1921. The Civil War was over. Bolshevism won. But the situation on the 1/6 part of the territory was terrible. The country that survived the bloody battle, brutal requisitions, epidemics, the collapse of production, banditry and famine, was in a state of collapse.
“The situation of Russia,” Lenin wrote, “reminds a man who was nearly beaten to death and who could move with crutches.”
Lenin agreed that it was needed to reduce pressure on the peasants and it was time to “reconcile” with them - but not forever - for 5 to 10 years. Most of the party members believed that NEP, as a forced measure, was introduced only for the period of one harvest season, as a “bluff for the peasantry”. And this was everywhere.
In June, the First Constituent Regional Party Conference in Orenburg, where 28,000 Communists gathered, approved the transition to NEP.
