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<br />2035 <br /> <br />Answerr . In. Fe.war Imperial Russia, lllrr;e industry, represented in mining and <br />manufacture, vftl.S largely' dominated 'by foreign capital in the forlll of: oonoeuions. <br />Throur;h: p~litios, intrigue and graft, gove1'lllllElnj; contracts and s pecia! privi1er;1lS <br />were seoured; Large profits were made and were exported from the oountry. Plante <br />were poorlymainta:l,ned. Working conditions were bad. Foreigners held the key <br />positions. Labor was exploited, 'The picture seems to have portrayed oapitalism <br />at its wOrst, The pendulUlll was 'far off-oenter. <br /> <br />The wealthy of old Russia did not finanCe the industrial development of <br />their awn country because they were land-pocr., Furthermore. they feared that in- <br />dustrial development would undermine their positions of privilege <br /> <br />, <br />Czarist rule rested on a tripod. The ozars kept the people igncrant <br />through laok of sohooling They kept thelll impotent with a plentiful ~pply ot vodka. <br />They played on their superstition. workin@; in cahoots with a ohuroh whioh was <br />highly mystic and'ritualistic and engrossed in its temporal power, <br /> <br />Having this baokground of experience, it is quite understandable why the <br />C=unists do not oomprehend our oonoepts of free enterprise, democraoy and re. <br />ligion, and why their judgments are often intemperate and erroneous. <br /> <br />Questionl Could you give us a thUlllb-nail review of the events whioh have trans- <br />pired s :lnoe the revolution'? <br /> <br />Answer I . The revolution of 1917'was foUO'IIedby thl'ee or four years of 1Il0re or <br />less oOlllplete ohaos. The pendulUlll swung to the extreme left. It wa.s a.ttempted to <br />. , . <br />operate the oountry aooorciing to the theories of Ma.rx and Engel. Pure C=unism <br />was tried. It resulted in disorganiza.tion e.nd led up to the famine of 1920. The <br />A,R.A. under 1~. Hoover oa.me to the resoue, inoidenta.11y sowing the seed ot better <br />Amerioan-Russian relations. <br /> <br />Ha.vin@; unwittingly demonstrated to the world the impraotioability of pure <br />CClIlIIllUllislll. the CO'lllllI.unists determined tooomprOlllise. They II8ta.'bHshed wha.t was <br />known a.s the New Economio 1'olioy - N E.P. They retained state-owner.hip of'major <br />industry but they permitted private enterprise to function in lesser industry and <br />in the redm of merohandizing, As a. result of this oOlllprOlllise, some sElmblanoe of <br />order wa.s restored a.nd recovery from the effects ot the war arid the revolution got. <br />under way. This arra.ngement lallted for.' a period of about fiire yea.rs "from 1922 to <br />1928. <br /> <br />The COJIIIIlunistil were never enthusiasl'io about the N.E. P. They. redhed <br />tha.t with a.grioulture, their major industry, f\lnotioning on an individua.-1istio' . <br />ba.s1s, and with lIIerohandizing in private hands. they were fa'/!!. trOlll their profllll!ed' <br />goal, By 1928, they deoided that the oountry ha.d reollpe'/!!ated suffioiently to with-. <br />stand another dose of l'adioalism, So they embarked upon the First ,Five Yea.rPlan <br />for'sta.te-owned industrial development, and t'hey s.ta.rte.d a progrSlll of repression <br />of private enterprise through impos itibn of o~eroulI regula.tions and the Inying of <br />ruinous taxes, In a few years, private enterprise' died' a dea.th oi' suffocation.. <br /> <br />. By 1930 the CCIIlIInUnists deoided that the .time was due to wzoenon ar;'/!!ic\llt~ <br />from the priva.te oontrol of the peasants and to oolleotivitlethe t'a.l"II\ll. 'lher4!! llIiIR.' <br />many rea.S ons. These were among the foremost I <br /> <br />1. It WIlS ooneidered to be too inoonsisten't tot' a lIocia.Uced sta.te to h~ <br />its principa.l industry privately oontrolled', <br /> <br />-3" <br />