How far was the New Economic Policy a success?

Describe the Kronstadt Rising and the establishment of the New Economic Policy. In 1921, the Kronstadt Naval Base in Russia rebelled against the government of Lenin. They used to be very loyal supporters and were fanatical revolutionaries. They had supported the Bolsheviks ever since the July Days and during the November 1905 Revolution, however they had rebelled now. Many of those naval soldiers in the Kronstadt naval base were anarchists; this meant that they believed a government should not have any powers at all. They demanded to have freedom of speech, expression, free elections, and the right to have free trade (to buy and sell in a free market.) This protest was put down by Trotskys army with great losses. This incident prompted Lenin to believe that he had pushed the Russian people too far. Therefore, he believed that it was necessary to give the USSR, a breathing space. Therefore in 1921, Lenin introduced the New Economic Policy. It relaxed War Communism, meaning that they would no longer force or size grain from the peasants. Instead, they will ask them to give a certain minimum amount of grain to the government as tax for each year. They were allowed to sell any surplus grain for personal profit. This meant that diligent, hard working peasants can become rich Kulaks. Furthermore, it returned many small businesses, such as the clothes and shoes shops, back to their former owners, to make a profit. In addition, traders and people were allowed to sell in the open market for a profit. Before, back in War Communism, this was illegal, but now the government was encouraging it. As a result, a new class developed, known as the Nepmen. The Nepmen would be the traders who profited very beneficially as a result from the open market. Therefore, Lenin allowed private enterprises to set up. However, heavy industries and important infrastructure, such as the transport and communications network continued to be nationalized, and to be under the control of Russian government. For example, the mining of coal, steel and iron continued to be under state control. Although many communists in the party objected this idea since it was seen as a return to the road of Capitalism, they knew their survival depended on it. The NEP lasted from 1921 to 1928. Furthermore, Lenin stopped the action of Russification. This meant that they would no longer force other nationalities living in Russia or surrounding regions to use Russian. For example, many Muslim areas in Asia were allowed to re-open the bazaars, local languages and cultures were encouraged, and the Karma was re-stored in many countries, such as in Turkmenistan. In addition, people in Ukraine were finally allowed to re-use their own language, instead of the official Russian language anymore. Therefore, this created more national freedom. The Anglo-Soviet trade agreement was signed with foreign countries to encourage trade. This therefore allowed Russians to trade their industrials goods, such as Russian crude oil, in exchange for foreign goods. This allowed them to be more acquainted with the workings of the foreign industries. Furthermore, it opened up the foreign market, which was beneficial to the USSR. Furthermore, the New Economic Policy benefited Russia by electrifying Russia. This was seen as a great success, as Russia in the past never had use electricity as a main source of power in houses. This helped replace oil lamps and candles in rural areas of Russia. Furthermore, Lenin believed that Electricity + Socialism = Communism, meaning that electricification would play a major key role in

strengthening the Socialist background Russia now uses. This slogan was placed on propaganda posters. In conclusion, it seems that the NEP had played a major role in improving the general economic situation in Russia. There was increase food production, and it had rise very steeply since 1925. By 1926, the economy had reached the pre-1914 levels; there was massive new investment that was needed to turn USSR into a modernized, industrialized country. In addition, industrial workers had better pay. Furthermore, the few years between 1921 to 1928 had created a time period of great economic stability in Russia. However, the New Economic Policy was not entirely successful because there was still quite a lot of unemployment in Russia. Not only did food shortages become a major problem again since then end of 1920, the methods of farming by the peasants were extremely backward and consisted of no machinery at all. In addition, after 1925, manufactured goods began to be very expensive and costly, thus peasants were reluctant to buy goods by exchanging their grain for it. Most of the refused, and therefore food shortages began to be a rising problem. Furthermore, many people were against the creation of a class known as the NEP men. They believed this was a violation of the Communist values, as now, not everyone was equal. The creation of the class produced a class of people who were very rich and thus had a great contrast in comparison with the peasants and the workers who worked in the factories.