Editing History of Russia (section)

===War Communism and the New Economic Policy===
{{See also|Hyperinflation in early Soviet Russia}}
The period from the consolidation of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 until 1921 is known as the period of [[war communism]].<ref name="Richman">{{cite journal|last=Richman|first=Sheldon L.|year=1981|title=War Communism to NEP: The Road to Serfdom|url=https://www.mises.org/journals/jls/5_1/5_1_5.pdf|journal=The Journal of Libertarian Studies|volume=5|issue=1|pages=89–97|access-date=3 October 2014|archive-date=14 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914003928/http://mises.org/journals/jls/5_1/5_1_5.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Land, all industry, and small businesses were [[Nationalization|nationalized]], and the money economy was restricted. Strong opposition soon developed.<ref name="Richman"/> The peasants wanted cash payments for their products and resented having to surrender their surplus grain to the government as a part of its civil war policies. Confronted with peasant opposition, Lenin began a strategic retreat from war communism known as the [[New Economic Policy]] (NEP).<ref name="Richman"/> The peasants were freed from wholesale levies of grain and allowed to sell their surplus produce in the open market. Commerce was stimulated by permitting private retail trading. The state continued to be responsible for banking, transportation, heavy industry, and public utilities.

Although the left opposition among the Communists criticized the rich peasants, or [[kulak]]s, who benefited from the NEP, the program proved highly beneficial and the economy revived.<ref name="Richman"/> The NEP would later come under increasing opposition from within the party following Lenin's death in early 1924.<ref name="Richman"/>