The Soviet Economy

Russia then had an agrarian economy, with the serfs doing all the agricultural labor under the control of the nobility, who were the owners of the land. The continued oppression of the serfs and the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05, which weakened the economy, contributed to the Russian Revolution of 1905.

With the country starting to industrialize, the number of industrial workers (the proletariat) also grew. As political and economic conditions worsened, revolutionary fervor increased and the Russian Revolution succeeded in removing the Tsar from power in 1917.

Lenin introduced a New Economic Policy (NEP), which permitted private activity in some sectors of the economy, while most sectors were retained under state control. After Lenin's death, Joseph Stalin (Stalin) took control of the USSR.

His era was characterized by an extreme centralization that included Five Year Plans and collectivization of agriculture. Rapid industrialization (through central planning) was also strongly emphasized. After Stalin's death, Nikita Khrushchev (Khrushchev) led the USSR. He came to be most remembered for his agricultural reform policy that included introduction of modern technology and allowing farmers to sell more grain in the open market...