Disagreements in Leadership
Lenin considered the NEP as a strategic retreat. However, he justified the NEP by insisting that it was a different type of capitalism. He insisted that this form of “state capitalism” was the last stage of capitalism before socialism evolved.
Leon Trotsky and Stalin disagreed over how to develop the Soviet economy after the World War and the Civil War. Trotsky, supported by left-wing members of the Communist Party, believed that socialism in Russia would only survive if the state controlled the allocation of all output. Trotsky believed that the state should repossess all output to invest in capital formation. On the other hand, Stalin supported the more conservative members of the Communist Party and advocated for a state run capitalist economy. Stalin managed to wrestle control of the Communist Party from Trotsky. After defeating the Trotsky faction, Stalin reversed his opinions about economic policy and implemented the First Five-Year Plan.
Read more about this topic: New Economic Policy
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