opposition

• after the overthrow of the provisional government in 1917 a number of prominent Bolsheviks including Kamenev, Zinoviev and Rykov called for a coalition government to be formed with other socialist groups
• although some left-wing SRs were allowed to join ranks Lenin bullied his bolsheviks colleagues into jejecting an alliance with opposing political groups
• the signing of the treaty of Brest-litovsk was opposed by.the left especially Trotsky but Lenin countered.his opposition by claiming that the war would be over soon
• the adoption of war communism during the civil war was considered harsh by some party members but the Lenin gave in the pressure for change and introduced the NEP which heightened tensions and widened divisions. the right bolsheviks favoured his temporary compromise towards capitalism however left bolsheviks saw it as a betrayal of revolutionary principles