Defending the Bolshevik revolution, October 1917-1924

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What steps did the Bolsheviks take after the October revolution to consolidate their hold on power?

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The closing of the Constituent Assembly
In the decree of Oct. 1917, establishing the Council of People's Commissars, the Bolsheviks appeared to commit themselves to the view that the Constituent Assembly alone had the authority to decide Russia's political future. Appearances were deceptive. Having seized power, Lenin had no intention of surrendering it to the CA. In the weeks after the revolution, Lenin tried to persuade colleagues to postpone elections, knowing he Bolsheviks were unlikely to win a majority. When results became known, with Bolsheviks winning less than a quarter of the popular vote, he made little attempt to conceal his intention to ignore them. He attacked the newly elected assembly as both unrepresentative and illegitimate. He claimed that the make-up of the CA did not reflect voters' true preferences because ballot papers hadn't offered a choice between pro-Bolshevik Left SRs and anti-Bolshevik Right SRs. He asserted that the soviets were a higher type of democratic institution than the CA, which he dismissed as an organ of bourgeois democracy. His argument on this point derived from Marx. Before the CA met, Sovnarkom imposed a number of conditions on it. Voters were to have the right to recall and replace representatives; members of the assembly were required to have their credentials approved by a Bolshevik-controlled election commission; and the CA could only meet if half its members were present. 5 Jan. 1918, the day CA was meant to open, 50,000 anti-Bolshevik demonstrators gathered. Bolshevik forced fired on them, killing ten. Meeting went ahead but was forcibly disbanded.

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Making peace at Brest-Litovsk
Peace talks began in Nov. 1917 and Lenin was desperate for a quick settlement since, in the absence of a peace agreement Russia was open to invasion; Lenin had promised Russia's war-weary workers and peasants peace; and Lenin wanted to be free to concentrate on overcoming the Bolsheviks internal enemies. Germany was more than willing to negotiate with Russia. It aimed to shut down its Eastern Front in order ton defeat the British and French on the Western Front before the Americans arrived. A cease-fire between Russia and Germany was agreed soon after the peace talks opened. Negotiations on the permanent peace settlement proved more difficult. The price Germany demanded for ending the war was high: the loss of Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, the Ukraine and parts of Armenia. These areas contained 26% of Russia's population, 27% of its arable land and 74% of its coal and iron ore. The severity of Germany's demands threw Bolshevik leadership into disarray. Left-wing Bs called for rejection of the terms and the launching of a 'revolutionary war' against Germany. Lenin, injecting a dose of realism into proceedings, urged acceptance of Germany's terms and threatened to resign from Sovnarkom if his wishes weren't met. The Brest-Litovsk treaty, signed in March 1918, solved a problem for the Bolsheviks, but gave them new ones: The Left SRs, deeply hostile to Brest-Litovsk because it involved loss of huge amounts of land where they were strongest, stormed out of Sovnarkom in protest. Russia's army chiefs and middle and upper classes were appalled by what they saw as a shameful Bolshevik surrender. Their aim was to overthrow Bolshevism and re-start the war against Germany.

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The formation of the Cheka
The Bolsheviks created a political police force within weeks of seizing power in Petrograd. its full name was the 'All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage' (Cheka for short). The Sovnarkom degree that established the Cheka defined it purpose as the suppression of counter-revolution and sabotage across the whole of Russia. At first, the Cheka employed only a handful of people. By 1921, its numbers had swelled to nearly 150,000. Not all Chekists were secret policemen: almost from the start there were also heavily-armed military-style Cheka units that were instruments of mass repression. The Cheka operated outside the framework of the ordinary law. It had the power to arrest and punish alleged counter-revolutionaries as it saw fit. Suspected counter-revolutionaries and saboteurs were punished without trial and had no right of appeal against Cheka decisions. Often, they were simply executed on the spot. The Cheka was accountable only to Sovnarkom. The Cheka quickly acquired a reputation for savagery. It became notorious for its use of torture,. In the era of revolution and civil war, the Bolsheviks sometimes spoke of the Cheka as a regrettable necessity, a product of the desperate circumstances in which they found themselves. However, under a variety of names (GPU-22, OGPU-24) it became a permanent feature of communist rule in Russia.

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Attacks on Bolshevik opponents
From the outset, the Bolsheviks were aggressively intolerant of criticism and opposition. Within days of taking power, they issued a decree on the Press that shut down all hostile newspapers. But, they did not wage an all-out war on all of their enemies at once. At first, they concentrated on the Kadets, and they were outlawed in November 1917 and those of its leaders who had not left Bolshevik-held territory were arrested and imprisoned. When, in 1918, Bolshevik Russia equipped itself with a constitution, the middle-classes, the section of the population on which the Kadets had relied for support, were denied the right to vote in elections to Soviets. Bolsheviks turned their attention to socialist rivals in the course of 1918. In mid-1918, the Mensheviks and SRs were expelled from the Soviets at all levels, which prevented them from taking part in open political activity. Until 1921-22, they were allowed to lead a shadowy existence. They were then harassed into extinction, with most of their leaders being either forcibly deported from Russia, or choosing to exile themselves from it. Thousands of lower-level Mensheviks and SRs were arrested and sent to Bolshevik prisons and labour camps in Siberia. To all intents and purposes, Bolshevik Russia was a one-party state from 1918 onwards.

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The Red Terror
In the course of 1918, the number and scale of Cheka atrocities role sharply. By the latter-part of the year, the Cheka had embarked on a systematic campaign to terrorise the population into submission. This campaign, the Red Terror, arose out of a series of reverses the Bs suffered in the spring and summer of 1918: The Bolshevik's prestige was seriously dented by the treaty of Brest-Litovsk; the civil war began in earnest in the Spring of 1918; and in the summer of 1918, extremist Left SRs resorted to assassinations. Bolshevik propaganda maintained that the 'Red Terror' targeted bourgeois 'wreckers' who were trying to prevent the establishment of socialism in Russia. In reality, the victims came from a variety of Backgrounds. The highest-profile victims of the terror were Nicholas II and his family. In July 1918, the entire family was murdered by Checkists, almost certainly on Lenin's direct orders. The terror involved numerous acts of brutality. There were reports of Cheka victims being scalped, crucified and pushed into vats of boiling water. Estimates of the number of people who died vary, but it appears to be at least 10,000. The Bolsheviks opponents in the Civil War declared themselves to be shocked and horrified by the scale of Cheka violence, but in some cases, they conducted themselves in a not dissimilar fashion.

Slide 7

How di Bolshevik economic policy evolve in the years 1917-24?

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State Capitalism (Oct. 1917- July 1918)
In the economic sphere, the incoming Bolshevik regime had only limited freedom of manoeuvre. It was boxed in by conflicting pressures: they inherited an economy in dire condition, inflation was running out of control, unemployment was rising and productivity was falling; there were expectations among industrial workers and the peasantry that their grievances would be addressed; and Left-wing Bs were calling for an immediate transition to a socialist economy. Lenin's strategy here was to do what he could to restore economic stability, while not dismissing demands of the workers, peasants and left-wing Bs. His early economic policy therefore lacked coherence: Much of Russian industry remained under private ownership, but the activities of private companies were closely monitored by the state. In Dec 1917, a new body, Venshenka, was created to supervise industry and manage the economy. The peasantry was appeased by the Decree on Land which legitimised land seizures. It was instrumental in persuading the Left SRs to join Lenin's Gov. The Decree on Workers' Control gave industrial workers a say in how their factories were run and ensured managers treated them properly. However, it did not authorise workers to seize control of factories and run them themselves. A limited system of nationalisation was implemented. The banking industry was taken over by the state. A number of individual factories, including Putilov, were nationalised.

Slide 9

War Communism (July 1918-March 1921)
Spring 1918, Treat of Brest-Litovsk meant Bs no longer had access to the resources of the Ukraine and other areas. This loss left Lenin's Gov facing dire problems in the areas where it maintained control: Industrial output slumped, in cities there were shortages of food and fuel; the peasantry were unwilling to sell their produce for worthless paper money so cut supply of food to cities and drove the prices even higher; and desperate for food, urban workers deserted the cities and returned to their native villages, factories foudn themselves short of labour. The core aims of War Communism were to ensure that the cities were fed and that industrial production was maximised. Its key features were compulsory requisitioning, a ban on private trade, whole nationalisation of industry and a return to 'one-man management'. Compulsory requisitioning was the solution to peasant grain hoarding. Food brigades were sent out from cities to extract grain from the peasants by force, sometimes assisted by Cheka and army. Meant to be paid, but often was theft. The ban on private trade was designed to prevent peasants from supplying grain to middlemen and speculators, who then sold it on at inflated prices. It didn't succeed and a 'black market' developed. In the cities, food was distributed on the basis of a strict rationing system which was hierarchical. Large-scale industrial enterprises were put under direct state control in mid-1918. The experiment with workers' control of industry was ended.

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The Tambov rising and Kronstadt mutiny
The Tambov rising: Bolshevik policy of grain requisitioning caused enormous resentment in the countryside. During the civil war, though, peasants hostility towards the Bolsheviks was kept in check by fears of a white victory and its possible consequences. By 1921, much of the countryside was in open revolt against B rule. Fiercest fighting took place in the Tambov province where 40,000-strong peasant force waged a guerrilla campaign against the Red Army. The Gov response to the uprising was brutal in the extreme. Poison gas was used against the rebels and thousands of their wife and children were taken hostage. Large parts of the country were effectively out of the authorities control. Railway transport was seriously disrupted and their was a food crisis in the towns. Rural discontent had parallels in the cities. Urban protest was largely fuelled by food shortages, but there were also calls for restoration of trade unions. The Kronstadt mutiny: March 1921, 10,000 sailors based at Kronstadt mutinied in support of strikers in Petrograd. The mutineers published a 15-point manifesto that condemned Bolshevik abuses of power. Called for the legalisation of political parties, new soviet elections and rights for trade unions. The mutiny only lasted a fortnight, it was suppressed by 50,000 red army troops. But, it was in Bolshevik eyes, a deeply embarrassing episode In 1917, the soldiers had been among the Bolsheviks strongest supporters. The mutiny in 1921 showed how extensive disillusionment with the Bolsheviks had become.

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The New Economic Policy
March 1921, Lenin announced compulsory grain requisitioning was to end. Other changes followed over the next 18 months. Transition to NEP was complete by the end of 1922. NEP had four main features: 1. Compulsory grain requisitioning was to be replaced with a 'tax in kind', where the peasants had to hand over to the state a fixed proportion of the grain they produced. Any surplus could be sold for profit on an open market. This took the steam out of peasant discontent. 2. Private trading and private ownership of small businesses were legalised. Many of the privately owned businesses that emerged were in the service sector such as shops, cafes etc. but there was also a significant amount of private manufacturing. Privately owned manufacturing companies typically produced consumer goods such as clothes and footwear. 3. The 'commanding heights' of the economy remained under state control. These included not only heavy industries such as coal and steel, but also the railway network and the banking system. Foreign trade continued to be a state monopoly. 4. The industries that remained under state control after 1921-22 were expected to trade at a profit. If they got into difficulties, they were not bailed out by the Gov. A consequence of this was an increase in unemployment, as state-run industries shed surplus workers in order to increase efficiency. Lenin called it a 'retreat', a surrender for the sake of survival.

Slide 12

Results of the NEP
Economic: Introduced too late to prevent a major famine. Summer 1921, drought in the black earth region led to major crop failures. 25 million people affected, 5 million died. After 1921, the economy recovered strongly, but output remained below 1924 levels. Economic recovery was erratic, difficulties arose in 1923 as agriculture recovered quicker than industry. The price of food fell, but the price of manufactured and consumer goods rose. Called the 'scissors crisis' by Trotsky. Gov corrected it. The issue of how long it should last was debated strongly. Political: NEP was accompanied by tightening of the Bs political grip. The SRs and Mensheviks were now suppressed. The Cheka enlarged its network of concentration camps for political detainees. Renewed onslaught in the Orthodox Church. B pretext was the claim that it had refused to sell its treasures to aid famine victims. Soviets were ordered to remove all precious items from churches in their localities.

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The Ban on Factions
Lenin's response to criticism from within the Bolshevik ranks was to stifle it. In 1921, at the Tenth Part Congress, the establishment of factions within the party was banned. Violations of the ban were to be punishable by expulsion from the party. Existing organised groups were to be dissolved. The ban brought to an end the B culture of open and vigorous internal debate until a decision had been reached. The immediate targets were two organised groups that had emerged within the party in 1920-21, the democratic centralists and the workers' opposition. The ban was followed by a major purge of the party's membership. On the eve of the introduction of NEP there were 730,000 party members, but by early 1923, this had decreased to 500,000. The message to survivors of the purge was clear, the decisions of the leadership had to be accepted without question. By 1924, the Soviet Union was an oligarchy, its rulers were accountable to no-one.

Slide 14

Why were the Bolsheviks able to defeat their domestic enemies in the Russian Civil War?

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The SRs, national minorities and the Whites
The SRs: At no point in 1918 did the SRs in eastern Russia have a sizeable force of their own to deploy. They did benefit from the presence in the region of the 50,000-strong Czech Legion. Encouraged by Britain and France to fight against the Bolsheviks, the Czech Legion quickly won control of most of Western Siberia. After their initial success they were weakened by mutinies and a lack of supplies, and lost effectiveness. Left SRs were active in some of the peasant or 'green' armies that fought in Southern and Central Russia during the Civil War. Some of these peasant armies though were freelance units concerned mainly with the defence of their locality. National minorities: Lenin promised non-Russian minorities the right to separate themselves from Russia if they wished. In practice he was not prepared to see the resources of the national minority areas lost to the Bolshevik state. Where breakaway, or separatist regimes were set up, the Bs tried to overthrow them. The Whites: The White armies were commanded by former chiefs of the Tsarist armed forces. Ex-Tsarist army officers provided the backbone of the White armies. They were political conservatives. They were strong believers in property rights and were nationalists who believed in a Russia, 'Great, United and Indivisible'. They were unwilling to make concessions to national minorities. Some generals were monarchists, but others favoured some sort of military dictatorship. Their hatred of Bolshevism was intense.

Slide 16

Trotsky and the Red Army
As a full-scale civil war loomed, the Bolsheviks first thought was to create an all-volunteer socialist guard with the elected officers. Lenin soon became impatient with this kind of idealistic thinking. In March 1918, Trotsky was appointed People's Commissar for War, and with Lenin's backing, began to build a 'Red Army' on traditional lines. The election of officers was scrapped and replaced by an old fashioned system of appointment from above. This enabled Trotsky to appoint ex-Tsarist officers to senior position in the Red Army. Some joined willingly, others because they had no other way of making a living. Many were conscripted and prevented from deserting by threats of reprisals against their families. The Bolsheviks needed the military specialists but did not fully trust them. Trotsky kept them under control by a system of 'Dual command, under which every ex-Tsarist officer was supervised by a political commissar. Compulsory military service for the mass of the population was reintroduced in May 1918. Discipline in the army was ferocious. Deserters and those guilty of unjustified retreat were liable to execution. By the end of 1918, there were 1 million men in the Red Army. By 1921, this had risen to 5 million. It was no such a formidable force is these figures suggest however. Some of its units were poorly trained and equipped, desertion as an on-going problem. The Red Army was also ravaged by disease. Trotsky's personal contribution to the war was immense, he built the army out of nothing and moulded it into a formidable fighting force. He was an inspirational figure, moving around giving speeches.

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The geography of the Civil War
The Bolsheviks were in more or less secure control of northern and central European Russia throughout the Civil War. Their geographical position gave them a number of advantages over their enemies: The Bolsheviks controlled the most densely populated areas of Russia. In 1918-19, Bolshevik-held territory contained 70 million people compared with the 20 million in white-controlled areas. This mattered, because they both relied on compulsory military service to raise their armies. The Bolsheviks had a larger pool of manpower available to them than the whites, so in larger battles had a significant advantage. Russia's main engineering factories were located in territory controlled by the Bolsheviks, notably the giant Putilov works, giving them the capacity to manufacture armaments. The whites relied heavily on hand-outs from the foreign powers. Bolsheviks controlled the hub of Russian railway network, enabled them to rush reinforcements to the battlefront on which they were seriously threatened. Communications between the different white armies were limited, so it was virtually impossible for their commanders to co-ordinate their activities.

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