Preserving the State through Repression

• The Civil War did much to shape Bolshevik ideology by highlighting the fight against "counter-revolutionaries".

  • This led to the use of terror to eradicate all opposition and the Cheka played a key role in this.
• Other parties were targeted such as the arrests of 5,000 Mensheviks.
• The Bolsheviks centralised control of the economy which led to War Communism although the NEP replaced this in 1921.
• Lenin created the principle that the party was always right and never made mistakes.
• Censorship became more extensive.

  • Dozens of Russian writers were deported to show that it was not a good idea to criticise the government.
  • All books, poems and other writings had to be submitted for approval before they could be published.
• The Church was attacked as it was seen as a potential rival.
• The Cheka was renamed the GPU in 1922.

  • The secret police grew in importance with arbitrary arrest a common experience for most Russians.