1 Party State

• The Bolsheviks renamed themselves as the Communist Party in March 1918.

  • This was a recognition that Russia had become a one-party state and that the Sovnarkom represented the only path towards communism.
• Lenin dismissed the idea of sharing power, even with other communists.

  • He had pledged "all power to the Soviets" but Lenin sidelined the Petrograd Soviet in favour of the Sovnarkom as the Soviet was dominated by other parties.
• The Marxist principle that power should come from the people was being ignored.
• Kamenev and Zinoviev both temporarily resigned as Lenin created a one-party state.

  • Lenin was following his own idea of "dictatorship of the proletariat" during which he was determined to crush "bourgeois attitudes".
  • Essentially, Lenin felt the Russian people needed guiding towards communism and were not ready.
• In January 1918, demonstrators against the dissolving of the Constituent Assembly were shot at and 12 were killed.

  • This highlights that Lenin had created a dictatorship.