetary Exemptions

Very quickly banks ceased to be a source of additional funds for the party. Therefore, the first measure of Soviet power, after realizing the economic problems, was the extensive confiscation of funds from the ordinary population. From the accounts of people, large amounts were withdrawn, as well as precious metals-gold and silver-were confiscated. State Bank issued in the hands of the amount not more than 500 rubles.

However, even this "compromise" with the population turned out to be meaningless. Because of the First World War and the Civil War in Russia, hyperinflation began. Rubles depreciated before our eyes, so there was no longer any benefit from the remaining funds of the population.

The seizure of industry

Another important object of nationalization was the country's industry. Here the situation was even more confusing. The problem was that in the years of tsarist Russia, enterprises in the monarchy were created and developed at the expense of foreign capital. This was a normal phenomenon connected with the integration of the domestic economy into the global market. So, for example, British entrepreneurs invested heavily in the development of the Donetsk coal basin, where modern factories with a large number of jobs appeared.

The First World War could not but alarm foreign industrialists, but it was a universal phenomenon. The February Revolution completely undermined the faith of the owners in the stability of the state. Capital flight began, which could not stop even the lucrative features of the Russian market (for example, cheap labor).

Beat on private capital

During the first three months of their rule, the Communists nationalized about a thousand enterprises. Many of them were abandoned and abandoned. The fate of each sphere of production was stipulated by a separate decree. So, in May, the decrees on the nationalization of the sugar industry were issued, and in June a similar decision was made about oil enterprises. By the autumn, the number of factories and plants acquired by the Soviet government had approached the level of ten thousand.

Former private owners did not receive any compensation after the confiscation of their property. This prompted entrepreneurs who had not yet come face to face with the established Supreme Council of the National Economy, simply fleeing the country. The first measures of Soviet power led to this capitalist panic. The history of private business in Russia has ended, the time has come for a tightly centralized economy.

Food discovery

The First World War forced the tsarist government to resort to the introduction of a grain monopoly and a surplus-stock. The first measure of Soviet power in this sphere developed this policy, bringing the country to a state of famine. The food sweep obligated the peasants to give the state part of their harvest. The deterioration of the situation at the front and the outbreak of the Civil War reduced the remaining rations of the rural population. The natives of the regions where the Reds fought with the Whites suffered even more. There have been cases when one farm has been plundered several times by different parties to the conflict.

The most stringent were the norms for the delivery of bread and grain. The first measures of Soviet power in the field of economics led to the fact that the peasants had only a subsistence minimum. The harvest of 1919 suffered even more when the potatoes were confiscated. In addition, the peasants were taken away meat and slaughtered cattle. In 1920, the villagers were deprived of almost all cultivated crops. Most of the confiscated products went to the army, the other was sent for export, and the profits from it were again spent on military needs.

Catastrophe in agriculture

With each harvest, the peasants became more and more indignant. Discontent resulted in uprisings, which were brutally suppressed by the Red Army. The instigators and protesters were shot as counter-revolutionaries. The most serious peasant uprising during the Civil War and military communism was the Tambov or Antonov uprising (named after one of the leaders of the movement). Deserters of the Red Army, as well as demobilized soldiers, joined the villagers. On suppression of insurrection in 1920-1921. A significant military force was thrown by Mikhail Tukhachevsky. In Tambov region, for the first time, domestic chemical weapons were used . More than 10 thousand peasants perished.

The first economic measures of the Soviet government in the field of agriculture led to a general famine in the countryside. The most terrible disaster unfolded in the Volga region, where in 1921-1922. Hungry 40 million people, about 5 million died.

The first economic measures of Soviet power received the character of a nationwide disaster. This happened because the Bolsheviks engaged in too radical reforms in the conditions of the Civil War. Redistribution of agriculture, nationalization of banks and industry took place under rigid ideological slogans. There was no sound opposition to this course in the government, and the dissatisfied population was intimidated by repressions. The Extraordinary Commission received permission to be shot without trial and investigation for accusations in the "counter".

Confiscation of church property

Squeezing the country's resources, the Bolsheviks resorted to confiscating everything that could be sold. Because of the famine, the campaign to seize church values began. In this field, the first measures taken by the Soviet government include not only the mass robbery, but also the actual destruction of temples. Economic measures were accompanied by propaganda and ideological war against the "priests".

The confiscated property had to go to the aid of the starving Volga region, although this was not always the case. The mass death of the rural population from depletion was the culmination of the economic course, which was part of military communism.

NEP

The disastrous position of the country after the Civil War forced Lenin to make an ideological compromise. He became the initiator of a new economic policy, known as the NEP. The course was formally adopted by the party at the Tenth Congress in 1921.

In this regard, the concept of "the first measures of Soviet power" refers to the implementation of monetary reform. Thanks to it, the new ruble became a convertible currency. Also, the surplus-appropriation was abolished - it was replaced by a tax in kind. It differed in that now 70% of grain was taken away, but 30%. These measures helped stabilize the catastrophic situation of agriculture.

What were the first activities of Soviet power after that? Foreign capital was attracted, and also some market economic mechanisms (various forms of small business) were allowed for a while. NEP led the country out of the crisis. In 1924 Lenin died, and with the coming to power of Stalin, the "new course" was abolished. There was a planned economy and five-year plans, which became the basis of the Soviet system.