Impact of the Civil War on the Bolshevik Government

• In March 1918, Lenin moved the capital from St Petersburg to Moscow so that the government was further away from advancing White armies.
• Nicholas II and his family were murdered in July 1918 by their Communist guards in the basement of the house where they had been held captive.
• Lenin denied ordering the murder of the Tsar, instead blaming over-enthusiastic local officials, however it is hard to believe that such an act could have been carried out without his approval.
• The Communists were worried that the Tsar could become a figurehead for the White armies in the Civil War.
• The Politburo was created in March 1919 as Lenin wanted to concentrate decision-making into the hands of an even smaller group of Communist leaders.
• The Politburo was Party, not government structure and it took over policy formulation from the 15-20 member Sovnarkom.
• The Politburo usually consisted of between 7 and 9 members who held all of the significant power in Russia.
• As the 1920s went on, Sovnarkom met less frequently as all the key decisions were made in the Politburo.
• The Orgburo was created to supervise local party committees and the party secretariat in order to ensure that the Politburo's decisions and policies were being followed correctly.
• Stalin was a member of both the Politburo and Orgburo, giving him significant influence within the Party, which he used to his advantage later in the 1920s.