Lenin's (and Bolsheviks) Consolidation of Power
General
Bolsheviks in control of Petrograd due to their insurrection on 14th October 1917 (October Revolution)
takeover elsewhere, less smooth
fighting for a week in Moscow between Officer Cadets and Red Guards (500 killed)
other cities won over by end of November
rural areas more difficult to deal with - few peasants were Bolsheviks supporters
Civil War did not break out at this early stage
partially because Bolsheviks opponents were still waiting to see what would happen when the elections to the Constituent Assembly were held on 12 November
most people did not expect the new government to last long because of the scale of the problems it faced
economic crisis
opposition from other political groups
the war (by late 1917)
by November 1917, prices were 1000% higher than they'd been in 1914
wages had risen slightly - but not enough to cover this
Lenin was more realistic than many Bolsheviks
realised early on a Civil War would have to be fought to gain full control over the rest of Russia
this would involve twisting the principles of Communism (e.g. the creation of a dictatorial wartime government)
December 1917: Lenin set up the Cheka (Bolshevik secret police)
Lenin believed that the communist revolution could not survive in Russia alone
must be spread to other countries
Sovnarkom
the name of the government system set up immediately after Bolshevik seizure of power
given incomplete Bolshevik power, Sovnarkom did not at first reflect Bolshevik ideology completely
an early attempt to satisfy Russian masses
typical with Russia, it was a compromise
end of October, Sovnarkom had published a series of decrees and measures:
Decree on Land
Decree on Workers' Control of the Factories
State Capitalism
Decree on Nationalities
Decree on Peace
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Elections of the Constituent Assembly (November 1917)
Lenin's Closure of the Constituent Assembly (January 1918)
The Establishment of a Secret Police
Bolsheviks set up the Cheka in December 1917
led by Felix Dzerzhinsky
5th January 1918: Constituent Assembly met and elected the leader of the Right SRs (Victor Chernov) as its president
Bolsheviks (a minority) withdrew
Lenin sent Red Guards to close down the assembly
Lenin announced that the Assembly was to be permanently closed
Lenin opposed to the Western idea of democracy
he believed in the need for a dictatorship of the Bolshevik Party to rule on behalf of the working class
Trotsky: 'we have trampled under foot the principels of democracy for the sake of loftier principles of a social revolution'
In Russia it led to a civil war that lasted until late 1920
Lenin's actions were criticised by foreign German socialists (Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht)
the Bolsheviks had criticised the provisional government for delaying elections to the Constituent Assembly
Some Bolsheviks favoured a broad coalition of parties
Lenin allowed elections to go ahead on November 12th
correctly anticipated that the Bolsheviks would not do well
main terms:
Russia to lose Poland, Estonia, Lituania, Finland, the Ukraine and Georgia
lost 33% of it's population
lose 33% of its arable land
pay an indemnity of 6000 million marks
signed 3rd March 1918
After Germany's defeat in 1918
the Baltic state and Poland were given their independence
in 1921, Russia regained the Ukraine and Georgia
Lenin favoured accepting the German demands
Russia was too weak to continue the war
peace was necessary to consolidate power and sort out Russia's problems
Lenin suspected that Communism would break out in Germany and other countries
so debts could be cancelled
Left SRs resigned from Sovnarkom in protest of the harsh treaty
Bolsheviks now had massive control as they were left in control
March 8th, Lenin changed the name of the Bolsheviks to the Communist Party
March 10th, he moved the capital from Petrograd to Moscow
the Bolsheviks called for a 'just, democratic peace' between all countries participating in the war
without land transfers or financial indemnities
Lenin knew harsh terms would have to be accepted
then the Bolsheviks could return to consolidating their power
Trotsky (Commissar for Foreign Affairs) favoured making the peace talks public
so German public could see how greedy their government was and that Germany would have its own Communist revolution
Armistice agreed for 22nd November 1918
peace talks began at Brest-Litovsk in December 1917
Trotsky's delaying tactics ('neither peace nor war') irritated Germans
Germans launched a new offensive against the Russians in February 1918
all non-Russian peoples had the right to break way from the former Russian Empire
the Bolsheviks would later use the Red Army to force the Ukraine and Georgia into the USSR
economic policy that the Bolsheviks adopted between October 1917 - June 1918
improvised at the time and built off existing structures
Lenin hadn't planned what Bolshevik economic policy would be prior to their takeover
Lenin had been theoretical about long term economic goals
December 1917: Bolsheviks established Vesenkha - the Supreme Council of the National Economy
to regulate the national economy
had limited control
its only major policy was that it nationalised banks and railways and cancelled debts owed to foreign governments
Bolsheviks reorganised what had already been done
Industrial workers had already seized control of the factories
handed over the land of the crown, church and aristocracy to the peasants
essentially legalised what the peasant had already done
some Bolsheviks were angry - principles of Communism stated that factors of production should belong to the state
Lenin's view was accepted
300,000 Bolsheviks couldn't stay in power while denying 125 million peasants their land
February 1918, Bolshevik government passed a decree stating that land belonged to the state
they did not enforce this