War Communism

Because of the civil war, in 1917 the Bolsheviks adopted war communism in which they took grain from peasants, outlawed private trade in consumer goods as “speculation,” militarized production factories, and abolished money. Lenin hoped war communism would model successful war-time capitalist systems.

War communism devastated the already failing economy. Industrial production decreased even more. Agriculture was severely affected because although peasants now had land, the civil war and grain requisition and outlawry of private trade of grain all led to problems. In 1921 famine killed around 5 million people. Frustrated with the Bolsheviks strikes and protests broke out in the late 1920s which were repressed.