ABSTRACT
Soviet industrialization will remain enshrined in history as marking an epoch, by its scale, its rapidity, its unprecedented character and the heavy human costs involved. It was the first case of industrialization under centralized state direction in accordance with a predetermined plan. The lack of a mass internal market had, as a counterpart, the low level of development of industry, the small size of the merchant class and the weakness of the urban bourgeoisie. Industrial policy during the period of War Communism was determined by the priority needs of the army. In the underdeveloped countries, the Soviet model seemed to have some direct application in showing how rapid industrialization could be achieved through planning. If War Communism was determined by military considerations and had been accompanied by serious mistakes and not a few illusions, the New Economic Policy (NEP) came to grips with the grim realities of Russia's predicament.
