urring in Russia. The government took control of banks, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed, which removed Russia from The War. Foreign debts accumulated during the time of the Tsar were annulled. Many Russians were disgruntled, the Bolshevik Party was domestically unpopular, it had only 650,000 members. The basis for its power was the alliance of the proletariat, which was falling apart. When the Baltic fleet mutinied at Kronstadt, Lenin decided that it was time to make some concessions. The New Economic Policy was introduced, it allowed peasants to profit from their crop. This was allowing economic enterprise. This move stabilized the countryside, and industrial production rose to that which it was in 1913. It was this revolution, that occurred between 1918 and 1922, that helped Russia transform into what it was much of the 20th century8) Russian leaders Stalin and Lenin had many differences and similarities. The major similarities and differences involved the role of party, use of terror, economic priorities, and nationalism. V.I. Lenin was a Bolshevik leader, the Bolsheviks were the extremist wing of the Russian Social Democratic party. The Bolsheviks came to power with Lenin as their leader after a coup. Lenin said that his party was imposing the dictatorship of the proletariat. His political and economic administration became highly centralized and major decisions involving Russia flowed from the top in a non-democratic manner. The government siezed and then operated the banks, and the transportation system. The state then captured grain from the peasants to feed the army and the workers in the cities. Lenin decided to implement a New Economic Policy, called NEP. Under NEP the government would tolerate private economic enterprise. Peasants could now farm for profit, they would still pay taxes but the could sell their surplus on the open market. Joseph Stalin was general secretary of the party in 1922. His power lay wi...
