Which of the following were main features of the New Economic Policy (NEP) introduced in 1921?

• A. Reintroduction of limited private trade, allowance of small private businesses, tax in kind replaced by a tax, state still controlled heavy industry.
• B. Abolition of private trade and private business nationwide.
• C. Immediate privatization of heavy industry.
• D. Nationalization of peasant land and all agriculture.

Answer: (A)

The New Economic Policy blends state control with limited private activity to rebuild the economy. Under NEP, Russia moved away from the harsh requisitioning of War Communism and instead imposed a tax in money on peasants, allowing them to keep and sell any surplus grain after paying that levy. It also reopened small private businesses and allowed private trade in consumer goods, while the state still kept tight control over heavy industry, banks, and major infrastructure. This combination—limited private trade and small private enterprises, a monetary tax instead of forced requisition, and continued state ownership in key industries—best matches the features described.

The other options clash with NEP. Abolishing private trade and private business would mirror earlier War Communism, not NEP. Privatizing heavy industry outright would overturn the policy of keeping the heavy, strategic sectors in state hands. Nationalizing peasant land and all agriculture contradicts the NEP, which allowed peasants to own and work their land privately.