Summary Topic 1 Government: Lenin to Yeltsin 1917-91 Edexcel A-Level History DETAILED AND COMPLETE Notes A*
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Unit 1E - Russia, 1917-91: from Lenin to Yeltsin
Institution
PEARSON (PEARSON)
Providing a in-dept summary and EVERY notes you will need for TOPIC 1:Government for Edexcel History Lenin to Yeltsin (Lenin, Stalin , Khrushchev, Brezhnev).
These notes got me a A* in History A level , complete guide with notes from Robert Conquest , Orlando Figs , Hisham Revision and most impo...
GOVERNMENT UNDER LENIN:
October Revolution, 1917
Bolshevik's seized power from the Provisional Government which had been
set up after the fall of the Tsar.
Party of 300,000 members, seen as a mass uprising but really the only
opposition was the Women's Death Battalion who opened up the gates.
Lenin establishment of a one-party state:
SRs and the Mensheviks called the Constituent Assembly in January 1918, it
was democratically elected and played to the strengths of the SRs who were
able to mobilise support amongst the peasantries.
Results were not in Bolshevik favour, they gained 175 seats with over 9
million votes while the SRs emerged as the largest single party with 410
seats and 21 million votes.
Lenin dissolved the Assembly and only condemned them as an instrument of
the bourgeoise.
Lenin used the All-Russian Congress of Soviets instead as a gain for his
support. Ignored calls for a socialist coalition and minimised opposition.
No sharing of power, Leon Trotsky, "you have played out your role. Go where
you belong the dustbin of history"
Destruction of the other political parties
Removal of the vote from "bourgeoise classes" such as employed and priests
minimising the opposition power base.
Restrictions on media , Bolshevik renamed as Communist Party and all other
parties were banned.
5,000 Menshevik's arrested in 1921.
Treaty of Brest-Litvosk , 1918
Ending of Russia in the war , left them without control over the Baltic States ,
Ukraine and Caucaus region. National humiliation and damaged Russia's
pride.
Created a form of Whites , groups who were against this departure and
foreign intervention of UK,USA , France who wanted Russia back in the war.
Ending of the external matters with the solving of internal matters.
What it led to?
Russian Civil war was fought between the Red army and the White army.
The Red Army consisted of the Bolsheviks and their supporters mainly composed of
peasants and industrial workers.
The White army were those who were against the Bolsheviks these included tsarist
supporters, provisional government supporters, bourgeoisie , left wing
parties eg Mensheviks and SR , nationalists (anti Brest Litovsk and those who were
apart of the USSR and wanted independence) and even the allies of WW1.
Context leading up to the Civil war:
The treaty of Brest Litovsk was a national humiliation the surrendering of WW1 led to
a lot of Russian land lost in the Caucasus region , Latvia , Finland and Ukraine. It
destroyed Russians pride and made the allies who wanted Russia to stay in the war
very angry. Lenin saw that WW1 was the cause of the collapse of the provisional
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,government and Tsarist government therefore didn’t want WW1 to be a cause of the
Russian communist collapse therefore surrendered.
Removal of the constituent assembly led to a total wipe-out of other left wing groups
such as the SR and Mensheviks.
Nationalists: Red Army extended communist power by winning against
Nestor Makhno’s anarchist army in the Ukraine, Alexander Kolchak’s authoritarian
government in Siberia, etc.
Tsarist and provisional government supporters wanted the Tsar back in power.
Beourgise classes was removed causing anger between the elites.
Allies sent in support through troops and money because they were worried that the
revolt ideologies would spread and wanted Russia back in the war.
Civil War- How did they win?
Bolsheviks were surrounded on all fronts however they were focused and centralised
through Leningrad and Moscow. High centralisation meant communication was better
and orders could be carried out more efficiently from Petrograd.. Organisation by the
Reds were very good as they all were from the same party and carried out the same
ideology whereas the Whites were all people from different backgrounds and
ideologies meaning organisation was poor.
By the end of 1920s the White strongholds had been defeated and Bolsheviks rule had
extended across the country.
Lenin’s prime method of pushing for victory was to centralise power:
He centralised control of the economy with War Communism.
He also relied on political centralisation, working through the loyal Party
nomenklatura rather than the more democratic soviets, and using terror to
suppress opposition.
Trotsky, the leader of the Red Army, made it more authoritarian.
Introduced conscription, harsh punishments, and relied on former Tsarist
generals to lead the army.
Large scale nationalisation made sure adequate supplies were distributed
around the country
Corruption from the whites meant resources were out to best use
Key Results from the Civil War
Bolshevik state become highly centralised due to demands of the Civil War as it
required quick decision making and direction of resources by the government. Power
was in the hands of the Sovnarkom (government) and Politburo.
Extensive use of terror against political opponents
By 1921, the Communist Government was no longer a government of the
workers, peasants and soldiers.
While the soviets had been made up of working people, the communist
nomenklatura, who administered the policies of War Communism, were
largely educated members of the former middle class – economists,
statisticians and engineers.
They had all worked for the former provisional government.
The communists needed their administrative and technical expertise
to help run industries and supply the army during the war.
INSITUTIONALISED TERROR , LEADS TO THE CHEKA AND OGPU
"We won the civil war at the cost of the country" - Trotsky
The Tenth Party Congress 1921
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,Civil war was done as a result external opponents were dealt with now to focus on
internal opponents Lenin put forward "On Party Unity" as a result he banned fractions
within the party. Forming fractions resulted in expulsion or death. The party had
grown from 300,000 to 730,000 from 1917-21.
Tambov Revolt (1920-21)
A peasant uprsing in central Russia because of grain requisitioning. A green army was
formed but the revolt was brutally crushed by 50,000 Bolshevik troops. Peasants in
Tambov, led by Aleksandr Antonov, began a rebellion against communist grain
requisitioning and Cheka brutality.
By January 1921 Antonov had a force of 50,000 anti-communist fighters.
Red army opened fired on the peasants
Kronstadt Mutiny
They had been strong supporters and heroes of the October Revolution in 1917.
The Kronstadt sailors demanded a series of reforms:
The immediate free and fair election of new soviets.
Release of all anarchist, Menshevik and SR political prisoners.
A restoration of freedom of speech and the press.
The abolition of the Cheka.
An end to War Communism.
By mid-March, the Red Army had crushed the Kronstadt uprising.
The Red Army was equally ruthless in Tambov.
In May they suppressed the rebellion by deporting 100,000 people in labour
camps and attacking peasant villages with poisoned gas , they shot the
sailors without trial.
The 1921 Party Congress:
Lenin recognised that the unrest in Tambov, Petrograd and Kronstadt
reflected the fact that Russian workers and peasants were deeply
dissatisfied with the regime.
As a result, Lenin pushed through a series of reforms in the 1921 Party
Congress.
The NEP liberalised the economy, while the ban on factions tightened
Lenin’s political control.
Lenin faced opposition from several factions within the Bolshevik Party,
such as:
The Workers’ Opposition: a group who wanted to reintroduce
workers’ control of industry.
The Democratic Centralists: a group who wanted to make the
Communist Party more democratic.
Lenin introduced a resolution, entitled “On Party Unity”.
This banned factions inside the Party.
Party members found guilty of forming factions could be expelled
from the Party as punishment.
The ban helped strengthened Lenin’s position within the Party by
making opposition to his policies more difficult to organise.
Use of terror
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, Bolshevik terror was implemented by Felix Dzerzhinsky (Cheka leader) with
dealt with counter revolution , sabotage and speculation. It operated outside the
law and established control over the party apparatus.
The cheka was based in Moscow and had planned arrests. Waves of arrests
happened in 1921 and 1922 known as the Red Terror especially on the left wing
opponents (tried to assassinate Lenin).
Cheka was responsible for executions of 200,000 people and secret police grew
from 40,000 to 250,000 in 1921.
Cheka was renamed the OGPU and terror become more bureaucratic and
discreet. Chistka (cleansing purge) happened and as a result 1/3 of the party
was purged. Intimidation and purges were used to maintain discipline and
power example Bim Bom the clown made anti- Lenin jokes and got killed as well
as priests being killed and attacked,
Nomenklatura System:
Bolshevik as Communist Party in 1921.
Many joined the party to improve their career prospects even though
necessarily they weren't committed members.
To ensure more committed Communist bureaucracy the nomenklatura
system was introduced which was a list of approved party members suitable
for jobs.
This was a system that encouraged loyalty to the Party leaders.
To not be loyal was to lose your place on the list and, with it, your chances of
promotion. It was an effective tool of centralisation administered by the
General Secretary.
By 1924, the membership of the Communist Party had reached about one
million and this entailed a large organisation peopled by administrators who
were beginning to form a class in itself with its own values and attitudes.
These attitudes tended to be self-serving rather than aimed at benefiting
the industrial proletariat
Soviet Constitution of 1924
Set up the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) a federal state with its
power centralised under the Party in Moscow.
¾ of the Communist Party were Russian and they made up 90% of the land
area.
Nature of government under Lenin:
All-Russian Congress of Soviets was headed by the Sovnarkom.
Sovnarkom was the Council of People's Commissars who took the role of the
cabinet top government ministers who were responsible for key decisions
and government orders , met up daily and were a small group (20)
The Central Executive Committee was a larger group elected by the
Congress of Soviets. Its task was to oversee the work of the government and
its administration.
The All-Russian Congress of Soviets was the supreme law-making body of the
state. All laws issued by the Sovnarkom had to be approved by the Congress.
It was, in theory, a highly representative body made up of members elected
by local soviets, all those citizens engaged in ‘useful work’
Principle was democratic but in reality was Democratic Centralism
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, Politburo – 7-9 leading members of the Bolshevik Party , were chosen by the
Party's Central Committee , they met up daily and became more important
that the Sovnarkom , Z+K+T+S and Lenin.
Central Committee- Group of 30-40 members chosen by the Party Congress
to represent its members (reality Politburo made the decisions).
Party Congress – body of representatives of local party branches. Fierce
debates and general programme of the party. Passed important
polices eg On Party Unity.
Local party branches headed by the Party secretary , headed key branches
and played important roles eg Kamenev headed by the Party in Petrograd
and Zinoviev in Moscow.
Democratic Centralism:
Party structures controlled decision-making whilst the state become more of
an organisation of administrators. Lack of meetings from the Congress and
Committee in the Sovnarkom. Politburo had the secret police.
Top Down instead of bottom up , decisions from the politburo passed down to
the people rather than people ideas passed up to local and regional
councils.
Rubber stamping bodies carrying out the orders given by the centre.
Rigid central control , local branches brought under the centre of the Party to
ensure rapid decision making.
Degree of Centralisation
Although Lenin had been able to exert considerable control over Party and
state, and develop a highly centralised system, there were limits.
Lack of central control in remote areas led to the birth of local mafias and
black marketeers who defied Party orders.
Both Kamenev and Zinoviev had opposed Lenin’s decision to launch
the Revolution in 1917.
There was a fierce debate within the Party over whether to accept
the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918.
The introduction of the New Economic Policy in 1921 led to the
formation of right- and left- wing factions within the Party.
The role of the trade unions was to be a source of much debate
within the Party. A Workers’ Opposition group, led by
Alexander Shliapnikov and Alexandra Kollontai, favoured a greater
role for the trade unions and this was discussed at the Ninth and
Tenth Party Congresses of 1920 and 1921.
Lenin took action to crush this group but it did not prevent
other groups, such as Workers’ Truth, emerging.
In 1922 Joseph Stalin was appointed General Secretary of the Party.
Part of his role was to keep an eye on potential opposition in the
Party
Personal Power of Lenin:
Chair of Sovnarkom and one of the Politburo members. Preferred a collective
leadership were ideas were discussed. He dismissed all allegations of a
personal dictatorship as "utter nonsense" , but he did have serious power.
Trotsky and others idealised Lenin and saw him as a source of
power eg singing of Brest-Litvosk and NEP came under great scrutiny but was
supported by Lenin who threatened to resign if they didn't support him.
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, Loss his influence when he became ill and his health deteriorated , only could
speak "Vot Vot" and monosyllables in 1923 after his seizure.
Conclusion: Lenin’s legacy:
Between 1917 and the time of Lenin’s death in 1924, Russia was
transformed.
Lenin succeeded in creating a Dictatorship of the Proletariat to defend the
revolution.
Nomenklatura system- Vast party bureaucracy, many joined the
community party to improve career prospects and get privileges. The
system encourages loyalty to party administration and allowed
community supporters to be favoured. By 1924 the membership reached
one million.
Nomenklatura system , On Party Unity were some party policies
implemented by Lenin
He did destroy soviet democracy and replaced it with a one-party state.
The original institutions that had been created after the October
Revolution had lost their power to Party institutions that had emerged
during the Civil War.
For example, Sovnarkom ceased to play an important role in government,
while the Politburo made all the important decisions that affected Russia.
Civil War made Russia very centralised
The ban on factions meant that political centralisation increased.
Lenin argued that the ban on factions decreased the role of the soviets,
was only temporary.
However there was no sign before Lenin’s death that the government had
plans to make Russia more democratic.
Cheka were introduced and played a significant role persecuting political
parties.
Finally Lenin replaced a workers’ government with a highly bureaucratic
one.
Soviets full of workers, peasants and soldiers were replaced by specialists
and administrators, few of whom were working class.
The Rise to Power Stalin (1928-53)
General Secretary 1922-1952 , Chairman of the Council of Ministers 1941-52
Stalin’s PERSONAL POWER:
Stalin was the General Secretary of the party and for that he had alot of powers such as he was the
head of the Party structure.
He co-ordinated work across all Party Departments and had access to a vast range of
information.
Had access to over 26,000 personal files on Party members and had the head of secret
police, Dzerzhinsky, report to him.
Could set the meeting agendas
Partook in "Lenin Enrolment " where he gave jobs to 500,000 Party members. The
members were poor , naive and had a lack of education therefore these members swore
loyalty to Stalin and trusted him. Stalin surprised Lenin Enrolment and made sure the
new members would support him.
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