bolshevik consolidation of power

• The Bolsheviks survived the first few months in power due to their ability to consolidate power through the Soviet, form a new body called the SOVNARKOM, and ban opposition press.
• Central political control in Lenin's regime was exercised by Sovnarkom.
• Lenin used terror, including the use of the Cheka, the secret police, to retain control.
• The legal system in Lenin's regime was abolished and replaced with 'revolutionary justice'.
• Incentives for Russian workers and peasants in Lenin's regime were 'peace, bread and land' to build up support.
• Lenin's regime engaged in 'class warfare', which was state sanctioned violence against the burzhui (bourgeoisie or middle class).
• Opposition parties were banned in Lenin's regime.
• Reactions to Bolshevik power included "The insane attempt of the Bolsheviks is on the eve of collapse…the Bolsheviks are alone" from the soldier section of the SR party, "The Bolshevik party will last no more than a few days" from an SR leader, and "A revolution is a rising of the people. But what have we here? Nothing but a handful of poor fools deceived by Lenin and Trotsky…Their decrees and their appeals will simply add to the museum of historical curiosities." from a Petrograd newspaper.
• Lenin's decisions included forming a government through the Soviet, forming a new body called the SOVNARKOM, and banning opposition press.
• The October Revolution was presented to the Russian people as a rising of the Petrograd Soviet in which many parties were represented, including Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries.
• There were also upcoming elections to the Constituent Assembly.
• The Bolsheviks had criticized the Provisional Government for delaying elections to a Constituent Assembly.
• Instead of exercising power through the Soviet, Lenin formed a new body: the SOVNARKOM, which was exclusively made up of Bolsheviks.
• The elections to the Constituent Assembly were allowed to go ahead in November 1917, with the Bolsheviks winning only 175 seats against 410 for the Socialist Revolutionaries.
• Lenin declared that his form of government represented a higher stage of democracy than an elected assembly.
• The Assembly was allowed to meet for one day – 5 January 1918 – then it was closed down and the deputies told to go home.
• Lenin and the Bolsheviks were aware of how important political press was.
• The Bolsheviks had pumped enormous amounts of money into their own papers and periodicals before and during 1917.
• By banning other opposition papers, the Bolsheviks risked sparking a civil war.
• The Kadet party was outlawed.
• Leading Kadets were arrested and two were brutally put to death by Bolshevik sailors.
• The Bolsheviks banned other political parties, especially the Socialist Revolutionary Party, but allowed other socialist parties to remain uncertain about their future.
• Land could no longer be bought, sold or rented, it belonged to the ‘entire people’.
• Any peace treaty would result in the loss of a quarter of Russia’s farm land and three-quarters of her iron and coal reserves as well as 62 million people within its population.
• Lenin adopted a position of ‘peace at any price’ and so accepted the terms of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918.
• The Bolsheviks did not have control of the areas in which most of the people lived, so the ‘Rights of the People of Russia’ decree was nothing more than a ‘paper measure’.
• Kamenev and Zinoviev, leading Bolsheviks, were in favor of a coalition with other socialist parties.
• In November 1917, the Bolsheviks passed the ‘Workers Control Decree’, giving factory committees the right to control production and to ‘supervise’ management.
• The Bolsheviks believed firmly in the principle of power being passed to the ‘workers of the world’ but ran the risk of inefficient production, disputes and violence and economic disaster.
• Lenin saw this as useful because, with them on board, he could claim to represent the interests of the peasantry.
• The promise that had brought so many people to the Bolshevik banner was the pledge to end war.
• Russia pulled out of World War I but the consequences of the treaty caused deep discontent amongst those who saw it as a shameful peace.
• Lenin had no intention of seriously including other parties and was not prepared to see his vision diluted by other socialist parties.
• In October 1917, the Bolsheviks also agreed to a maximum eight-hour day for workers as well as social insurance (unemployment and sickness benefits).
• The collapse of the Romanov dynasty had prompted many national groups to present demands for more self-government (independence).
• At the peace-negotiations held at Brest-Litovsk, the German demands were excessive.
• In October 1917, the Sovnarkom passed the ‘decree on land’, giving peasants the right to take over the estates of the gentry, without compensation, and to decide for themselves the best way to divide it up.
• Lenin feared that he may be sidelined in a coalition government and deliberately made sure that talks with other socialist parties collapsed.
• Lenin wanted the Bolsheviks to rule alone but made an alliance with the left Socialist Revolutionaries and brought them in as junior partners in the Sovnarkom.
• There was enormous pressure on the Bolsheviks to form a democratic government representing all the socialist parties.