Russian Lenin

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180 г9

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The October 1917 Revolution (Bolshevik Revolution).

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The peasants and workers grew disillusioned with the Provisional Government as it

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supported bourgeoise values. Key issues such as land redistribution

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the provision of

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food and an end to the war were not addressed. Lenin returned to Petrograd from Finland

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in disguise and began planning an armed uprising to overthrow the Provisional

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Government. In order to do this:

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• The Bolsheviks built up the organisation of their party by appointing soviets in the

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factories and in the army. They ran several newspapers which distributed party

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propaganda.

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• Leon Trotsky formed a Military Revolutionary Committee and the Bolshevik coup

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d’etat was carefully planned.

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• The Bolshevik Revolution began in the early hours of the morning on 25 October

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1917

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• Red Guards set up road blocks around Petrograd and occupied the city centre.

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The Bolsheviks took control of key points in the city such as the police stations

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the

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central telegraph office

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bridges

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station. The takeover was well organised and there was no real resistance because:

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• The Red Guards surrounded the Winter Palace

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the Provisional Government

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headquarters

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that evening. The Provisional Government surrendered their power

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without a struggle.

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• The Military Revolutionary Council announced that they were now in power.

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The Bolshevik Revolution was over in 36 hours and there had been a minimum

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of bloodshed. Lenin’s promise of ‘Land

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Bread and Peace’ appealed directly to the

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poverty-stricken workers

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the peasants and the soldiers. The Provisional Government had

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done little to relieve their suffering so they supported Lenin and The Bolsheviks

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Lenin announced that ‘We shall now proceed to construct the socialist order ‘ There

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would be radical change as Russia was transformed into a communist state.

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Lenin’s political and economic policies

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Lenin’s interpretation of Marxism: Marxism-Leninism

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Once they were in power

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the Bolsheviks changed their name to the Communist Party

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18

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and began to implement their policies under Lenin’s leadership.

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War had bole ved that he rain nde enra a by apiamen would remedie

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come first

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led by a well-organised working-class party.

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Although Marx had believed there would be no need for a government once

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Comy niem was estabished

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his did he no n it it a Lenin beline hat the

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Party needed to keep control his did not happen in Russian in inder le bring about

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and protect communism. Soviet Rustate uter the meal tantarian

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one-party state

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i was Lenin’s version of communism

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known as Marxism-Leninism

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with a hugely powerful leader.

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other communist states in the 20th century.

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The Bolsheviks seize control of the state

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The Provisional Government had planned to hold

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elections for a Constituent Assembly (a

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parliament)

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and the new Bolshevik government

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went ahead with these elections. The results

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were disappointing for the Bolsheviks; they won

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less than a quarter of the seats. This showed that

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the Bolshevik position was not secure.

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ПОБЕДА

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КОммунИзМА

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НЕИЗБЕЖНА!

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In January 1918 the Constituent Assembly met

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for the first and only time

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and criticised Bolshevik policies. On the following day

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sent troops to close it down permanently. The Red Guards used force to stop

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demonstrations in support of the parliament

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and over a hundred people were killed or

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wounded. It was clear that the new government was prepared to use force to stay in

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power.

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The Party as the vanguard of the proletariat

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Lenin had always believed that a disciplined group of full-time revolutionaries organised

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into a single political party such as the Bolsheviks should lead the mass of the people to

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revolution. This is why he described the Party as being ‘the vanguard of the proletariat’.

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Now that the Communists were in power

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he believed that the party should continue this

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role as ‘the dictatorship of the proletariat’ meaning that a small group of committed

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leaders would rule on behalf of the people. Opposition parties and newspapers were

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banned

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and no freedom of debate was allowed

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A ruthless secret police

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the Cheka

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At the same time

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the government began to introduce long-awaited reforms:

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• Peace with Germany: In March 1918

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Russia signed a peace treaty with Germany.

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The peace terms dictated by the Germans were very harsh

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and Russia lost a lot of

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land and resources in its western areas. But Lenin insisted on peace at any price. He

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did not want to make the same mistakes that had led to the fall of the Provisional

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Government. He needed an end to the war so that he could focus on

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Strengthening the position of the Communists in Russia.

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and reforms: The governme the scari large areas of land from the estates of the

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tSar

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the church

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• Working conditions: The government established an eight-hour day and a forty hour

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week

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and introduced a system of insurance to protect workers against injury

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and unemployment. It also placed factories under the control of elected committees of

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• Education: The government introduced free education for all and launched an aduit

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literacy campaign. The government saw education as crucial

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and it set up schools so

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that everyone between the ages of eight and 50 could learn to read and write.

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The Civil War and War Communism

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What changes did the Bolsheviks make in Russia?

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Bolshevik power spread from Petrograd until they were in charge of most towns in north

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and central Russia. Lenin encouraged the poor and oppressed to take revenge on the

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rich and privileged. This resulted in the following changes:

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• Peasants seized the nobles’ land

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livestock and equipment and divided it amongst

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themselves.

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• Private homes were converted into workers’ apartments.

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• The bourgeoisie were forced to do menial tasks such as sweeping street or cleaning

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factories.

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• All formal titles were forbidden and everyone was addressed as comrade.

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• Churches were looted and factories stripped of their machinery.

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Lenin kept his promise to withdraw Russia from the First World War by sending Trotsky to

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Poland to negotiate a peace treaty with the Germans. The Russian delegation was

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horrified by what the Germans demanded but

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since Germany could invade Russia

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had no option but to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk cost

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Russia a great deal as:

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• Much of the Russian territory in the west was taken including Lithuania

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Latvia

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Estonia

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Finland and Poland.

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• One-third of Russia’s farmland

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89% of its coal mines

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many factories were lost.

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• Many Russians were deeply angered and the losses would further weaken the

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Russian economy.

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Lenin introduced many other changes at this time such as:

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• The capital of Russia was moved from Petrograd to Moscow.

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• Russia adopted the calendar used in Europe.

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• The Bolsheviks were renamed the Communist Party.

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Civil War

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It was difficult for the Communists to establish their

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control over Russia because:

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• Resistance developed as many Russians were

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shocked by the harsh terms of the Treaty of Brest-

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Litovsk.

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• Elections for the Constituent Assembly were held

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as planned in November 1917. When the Social

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Revolutionaries won the majority of the votes

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Lenin closed this assembly.

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• Supporters of the Mensheviks

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Social

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Revolutionaries and the Tsar grouped together to

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form guerilla bands in order to destroy the

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Bolsheviks. They were known as the White Army.

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In response to the opposition

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the Communists

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strengthened their military force

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the Red Army

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the leadership of Trotsky. By the end of the 1918 war

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had broken out between the Red and White armies.

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The civil war had a devastating effect on Russia.

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The Civil War was a horrible and brutal conflict during

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which both the Red Army and the White Army tortured

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and murdered innocent people. The Red Army was

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determined to maintain communist control of Russia

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while the White Army was made up of different groups

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who did not believe that the Communist Party had the

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right to rule Russia.

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The Communists controlled the heartland of Russia

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which included the cities of Petrograd and the capital

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Moscow. Leon Trotsky was given the task of

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organising the Red Army which was made up of

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peasants and workers. He was able to mould the Red

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Army into a powerful fighting force by adopting the

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following measures:

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• Civilians were drafted into the army.

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• Threats were used to force the men to fight. Any

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soldier who disobeyed orders

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retreated or

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deserted was shot.

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• A secret police force

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the Cheka

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be a counter-revolutionary. Thousands of Russians were shot by the Cheka in what

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became known as the Red Terror.

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Ine White Army did not have one overall leader and was made up of a number of

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factions:

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• The Czech Legion was made up of Czech soldiers who had fought in the Tsar’s army

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in order to win their independence from Austria. These soldiers wanted to support

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Britain and France who were still fighting against Germany and Austria. The Czech

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Legion defied Trotsky’s orders to join the Red Guard and began to fight against the

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Red Army

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• The nobility who wanted to restore the tsar and get their confiscated land back.

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• The Mensheviks who thought that Lenin had no right to rule Russia.

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The Red Army had the strong leadership of Leon Trotsky and a common purpose: to

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save the Communist Revolution.

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Table showing the strengths and weaknesses of the armies involved in the Russian Civil

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War.

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Red Army

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Trotsky provided strong leadership

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Conscription of civilians to form an army

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of 3 million

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Controlled big cities with factories so

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army was well supplied with equipment

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Did not have much access to ports so

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could not import supplies

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United by common goal: to save

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communism

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White Army

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Three different leaders

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Forces never exceeded 250 00 men. No

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conscription

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Received aid from Britain

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France and

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the USA

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Had access to ports in north and on

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Pacific

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Divided by a wide range of goals and

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viewpoints

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The Red Army won the Civil War in 1921 but

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to accomplish this

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strict communist control of industry and food supplies. This policy was known as War

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Communism.

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War Communism 1918-1921

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War Communism was put into practice in order to keep the Red Army supplied with food

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and weapons. The following measures were taken:

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• The state controlled all means of production: mines

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industries

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businesses.

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• Private trade was banned.

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• Requisitioning squads made up of soldiers were sent to the farms and villages to

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seize the peasants’ grain. This grain was needed to feed the soldiers and workers in

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the urban areas.

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• All industries were nationalised and workers between the ages of 16 and 50 were

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forced to work. Military discipline was imposed in the factories and strikes were illegal.

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Most Russians suffered great hardships because of the policy of War Communism.

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People were hungry and discontented. The results of the policy were as follows:

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• Industrial production fell sharply as managers were inexperienced and there was a

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shortage of raw materials. Many machines and trains broke down and were not

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mended.

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• The workers were given a food ration by the government instead of money. This

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ration was often below starvation level. Thousands of workers and their families left

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the towns and went to the countryside where they hoped to find food.

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• The government printed masses of paper money which resulted in high inflation.

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Money became worthless and people were forced to trade on black market in order to

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survive.

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• The peasants received little or no payment for their grain and resented it being

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seized. The money they received was worthless and there was nothing to buy.

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Peasants grew less grain or hid away what they harvested. Soldiers in the

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requisitioning squads were armed and took food by force.

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• Diseases such as typhus and cholera killed thousands of Russians.

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By 1921 the Communists had won the Civil War but Russia was struck by famine. This

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famine was a result of both the policy of War Communism and environmental factors:

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• The peasants were reluctant to plant crops that would be seized by requisitioning

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squads. This led to a manmade famine as not enough food was produced.

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• A drought in the Volga region led to a failure of the harvests.

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Disease and starvation killed about 5 million people. Food was sent by other countries as

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famine relief but it was too little to feed the millions who were starving.

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A profile of Lenin

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Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov was born in a small provincial town in

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1870 and became better known by his revolutionary name

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Lenin. The Ulyanov family was a middle class one and both

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parents were teachers. Lenin was a bright student and did

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well at school. His headmaster described him as “the pride

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of the school.”

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Lenin’s elder brother

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Alexander

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kill the tsar and was executed. The loss of his brother

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affected Lenin deeply and he too became involved in

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revolutionary politics. He began reading his dead brother’s

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copy of Marx’s Das Capita/ and joined the Social Democrats.

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Lenin was closely watched by the police because of his political activities. He was

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arrested in 1895 and sentenced to three years exile in Siberia. While in Siberia

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Lenin

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married a fellow revolutionary

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Nadezhda Krupskaya. In 1900

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into exile in Europe where he devoted his time to bringing about a Marxist Revolution in

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Russia.

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The New Economic Policy: the adaptation of Marxism

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The New Economic Policy (NEP) was an adaptation of Marxism because it include

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capitalist ideas. Lenin introduced NEP in 1921 because Russia was in a state of collapse.

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The effects of War Communism together with the seven years of war had devastated the

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economy. This was evident because:

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• The area sown with crops was half of what it had been in 1913. The number of

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livestock and horses had also diminished.

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• A famine between 1921 and 1923 killed 5 million people.

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• Factories were producing about a third of what they had in 1913

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mines were flooded

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and trains that broke down were not mended.

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Both the peasants and the proletariat were unhappy and revolts against War communism

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began in 1920. The most serious of these revolts was the mutiny at the Kronstadt naval

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base in March 1921. Lenin said that this mutiny was the flash which lit up reality better

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than anything else.’ Lenin realised that he would have to change his economic policy if he

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wished to preserve communism in Russia.

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As a result of the discontent caused by his policy of War Communism

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Lenin introduced

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the New Economic Policy (NEP). This policy was a compromise with capitalism as it

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included some capitalist ideas. Lenin was forced to make these changes in order to give

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the Russian economy a chance to recover. Once economic stability returned

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communist

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principles could be reintroduced.

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In order to encourage greater agricultural production

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the following measures were

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taken:

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• The requisitioning of grain was stopped.

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• Peasants were required to pay an agricultural tax that was calculated as a proportion

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of the surplus left over after the needs of the peasant family were met. This tax was

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paid in food which was sent to the cities to feed the urban workers.

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• Peasants were allowed to sell their produce on the open market. Some peasants

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called kulaks

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became wealthy enough to hire other peasants.

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Measures to stimulate industry included the following:

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• While the state retained control over large industries

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small industrial and business

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enterprises were allowed to be privately owned. Anyone could set up a shop and sell

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goods for a profit.

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• Workers were paid in money and were

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given incentive bonuses. This

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encouraged them to work harder.

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Private trade was allowed. Traders

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called Nepmen transported and sold

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goods which revived the economy.

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The economy recovered under NEP

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because:

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• The peasants grew more grain

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because they knew they could make a

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profit selling their grain. The tax they paid was fair and not a burden.

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• Industry flourished as workers received wages in money rather than food and fuel.

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Workers now had an incentive to work.

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• Private enterprises flourished.