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Lenin 1917-24 - Coggle Diagram
Lenin 1917-24
Structure
Lenin rejected democracy from the people and kept democracy within the party to a low using his policy of democratic centralism
thus, he was able to provide an illusion of democracy yet all the power was held in the centre of the party
In november 1917 at the Constituent Assembly, the communists received under 25% of the vote, whilst the SR's received almost double
when the assembly met again in january, lenin pretended to take a nap mid-session and then closed it down after one day
Different Groups
Sovnarkom
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it was too large and too democratic for lenin, so he largely ignored them but kept them to appear more democratic
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a one-party state was established by 1921 which banned other parties, meaning only communists could rule
Terror
in 1917, Lenin established the Cheka which eventually reached 250,000 members
After Lenin was almost assassinated by SR member Fanny Kaplan in 1918, the Cheka began the Red Terror
over 200,000 executions took place over 1918-21, at the same time the civil war was fought between the red army (Lenin and Trotsky) and the white army (anti-lenin parties)
the red army won but the war resulted in economic collapse and the famine of 1920-21 that killed 5 million russian peasants
The peasants in Tambov revolted for a year, and it was only put down by the red army brutally bombing villages and using poisoned gas
The civil war meant that lenin could justify terror, especially against rival parties
Personal Power
Lenin would threaten to resign every time the politburo made a decision he didn't agree with, which meant that actually the politburo had less power than previously thought
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when he died, he was embalmed and his body was preserved in a huge mausoleum in moscow, where it still lies today