• Lenin promised a radical democratic gov in which workers, soldiers, and peasants governed
themselves through Soviets
• Lenin believed socialism could only be built in an advanced industrial economy
• The October revolution handed power to the All Russian Congress of Soviets, which met in
Petrograd. The Congress created sovnarkom, a new government to replace the provisional government
• A series of decrees – Decree on Land (gave peasants right to seize land from nobility and church)
Decree on Peace (committed gov to withdrawing from WWI) Workers decree (established 8 hour
working day and a minimum wage)
• Civil war made the Communist gov authoritarian, centralised and bureaucratic
• During the civil war, power passed from sovnarkom to the politburo
• Gov relied on the skills of administrators to run the army and economy
• Used terror and repression (Cheka)
NATURE OF GOV UNDER LENIN
• Lenin had argued abolition of democracy was necessary to win the war
• Party Congress of 1921 addressed the crisis caused by the Civil War. War communism had
created a famine and the red terror led to a backlash against Communist repression. War Communism
introducwa
• 1921 Tambov uprising against War communism and Cheka brutality
• 1921 wave of strikes. Red army open fire on unarmed workers
• Opposition within the party from 2 factions – Workers opposition wanted to reintroduce
workers control of industry and Democratic Centralists wanted to make CP more democratic. Lenin
introduced ban on factions 'on party unity'
• This strengthened Lenin's position within the party
• Sovnarkom stopped functioning as the main centre of government
• 1921, gov based on 2 parallel structures – party and system As opposition parties were banned,
they began to function as 1
,• New elite – administrators and former middle class. CP members received more food and better
accomodation
STALIN IN POWER
• Between 1923 and 1928, Stalin was engaged in a struggle for power against Trotsky, Zinoviev,
Kamanev and Bukharin
• Stalin had to establish that he was a true Leninist and the others were not
• Stalin established dominance over the Politburo. Stalin expelled his main rivals from the
Politburo and packed it with his supporters
• As general secretary, Stalin could give well paid and powerful jobs to his supporters. As head of
the Rabkrin he had the power to investigate and sack Party members and government officials. Stalin's
power to promote and sack meant that he could count on the loyalty of party members
• Supervised Lenin’s enrolment – lowered the criteria for membership more loyal to him
• By 1928, Stalin was the undisputed leader of the Communist Party. He expelled Trotsky and
placed Zinoviev under house arrest.
• Stalin's economic policies had created economic chaos and Kirov had emerged as a popular
figure within the party. Stalin responded to the threats by launching the Great Terror which was
responsible for the death of around 10 million Soviet citizens, approximately 10% of the population.
• The Great Terror eliminated Stalin's rivals.
• Show trials 1936,37,38 led to the humiliation and execution of Zinoviev, Kamanev and Bukharin.
• Stalin could now appoint a new generation of government ministers
• A personal dictatorship had been created. Lenin had allowed debate at the top of the party
STALINS POWER OVER PARTY AND STATE
• Stalin constructed a dictatorship based on complete control of the economy, use of widespread
political terror to eliminate his opponents , complete control of the media, extensive propaganda
• Stalin wanted not only obedience, but full commitment from his people
• Stalin inherited the Communist party & state from Lenin. Stalin used the vagueness of the
relationship between party and state to his advantage by encouraging competition
• Stalin promoted rivals to similar positions in the party and state. Andrei Zhdanov Party
supervision of Berias political police. Compare to each other and not to Stalin
, • Stalin shifted power from party to state. In 1938 the Politburo was the most senior. In 1942 the
State Defence Committee was the most powerful. By shifting the centre of power Stalin could ensure
that no committee grew too powerful.
• Continued use of terror – Leningrad affair 1949 was a huge purge of the Leningrad Party. 100 of
Zhdanov's supporters shot, 2000 arrested.
• Imprisonment of Molotov's wife. Tested Molotov's loyalty (he did nothing)
LENINS ECONOMY
• Lenin offers ‘Peace, bread & land’
• Transitional phase = state capitalism
• A series of decrees – Decree on Land (gave peasants right to seize land from nobility and
church), decree on workers control 1917 (placed control on factories with the workers), 27 December all
private banks nationalised.
• Workers councils voted to give themselves massive pay rises & managers + those with technical
expertise dismissed violently economic decline
• Therefore, in 1917, Vesenkha was set up
• Civil war meant Lenin needed to distribute food and resources to Red ArmyWar Communism
• Key features of war communism – Nationalisation of all industry, reintroduction of hierarchical
structures in industry, harsh military style discipline inc. Death penalty for those who went on strike,
private trading banned, money replaced with bartering, forcible requisitioning of food using 150,000
Bolshevik volunteers, introduction of rationing
• Poor social & economic situation, deterioration of political position of the Bolsheviks NEP
• Why was the NEP introduced in 1921? Industry was at a virtual standstill e.g., heavy industry
13% of 1913 level, unpopularity of war communism e.g., Tambov Rising 1921 50,000 red army troops
sent in & Kronstadt mutiny revolt of sailors outside Petrograd.
• Key features on the NEP – end of requisitioning, no forced collectivisation, small scale business
returned to private hands, introduction of piecework and bonuses in factories, reintroduced currency,
legalisation of private trading, development of nepmen
• How successful was the NEP? Industrial output rose dramatically, however corruption flourished
and not an ideological success. Furthermore, the low prices of grain stopped peasants growing it
imbalance of agricultural and industrial prices ‘scissors crisis’
5 YEAR PLANS
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