The significance of the NEP in the 1920's in the Soviet Union was great. It would be looked upon later by peasants as a period of hope. The New Economic Policy was viable to a degree, but obviously not the complete answer for the Soviets economic ailments. In the end, few benefited from the open market of the NEP.
             From 1914 to 1921 agricultural production fell some 40%. Many peasant uprisings made it clear that change was necessary. One problem for the party was finding a solution that would help the ailing economy and help booster socialism at the same time in the Soviet state. The New Economic Policy spawned thanks to the works of party leaders (including Stalin) at the 10th Part Congress in March of 1921. Critics of the NEP would say that it was a retreat to capitalism. This was a viable criticism. In order for the party to stimulate agricultural productivity, they allowed farmers to lease and hire labor. They also allowed most workers to freely enter a competitive labor market. So the NEP definitely had capitalist implications, but necessary ones according to Lenin. In order for Socialism to jump start in Soviet Russia, there would have to be a temporary capitalist-like economic policy to stimulate agricultural and industrial growth.
             The party had little to work with though. The cultural landscape was dismal. Just as the NEP was starting to get off of the ground, famine struck in 1921 and 1922. A summer drought and peasants reduction of sown acreage led to massive crop failure in 1921. Almost 5 million people died during the famine. Peasants were unhappy and poor. After the famine, the economy managed to pick itself up thanks to the NEP. There was a short period of time that some Soviet citizens felt prosperity, but that was temporary. The industry had problems because it was too poor to modernize plants and machinery. This slowed the progress of NEP and presented a real problem for futur
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