Returning to Soviet Russia several years after the dark days of famine and civil war, Foster reviews the relative recovery under peace and the New Economic Policy.

‘Russia in 1924’ by William Z. Foster from Labor Herald. Vol. 3 No. 5. July, 1924.

It is my good fortune to have visited revolutionary Russia twice. The first time was in the spring and summer of 1921, the second time was within the past couple of months. When I returned to this country in 1921, I stated that in my judgment the Russian revolution was a success. So dark and gloomy was the outlook at that time that many accused me of being carried away by revolutionary optimism, of mistaking my desires for realities. But this time I must reiterate, and with even more emphasis, what I said in 1921. Unquestionably the Russian revolution is a success. The foundations of the new society have been definitely laid; now the task is the building of the superstructure.

In order to measure the progress that had been made in Russia, I, during my latest visit, constantly compared the situation with that which prevailed in 1921. That year was perhaps the darkest in the history of the Russian Revolution. It is true that the counter-revolution had by then been definitely defeated. But the internal situation of the country was frightful. The industries were paralyzed, the great famine was just developing, and the morale of the people was at its lowest ebb. I arrived in Russia shortly after the Kronstadt revolt, an uprising which showed a most dangerous discontent among the working masses upon whom the revolution had to depend for its support. The problems confronting the workers were many, strange, and complicated. So hopeless appeared the situation that only with difficulty could the elements of victory be discerned.

The Dark Days of 1921

The progress achieved by the revolution during the past three years can be gauged pretty much by the degrees in which the various problems confronting the Russian workers in 1921 have been solved. These problems were of the most unusual and difficult character that ever confronted any people. Basically they were industrial in character and related to the establishment of the new revolutionary economic system. The two other great problems of the revolution–the establishment of the Soviet system and the defense of the new society against the counter-revolution–had already been solved. The great task confronting the workers was to build up the industrial system and to raise the standards of living of the people. The fate of the revolution depended upon its being accomplished.

What a terrific problem this was, needs no enlarging upon at this time. All the world thought that it was insoluble. The industries were at a standstill. Food, clothing and other vital necessities of life were almost unprocurable. Demoralization existed in large sections of the proletariat. Only the Communists held fast. It is my opinion that if at that time the discipline of the Party had been relaxed and the masses allowed to give expression to their weakness, the revolution would have been lost. The starving masses would have yielded to some “man on horseback” who could have given them bread. It was a desperate situation for the revolution and a great test of the working class. The capitalistic intellectuals of the world did not believe that the revolution could survive. They expected and hoped that the Russian workers, starved into submission, would be compelled to abandon their desperate effort to establish a Communist society upon the ruins of the capitalist system.

Starvation Period Over

But the croakers who flocked about Russia like hungry vultures awaiting the unholy feast which they felt sure would come with the early collapse of the Soviet government, reckoned without their host. The Communist Party, holding in discipline the working class, has proved equal to the impossible task. It held the discouraged masses together and made them fight on long after they had lost heart and would have quit. Its unflinching courage, boundless idealism, and unlimited resourcefulness has battered a way through the forest of problems confronting the revolution. The great crisis, which came so sharply to a head in 1921, has been vanquished. Starvation has been overcome, the industries have been set going, the standards of living of the people have been raised, the great economic problem has been started on the way to solution, the revolution has been deeply intrenched.

On every side in Russia one can see visible signs of the improved economic conditions. In 1921 there was hardly a street light burning at night in Moscow or other big cities. The street car service was paralyzed, it only being occasionally that one would see a forlorn car threading its way doubtfully through the streets. But now this is all changed. Moscow is as well lighted as any city in eastern Europe, there are even electric signs beginning to appear. The street car service is operating stronger than ever in the history of the city, and the cars are in at least as good trim as those in New York City. The dilapidated buildings, which were such a dismal feature of Russian cities three years ago, are rapidly being painted and repaired. The streets are full of vehicles, to such an extent that it has been necessary to establish a regular traffic squad at the street intersections.

Workers Visibly Better Fed

In the general appearance of the people the improved conditions are especially noticeable. The workers are stronger and healthier. To prove this it is not necessary to have recourse to statistics. It is patent to the naked eye. In 1921 the workers were thin and starved, and the crowds on the streets were listless and slow-moving. But today the average man in Moscow and Leningrad is at least 20 to 30 pounds heavier than he was in 1921. The crowds are full of life and energy. The typhus epidemic is an historical memory. Everyone who was in Russia during the starvation period of the revolution and who returns there now is immediately struck by the improved condition of the people.

Along with the raising of the general standard of living has come a greatly added faith in the revolution. In 1921 pessimism was everywhere. The starved workers for the most part had very little hope that the great struggle would be a success. Their attitude now has changed fundamentally. At the present time it is practically the unanimous opinion of the working masses that the revolution is a success. Rare are even the Nep-men who have real hope of one day seeing the dictatorship of the proletariat break down and be succeeded by a capitalistic regime. By this I do not mean to say that there is no suffering and discontent among the masses. Such exists, but the suffering is mild indeed compared with what it was three years ago, and the discontent is entirely lacking in the counter-revolutionary tendencies which it had at that time. In 1921 I saw a great demonstration of the workers in Moscow, and I also saw another on May 1st, of this year, in the same city, fully 700,000 being in line in the parade, which lasted nine hours in passing a given point. The two demonstrations were vastly different. The one in 1921 had the air of dogged fighters, struggling along desperately in the face of overwhelming odds; while that of 1924 was the march of the happy, consciously victorious proletariat. Although the parade was held in the midst of a driving rainstorm, at least 98 per cent of the workers stuck to the ranks. They were determined to demonstrate for their revolution, which all felt had lived through its worst days.

Problems Being Solved

But one does not have to depend simply upon general impressions to realize that the revolution is a success. This is shown definitely by the progress that has been made in the solution of the tremendous problems which confronted the revolution when I was in Russia in 1921. A few of these were the breaking of the economic and political blockade which was strangling Russia, the establishment of a stable currency in place of the debased role which made all real accounting systems impossible, the establishment of a state budget and the balancing of the same, the utilization of the dangerous experiment of the New Economic Policy for revolutionary ends, the stoppage of the so-called declassing the proletariat through the hungry workers scattering out upon the land, the abolition of sabotage by the supporters of the capitalist regime, the establishment of a new and effective system of proletarian discipline in place of the old slave-driving methods that the workers had suffered from time immemorial. These problems, and many more that might be mentioned, went to make up the general economic problem, which manifested itself by a complete prostration of industry and agriculture, were so complex and difficult in 1921 as to stagger credulity. Industrial experts all over the world said that they were so overwhelmingly difficult that there was not a chance that the Bolsheviki could solve them.

It is quite evident now, however, that not one of these problems has proved insoluble. Definite progress has been made towards the solution of all of them. One of the most serious and one that pressed hardest for solution was the breaking of the blockade. So long as the capitalist nations of the world were able to maintain their “sanitary cordon” around Russia, the latter could hardly recover. It could not export its agricultural products, basis of all its industrial life. Nor could it import the machinery, chemicals, and other products absolutely indispensable for the carrying on of its industrial system. In 1921 the breaking of the blockade set up by the capitalist countries was recognized as one of the prime problems of the revolution. Now it can be said that this is practically accomplished. By playing one nation against the other and taking advantage of the rifts in the capitalist ranks, the Russians have succeeded in forcing their way into the world markets again. England, Germany, Poland, Czecho-Slovakia, Sweden, Japan, Norway, and many other countries have been compelled to grant either partial or complete recognition to Soviet Russia. The consequence is that the export and import trade to the latter is rapidly increasing. So much so that at a recent meeting of the Moscow Communist Party Kamenev was able to say, “The government export has been so developed by us during the last year that we completely carried out the program laid down last spring. Last year we decided upon the renewal of the export operations which had been in abeyance for ten years. We worked out a program for the exportation of 225,000,000 poods of grain this year. We can confidently state that we will carry out this program in full, and in such a manner that we will surely knock out the American grain. In fact, we have reconquered our old positions in Europe in the course of one and a half seasons.” Russian trade recovers as the blockade collapses. This collapse is taking place rapidly. Even France and the United States, the most bitter enemies of Soviet Russia, will have to give it up in the near future. The blockade, the supreme means by which the capitalist world hoped to starve revolutionary Russia into submission, has been defeated.

When I was in Russia in 1921 the rouble was on the toboggan. Its value was falling rapidly, and the inevitable result was demoralization of industry in all directions. Accounting systems became practically impossible, whether inside of the state industries or between them and the peasants. The stabilization of the rouble, while advocated by some of the bolder spirits, was looked upon generally as an utopian project, not only by Communist economists, but by financial experts all over the world. Yet this seemingly hopeless problem has been almost completely solved. The present money system in Soviet Russia is based upon the gold standard. The chervonetz ranks with the of the world. Russia was the first country pound and the dollar in the money markets in eastern Europe to go back to the issuance of silver coins, which are now in general circulation. All the old degenerated rouble enough the debasing of the currency in the notes have been cancelled. Strangely first place was a revolutionary necessity, as that was the only way that the deficit in the government budget could be made up, and now the stabilization of the rouble has also been carried out as a revolutionary necessity. The effect upon industry is bound to be far-reaching. It is one great problem solved.

Next to the stabilization of the rule, the most vital financial problem was the establishment and balancing of the state budget. Financiers all over the world, giving consideration to the desperate state of Russian economic life, declared that this could not be done. Yet it has been accomplished. A scientific budget has been worked out and almost balanced. This year the deficit in the budget is only 10 per cent and next year it is hoped to wipe it out altogether. The accomplishment of these two financial measures, the stabilization of the rouble and the balancing of the budget, will greatly stimulate industry and further the introduction of economies generally. They are contributing very much to the economic recovery of the country.

In 1921 the burning need of the revolution was an immediate stimulation of the productive forces, so that the starvation, which threatened the life of the revolution, could be relieved. The plan proposed to do this was the so-called New Economic Policy, which gave free trade to the farmers and allowed a certain latitude for individual initiative in commerce and industry. Immediately this plan was proposed all the capitalist hangers-on and pseudo-revolutionists throughout the world declared that the revolution had come to an end as the free-traders, later known as Nep-men, were bound to smother it. But the Russian workers have defeated these dolorous prophecies. They have unquestionably exploited the increased productivity, bred of the Nep, for the benefit of the revolution. The Nep has contributed considerably to relieve the economic pressure and thus give the revolution a breathing spell. No one in Russia looks upon it as a serious menace. In retail and wholesale trade it has somewhat of a grip. But its very presence stimulates the state and cooperative machinery into more efficiency. With the basic industries and full control over foreign trade in its hands, the Soviet Government has amply demonstrated its ability to utilize the Nep institutions as a stop-gap proposition, pending the time when the government and the co-operatives will be able to take over all industry. Such capitalism as has come in with the Nep has to obey its master, the revolutionary workers.

A problem which greatly alarmed the revolutionary leaders in 1921, was the so-called declassing of the proletariat. The workers, practically starving in the factories, tended to scatter out to the villages, where they could at least hope to get enough to eat. Great numbers took this course. The practical effect was to demobilize the working class. Leningrad, the home of the revolution, was weakened to the extent of losing about 1,000,000 people, most of them workers and their families. It was manifest that if this tendency kept up the revolution would simply collapse by the melting away of the working class. But now this insidious danger has been entirely overcome. With the picking up of industry the workers are flocking back into the cities. Not only does this strengthen the revolution by reforming the ranks of the proletariat, but it also furnishes the industries the supply of skilled labor they so badly needed. The unique problem of the declassing of the proletariat is now happily a matter of history.

Another great obstacle to the rebuilding of industry was the intense and widespread campaign of sabotage carried on during the early years of the revolution by the industrial experts and technicians. This did incalculable damage. To overcome it and to secure a reliable force in the strategic points of industry was a great problem. Many believed it totally insoluble. But, like so many of the other problems that the pessimists believed impossible a few years ago, this one has also been practically solved. The resistance of the technicians to the establishment of the new social order has been definitely broken. Most of them have finally come to the conclusion that they must work efficiently in industry. Only a comparatively few bitter-enders still keep up the sabotage campaign. Many factors have contributed to the solution of the sabotage problem. For one thing the revolutionary workers placed in charge of many industries are learning the technique. Besides this the factory schools are turning out many red engineers. In addition the workers are now better able to check up on and punish the sabotagers. But, whatever the reason, the main thing is that the problem is well on the way to solution.

The final problem that may be mentioned as a burning one when I was in Russia in 1921 was that of creating a new discipline amongst the workers. The latter, just released from capitalistic slavery, found it difficult to discipline themselves to such an extent that industrial efficiency could be achieved. This, also, was a unique problem, and industrial experts everywhere declared it completely insoluble. They maintained that only the coercive methods of capitalism could hold the workers to their tasks. But this problem was also practically solved. Even the most casual observer of what is now going on in Russian industry must recognize that fact. The workers have definitely come to understand that they must work diligently and effectively if the present society is to grow and prosper. Efficiency systems of various sorts have been introduced all around. The productive capacity of the workers is steadily rising and undoubtedly in a year or two it will far surpass that of pre-war times.

Reviving Industry-Better Wages

The general effect of the solution or partial solution of the many problems that confronted the revolution, such as the breaking of the blockade, the exploitation of the Nep, the suppression of sabotage, the reclassing of the proletariat, etc., has been to stimulate industry and to raise the standards of living of the workers. Agricultural production has now reached 70 per cent of pre-war quantity, as against about 30 per cent at lowest point of the crisis. Heavy industry is now about 35 per cent of the pre-war level, and light industry 69 per cent. Industry as a whole is now producing at approximately 40 per cent of the pre-war standard. Compare this to a general production of 12 per cent in 1921. A steady improvement is taking place. In 1922-23 the following industrial gains were made over the same period in 1921-22: Coal, 11 per cent; coal coked, 216 per cent; oil, 40 per cent; gold, 66 per cent; iron, 75 per cent; steel, 88 per cent; textile, 68 per cent. Production in 1923 averaged about 50 per cent higher than in 1922.

The present day Russia production is not carried on for the benefit of a few social parasites. Consequently the increase in general output is automatically followed by a raising of the standard of living for the workers. In all other countries of the world wages fell rapidly in the past year. But in Russia the wage increase averaged 25 percent for all industries.

Workers 97 Per Cent Organized

The trade unions are sharing the growing prosperity of the working class. On Jan. 1st, 1922, they totaled 4,546,000 members; on Jan. 1st, 1924, the figure amounted to 5,621,000. The unions actually engaged in industry, except transport, gained 35 per cent in membership. Prior to the introduction of the New Economic Policy in 1921, membership in the unions was virtually compulsory. Now it is entirely upon a dues paying voluntary basis. Fully 97 per cent of all workers belong to the unions. Approximately 85 per cent of them are financially in good standing in their organizations. At least 90 per cent of the total trade union membership work under collective agreements.

In 1921, confronted by the appalling state of collapse then existing, many Russian leaders estimated that the economic recovery of Russia would take from 10 to 20 years. But, upon returning to Russia after only three short years, I was astounded to see the great progress that had been made. The most encouraging feature was that most definite results had been achieved in the solution of every important problem which confronted the revolution in 1921. I have no hesitancy in saying that within 10 years Russia will exhibit the greatest social and industrial progress of any country in the history of the world in a given period. The Russian Communists have confounded all their critics, Socialist and otherwise. The proletarian dictatorship not only carried the workers successfully through the stormy period of the revolution, but it is also carrying them through the period of reconstruction. It is now stronger and better organized than ever. The Russian workers have pointed out the way which the world’s workers must travel if they are ever to achieve emancipation.

The Labor Herald was the monthly publication of the Trade Union Educational League (TUEL), in immensely important link between the IWW of the 1910s and the CIO of the 1930s. It was begun by veteran labor organizer and Communist leader William Z. Foster in 1920 as an attempt to unite militants within various unions while continuing the industrial unionism tradition of the IWW, though it was opposed to “dual unionism” and favored the formation of a Labor Party. Although it would become financially supported by the Communist International and Communist Party of America, it remained autonomous, was a network and not a membership organization, and included many radicals outside the Communist Party. In 1924 Labor Herald was folded into Workers Monthly, an explicitly Party organ and in 1927 ‘Labor Unity’ became the organ of a now CP dominated TUEL. In 1929 and the turn towards Red Unions in the Third Period, TUEL was wound up and replaced by the Trade Union Unity League, a section of the Red International of Labor Unions (Profitern) and continued to publish Labor Unity until 1935. Labor Herald remains an important labor-orientated journal by revolutionaries in US left history and would be referenced by activists, along with TUEL, along after it’s heyday.

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