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Summary How did Lenin establish USSR
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Lenin's policies to establish Communist state
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Russia 1917October Revolution
Bolsheviks seized power in October
The provisional government who ruled Russia after the Tsar were ousted by the Bolsheviks
who only had around 300,000 members
The October revolution was a mass uprising of workers
Propaganda presented the storming of the white palace as heroic
However, there was no heroics as the only the only guards were the Women’s Death
Battalion who opened the gates to the Bolsheviks
Force would be required to ensure support as they had a minority party
How did the Bolsheviks establish a one-party state between 1917 and 1924?
The Bolsheviks claimed they had a desire to set up a democratic system to rule on behalf of
the people
In reality by 1921 they had created a one-party state which banned all other parties due to
the opposition they faced
Rule under the Bolsheviks was going to be authoritarian, highly centralised and
supplemented by heavy use of terror
Creation of one-party state and party congress of 1921
The Bolsheviks remained a small group who had difficulties in securing power
They claimed to represent the interests of the proletariat and peasants but didn’t have
support so had to seize power with force
Other left-wing groups were denied a share power by the Bolsheviks, such as the
Mensheviks, Socialist revolutionaries who were also Marxist
Groups on right such as supporters of the Tsar, liberal groups supporting middle class feared
that the Bolsheviks would take away businesses and deny political freedom
The Bolsheviks followed Marxism, to give power and control to the proletariat.
Nationalist groups like the Poles, Finns and Ukrainians saw the collapse as the Tsar as their
chance for power but it was the opposite
How did the Bolsheviks deal with the other left-wing groups?
Left wing groups shared many views and thought that they would stay with the Bolsheviks
Lenin did not want to share power yet, there was a call for a coalition from Mensheviks, SRs,
and some Bolsheviks: Lev Kamenev but this was rejected
Trotsky said “You have played out your role. Go where you belong: to the dustbin of
history.”
There was a Constituent Assembly where the left-wing groups hoped to regain their strength
o The Bolsheviks did badly, gaining 175 seats with over 9 million votes but the SRs got
the most votes with 410 seats and 21 million votes.
To use this as the national government posed a threat to Lenin and therefore, he dissolved
the assembly calling it an instrument of the bourgeoise
, He used the All-Russian Congress of Soviets where they had more influence and Lenin
rejected a coalition and any form of opposition
Destruction of Political parties
The bourgeoise classes like employers and priests were stripped off their votes and a key
support group for the opposition
Mensheviks and SRs found it difficult to publish newspapers due to tighter restrictions by
Bolsheviks
SRs were given a major role in government in 1917 but in March 1918 they lost their
influence and went out in protest of the Bolsheviks pulling out of the war
1921 April, Lenin said that the Mensheviks and SRs should be in prison. During first 3 months
around 5,000 Mensheviks were arrested and more came later and these parties seized to
exist
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk 1918
Conservatives were angry that Lenin ended the war
This treaty took Russia out of war with great costs
Russia lost control over the Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Ukraine, and
some of the Caucasus region
This caused great humiliation for the conservatives and saw that the only way to restore
Russia’s pride and reputation was to overthrow the Bolshevik regime and reject the treaty
The allies: USA, Britain, France, and Japan were anxious to keep Russia in the war and helped
the whites take over power
Lenin signed the treaty because the war sapped the energy and resources of the
government and with little chance of success, he decided he needed to concentrate more on
consolidating his power and dealing with internal enemies.
Russian Civil War 1918-21
The whites were filled with factions – Tsar supporters, liberals who supported the
provisional govt, military leaders, national minorities seeking independence, and members
of the Mensheviks and SRs who were denied involvement
There was also a Czech legion who were part of the Austro-Hungarian empire who were
imprisoned in Russia rebelled against the Reds
There were many military campaigns against the reds like General Krasnov near Petrograd
yet, all these military factions were defeated by the collective red forces
How did the Bolsheviks win the civil war?
At the start it was bleak for the reds as they only controlled Petrograd and Moscow whilst
being surrounded by the Whites.
The Reds were victorious mainly because of better organisation in military, economic and
political terms
The whites only united to get rid of the reds, and co-operation was limited, and they were
spread very thin over a long front
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