At the beginning of the new, 1917, the entire population of Russia - a sophisticated politician and experienced financier, a worker and peasant, a military officer and an ordinary Russian man in the street - hoped that the coming year would finally bring peace, tranquility and stability. However, the real Russian reality was in obvious contradiction with these bright hopes. And no matter how monstrous it may seem to us now what happened in October 17th, the country's population was already psychologically prepared for Bolshevik extremism. The Bolsheviks only consistently brought to the logical end that economic policy, the main contours of which were outlined during the First World War.