Domestic policy consisted of a set of measures of efforts aimed at social, economic, and ideological aspects. It was carried out by the Bolsheviks in order to mobilize resources in the context of civil war and progress towards socialism. The policy of War Communism included the elimination of private property, the establishment of state regulation and planning, compulsory confiscation of food produced by peasants called Prodrazvyorstka [food requisition], labour conscription. The term “war communism”, coined by Aleksander Bogdanov in 1918, became common in the early 1920s.

 

Food dictatorship introduced in May 1918 became an essential component of the entire War Communism policy. The People’s Commissar of Food was given “extraordinary powers to fight the village bourgeoisie, concealing grain reserves and using them for speculating”. To confiscate the “surplus” of grain from peasants, a so-called prodarmiya [food army] was organized, which consisted of armed workers, sailors, and soldiers. In 1918, the food army acted under the People’s Commissariat of Food (Narkomprod), empowered at the local level. In 1919, the food army became part of the internal security forces of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD). Based on the Decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) of June 11, 1918,  “On the organization and supply of the rural poor” prodotryads [food squads] along with the kombeds [committees of the rural poor], which united the poorest rural peasantry conducted large-scale requisitions of food.

 

January 11, 1919, saw the Council of People’s Commissars (SNK) adopt a decree “On the Apportionment of Grain Crops and Fodder, subject to Alienation at the Disposal of the State, among the Producing Governorates”, to introduce Prodrazvyorstka on the territory of the Russian SFSR. The central authorities set the task for governorates that were to provide state demand, which in turn passed in the form of "plans" to the districts, and each was to fulfill its share. The peasants were obliged to hand in the required amounts of food. The Prodrazvyorstka campaigns barely covered the needs of townspeople and the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.

As peasants experienced ever-increasing pressure, there took place a series of uprisings in 1919–1921. (“Chapan war”, the uprising of Aleksander Sapozhkov, the West Siberian uprising, the Antonov uprising in Tambov governorate, etc.). The rebels’ main demand was invariably the abolition of Prodrazvyorstka.

 

At the same time, attempts were made to transform the urban economy according to a "military-communist" model. On November 14, 1917, VTsIK and SNK approved the "Regulations on Workers' Control", which introduced factory committees to control production at all enterprises that hired workers. December 14, 1917, saw decree On the Nationalization of Banks adopted. June 28, 1918, saw a decree on the nationalization of all large and part of the medium-sized industry. In the second half of 1918, the Government issued a series of decrees to announce the nationalization of light industry, cooperatives, wholesale and retail trade. Thus, the urban economy turned into a single state enterprise. A centralized management system of the industry was being formed. In December 1917, the Supreme Board of the National Economy (VSNKh) was established. All branches of industry and trade were administered by the VSNKh through dozens of “main committees” (glavks).

 

The Decree of SNK of October 5, 1918, introduced compulsory labor for the “bourgeois elements” in the Russian SFSR. The Labor Code adopted in December 1918 established “labour conscription” for all the citizens. On January 29, 1920, SNK adopted a decree “On the Order of Compulsory Labour Conscription”, which established an obligation for the entire working population to be involved in the performance of labor tasks.

 

10th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (March 1921) adopted a new decree based on the report by Vladimir Lenin, VTsIK (March 21). In the context of the ending major Civil War and a deep economic crisis, Prodrazvyorstka was replaced with prodnalog [Tax in Kind]. Thus, the policy of War Communism was abandoned, and a transition to a New Economic Policy was introduced.