The Reasons War Communism Was Abandoned in 1921

The Reasons War Communism Was Abandoned in 1921

In order to win the ongoing civil war against the White armies the new

communist government found that it was vital to keep the red army

supplied with food, ammunition, weapons and clothes. They had to find

ways of producing the massive amounts of provisions needed. As a

result Lenin imposed a set of very harsh rules known as 'War

Communism'.

These rules meant the government took charge of all industrial

factories and businesses in the towns so that they could control what

was produced. Strikes and trade unions were banned and the workers

forced to stay in the towns otherwise they were shot. Due to the

shortage of food, rationing was imposed and ration cards were only

given those with jobs. In the countryside grain was requisitioned so

peasants had to give all surplus crops grown to the government to feed

the army and the workers. With these measurements in place Lenin hoped

they would win the war.

However, War Communism was scraped in 1921 and a new system

introduced. Why was this? Whilst War Communism was successful in its

primary target - keeping the army and factory workers supplied with

food, however it was making the communist government very unpopular

with people of all classes.

The success of the Bolsheviks largely depended on the peasants who

were responsible for producing the food for the people in the towns

and also to sustain the army. However, when they refused to sell their

surplus food for the worthless money the government ordered the Cheka

to seize the surplus food if they refused to sell it. This was a very

bad decision because the peasants retaliated and attacked the Cheka

when they came. The outcome was a bitter struggle between the two,

resulting in the peasants refusing to grow more crops than they need

for their own families as they knew the food would just be taken away.

To make things worse there was a drought in 1921 which meant even less

could be grown.