War Communism Lachie smythe

What is War Communism and why was it introduced? Russia introduced a new economic system in 1918 that was given the name War Communism. It was brought in by Lenin to solve the economic problems that were being caused by the civil war. The Red Army needed food and weapons to use in the civil war against the Whites. The Bolsheviks also wanted to be in charge of all the food production in Russia.

Impacts of War Communism War Communism had the biggest, most devastating impact on the peasants and the proletariat. Workers began moving from the cities to the country side where they could actually get some food. They also moved because there wages declined by two thirds. There were many uprisings and strikes because of how unhappy everyone was.

End of War Communism All these peasant and worker uprisings were starting to worry Lenin. He also had the sailors in Kronstadt fighting back and rebelling. He needed to scrap War Communism as it wasn’t working so Lenin decided he would swap War Communism with something called the NEP(new economic policy).