Lenin

• Communist Government under Lenin

  • The State; democratic or undemocratic?
  • Impact of the Civil War on the State.
  • Use of Terror.
  • Crisis and reform.
• The State (Lenin)

  • Sovnarkom; 13 People's Commissars; Lenin elected as Chairman; Served as executive branch; However, no real power initially and was disorganised (Stalin's office was a desk in the corner of the Smolny Institute).
  • Popular Decrees; Nov 1917 Worker's Decrees reduces to 8 hour workday; Decree on Peace 1917.
  • Undemocratic; Lenin closes Constituent Assembly; idea of 'formal democracy'.
  • Democratic; Some State Decrees popular; 1918 Constitution implements checks and balances; Intense support in Petrograd.
• Impact of Civil War on Communist Government

  • Centralisation; CPSU more powerful; economic centralisation via War Communism; Trotsky made the Red Army more authoritarian.
  • Party-State; Nomenklatura system; power of Politburo increased; Politburo has 5-7 members and filled with Lenin's allies.
  • Red Army; Trotsky reverses the democratisation of the Red Army; removes Soldier's Committees; reinstates harsh punishment; enlists former Tsarist officers to increase discipline and strategy.
• Use of Terror under Lenin's Government

  • Popular unrest; Tambov Uprising sees 50K peasants rebel, Red Army uses poison gas and deports 100K peasants; Kronstadt Mutiny sees sailors demand free elections and an end to War Communism and Cheka attacks.
  • Red Terror; Oryol ice statues; Church leaders in Kremenchuk impaled; Cheka created in 1917; from 1917-1922 Cheka kills 200K.
• Crisis and Reform under Lenin

  • One-Party State; In Feb 1921, Lenin orders Cheka to destroy opposition by arresting Menshevik leader Fyodor Dan at Butyrka Prison; over 22 SR leaders arrested or exiled. Mensheviks and SRs still organise strikes in 1922 so Cheka arrests 5K Mensheviks.
  • 1921 Party Congress; Lenin's Decree 'On Party Unity' bans factions; NEP announced as a moderate economic plan to improve public opinion.