lenin

• Political Control: The closure of the Constituent Assembly was a criticism of Lenin's policies 1917-1924.
• The decision to dissolve the Constituent Assembly was justified by Lenin in State and Revolution, where he describes the need for a strong party to provide for the “the dictatorship of the proletariat”.
• The closure of the Constituent Assembly seemed to contradict the Marxist principle of “power to the people”.
• The closure of the Constituent Assembly led to Russia becoming a totalitarian state, ruled by the Bolshevik party.
• Lenin ignored calls for a socialist coalition and ensured no real forum for discussion.
• The policies and decisions of the Party were shaped by the Central Committee of the Party, which was set up in 1919.
• The Politburo, which was first elected in 1919, included Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin, who were also key government officials.
• The Politburo assumed increasing control of state affairs and met less frequently in the 1920s, tightening the hold on the one-party state.
• The Party structure appeared quite democratic, based on annual congresses, elected by mass membership, which met every year in Lenin’s lifetime.
• Lenin spoke of “democratic centralisation”, combining centralism with democracy.
• The Party made it difficult for other parties to exist at all, with the Decree of the Press in October 1917 curbing the ability to publish own newspapers and all other political parties banned in 1921.
• The Treaty of Brest Litovsk, which Lenin struggled to persuade other Bolsheviks to accept, resulted in harsh terms, including the loss of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Bessarabia, Georgia, Belarus and the Ukraine, amounting to 1/6 of Russia’s population and 2 million square kilometres of land, including the area that produced almost 1/3 of Russia’s agricultural produce.
• The Treaty of Brest Litovsk allowed Bolsheviks to end unpopular war and focus on economic problems and ensuing Civil War.
• The use of the Cheka to wipe out opposition, including the execution of half a million people between 1918-1920, was a criticism of Lenin's policies 1917-1924.
• The most famous victims of the Cheka were Tsar Nicholas and his family.
• Strict checks on freedom of
• The Kronstadt uprising involved 30,000 sailors who sent a manifesto to Lenin to demand an end to one-party state government.
• Livestock, carts and firewood disappeared, leaving the peasants scarcely enough to live on, as requisitioning detachments sought their own booty as rewards for their efforts.
• Only a tiny minority of households complied with collective or cooperative farming under War Communism.
• The Tambov Revolt, which lasted from 1920 to 1921, involved a 70,000-man peasant army that rose up against the government when grain requisitioning squads arrived.
• The Red Army and Cheka were used to shoot ringleaders and put 15,000 rebels into a labour camp after the Kronstadt uprising.
• Attention was turned within the party and large numbers were purged as part of the use of terror after the Civil War.
• Cheka and workers who arrived to requisition grain often seized more and offered inadequate vouchers, rather than money.
• The policy of arbitrary terror was used as a means of frightening people into compliance.
• Class warfare, including arrests, imprisonment, and executions, was a part of the terror.
• The use of terror continued after the war suggests a lack of confidence in the Bolshevik hold on power.
• The state of war that the Bolsheviks found themselves in seemed to call for forceful methods.
• The worst hit under War Communism were the so-called 'grasping fists' Kulaks, labelled enemies of the people, whose entire stocks were often seized.
• Concentration and labour camps were set up as part of the terror.
• War Communism, the main focus of which was on heavy industries, meant other sections of the economy were even more starved of labour and resources.
• Poison gas was used to kill those hiding in forests as part of the terror.
• After Lenin's assassination attempt in August 1918, terror intensified in the Soviet Union.
• Lenin believed that 'Terror' was not just born out of economic or military necessity but was an integral part of class warfare.
• The Red Army, along with the Cheka, was used to crush the Tambov Revolt.
• After the Civil War, the Cheka was replaced with the OGPU, which used terror in a more bureaucratic and discreet manner.
• Victims of the terror included peasants, workers, and many children.
• Food, clothing, and lodging were controlled through centralised redistribution and regulations under War Communism.
• In 1922, the Red Army destroyed whole villages in Tambov province as part of the terror.
• Terror and force were also applied by the Red Army after the Civil War.
• Those working in non-essential industries or small workshops suffered under War Communism as private trade and manufacture were banned, military style control of railways was introduced, and professional managers were employed to re-impose discipline and increase output.