Was the NEP ( new economic policy) in Russia a good or bad thing for Marxism?
I did the Bolsheviks last year, but from what I remember it was good for Russia, bad for Marxism. I hope I’m thinking of the right policy (free markets, banks under state control?), but it was part of Lenin’s ‘U-turn’, effectively reversing their former ideologies. However, it did enable the party to keep control of Russia by curbing the famine and bringing some stability back to the economy. I’m afraid I can’t help too much with Marx’s thoughts, but I can remember Trotsky being an advocate of world revolution, so I’d imagine it was in Marx’s agenda. Marx also suggested that the revolution would happen in industrial countries before spreading (which Russia certainly wasn’t), so it does make sense for him to suggest that the economy must be stable before the country turning Communist. And of course support from the proletariat is essential – it depends on them to succeed!
