Bolshevik consolidation

• Ending involvement in WWI


  1. The Bolsheviks promised peace and much of their support came from tired soldiers

  2. Lenin was worried about civil war – he could recall troops and get ready to fight the Bolshevik opponents

  3. Russia's military was exhausted and could not continue to fight

  4. Lenin was convinced Germany was about to have its own Communist Revolution
• Difficulty of withdrawing from WWI


  1. Ceasefire was agreed in December but negotiating a treaty took several months

  2. Germany was already occupying large areas of Russia and demanded major concessions

  3. Trotsky did not support Lenin's mantra of 'peace at any cost'
• Impact of signing the treaty


  1. The treaty caused major splits in the Bolsheviks: Bukharin led the 'revolutionary war group' that argued against peace at all costs

  2. Trotsky delayed negotiations hoping for a German revolution, but this angered the Germans who continued their military advance into Russia

  3. The resulting treaty was extremely unpopular: The Left SRs resigned from the Government in protest

  4. The treaty led to a significant decline in support for the Bolsheviks and increase in support for the SRs and Mensheviks

  5. The Bolsheviks lost the elections to the soviets across Russia in April and May 1918
• Losses from the treaty


  • 62 million people (1/6 Russia's population)
  • 2 million km2 of land
  • 1/3 Russia's agricultural production land
  • ¼ of Russia's railway lines
  • ¾ of Russia's iron and coal supplies
  • 3 billion roubles in war reparations
• Creating a one-party state


  1. The Bolsheviks replaced the Cabinet with the Sovknarkom

  2. The Bolsheviks abandoned the title 'Minister' and replaced it with 'People's Commissar'
• Electing the Constituent Assembly

  1. The Provisional Government had organised elections for the Constituent Assembly for November

  2. Lenin had to honour this arrangement

  3. The SRs won with 53% of the vote
• How Lenin controlled the Constituent Assembly


  1. Lenin demanded that the Assembly were subservient to the Sovnarkom and the soviets

  2. When the Assembly met in January and rejected this condition, Lenin brought the Red Guard to block the elected representatives entry

  3. This effectively closed the Assembly
• How Lenin justified closing the Assembly


  1. He said that the election didn't reflect the will of the people

  2. He said the Soviets were a better form of democracy while the Assembly was a form of bourgeois democracy

  3. He claimed "dictatorship of the proletariat" was the way forward to benefit the workers and peasants
• All Russian Congress of Soviets

  A group of deputies elected from local soviets who would meet and organise the running of the country
• Central Executive Committee


  Congress deputies elected the Central Committee
• Constitution


  A set of laws a country is run by
• Red Army


  Replaced the Red Guard – the Bolshevik army
• Sovnarkom


  The government of the new revolutionary regime
• How the Bolsheviks increased their power further


  1. Nationalisation of industry and land ownership increased the Bolsheviks' power

  2. In March 1918, Trotsky was made head of the new Red Army to control growing unrest
• Soviet Constitution


  In July 1918 the Bolsheviks set out a new Soviet Constitution. It appeared democratic but in reality, power rested with Lenin
• What the Soviet Constitution said about the Congress of Soviets


  expectation: The Congress of Soviets would represent the interests of Local Soviets and be elected from local soviets

  Reality: The Congress didn't meet often

  3. The Congress was only elected from Bolshevik candidates
• What the Soviet Constitution said about the Sovnarkom


  Expectation: The Sovnarkom should be appointed by the Congress

  Reality: The Sovnarkom was chosen by the Central Committee rather than the Congress

  3. The Sovnarkom consisted of only Bolsheviks
• What the Soviet Constitution said about Soviets


  expectation: Soviets should represent the masses. Reality: From July 1918, members of the former 'exploiting classes' were banned from voting or holding office

  3. Worker votes were worth 5x peasant votes
• The Bolsheviks' political opponents were not prepared to accept their absolute rule, their policies & actions resulted in them having many more enemies
• Some fought the Civil War to achieve independence from the Russian Empire, but others fought to prevent it
• How the Allies encouraged war


  1. Russia's old allies called for direct military action against the Bolsheviks

  2. They were angry with the Russian withdrawal from the war and the cancellation of the Tsar's debts
• Why Lenin fought


  Lenin wanted a conflict to destroy his opponents in a short war rather than be challenged by them throughout Bolshevik rule
• Kolchak


  Led a White army in Siberia and proclaimed himself 'Supreme Ruler of Russia'
• Yudenich


  Formed a White army in the north west
• Makhno


  An anarchist Green leader in the Ukraine
• Denikin


  Led the White army Southern Volunteer Army
• Wrangel


  Led a 'Caucasus Volunteer Army' against the Bolsheviks during the civil war
• Dzerzhinsky


  Head of the Cheka
• The murder of the Tsar


  1. On 16th-17thJuly 1918, a local Cheka detachment executed Nicholas II and his family

  2. It is almost certain that Lenin authorised this killing
• Importance of the Tsar's murder


  • The Tsar and his family were important figureheads for the Whites
  • Their murder was a big blow for White morale
• How the war increased Bolshevik control


  1. Half a million Party members fought for the Red Army - used to obeying orders and acting with extreme force

  2. In wartime it was essential that orders from the centre were communicated quickly –this centralisation stayed after the war

  3. Central controls were brought in to deal with food shortages
• How the war changed how the country was run


  1. To organise the war the Soviet bureaucracy grew larger –there were more bureaucrats than workers

  2. In 1919 the Politburo was created–they took over the running of the country and replaced the Sovnarkom
• The Red Terror


  1. After two assassination attempts on Lenin in 1918, the Red Terror started to emerge

  2. The Cheka grew from 120 employees in March 1918 to 143,000 by 1921
• What the Cheka did


  1. Round up political opposition and enforced the central government commands

  2. Official records put Cheka executions at 13,000 between 1918 & 1920 but the real figure was mire likely around 300,000

  3. To house all their victims, the Bolsheviks set up concentration and labour camps
• Why State Capitalism?


  1. Lenin's policy was a pragmatic response to the problems facing Russia in 1918

  2. It was a middle way between capitalism and socialism until the USSR was ready to fully embrace socialism
• Features of State Capitalism


  • Nationalisation was introduced to create greater efficiency
  • All nationalised industries were run by the Vesenkha
  • Small factories were not nationalised. They were controlled by workers or handed back to capitalists
• What the Vesenkha did


  1. Re-established worker discipline by offering higher pay to productive workers

  2. Ensured factories were properly managed by placing them under the control of well-paid specialists

  3. Co-ordinated economic production to meet the needs of the new society
• Problems of State Capitalism


  1. Many Bolsheviks didn't want a middle way and demanded full state control

  2. Allowing factories to be taken over by their workers causes a sharp drop in production due to poor management skills

  3. Letting peasants have control over the selling of grain meant higher prices but state controlled industries needed cheap grain so workers didn't have to be paid higher wage
• Why War Communism?


  1. By May 1918, the country was in a state of economic collapse

  2. Reorganisation of the economy was important to the survival of the Bolsheviks
• Features of War Communism


  • Grain requisitioning: The Cheka could seize grain and other food without payment
  • Rationing: the Supply Commissariat rationed the seized foods. The largest rations went to workers and soldiers, and smallest rations given to members of the bourgeoisie
  • The abolition of money: Workers were being paid through their rations and many public services, such as tram services
  • Private trade was made illegal
  • Complete nationalization
  • Conscription: workers were assigned either to work in factories, or fight in the army