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Primary sourceBook1921

The New Policies of Soviet Russia

Vladimir Lenin · 1921

A 1921 compilation including Lenin's article on the meaning of the agricultural tax, explaining the New Economic Policy in his own words.

Contains Lenin's own explanation of the agricultural tax, a key part of the New Economic Policy.

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The New Policies of Soviet RussiaPDF · 136 pages
Lenin, "The Meaning of the Agricultural Tax," in The New Policies of Soviet Russia, 1921.

About this source

What it is

This is a 1921 book combining writings by Lenin, Nikolai Bukharin, and S. J. Rutgers. Lenin's contribution, "The Meaning of the Agricultural Tax," explains policy under what became known as the New Economic Policy. The scanned copy is held by the Internet Archive.

Why it matters

After years of war and economic hardship, the Bolshevik government shifted its economic approach, and this text shows Lenin personally explaining and defending the reasoning behind the agricultural tax to readers. Alongside essays by Bukharin and Rutgers, it shows how Soviet leaders tried to justify their new policies to a wider audience.

Look closer

  • How does Lenin frame the agricultural tax as a matter of principle rather than just practicality?
  • Why might the publisher have combined Lenin's piece with writings by other authors?
  • What does this text suggest about the challenges facing the Soviet government in 1921?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Vladimir Lenin on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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