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| 1919, March 2 |
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| Foundation of the Third International (Comintern), an organization for the propagation of Communist doctrine abroad with the purpose of bringing about the world revolution, on which Lenin and his associates reckoned with confidence in the stormy period following the end of the war. | 1 |
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| 1920, April 25–Oct. 12 |
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| WAR WITH POLAND. | 2 |
| The effects of the Allied blockade (See 1918–20) and of the devastating civil war, together with the revolutionary economic policy of the government, led to an almost complete collapse of the Russian economy by 1921. There was a sharp decline in production in both industry and agriculture, widespread disorganization of transport, and acute shortages of food and fuel, especially in the cities. Popular discontent found expression in numerous peasant uprisings during 1920 and in rioting of the factory workers in Petrograd. | 3 |
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| 1921, Feb. 23–March 17 |
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| The mutiny and uprising of the sailors at Kronstadt, which was put down only with difficulty and after much bloodshed. This situation finally forced the Communist Party to adopt a new economic policy. | 4 |
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| March 17 Et Seq |
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| The NEW ECONOMIC POLICY (often spoken of as the NEP), sponsored by Lenin himself. To placate the peasants, the food levy was abolished, and in its place there was introduced a limited grain tax, thus leaving the peasants at least part of the surplus. To enable them to dispose of this surplus, freedom of trade within the country was partially restored. Subsequently (1922) a new land statute was passed which made possible reconstruction of small individual farms and even permitted, under certain conditions, limited use of hired labor and lease of land. In industry some of the small plants were returned to former owners and licenses were given to private persons to start new enterprises. | 5 |
| Private commercial establishments were also permitted in the cities. In course of time the financial system was recast on a semicapitalistic basis: the state bank was given the right to issue bills backed either by goods or by foreign bonds; attempts were made to stabilize the currency (the devaluated paper money was replaced by the new chervonets bills). Large industry and transport, however, remained nationalized, and foreign trade continued to be a government monopoly. | 6 |
| The NEP was declared to be a “temporary retreat” from Communism, necessary for purposes of economic reconstruction. After the great famine of 1921–22 (caused by drought but aggravated by the economic collapse that preceded it), the national economy recovered at a rapid pace. Production in industry and agriculture reached the prewar level, and there was marked improvement in living standards both in the cities and in the countryside. Along with this recovery went an abatement of the Red terror and a slight relaxation of governmental censorship and repression. With the end of the civil war, more attention could be given to cultural work, and the government introduced an ambitious educational program aiming at a speedy elimination of illiteracy. | 7 |
| Throughout the interwar period the party continued to grow, reaching the million-member mark by the late 1920s and continuing despite the purges. In addition to the party proper, there existed huge youth organizations. The party also worked with and directed many other institutions and groups: professional, social, cultural, athletic. In the 1920s, however, many sectors of society, including women's groups, advocated various reform programs. During this decade the Bolshevik regime experimented with innovation in the family. Divorce could be obtained simply. Abortions were legal and extremely common. Officially, women were emancipated by the revolution and enjoyed complete equality. Education became more available; by 1939 81.1 percent of the population was literate. The arts also prospered under a great deal of freedom in the early years of the Soviet Union. Experimental approaches flourished under such artists as Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) and the poet Boris Pasternak (1890–1960). | 8 |
| Much of this changed, however, as Stalin solidified his power in the 1930s. Communist efforts to reshape Russian society and culture became more monolithic. In keeping with Stalin's belief in “socialism in one country,” Russian nationalism dictated a new relevance for the Soviet family, which was the subject of much propaganda. Women thus took on the task of running a household as model Soviet mothers while working full-time outside the home in order to further Soviet industrialization. Non-Russian national movements were suppressed, as were all cultural endeavors that did not reflect the official style of socialist realism (adopted at the first all-union congress of Soviet writers in 1934). Art was to be the truthful, historically concrete presentation of reality in its revolutionary development. Many artists responded by emigrating, like Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971), or by ceasing to create, like Pasternak. Others may have tried to prove their loyalty to the state through their works, like the composer Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953) and the filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein (1898–1948) in their collaboration on Alexander Nevsky (1938). The result was also a great wave of proletarian novels, propaganda designed to build support for such government endeavors as collectivization. In the sciences, Soviet progress was hindered by the official acceptance of Trofim Lysenko's (1898–1976) incorrect theories on heredity and by official condemnation of Einstein's “petty bourgeois” theories. | 9 |
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