Creation of the Command Economy

Lenin’s health issues

He suffered from multiple strokes that made him a vegetable by late 1922. He then died in early 1924 leaving the country to be led by a Triumvirate with varying political views.

Fear of invasion

Russia had been previously attacked by foreign powers and now the massacre of Chinese Communists in Shanghai and and a British raid on a Soviet trade mission in London peaked fears again. Peasants began hoarding grain and Stalin decided the peasantry were only going to hold economic growth back.

Resource deficit

Since the revolution trade with the world was severely recued. Most of the world was controlled by the imperial powers all of whom ideologically hated the USSR. This meant the country had to be self-sufficient and state control would ensure that resources could be correctly distributed to the governments will.

The removal of NEP-men

The party hated the success of these traders and businessmen under the compromises of NEP as they were a clear afront to communism. State control would remove these and even allow for their arrest if they continued trading

Stalin’s political reasoning

Stalin had already removed the left from the party on the issue of NEP continuation. He now swung the other way and attacked the right arguing for the end of NEP. Tomsky, Rykov and Bukharin argued the attack on the peasantry would slow progress but Stalin had too clear a political majority and they would soon be tried and executed.

The failure of the decrees

Lenin’s early decree on workers had dropped productivity and efficiency and was clearly not realistic at all. It also threatened the increasingly authoritarian government. To deal with this Stalin cancelled the decree and watered down Unions and Worker’s councils further.

Failures of previous policy

War Communism had succeeded in winning the war and NEP had succeeded in kickstarting a failing economy. The issue was they had made the party look evil and uncommitted to revolution. State control would allow for rapid industrialisation and the consolidation of party position.