Lenin’s New Economic Policy (NEP)

The Problem of Changing a Society

Lenin plunged into the creation of a new society modeled upon the writings of Karl Marx. Once again, the realities of make theories workable in practice presented a number of problems. The fears of invasion by other countries forced Lenin to create a barrier between Russia and the rest of the world. Tight censorship of books and people began to limit foreign ideas becoming popular inside of the country.

The power of the Russian Orthodox Church also had to be addressed. Karl Marx had called religion the “opium of the people.” In other words, to control the poor the rich used religion. To destroy the church in a very religious country became a large task for the Communist Party. Priest were arrested, churches burned, and attempts to stamp out organized religion were taken.

Lenin was also forced to devote large amounts of time to the establishment of one political party across the nation. Russia was divided into Republics to be administered by the Party. Each Socialist Republic would then report to the to a parliament or union of republics. Here the Communist Party would rule under the direction of the Politburo (a small committee of communists led by Lenin). The new political format gave the new name for Russia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

Slowly the Communist Party became involved with all aspects of an individual’s politics and personal lives. Although many of the policies met with limited success, over time, they became accepted as a way of live within the newly created society.

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