1.1 Establishing Communist Party Control, 1917 - 24

Question 1

By what year was Russia a communist one party state?

Answer 1

1922

Question 2

How did Bolsheviks prevent other political parties gaining influence?

Answer 2

• Banned bourgeois from voting (did not agree with Bolsheviks seeing as they were redistributing bourgeois possessions)
• Did not allow other parties to publish their own newspapers
• April 1921 stated SRs’ and Mensheviks belonged in prison 1921 other parties banned

Question 3

Why and when was the Treaty of Brest Litovsk signed, and what were its consequences?

Answer 3

1918 - Lenin needed troops out of WW1 so they could fight in the civil war. Russia lost control over Baltic states and lots of land and industry - was humiliating and created enemies

Question 4

How did the Civil War consolidate Bolshevik power?

Answer 4

They had won over the whites. People unlikely to switch sides and not be a Bolshevik because of their experiences in the Civil War

Question 5

What was life like for people in Russia at the start of the 1900s?

Answer 5

Over 85% of the population were peasants who had few rights, they were legally tide to their home village and forced to work for the landowners without pay - instead they were given poor housing which were cramped and had to grow their own food

Question 6

What was farming like at the start of the 1900s?

Answer 6

Most peasants farmed land, but the farming techniques were outdated and slow.
When famine happened in 1901, the government still made peasants give up some grain to sell abroad for money

Question 7

How did WW1 impact the economy?

Answer 7

There were shortages of raw materials so weapons and supplies for the army could not be produced.
The railway system was underdeveloped and had been taken over for the war effort so it could not longer be used to get supplies to cities causing shortages.
In the countryside, millions of peasant farmers had been conscripted into the army so there was not enough people to grow food making food prices rise quickly

Question 8

What happened on the 24th of October 1917?

Answer 8

The October revolution, where the armed Bolsheviks stormed the winter palace which led to their takeover of the government

Question 9

What were the positive impacts of the revolution?

Answer 9

• Lenin dismissed the constituent assembly and the old Duma, and delated the dictatorship of the proletariat
• There was a huge campaign to teach everyone to read, and learn about communism
• Women’s rights improved - childcare was freely provided and divorce and abortion was legalised
• Lots more factories were built in an effort to improve Russia’s development which created for many people who then had benefits of an 8 hour day, as well as unemployment pay and pensions, but the working conditions were often unsafe

Question 10

What were the negative impact of the revolution?

Answer 10

The cheka was the secret police formed in December 1917 to deal with counter-revolution by arresting, torturing and killing anybody who tried to destroy the communist state. However, it was soon operating outside the law when implementing Bolshevik terror.

Lenin used the gulag, a network of prison cramps, for criminal and political prisoners. Prisoners faced harsh conditions and hard labour.

Countries such as Britain sent large sums of money to help the Tsar’s supporters fight the Bolsheviks. This made the USSR suspicious of the West for years to come.

The Russian economy dropped, causing some skilled workers to flee the country. This meant that, for a while, only essential items were available, and luxury goods could not be bought.

Question 11

What type of government system did the Bolsheviks want?

Answer 11

The Bolsheviks wanted a democratic system that would rule on behalf of the people, for the people, by establishing a one-party state where all other political groups were banned. Communist rule under the Bolsheviks was to be authoritarian, highly centralised and supplemented by heavy use of terror.

Question 12

What were the difficulties the Bolsheviks faced when securing power?

Answer 12

Although the Bolsheviks claimed to represent the interests of the proletariat, they did not have enough support to lead a popular revolution so therefore used force to seize power which led to opposition from

left-wing groups such as the Socialist Revolutionaries, Mensheviks
Right-wing groups such as Tsarist supporters, liberal groups who often represented the interests of the middle class – the Marxist ideology represented a challenge to the rich and privileged.
Nationalist groups such as Ukrainians, Poles and Finns, who saw the collapse of the Tsarist regime as a chance to assert their independence.

Question 13

Who were the Mensheviks?

Answer 13

A communist group that had split from the Bolsheviks in 1903, they were prepared to work with the bourgeoisie in order to bring about gradual reform.

Question 14

How did the Bolsheviks deal with the other left-wing groups?

Answer 14

Other left-wing groups shared many of the socialist aims of the Bolsheviks, but Lenin made it clear that there would be no sharing of power.

The election of the Constituent Assembly, in January 1918 resulted in the Bolsheviks having 175 seats and the socialist revolutionaries having 410 seats.

This posed a threat to continued Bolshevik rule, so Lenin dissolved the Assembly and condemned it as an instrument of the bourgeoisie and replaced it with the All-Russian Congress of Soviets where the Bolsheviks had more influence. This ensured that there was to be no real forum for opposition.

Question 15

Who were the socialist revolutionaries?

Answer 15

• A group committed to democratic socialism
• Believed in right of groups to govern themselves for example peasant organisations

Question 16

How did the Bolsheviks deal with other political parties?

Answer 16

• The removal of the vote from bourgeois classes ensures opposition parties did not have support
• Restrictions imposed on the Mensheviks and SRs - difficult to publish their newspapers
• In March 1918, the Bolshevik party renamed itself the Communist Party and, by 1921, all other parties were effectively banned
• In April 1921, Lenin declared that the Mensheviks and the SRs belong in prison. From Jan-Mar. 5,0000 Mensheviks were arrested

Question 17

What was the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 1918?

Answer 17

• The Treaty took Russia out of WW1
• Russia subsequently lost control over the Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Finland, Ukraine and parts of the caucus region
• It was a national humiliation for the conservatives - the only way to restore pride was to overthrow the Bolshevik regime and reject the Treaty
• Lenin signed it to concentrate on dealing with internal enemies
• Provided incentives for the whites to fight against the Bolsheviks because the allied powers wanted to keep Russia in WW1 and were willing to provide arms, money and troops to those who would ensure Russia joined the fight

Question 18

Summarise the Russia Civil War, 1918-1921

Answer 18

A war between the Bolsheviks (Reds) and the Whites, but also other groups not aligned with either (ie the Greens) who fought for their won objections, such as independence

Question 19

Who were the Whites in the Civil War?

Answer 19

Whites were largely conservative groups within Russia who did not want the old social order changed

Question 20

Who were the Reds?

Answer 20

The Bolsheviks and their supporters

Question 21

How did the Bolsheviks win the civil war?

Answer 21

The area controlled by the Bolsheviks was limited from Moscow to Petrograd directly - They were surrounded by White forces.

The Bolsheviks were more organised in military, economic and political terms whereas the Whites were an amalgam of different groups united only by their desire to get rid of the Bolsheviks. These divisions were reflected in the military strategy of the Whites, with a lack of Cooperation, and corruption and inefficiency that undermined the help from Russia’s former Allies in the First World War.

Leon Trotsky (Commissar for War) - turned the Red Army into an effective fighting machine. Conscription was introduced to swell the number of soldiers to over five million

The Bolsheviks had support from the workers who saw the Bolsheviks as the best guarantors of their gains from the Revolution and peasants because of the Land Decree of 1917.

Question 22

What was the results of the civil war?

Answer 22

• The Bolshevik state had become highly centralised due to the demands of the civil war. Power was now firmly in the hands of the government (Sovnarkom) and party leadership (Politburo) based in Moscow
• The Civil War had set the tone for the development of the party by the Bolsheviks use of extensive terror against their political opponents
• The Civil war created a generation who did not buckle under pressure and who did not think twice about using force and terror

Question 23

Summarise the Tenth Party Congress, 1921

Answer 23

• The Civil War had seen a huge growth in Party membership, from 300,000 at the end of 1917 to over 730,000 by 1921- posed a threat to party stability
• Lenin banned the formation of factions within the Party (One Party Unity) - an attempt to improve Bolshevik anxiety over their hold over Russia

Question 24

Describe the apparatus of government

Answer 24

The Sovnarkom was the Council of People’s Commissars, consisted of top government ministers responsible for making key decisions and giving government orders. 20 members in total elected by the Central Executive Committee.

The Central Executive Committee oversaw the work of the government and its administration and was elected by the Congress of Soviets.

The All-Russian Congress of Soviets was the supreme law-making body of the state.

Provincial and city soviets conducted the administration of government at local level.

Question 25

Describe the apparatus of the party

Answer 25

By the early 1920s, it was clear that the real power had shifted to the Party itself. The Party controlled decision-making, while the state became an organisation of administrators.

• The Politburo was a group of seven to nine leading members of the Bolshevik Party chosen by the Party’s Central Committee to make the key decisions affecting policy - members included Leon Trotsky and Josef Stalin.
• The Central Committee was a group of 30-40 members chosen by the Party Congress to represent its members.
• The Party Congress was a body made up of representatives of local Party branches that discussed the general programme of the Party. The ban on factions subsequently declined its role.

Question 26

How was the Bolshevik government based on Democratic Centralism?

Answer 26

• Soviets represented the workers at local level who would take their concerns to decision-making bodies at the higher levels of government. Decisions could then be passed down to regional and local level for implementation
• The soviets were dominated by the Bolsheviks, who ensured that they were no longer responsive to pressure from the workers

Question 27

How was Lenin influential?

Answer 27

• He was the Chair of the Sovnarkom and a Politburo member who preferred a collective leadership whereby issues were discussed before decisions could be made
• He had considerable influence as many Bolsheviks were inspired by Lenin and expected him to be a strong leader which he used this to his advantage
• Lenin threatened to resign from his party position to scare those who opposed signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918 and the adoption of the NEP in 1921
• From 1922 onwards, his influence was limited by severe illness

Question 28

What was the nomenklatura system? (Method of centralisation)

Answer 28

• The system of appointing employees from an approved list to encourage loyalty to party leaders as many had joined the party to improve their career prospects in the new regime, but they were not necessarily committed communists
• A worker’s employment depended on securing an internal passport which was easier to obtain if you were educated or a party activist - taking part in propaganda campaigns
• Advancement also depended on whether you had a party sponsor
• This ensured the development of a more committed communist bureaucracy
• This led to increased nepotism e.g.. Khrushchev’s son-in-law became Izestiya editor

Question 29

Describe the Soviet Constitution of 1924 (Method of centralisation)

Answer 29

By 1922, the position of the Bolsheviks was strong enough to extend the control of the Party over outlying regions of the old Russian Empire.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), which was finally established in 1924, was a federal state that maintained the authority of the Communist Party based in Moscow.

Various republics, such as Ukraine, were firmly under the control of the party.

Question 30

How did the Bolsheviks use terror to maintain their hold over the party? (Method of centralisation)

Answer 30

Bolshevik terror was implemented by the Cheka, which was headed by Felix Dzerzhinsky and dealt with counter revolution, played a key role in establishing central control over the Party apparatus and often operated outside the law.

For example, the Lubyanka building was where executions of suspects happened without using official courts. - was responsible for the executions of up to 200,000 people

In 1922, the OGPU replaced the Cheka and terror became more bureaucratic and discreet and focused on groups within the Party and large numbers were purged.

The fact that the use of terror continued after the civil war indicates a lack of confidence by Bolsheviks on their hold on power. However, Lenin showed a particular interest in the execution of priests which may indicate that Lenin was developing his own personal agenda for the use of terror.

Question 31

Why did the Bolsheviks find it difficult to secure their hold on power?

Answer 31

The Bolsheviks were a relatively small group and although they claim to represent the interests of the proletariat, they did not have the support to lead a revolution, so they seized power by force.

Question 32

Conclusion

Answer 32

By 1924, the leadership of the Communist Party had dealt successfully with internal and external opposition and therefore, was able to expand enormously without sacrificing unity or the conformity of its members.

However, Russia is an extremely large country and so central control did not always extend to remote areas.

As a result, the government was often chaotic which provided opportunities for a local mafia of Bolsheviks and black marketers to defy party orders from Moscow.