1- Lenin Terror Flashcards
Was terror the main method by which the Bolshevik leadership exercised control over the Party 1917 and 1924?
Terror, Personal power of Lenin, nomenklatura system, Soviet Constitution of1924
P1- Agree,
Terror
Cheka 1917 formed to deal with counter-revolution, sabotage and speculation. It dealt with enemies within the Party and played a key role in establishing central control over the Party apparatus. by 1921, 250,000 in secret police. 1922 became more discreet as the OGPU. more bureaucratic. inward-looking. groups within the Party and large numbers were purged. Chistka (non-violent) 1918 and another early 1920s. Under Lenin, 1/3 of the Party were purged. Intimidation and purges maintained disipline and order in rapidly expanding Party. elements in Party like adventurers, drunkards and hooligans. Bolsh minority group so fear and intimidation essential mechanisms for maintaining hold on power, especially in the circumstances of civil war. In the first Party purge of 1921, just after Lenin introduced NEP, 25% of party members lost their party cards and 220000 purged. This reveals how the party leadership used to terror in order to exterminate opposition and strengthen their control, by forging a rigid and almost routine process which constantly allowed for threats to party leadership, policy, or culture to be periodically rooted out. manifested fear within the party
P2- Centralising power through policy
‘On Party Unity’- banned factions inside the Party so opposition to his policies more difficult to organise. (However still debate). By 1921, opposition parties formally banned. So Comm Party dominated the Soviets and created a new form of govt that became known as the ‘party-state’. The Soviet Constitution of 1924
Important step in the centralisation of power in the Soviet state. USSR. tightened the authority of the Communist Party based in Moscow. The Party bodies in various republics, such as Ukraine, were firmly under the control of the central Party structure.
P3- Power through loyalty
Personal power of Lenin
Able to exercise considerable influence by weight of his own personal authority. Many Bolsh looked up to Lenin and saw him as a source of inspiration. When the Party was faced with difficult decisions that produced heated debates, Lenin could bring the Party in line by making threats to resign from his Party position e.g. treaty of Brest-Litovsk 1918 and NEP 1921. The Nomenklatura system
To ensure the development of a more committed communist bureaucracy, the Party developed the nomenklatura system. A system of appountung people to jobs from a list approved by Party leaership. Evidence of commitment to the Party cause was neccessary in order to remain on the list, otherwise lose place on list and chances of promotion. Effective tool of centralisation.