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The economic programs of Lenin and Stalin
Economic development in Russia under Stalin and his repressive reign
Economic development in Russia under Stalin and his repressive reign
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Recommended: The economic programs of Lenin and Stalin
The New Economic Policy of 1921
" The real meaning of the New Economic policy is that we have met a
great defeat in our plans and that we are now making a strategic
retreat… Before we are utterly smashed, let us retrace our steps and
begin to build on a new foundation," - said Lenin in his speech on the
22nd of October 1921. His speech is considered to be one of the
frankest admissions of failure ever made by a leader of a great
nation. It is clear that the general reason of NEP's introduction was
to find a substitute for War Communism policy. What requires
investigation is the conditions Russia was in by 1921? At the same
time in this essay I will try to explain NEP's pluses and minuses as
well as why was it scrapped in 1928.
The New Economic Policy was the third major policy introduced by the
Soviet Government since it's establishment in 1917. As with the
previous policies: State Capitalism and War Communism - it was
introduced, generally speaking, to respond to the mood and situation
in the country and to achieve economical and political progress while
building socialism. But nevertheless there were some other, more
specific reasons. The problems developed during War Communism had
showed that it clearly failed at a practical level. Insufficient grain
supplies, caused by fierce peasant resistance to requisition by the
government in 1917, together with drought in the summer of 1921 and
the general disruption of Civil war, had created such a bad national
famine, Russia hadn't seen for thirty years. As it was admitted in
1921 by Pravda - one in five of population was starving. A lot of
factory workers left towns for countryside...
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economic planning, with some capitalist elements to it and he in fact
he was more towards Trotsky's views. Stalin was as well very concerned
about the position of Russia as the only communist country in the
world and felt that Soviet Union had to be rapidly modernised as soon
as possible and at any costs, so that it's prepared for any attacks
from it's enemies.Partly it was because of the 1927 " War Scare". In
his speech in 1931 he said: "We must increase (the tempo) as much as
it is within our powers and possibilities…To slacken the tempo would
mean falling behind…We are 50 or a 100 years behind the advanced
countries. We must make good this distance in 10 years. Either we do
that, or we shall be crushed." It was clear that NEP was not suitable
for this kind of aims and tactics and therefore it was scrapped.
During the 19th century, Russia was experiencing a series of changes with its entire nation and society overall. The government was trying to adapt themselves to them at the same time. It was not an easy time period for Russia whatsoever. Vladimir Lenin helped change this.
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Firstly, the stock market crash in the late 1920s was one of the main factors that contributed to the onset of the Great Depression. The common goal of many Canadians in the roaring twenties was to put behind the horrors and doubts of World War I, and focus on what was to come in the near future. However, on October 29, 1929, the Stock Market in New York City experienced one of its worst days of all time. The catastrophic impact that the stock market crash had was enough to shift the world in the direction of an economic downfall . The rapid expansion of the 1920 stock market caused the market to hit an all-time high. Prices of shares skyrocketed and surpassed their once realistic value . It was now possible for individuals who could not afford
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Lenin made a series of policies throughout the beginning of the Revolution and through his short time in public office that came to be collectively known as ‘Leninism’. There were many things that influenced Leninism, such as Karl Marx. Lenin had read Karl Marx and his...
This quote from his inaugural speech, sums up the mood of the American people as Roosevelt was elected to be President of the United States in the deepest part of the depression. He faced numerous challenges as a result of the mismanagement of the previous successive Republicans governments such as a large proportion of the American population were out of work and the banking crisis. Roosevelt had promised the American people a ‘new deal’ at his acceptance of the democratic nomination for president in 1932, however, his campaign only offered vague hints of what it would entail. He put the question of economic security on the agenda. President Roosevelt explicitly and consciously defined the New Deal as the embodiment of freedom, but of freedom of economic security rather than freedom of contract, or freedom of every man for himself.
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On October 24, 1929, a day historically known as “Black Thursday”, the United States stock market crashed due to investors in the market starting to “sell off their shares, which resulted in a decline in stock prices.” (Dau-Schmidt, pg 60) This economic downturn in the market gave birth to financial ambivalence in the country, increasing unemployment, as well as other consequences on the landscape of international economics. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt took over as president in the year of 1933, “The country was in its depth of the Great Depression.” (Neal, 2010) Roosevelt’s New Deal consisted of implementing relief programs such as the Work Progress Administration and the Civil Works Administration, which aimed at revitalizing the U.S. labor market. However, these programs were short-lived due to insufficient funding. Although these programs were effective, their short life span only sought temporary remedy. The on again off again pattern of these programs existence caused a cyclical trend in the increase and decrease of unemployment. “John M. Keynes born on June 5, 1883 was one of the most influential economists of the Twentieth Century.” (Pettinger, pg 1) Keynes argued that the doctrine of the New Deal was a slow remedial procedure to restoring the economy. Although, Roosevelt’s efforts helped reduce unemployment in spurts, it was ultimately an ineffective plan because according to Keynes, to restore the economy during the Great Depression, there had to of been deep government spending and increased high taxes.
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