- 著者
-
河本 和子
- 出版者
- 一般財団法人 日本国際政治学会
- 雑誌
- 国際政治 (ISSN:04542215)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.2020, no.201, pp.201_82-201_97, 2020-09-15 (Released:2022-03-31)
- 参考文献数
- 79
This essay reveals how the newborn Soviet government as the first socialist government in history treated the properties and property rights of foreigners, including concessioners, who were entitled to invest their properties in Soviet Russia. The private property system was the most important issue in the antagonism between socialist and capitalist regimes; therefore, by tracing Soviet policies on foreigners’ properties, we can ascertain how the Soviet government compromised, however insufficiently, its socialist mission to coexist with the capitalist West and then ended those compromises to build socialism in one country.The Soviet government, created by the Bolsheviks upon the October Revolution in 1917, embarked on the abolition of the private property system through policies such as the socialization of land, the nationalization of banks and enterprises, and removing the inheritance system. The government also cancelled all foreign debt for the sake of the revolution. Further, the Bolsheviks dropped out of World War I in March 1918 to make a separate peace treaty with Germany, leaving its former Entente allies behind. These actions were met with anger and distrust by the Entente, and the U.K., France, and other former allies even militarily intervened in Russia’s revolution, further intensifying its civil war. Though its government survived this war, it left Soviet Russia economically exhausted and diplomatically isolated.Despite mutual distrust between Soviet Russia and the West, economic and diplomatic relations were soon restored after the civil war. The Soviet government wanted foreign capital for economic recovery and further development, while the West sought stability in international relations and investment destinations. Particularly, Western countries demanded that Soviet Russia secure conditions for normal capitalist economic activities under its socialist government. In response, the Soviet government guaranteed property rights under certain restrictions and restored the inheritance system by enacting the Civil Code in 1922. The Bolsheviks understood this partially rebuilt Soviet market economy as a compromise with the socialist revolution.The Soviet government further called for concession projects from foreign countries and in turn granted concessions to foreigners for their economic activities. However, Soviet authorities, loyal to their socialist cause, often obstructed the concessioners to confront the concessions administrations. Furthermore, by the mid-1920s, Soviet leadership felt the country’s relations with the West were beginning to strain, which only increased the hostility to concessioners and fueled intra-party struggles. This led to Soviet Russia’s radical industrialization and construction of socialism under the first five-year plan. Accompanying this plan, most of the concessions were liquidated in the course of nationalization. The Soviet Union thus became increasingly isolated because of its soured economic and political relations with the West.