1921 was a period of crises which resulted in the continuity and change of the implementation of Leninism.
During the civil war 1918-1920 Lenin tried to implement Communism. After the war ended though there were many crises that Lenin had to deal with if he didn’t want to be overthrown. To combat crises such as the Kronstadt Uprising, Peasant Revolts and the recent demobilisation of the Red army, Lenin changed tactic and told the public they had experienced War communism and introduced NEP (New economic policy) claiming it was a transition period to socialist paradise. Lenin continued his reign further by oppressing the public and destroying his rivals so he could continue to implement Leninism.
It’s safe to say that War Communism caused many if not all problems of 1921. The Kronstadt uprising was by far the most threatening to Leninism. Lenin quoted that the Kronstadt uprising was “The flash that lit up the reality more than anything else” The reality that Lenin was talking about was the fact that he would need to change his policies and the way he led Russia if people were going to be happy and he was not going to be revolutionised against.
The reason why the Kronstadt uprising had such an impact was because they were the heroes of the October revolution. They fought for Soviet Russia and the reason why they started the uprising was because they became disillusioned with how Russia actually was. Many of them came from peasant backgrounds and when they caught wind of how War communism was treating the people they took a stand and demanded “Soviets without Communists”
Sally J. Taylor, the author of Stalin’s Apologist, Walter Duranty (1990) has argued “War Communism, as it was called, came to rely more and more upon repression and outright violence as the main methods of securing meat and grain from the peasants”
The Kronstadt uprising started in early 1921 but was crushed by a large number of Red army soldiers in March later
Bibliography: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSnovemberR.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kronstadt_rebellion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Economic_Policy Russia under Tsarism and Communism 1881-1953 Chris Corin Terry Fiehn Pg 150-159 The Russian Revolution by Sheila Fitzpatrick pg 69-120