requisitioned grain from the countryside, and nationalized most industry. Private trade was forbidden as the Communist state was established. (Rosenberg) Many people were unhappy with Lenin's changes, and civil war broke out in 1918. One "All-Russian" faction was suppressed by a "White" dictatorship proposed by Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak. A "Volunteer Army" was organized in the south, and was a "Green" party led by anarchists. A guerrilla-style warfare erupted between each of these armies and the "Red" Bolsheviks. The Red Army had crushed all resistance by 1920. (Rosenberg) III. History of the Soviet Union It is impossible to understand why Russia's economic system is in such dire straits now without knowing the events of its predecessor nation, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), or Soviet Union. The actions of its five most important leaders, a series of internal difficulties, and a policy rejected by most of the world led the U.S.S.R. to the troubles which split it into fifteen nations and completely rewrote its economic system. A. The Early Years One of the first policies implemented by the Bolsheviks, renamed the Communists in 1918, was the New Economic Policy (N.E.P.). The N.E.P. was a radical change when it was implemented - the Bolsheviks were forced by World War I to focus their economic strength on the production of weapons and soldiers. The N.E.P. emphasized the need for cooperation between all the people of the state, and encouraged increased production from the workers. (Lih) One difficulty faced by the Communists was maintenance of their "dictatorship of the proletariat". There were no indications that the Western nations were going to face the revolt of the common people in the near future, so the government was forced to win over the peasants on its own. This would be accomplished by a general success of their proposals, and eventually a transformation in the minds of the people from ...
