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War Communism and Famine
- War Communism's forced grain seizures led to drastically reduced agricultural output and a catastrophic famine in 1921-1922.
- This failure prompted the New Economic Policy (NEP), allowing peasants to sell surpluses for profit.
Early Industrialization
- Russia's industrialization began in the 1890s, fueled by French loans and grain exports.
- World War I doubled the industrial workforce, concentrating them in politically influential centers.
Stalin's Collectivization
- Stalin's shift towards collectivization marked a return to core Bolshevik principles, abandoning the NEP's capitalist elements.
- This aimed to consolidate farms for increased productivity and eliminate private land ownership.