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Communist Government in the USSR - Establishing Communist party control…
Communist Government in the USSR - Establishing Communist party control 1917-24
government under lenin
the background of the CW
different colours to refer to the different groups who fought in CW
Whites
Nationalists and Monarchists
Greens
Peasants armies fight against any outside rule by Whites or Reds, particularly Siberia
Reds
Bolsheviks
anti-bolsheviks
there was a complex patchwork of armies fighting the Bolsheviks
this included left wing groups who wanted a more democratic Russia, conservatives who opposed Bolshevik proposals for profound social and economic change, as well as groups of soldiers from other countries who had been captured during the First World War and found themselves
bolshevik power
controlled central Russia and this helped their position in the war enormously
the red army was a powerful force in these areas. and conscription was used to force local men from these populous areas to fight
by
1920
, the red army had 5 million soldiers and had become a disiplined fighting force
historical assessment
the russian CW was intrexicably linked to the end of the First World War
the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was one particularly controversial element of the 1918 peace
Joshua Sanborn (2014)
'Trotsky said that the Treaty of Brest Litovsk was a peace "which Russia, grinding its teeth is forced to accept ..."'
why did the Bolsheviks win the CW?
Propaganda
bolsheviks had control of industrial heartlands and transport links
strong organisation called Agitprop
Bolsheviks were also able to make an alliance with anarchists and other 'Greens' to in over the population
Red Army discipline
soldiers also received an education, learning to read and write and to understand the political aims of the Bolsheviks
they treated the peasants badly and thus were unpopular
Red Banner was introduced - an award for those who fought bravely
Trotsky, in particularly, was crucial in instigation these policies and in leading the Red Army
the whites
were geographically spread out, with much longer supply lines
they had little control over strategic industries, and at most their armies had 250,000 men
lacked leadership or an individual to rally around, and had no common goal other than to defeat the Bolsheviks
they treated the peasants badly and thus were unpopular
they also wanted Russian control of non-Russian groups
foreign intervention
British, French, Japanese and US troops were sent to Russia to help and encourage the Whites
these countries wanted to prevent the spread of Bolshevism
because of the Whites' shortcomings, the Bolsheviks won the CW
this reaffirmed their political and economic world view
devastation
former Tsarist officers, under close supervision of Bolshevik political commissars (officers in charge of spreading Bolshevik ideas) were employed to improve the Reds' military capabilities
millions of people died as a result of the CW and the economy was severely wekened, with food shortages throughout the cities
the Cheka was present in every Red - controlled area, and shot anyone it considered an enemy
economic achievements of Lenin and Trotsky
economic growth
strong particularly during 1924-25
this increased the popularity of the Bolshevik leadership and optimism about possibilities with the NEP increased
workers
length of the working day fell from 9.9 hours to7.8 hours by 1928
this applied to both men and women
unemployment remained high as many people moved to the towns
economic growth was not quite fast enough to solve this problem
electrification programme
this was the best example of a successful public works project (Lenin)
agriculture
productivity in farming went back to pre-war levels
some peasants were able to raise funds to buy new machinery and tools
but experts to other countries never reached their 1913 levels
centralisaton of power
the politburo
first members were Lenin, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Trotsky and Stalin
from 1917 onwards, they became increasingly powerful
the central committee was elected at the Party Congress to represent the party between the congresses. they then elected the politburo
the Soviet Union
in 1924, under a new constitution, Russia was reorganised into the USSR (the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)
there were initially four republics - largest was Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic
officially, each region had voluntarily become part o the USSR
in reality the Red Army had forced thermions to join and there was no way for them to leave the USSR
Dec 1925, the communist partybecam the 'All-Union Communist Party (of Bolsheviks) in response to this change
the communist party
although Soviets were supposed to be in charge in the regions, in reality power was completely under the control of the Communist Party
The Soviets were eventually required to agree automatically with the decisions of the central party
while from the outside the communist government decided everything like a democracy, in reality the Communist Party decided everything
when the elections were held, it was only members of the Party who could stand for office
criticism wasn't allowed
interpretation
Figes
on Lenin's political plan
'There was no master plan. When the Bolsheviks came to p ower they had no set idea - other than the general urge to control and centralise - of how to structure the institutional relationships between the party and the Soviets ... Only during the CW, when they stressed the need for strict centralized control to mobilise the resources of the country, did the Bolsheviks plan the general structure of the party-state.'
the sovnarkom
he was responsible for Russia's development into a brutal dictatorship, rather than into a genuinely equal socialist society
the centralisation of power under his control was typical under his leadership style
Lenin was the chairman of the government, called the Sovnarkom()the Council of People's Commissars
creation of a one party state
the Red Terror
quashing opposition
the Kadet Party was banned and leaders were arrested
as early as dec 1917, all non-Bolshevik newspapers
even other left wing groups were banned
Law courts were repalced by Revolutonary tribunals
Cheka shot enemies of the Bolsheviks
they did it so quickly and violently after the October Revolution
they were in a very insecure position
their revolution was not overwhelmingly popular amongst either the general population or the political elite
they had enforced their way into power through violence and would need to use violence to maintain there power
they were trying to achieve something radical which would not have been easy to achieve and opposition to them was likely to increase as they introduced more policies
which indeed happened with war communism
the secret police
cheka terrorised enemies of the bolsheviks during the Civil War and Red Terror
renamed GPU in 1922
then OGPU in 1923
during RT between 50,000 and 140,000 people were executed and concentration camps. that were established in the Solevetsky Islands
sep 1918 - feb 1919
one party state
between 1918-1922 the SR, Mensheviks and anarchists were removed and deported (sent to exile in other countries) thus Russia became a one party state
feb 1918, Bolshevik Decrees became more extreme
the party could force anyone to do hard labour and execute anyone who resisted
concentration camps were established in the solevetsky island
bolsheviks moved quickly to crush their oppposition and to resist political freedoms
party congress of 1921
strikes and rebellions
war communism created famine
also violent response to the RT
Autumn 1920
Peasants in the Tambov revolted against War Communism
50,000 people across the whole Tambov region fought the Communists
1921
strikes gripped a number of cities
in Petrograd (St Petersburg) the Red Army fired on the workers, who were not armed
Kronstadt rebellion
march 2921
sailors at Kronstadt, a naval, rebelled against War Communism
they also called for a return to democracy
party congress
Lenin announced the New Economic Policy at the Party Congress
This policy brought in elements of the free market to the Russian economy
ban on factions
these were two factions within the Communist Party which Lenin wanted to get rid of
Workers' Opposition: Wanted control of industry by the workers
Democratic Centralists : wanted a more democratic party
Lenin's Legacy
elites
the administration was mostly made up of the middle classes from under the tsar
those who worked for the Party got better food and accommodation
the claim that the Communist Party ruled on behalf of the workers was hollow
1921; the party had developed into a huge bureaucracy
'Party-state'
Opposition parties were now banned officially in 1921
this new type of rule became know as the 'Party-state'
the Soviet state and the Communist Party now worked in parallel
historical assessment
Archie
Brown
(2007): '... as late as December 1989, according to a survey by the most reliable opinion polling organisation of that era ... far more Soviet citizens (75%) proposed Lenin than anyone else when asked to name the ten most outstanding people of all time and in all nations'
decline of the Sovnarkom
Lenin removed power from them as the main organ of the government
the Politburo essentially took over the functions the executive
Sovnarkom now only 'approved' the decisions of the Politburo
created a new dictatorship in Russia
legacy was largely authoritarian
as he established structures which Stalin would use to terrorise opponents
completed on 25/9/23