Bolsheviks in Power

• The Chekka (secret police) grew massively in size:

  In March, 1918, there were about 120 employees.

  By 1921, there as many as 143, 000
• Lenin's new government faced several issues:

  • The Bolshevik rule was weak.
  • Russia was still at war with Germany (this effectively caused the October revolution, so Lenin had to be careful about new rebellions).
  • Bolsheviks were popular in the cities, not in the countryside. It was still very much an urban movement.
  • There were still food shortages, and would be until several policies were implemented.
  • There were lots of strikes: working conditions did not automatically improve.
• What Lenin did to consolidate Bolshevik rule: Creating a one-party state:

  • Breaking from the past. Ministers were abandoned in favour of the "People's commissars", which was a more communist terminology (more symbolic than anything).
  • The Sovnarkom (Bolshevik group) was set up to replace the cabinet.
  • There was lots of political parties at the time. Lenin was determined to suppress all of them.
  • December 1917: The Sovnarkom developed their own secret police, the Chekka.
• The Chekka grew in extreme size. This meant it then became very difficult for other political parties to form and it helped Lenin secure his one party state.
• Consolidating Bolshevik rule: The Removal of the Consituent Assembly:

  • This was an elected group that aimed to govern Russia post revolution.
  • Bolsheviks only secured 24% of the vote, losing to the "peasant party", the Social Revolutionaries (remember, most of the population were peasants).
  • Lenin demanded that they submit to Bolshevik institutions: Sovnarkom and Soviets. When they refused to follow his orders, he ordered Red Guards to surround their building, not allowing anyone in or out.
  • The Constituent Assembly became dissolved.
• How did Lenin justify the removal of the Constituent Assembly?

  • He said that the election had been based on old party lines. This means that the results didn't reflect the will of the people, but the will of the old state, making it undemocratic.
  • He argued that the soviet were a form of direct democracy (form of democracy where people have a direct impact on introducing laws), and the Constituent Assembly was a form of Bourgious democracy.
  • He claimed that his government was more democratic and the Constituent Assembly needed to be removed.