USSR
Establishing Communist Party control, 1917–24: the creation of government in the a one-party
state and the party congress of 1921; the nature of government under Lenin; the growing
centralisation of power. [p12-20]
Bolshevik seizure of power
When October 1917
?
How? A well-planned and well-executed uprising that forced out the provisional Government.
Who? Small party of about 300,000 members, but in order to justly Bolshevik rule as
representing the interests of the workers, the Revolution was portrayed by the
Bolsheviks as a mass uprising of the workers.
What? Propaganda presented the event as a heroic storming of the Winter Palace in Petrograd
with mass support (in reality, the only troops left guarding the palace by this time were
the Women's Death Battalion, who opened the gates to let the Bolsheviks in).
Why? Force would be required to ensure the Bolsheviks, a minority party, held on to power
Establishing power
The Bolsheviks claimed a desire to set up a democratic system but by 1921 it was clear that in reality
they had established a one-party state where all other political groups were banned (the only way
they could secure significant power as a small party). Communist rule under the Bolsheviks was to be
authoritarian, highly centralised and supplemented by heavy use of terror; this is because, although
the Party had grown in support since the beginning of 1917, they remained a relatively small group
and had to use force to retain power.
They faced opposition from several groups whom they had to overcome to establish a one-party
state:
Left-wing groups (such as the Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs) and the Mensheviks, who were
fellow Marxists.)
Right-wing groups (such as Tsarist supporters) and liberal groups (who often represented the
interests of the middle class and now feared that Bolshevist Marxism would take away their
businesses and political freedoms.)
Nationalist groups within the Russian Empire (such as Ukrainians, Poles and Finns) who saw the
collapse of the Tsarist regime as a chance to assert their independence.
Calls for a socialist coalition from the SRs and Mensheviks, and even from some leading Bolsheviks,
were rejected by Lenin. Some left-wing SRs joined the Bolshevik government in the beginning,
although this didn’t last long. The SRs and the Mensheviks hoped that the calling of a parliament, the
Constituent Assembly, in January 1918 would benefit them as it was to be democratically elected
which played to the strengths of the SRs, who were able to mobilise their support among the
peasantry. Bolsheviks gained 175 seats in the Assembly with over 9m votes, but the SR emerged as
the largest single party with 410 seats and 21 million votes. To use the Assembly as a national
parliament would clearly pose a threat to continued Bolshevik rule so Lenin dissolved the Assembly
after only one meeting and condemned it as an instrument of the bourgeoisie. In place of the
Assembly, Lenin used the All-Russian Congress of Soviets as an instrument of popular support. Not
only had Lenin ignored the calls for a socialist coalition, but he had also ensured that there was to be
no real forum for opposition.
,The removal of the vote from bourgeois classes, such as employers and priests, stripped the
opposition parties of a possible reservoir of support. The Mensheviks and SRs found it difficult to
publish their newspapers due to restrictions imposed by the Bolsheviks. The left-wing SRs, who had
been given a role within the Bolshevik government in 1917 and 1918, lost all influence when they
walked out of the government in March 1918 in protest at the Bolshevik decision to pull out of
WW1. By 1921, all other parties were effectively banned. In April 1921, Lenin declared: The place for
the Mensheviks and the SRs is in prison. During the first three months of 1921, 5,000 Mensheviks
were arrested. There were further waves of arrests of SR and Menshevik supporters later in 1921
and 1922, but by this stage they had ceased to exist as organised parties.
The initial opposition to the Bolsheviks came largely from the other socialist groups as the
conservatives had been so shocked by the events of October 1917 that the implications of the
Revolution took some time to sink in. Peace was concluded through the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
(1918) which caused Russia to lose control over several notable regions. It was a national humiliation
for the conservatives that could not be tolerated so they sought to overthrow the Bolshevik regime
and reject the treaty. The Treaty also provided a necessary spur to those who wished to fight against
the Bolsheviks, known as the Whites, because it offered the promise of foreign help. The Allied
powers of Britain, France, the USA and Japan were anxious to keep Russia in the First World War and
were willing to provide arms, money and troops to those who would ensure Russia re-joined the
fight.
The Civil War
WW1 sapped the energy and resources of the government, with little chance of military success.
Lenin realised that if his new government was to consolidate its hold over Russia and deal with its
internal enemies, it needed to pull out of the war to concentrate on the job at hand.
The whites were made up of conservatives; those who wished to see the return of the Tsar; liberals,
including supporters of the Provisional Government; military leaders unhappy with Russia pulling out
of WW1; national minorities seeking independence from Russia; and members of the Menshevik and
SR parties who had been denied an involvement in the government. They also received support from
The Czech Legion and the Allies.
At the beginning of the war, Bolshevik control was limited to a central core based in Moscow,
stretching to Petrograd in the north-west and they were surrounded on all sides by White forces.
Nonetheless, it was the Bolsheviks who emerged victorious, largely due to the better organisation of
the Reds, in military, economic and political terms. In contrast, the Whites were an amalgamation of
different groups, united only by their desire to get rid of the Bolsheviks, but lacking co-operation,
and corruption and inefficiency decreased their ability to utilise the support they were given. By the
end of 1920, all of the White strongholds had been defeated and Bolshevik rule had been extended
across the country. The Bolsheviks' military strategy had been more coherent than that of the
Whites, largely due to Leon Trotsky, who turned the Red Army into an effective fighting machine.
Conscription was introduced to swell the number of soldiers to over five million by the end of the
war and War Communism was introduced.
The experience of the civil war had encouraged the Bolsheviks to adopt a highly authoritarian and
centrally controlled system. There was also a degree of active support for what the Bolsheviks stood
for, especially from the workers who saw the Bolsheviks as the best guarantors of their gains from
the Revolution. The peasants did not like all aspects of Bolshevik rule, but the Land Decree of 1917
, had guaranteed a distribution of land in their favour. The Bolsheviks’ victory dealt a serious blow to
any realistic chance of enemies within Russia threatening the new Bolshevik government.
Key impacts of the civil war:
The Bolshevik state had become highly centralised due to the demands of the civil war as
fighting a war required quick decision-making and direction of resources by the government.
Power was now firmly in the hands of the government (Sovnarkom) and party leadership
(Politburo) based in Moscow.
Normalised the use of terror to remove opponents
Seemed to reinforce militaristic values in the population. Those who fought in the war were a
generation who did not buckle under pressure and who did not think twice about using force
and terror.
The Tenth Party Congress, 1921
The civil war had seen a huge growth in Party membership, from 300,000 at the end of 1917 to over
730,000 by 1921. This posed a threat to Party stability. To ensure conformity within the Party, a firm
line was taken against dissent. Lenin banned party factions in 1921 with the penalty being expulsion
from the Party. In 1921, the Bolsheviks had faced the Kronstadt Mutiny, a revolt by sailors previously
loyal to the Bolsheviks, and a major peasant uprising known as the Tambov Rising. Clearly the
Bolsheviks could not take their position for granted.
Nature of government under Lenin
Lenin aimed to rework the chaotic political situation that preceded him to better suit his aims.
Governing a country the size of Russia would require a clear line of authority whereby decisions
could be made and imposed on the country effectively and quickly. Organisations that genuinely
represented the proletariat, such as the soviets, trade unions and factory committees, were brought
under Bolshevik control and then sidelined.
Name Role Members Meetings
Sovnarko Council of People's Commissars Approx. 20 members Met on a daily
m a cabinet of top government ministers who Elected by the Central basis during the
were, in theory, responsible for making key Executive Committee. civil war.
decisions and giving government orders.
Small group that could make quick decisions
Central Oversee the work of the government and its Larger group elected by the
Executive administration. Congress of Soviets
Committee
All-Russian Supreme law-making body of the state. Made up of members elected
Congress All laws issued by the Sovnarkom had to be by local soviets, all those
of Soviets approved by the Congress. citizens engaged in 'useful
In theory, a highly representative body work’.
Below this structure were provincial and city soviets made up of representatives from local soviets. These bodies
conducted the administration of government at local level.
This system of government apparatus was, in principle, very democratic, but the reality was
different. During the chaotic situation of the civil war, the Bolsheviks used their control over
positions in the Sovnarkom to issue orders that were merely rubber-stamped by the Congress of
Soviets and therefore imposed on the country.
