The Period of “War Communism”

The economic crux of the system known as “War Communism” accordingly consisted in the relationship with peasant agriculture. At the end of the period of War Communism an extension of coercion from the peasant’s surplus produce to his sown area was under discussion. The requisitioning policy with regard to agriculture and centrally organised allocation of supplies, alike for industry, the ordinary consumer and the army, can be said to have formed the quintessence of War Communism. The general interpretation of War Communism which at the time was current in the West was that the system was product of an attempt to realise an ideal Communism, which, coming into inevitable conflict with realities, had to be scrapped in favour of a retreat in the direction of Capitalism, as represented by the New Economic Policy.