Bolshevik Legacy: Global Revolutions and Soviet Economic Policy
The Global Impact of the Russian Revolution
Failed Revolutions Outside Russia
The Bolsheviks anticipated a Europe-wide revolution, supported by workers weary of the protracted World War. Its impact was universal among all types of workers. Rumors that Russia was forming a state of workers and peasants influenced a series of military revolts and strike waves.
- Waves of strikes swept through Spain, France, and Italy. Unions in Italy even occupied factories.
- After obtaining some legal reforms, such as the eight-hour workday, riots ultimately led to the collapse of the German and Austro-Hungarian empires.
- Once peace was established, new national and republican states emerged, sometimes adopting land reforms to appease the peasantry.
- Attempts like the Spartacus communist insurrection in Germany and the proclamation of Soviet republics in Munich and Hungary were all severely repressed.
The Third International: Comintern’s Formation
These revolutionary attempts led the Bolsheviks to believe that the battle between the workers and the bourgeoisie was imminent. They designed a global revolutionary party to support insurgencies worldwide. A new socialist international was created because the Second International had dissolved.
Bolshevik Break with Social Democracy
The Bolsheviks sought to break with social democracy and form new communist parties. The Third International, or Comintern, was founded in Moscow.
Membership Requirements: The Twenty-One Conditions
Only communist groups that were part of socialist political parties adopting the Bolshevik organizational model could join. They were to be revolutionary parties with iron discipline, trained by an elite. If necessary, old parties were to reject and expel moderate militants. The requirements for membership were reflected in a document called the Twenty-One Conditions.
Many socialist parties sympathized with the Bolshevik Revolution, but the new International’s membership conditions produced a wave of political divisions within socialist groups. The creation of the Third International further divided the Marxist labor movement and did not prevent the international isolation of the Bolshevik regime.
Building the USSR (1921-1939): The New Economic Policy
Lenin launched the New Economic Policy (NEP), a series of measures that introduced capitalist elements into agriculture and industry. These can be summarized as follows:
- Termination of Land Confiscation: Farmers could now dispose of their land and market their products in exchange for paying a tax.
- Privatization of Small Industries: Small industries ceased to be collectivized and were instead privatized.
The result was an enhancement of production and an improved supply of goods to cities.
Debates Within the Russian Communist Party
The NEP caused a climate of debate within the Russian Communist Party. On one hand, an economic debate arose between proponents of this policy and those who favored a communist approach that prioritized accelerated industrialization. On the other hand, a political debate emerged concerning the democratization of state structures.
This controversial practice resulted in a strengthening of the single party and territorial centralization, despite the Bolshevik regime’s stated basis in assemblies and a federal nation. Thus, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was formed.