Long before the first measures of Soviet power in the economy were held, its theoretical political program went through several stages of development. The Bolsheviks were supporters of extreme leftist views, and their ideas had not yet been put into practice in any country in the world. Therefore, their actions were experimental in nature.
Ideology versus the old economy
The Bolsheviks were at the helm after the coup in Petrograd. The capture of the Winter Palace and the entire capital of Russia was accompanied by repressions against supporters of the republic. Until the very end of the Civil War, key decisions in the party were made by Vladimir Lenin and Lev Trotsky. They made Smolny their headquarters, where they agreed on their plans.
The first event of the Soviet government was held the day after the coup. According to the new calendar, which was introduced a few months later, it stood on the street on November 7, 1917, when the start of the nationalization of all enterprises and natural resources of the country was announced.
According to Leninist and Marxist ideology, all property thus passed into the hands of the people (more precisely, the proletariat). In fact, of course, this was not so. Property became state. The first event of the Soviet government was focused on the need to mobilize all the resources of Petrograd and the territories under its control to ensure the victory of the Bolsheviks in their struggle against political opponents.
The repressive and confiscation actions that took place during the Civil War were called "war communism." These were not only laws related to the economy, but also decrees intended for the army, etc.
Nationalization of banks
The first victims of declared nationalization were banks. It was important for the party to get as much money as possible, which then could be spent on the war. The state bank, located in Petrograd, was seized on the very first night of the revolution, when a detachment of military and sailors broke into the building of the institution and confiscated all the currency. The first month such unsightly paintings could be observed in all areas of the capital.
The Bolsheviks justified their actions by laws retroactively adopted. Only in December did a decree of the Council of People's Commissars appear, according to which the largest banks, the Noble Land and the Peasant Land, were officially abolished. They were established during the reign of Alexander III and gave loans to landowners and villagers. Thanks to these loans, many peasants were able to create their own economy from scratch and move to Siberia under the Stolypin program. The noble bank could no longer exist for the simple reason that the nobility as a social class was abolished by another decree of the Council of People's Commissars. Loans for peasants during the war also lost their relevance.
Cash withdrawals
Very quickly, banks ceased to be a source of additional funds for the party. Therefore, the first event of the Soviet government after the recognition of economic problems consisted in an extensive confiscation of funds from the general population. Large amounts were withdrawn from people’s accounts, and noble metals — gold and silver — were confiscated. The State Bank issued no more than 500 rubles.
However, even this “compromise” with the population turned out to be meaningless. Because of the First World War and the onset of Civil in Russia, hyperinflation began. The ruble depreciated before our eyes, so there was no longer any benefit from the funds left in the population.
Industry capture
Another important object of nationalization was the country's industry. Here the situation was even more confusing. The problem was that during the years of tsarist Russia, enterprises in the monarchy were created and developed at the expense of foreign capital. This was a normal phenomenon related to the integration of the domestic economy into the global market. For example, British entrepreneurs have invested heavily in the development of the Donetsk coal basin, where modern plants with a large number of jobs have appeared.
The First World War could not but alert foreign industrialists, but it was a universal phenomenon. The February revolution, however, completely undermined the faith of the owners in the stability of the state. The flight of capital began, which even the profitable features of the Russian market (for example, cheap labor) could not stop.
Private equity strike
In the first three months of their rule, the Communists nationalized about a thousand enterprises. Many of them were ownerless and abandoned. The fate of each sphere of production was stipulated by a separate decree. So, in May decrees on the nationalization of the sugar industry were issued, and in June a similar decision was made on oil enterprises. By autumn, the number of factories and plants acquired by the Soviet government, approached the mark of ten thousand.
Former private owners did not receive any compensation after the confiscation of their property. This encouraged entrepreneurs who had not yet met face to face with the creation of the Supreme Council of the National Economy, simply to flee the country. The first measures of Soviet power led to this capitalist panic. The history of private business in Russia has ended; it is time for a rigidly centralized economy.
Food spread
The First World War forced the tsarist government to resort to the introduction of a bread monopoly and food surplus. The first event of the Soviet government in this area developed this policy, bringing the country to hunger. The food scan obligated the peasants to give part of their harvest to the state. The deterioration of the situation at the front and the outbreak of the Civil War reduced the remaining rations of rural residents. Natives of areas where the Reds fought with the Whites suffered even more. There were times when one farm was plundered several times by different parties to the conflict.
The most stringent were the standards for the issuance of bread and grain. The first measures of the Soviet government in the field of economics led to the fact that the peasants had only a living wage. The 1919 harvest suffered even more when potatoes were confiscated. In addition, peasants were taken meat and cattle slaughtered. In 1920, the villagers were deprived of almost all cultivated crops. Most of the confiscated products went to the army, the other went for export, and the profits from it were again spent on military needs.
Catastrophe in agriculture
With each harvest, the peasants were outraged more and more. Discontent poured into rebellions, which were brutally suppressed by the Red Army. The instigators and protesters were shot as counter-revolutionaries. The most serious peasant uprising during the Civil War and War Communism was the Tambov, or Antonov uprising (named after one of the leaders of the movement). The deserters of the Red Army, as well as demobilized soldiers, joined the villagers. To suppress the rebellion in 1920-1921. significant military forces were thrown, led by Mikhail Tukhachevsky. In the Tambov region, for the first time, domestic chemical weapons were used . Killed more than 10 thousand peasants.
The first economic measures of the Soviet government in the field of agriculture led to general hunger in the countryside. The worst disaster unfolded in the Volga region, where in 1921-1922. 40 million people were starving, about 5 million were killed.
The first economic measures of Soviet power took on the character of a national disaster. This happened because the Bolsheviks engaged in too radical reforms in the conditions of the Civil War. The redistribution of agriculture, the nationalization of banks and industry took place under strict ideological slogans. There was no sound opposition to this course in the government, and the discontented population was intimidated by repression. The emergency commission received permission to shoot without trial and investigation for charges of "counter".
Confiscation of church property
Squeezing out the country's resources, the Bolsheviks resorted to the confiscation of everything that could be sold. Due to the famine, a campaign began to seize church property. In this field, the first measures of the Soviet government include not only general robbery, but also the actual destruction of churches. Economic measures were accompanied by propaganda and ideological war against the "priests".
The confiscated property was supposed to help the starving Volga region, although this was far from always the case. The mass death of the rural population from exhaustion was the culmination of an economic course that was part of war communism.
NEP
The disastrous situation of the country after the Civil War forced Lenin to make an ideological compromise. He initiated a new economic policy known as the New Economic Policy . The course was officially adopted by the party at the X Congress in 1921.
In this regard, the concept of "first measures of the Soviet power" refers to the implementation of monetary reform. Thanks to her, the new ruble has become a convertible currency. The food surplus was also canceled - it was replaced by a tax deduction. It was different in that now not 70% of the grain was seized, but 30%. These measures helped stabilize the catastrophic situation of agriculture.
What were the first events of Soviet power after that? Foreign capital was attracted, and some market economic mechanisms (various forms of small business) were temporarily allowed. NEP brought the country out of crisis. In 1924, Lenin died, and with Stalin's rise to power, the "new course" was canceled. A planned economy and five-year plans appeared, which became the basis of the Soviet system.