Nationalisation of resources: Church land nationalized; Banks nationalized; industry nationalized-economic control centralized (Veshenka)

Brest Litovsk: massive, negative impact - lose people, land, access

Decree on Land: appeased peasantry BUT is an ideological compromise and creates divisions in the party and the problem of WHEN to collectivise land

Economic Inequalities: party officials benefit/corruption

Bosheviks goal was to remake society-dismantling the old system BUT created a new elite and new inequalities

Bolsheviks were creating a communist economy (no private property and resources), to be state controlled ie a command economy BUT adopted capitalist policies to survive politically

Creation of coercive state machinery: The Cheka; opposition press banned

Poverty, deprivation and hunger under War Communism eg. food been taken from peasants

Upheaval and brutality of the Civil War and the Red Terror eg. concentration camps

Social Divisions: Party officials lived well/others suffered - caused resentment; class warfare

Middle classes and prosperous peasants alienated - class enemies and not allowed to work; kulaks persecuted

legalised a union of several Soviet republics that had existed since 1919 and created a new centralised federal government

The Bolshevik Party was in control of vast territory but there were many difficulties in implementing socialism and in governing

The Bolshevik Party was the dominant political party in the USSR BUT there were serious practical instabilities and ideological contradictions within their government

Brest Litovsk: 62 million people no longer part of Russia

Militarisation of labour in Civil War: alienated workers

Rationing in Civil War: class based system introduced-workers given priority

Nepmen: ideological compromise that caused divisions in party and worker resentment

Increasing discontent with conditions-workers, peasants and socialists/sailors

NEP: ‘get rich quick’ mentality-social divisions due to new, conspicuous wealth; progress and benefits were uneven eg Nepmen and peasants benefited BUT repression was a feature of NEP and opposition was crushed

Abolition of debts: negative impact on investment/trade/relations with other countries

Worker control of factories: led to many inefficiencies

War Communism: Bolsheviks gain control over resources and economy; control workers with harsh discipline and sideline trade unions (workers discontented); class based rationing. Peasants rebelled against Grain requisitioning- not enough grain was grown leading to shortages; small scale free markets persist despite repression and punishment

NEP: creates wealth by allowing peasant proprietors and small scale capitalism; an ideological and economic
compromise which embeds capitalism in some sectors and creates divisions in the party BUT Party consolidates control over heavy industry (=goal of communism)