1 / 12

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

naif
Télécharger la présentation

New Economic Policy (NEP) - Origins

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  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?

More Related