NEP

• Successful - Politics and Ideology

  • Ban on factions - improved their control and security as it removed two of their biggest threats who could have tried to secure power (SRs and Mensheviks).
  • Arrested thousands of people and executed 11 - this is a method of terror and would instill fear in the public making them more likely to obey and less likely to revolt as they would be too afraid of the consequences.
  • Was depicted as a 'necessary retreat' - Lenin was not alone in his decision, NEP was seen as justifiable as it would ultimately help them to gain control and consolidate their power.
• Successful - Economically and Socially

  • It introduced censorship, meaning that writers and academics deported, books and articles would be needed to be approved by Glavit, meaning that anything that disagrees with the party's views or anything that is said against them could be refused to be published - public could not be swayed to support another party.
• Successful - Economically and Socially

  • Rebuild a broken nation and make an economic recovery - improving the economy meant improving the way of life. This means people would be happier within their situations.
  • Scissors crisis - shows the stability of the NEP as they were able to overcome it and weren't completely undone by it.
  • Grain in 1913 was 80 million tons, whilst in 1921 it went down to 37 but then back up to 76 in 1926 - shows how the NEP did help Russia improve economically.
• Unsuccessful - Politically

  • NEP was capitalist - disagreed with his own and party's views, the public and the party could be unhappy with its implementation due to that. For example, Kulaks were encouraged to emerge which was contradictory as it meant a divide within the public which goes against communism.
• Unsuccessful - Politically

  • It could be seen as a betrayal - there was no vote for the implementation of the ban on factions, meaning many could feel betrayed by not being included in decisions that would impact the future of the party. However, the party saw it as justifiable as it would ultimately help them gain control and consolidate power.
• Unsuccessful - Politically

  • Would not be viewed positively by the public as restricting a vote within your own party could imply you don't have much power and that the members of the party disagree with his decisions. However, Lenin did not stand alone with his belief to implement the NEP many other members did also agree with him.
• Unsuccessful - Developing Further

  • No involvement of investments to increase industrial capacity - those improvements would not be real, solid, permanent improvements, therefore as it is not permanent change and the economy would get worse eventually.
  • Scissors crisis (1923) - shows that the NEP lacked stability, but it was solved so shows that the NEP was strong enough to deal with it.
  • The NEP was temporary and never made to last, the whole point of the NEP was to improve the economy, and the situation Russia was in and not help the country develop.
• Unsuccessful - Developing Further

  • The agriculture improvements were not real improvements as they were uneven - there was too much food but not enough goods, they could not properly profit from those improvements to make money for the country. Sugar, beat, fruit and veg recover much better than grain, once again would lead to a reluctance in selling the grain, so the public would not be able to spend money like the Bolsheviks wanted them to.
• Unsuccessful - Developing Further

  • The reliance on suppression increases even more, which is not good as it means that the only way they can get control is through fear and a government cannot properly rule and secure their power through only fear - increases the chances of a revolution.