How did Lenin consolidate power after 1
How did Lenin consolidate power after 1917?
There is little doubt that in the immediate aftermath of the October Revolution, the Bolshevik hold on power was by no means secure. Although there were 300,000 Bolshevik Party members, a large part of the population were apathetic towards the Bolshevik Party. The Bolsheviks controlled many major cities, but its presence in the countryside was limited. The Bolsheviks succeeded in gaining power in Petrograd not due to their own popularity, but largely due to the unpopularity of the Provisional Government. Despite the challenges he faced, over the next few years Lenin was able to consolidate his hold on power and establish a dictatorship that was to last until 1992.
Throughout 1917 Lenin promised the people of Russia ‘Peace, Land and Bread’. Almost immediately after coming power, Lenin signed the ‘Decree on Land’ which abolished private property and distributed the land among the peasants. At the same time, the ‘Decree on Peace’ stated Lenin’s intention for Russia to withdraw from WWI and seek a peace settlement with Germany. Lenin was aware that it was the Provisional Government’s unwillingness or inability to act on questions of land and peace that contributed to its unpopularity and allowed the Bolsheviks to take power so easily in October. Although the Bolsheviks had difficulty enforcing land reform, due in part to its limited presence in the countryside, and the fact that a number of Bolshevik leaders were not willing to capitulate to Germany, the decrees issued by the new Bolshevik government were a sign of Lenin’s awareness of the urgency of at least partially carrying out these promises.
One of Lenin’s first challenges after taking power was the fact of the Constituent Assembly elections. The Constituent Assembly was in theory to be the sovereign decision-making body in Russia and possessed more legitimacy than Lenin’s Council of the People’s Commissars. Lenin allowed the elections to take place, but it soon became clear that the Bolsheviks performed badly. Given their appeal both to the peasants and the workers, it was unsurprising that the SRs won the elections with over 40% of the vote and controlling a majority of the seats. This prompted Lenin to suppress the Constituent Assembly on the first day that it met - January 5, 1917. Although the representatives of the Constituent Assembly would form an alternative government in Samara, Lenin was able to consolidate his control of the Russian heartland, which was to prove vital for his prosecution of the Civil War.
In March 1918, Lenin signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk concluding peace with Germany. The peace terms were very harsh and amounted to a Russian capitulation in the war. A number of senior Bolsheviks opposed concluding a punitive and humiliating peace with the Germans, and Lenin had instructed Trotsky, in his post as Commissar for Foreign Affairs, to delay any agreement with Germany. However, the Germans were starting to become impatient and their armies were poised to launch a strike against Petrograd. Lenin therefore decided to come to terms with Germany, no matter how punitive. Lenin argued that signing the treaty was an act of necessity, “a step back in order to take two steps forwards.” Indeed, by making peace with Germany Lenin was able to concentrate his attention on his domestic opponents and consolidating power in Russia.
In order to eliminate his political opponents, in December 1917 Lenin established the Cheka as his secret police, headed by the Polish Communist Felix Dzerzhinsky. In the summer of 1918, Lenin launched the Red Terror in an effort to kill his political opponents. Around 6000 people died as a result of the Red Terror, the most prominent victims of which was the Romanov family. In June 1918 the tsar and his family were shot in the city of Ekaterinburg. Although official Soviet records state that the murder of the Romanovs was an arbitrary decision taken by local Communists during a period of political tension, the historical facts suggest that Lenin had ordered the execution of the former tsar and his family. Lenin was afraid that the tsar might be rescued by monarchists and be seen as a figurehead under whom Lenin’s opponents could rally. The efforts of the Cheka were not, however, fully effective. In August 1918 Lenin was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt by an SR terrorist, and the injuries that he sustained in the incident may have been responsible for health complications that culminated in his death in early 1924.
It goes without saying that a key part of Lenin’s consolidation of power was the victory of the Red Army over the White armies in the Civil War. The reasons for Bolshevik victory will be explained in greater detail at a later point, but largely stem from the geographical advantages of the Reds, together with the lack of co-ordination between the White armies. The Red Army controlled the Russian heartland, and crucially controlled the two biggest cities - Moscow (the new capital) and Petrograd. Transport and communications infrastructure was at its most advanced and extensive in this area, and this facilitated the movement of troops and supplies across the country. The Red Army was opposed by forces led by Admiral Kolchak in the east, General Anton Denikin from the south, and a small force under General Nikolai Yudenich in the south-west. However White attacks were uncoordinated, allowing the Red Army to defeat each army separately. By 1920 the Bolsheviks had gained control of a large part of the country, and by 1921 the Red Army successfully forced the remaining Whites out of the Crimea.
Despite the Civil War coming to an end in 1921, Lenin was confronted with a series of crises in 1921 that threatened the government. Peasant uprisings were taking place throughout the country, as the threat from the Whites was eliminated, the peasants no longer supported the Bolsheviks. Nestor Makhno’s Green Army outlasted the Whites and continued fighting the Red Army. Strikes had also intensified in the towns and cities as the war effort caused serious shortages of necessity goods. The situation seemed to recall the last days of tsarist Russia in 1917. More embarrassing for Lenin, his party was divided and there was a major mutiny against the Bolsheviks at the Kronstadt naval base. The Kronstadt sailors had played a key role in the October Revolution and were considered by Lenin as revolutionary heroes. The fact that the Kronstadt sailors had openly defied the Bolshevik regime made Lenin aware that a change of policy was required.
Lenin responded by using force on one hand, and offering concessions on the other. In March 1921 Lenin sent detachments of the Red Army to suppress the Kronstadt Mutiny. On March 16, 50,000 troops advanced across the ice towards the naval base, accompanied by bombing from the air. Faced with such overwhelming firepower the Kronstadt sailors surrendered, although the Red Army had suffered losses numbering 10,000. Any remaining rebels were either sent to Siberia or brutally executed. Furthermore, Lenin ordered the suppression of peasant revolts across the countryside, as the Red Army unleashed mass terror on villages and provincial towns. Makhno finally gave up the struggle in August 1921 and fled to Romania.
However, during the Tenth Party Congress, held simultaneously to the assault on Kronstadt, Lenin announced his New Economic Policy (NEP). The NEP reversed the policy of ‘War Communism’ which had been in place during the Civil War. It allowed the return of a limited free market where peasants were able to trade and exchange goods. Furthermore, the requisitioning of grain was abandoned in favour of a tax, which was at a much lower rate than the quotas that had been in place under War Communism. The NEP was successful in allowing the Russian economy to recover and thus allow Lenin some extra breathing space. Although kulaks and NEP men (traders and merchants who profited from the NEP) made substantial profits, for which Lenin was criticised by members of his party, Lenin did not believe that the NEP would lead to a return of a capitalist system as the ‘commanding heights’ of the economy (banks, transport, heavy industry) remained under state control.
In March 1921 Lenin also faced opposition from his own party in the form of the Democratic Centralists and the Workers’ Opposition. The Democratic Centralists believed that the Bolshevik state was being bureaucratised and believed that grassroots members of the party should have a greater influence on party policy. The Workers’ Opposition, led by Alexander Shlyapnikov and Alexandra Kollontai, sought to defend trade union rights against what they thought was the militarisation of labour under Trotsky’s ideas. In the Tenth Party Congress Lenin announced the Ban on Factions. Lenin stressed the importance of party unity and assumed an even greater hold over the party. Nobody could question the leadership without being charged with factionalism and potentially being excluded from the party. As a result, Lenin was able to maintain both his position as Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars, as well as Bolshevik power. Lenin was aware that a disunited party result in a collapse of political authority.
Lenin also was keenly aware of the ‘nationalities problem’. The Bolsheviks had come to power promising greater autonomy for the ethnic minorities that lived within the Russian Empire. However, Lenin was reluctant to grant full independence, given that areas such as the Ukraine were of great economic importance to the Russian state. Furthermore, in 1920-21 Lenin had sought to bring about revolution in Europe via a successful invasion of Poland. Although the Russo-Polish War had resulted in defeat for the Red Army, Lenin signalled his intention to keep as much land as possible under communist control. The solution Lenin arrived at was the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The USSR was established in 1922, and was to comprise of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics which were in theory autonomous. Local cultural practices were permitted and local languages were taught in schools. Although in reality the Russian Socialist Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) directed proceedings from Moscow, the arrangement allowed the minorities far greater rights than those they enjoyed under the Russian Empire.
It is possible to say that by 1922, Lenin had managed to consolidate power in Soviet Russia and had virtually eliminated opposition to Bolshevik rule. Indeed, even though Lenin’s incapacity and death in January 1924 was to lead to a leadership contest which was not resolved until 1930, Communist power was never in any doubt. It is clear, therefore, that Lenin’s greatest success came not in seizing power in October 1917, but in maintaining and consolidating his power and overcoming a number of challenges to the Communist Party’s hold on power. It can be seen that Lenin was skilful in adopting a range of policies, some conciliatory and concessionary, others forceful and repressive. Lenin’s two major concessions came in the form of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and the introduction of the New Economic Policy, whereas he was shown to be ruthless in the suppression of peasant uprisings and the assault on the Kronstadt naval base. Above all, Lenin was pragmatic, being aware of the threats to his power and being able to come up with effective responses. Lenin’s efforts between 1917 and 1922 attest to his political genius, even if he was seen to be tyrannical and dictatorial. These traits would be more readily found in his successor, Josef Stalin.
Why did the Reds win the Russian Civil War? http://historyrevision.wordpress.com/
Soon after the Bolshevik seizure of power, right-wing groups began to join together to oppose Lenin’s new government. Although there were disturbances throughout 1918, most notably the revolt of the Czech Legion in June 1918, it was only in 1919 when these groups, known to history as the White armies, gathered enough strength in order to confront the Bolsheviks. The three main White armies consisted of Admiral Alexander Kolchak’s troops which controlled large parts of eastern Russia, General Anton Denikin’s forces based in southern Russia, and a small force led by General Nikolai Yudenich which was based in the southwest, threatening Petrograd. Although the White armies were to enjoy success and conquer large parts of Russia, ultimately they were defeated by the Red Army.
One of the main reasons for the Bolshevik victory was the lack of coordination among the White armies. In November 1918, Admiral Kolchak’s forces had taken control of Samara and took over the government which had been set up by the SRs and the Mensheviks. Kolchak subsequently adopted the title ‘Supreme Ruler’, which was later recognised by the other White generals. Indeed, by 1919 all three White armies were ready to launch major offensives against the Bolsheviks. However, although Kolchak was able to drive westwards and take a significant amount of land in the east, by April 1919 the Red Army launched a successful counter-offensive which drove Kolchak’s forces back into Siberia. Four months later, Denikin’s forces launched a major offensive on a wide front which penetrated within 150 miles of Moscow, but Yudenich’s army only attacked Petrograd in October, when the Red Army began to resist Denikin’s offensive. Although Lenin had considered abandoning Petrograd in order to save Moscow, Semyon Budyonny’s cavalry successfully pushed Denikin’s forces southwards, and soon afterwards Yudenich was also forced to withdraw.
In addition to the lack of operational co-ordination between the three White armies, political differences also weakened the Whites’ ability to fight effectively. Not only were there differences between the three main commanders, though Kolchak was nominally at the head of the White Army, but the Whites as a whole included men of varying political opinions. Although the Whites are traditionally portrayed as conservatives who hoped to restore the tsarist social order, there were also members of the socialist parties which Lenin had suppressed. The White armies were a loose coalition of men who opposed the Bolshevik government, and on many occasions this coalition came close to breaking down, undermining the Whites’ war effort.
Much of the credit for the Bolshevik victory has been given to the efforts of Leon Trotsky in his capacity as War Commissar. After the end of the First World War, the Bolsheviks believed that a permanent army was superfluous to the needs of the new government. Instead, workers and peasants would take up arms in order to defend the motherland. However, it was soon realised that with the growing threat from the White armies, it was necessary to have an effective and well-trained army. The task of creating the Red Army was given to Trotsky, who restored a system of ranks to create incentives, and with the assistance of former Imperial generals drilled the army to become a disciplined and effective fighting force. Even though poor conditions in the army meant that desertions were not uncommon, on the whole the Red Army was more disciplined than the White Army.
A key part of the Bolshevik victory lay in geography. Although the Reds controlled a comparatively small area of Russia, the area they controlled was the Russian heartland, encompassing the two capitals, Moscow and Petrograd. The Bolsheviks also controlled more than 80% of the Russian population. This was a decisive advantage and enabled greater number of troops to be deployed and supplied. It is estimated that the combined strength of the White armies never exceeded 500,000. On the other hand, by 1921 the Red Army numbered 2 million men. The fact that the Reds controlled the major industrial centres also enabled it to supply the soldiers at the front more effectively than the Whites were able to. For example, Denikin’s forces made great progress across a wide front, but the swiftness of the advance meant that supply lines were overstretched and the army had great difficulty in advancing further towards Moscow. The Reds, on the other hand, controlled most of Russia’s railways and were able to transport troops and supplies rapidly between their bases and the front line. The very fact that the three White armies were geographically separated by hundreds of miles also made coordination difficult. Although Lenin’s policy of War Communism (involving nationalisation of the economy and forcible requisitioning from peasants) is said to have caused a great deal of suffering throughout the country, some historians argue that this enabled Lenin to direct the necessary economic resources for the war effort.
On the whole, the Bolsheviks were more successful than their White adversaries in winning political support from the localities. Even though the majority of peasants resented both sides, they largely supported the Reds since the Bolsheviks offered more than the Whites offered. The Whites championed aristocratic government and Russian nationalism, yet the White armies largely operated in rural areas where there were a majority of non-Russians. The Whites were unwilling to seek cooperation with the locals, while the Red Army was keen to portray itself as defending Russia against tyranny. The key example of the Whites’ failure to seek an agreement with ethnic minorities occurred in the 1920-21 Polish-Soviet War. By 1920 large parts of the White armies had been defeated but a small force remained in the south under Denikin’s successor Baron Pyotr Wrangel. In 1920 Soviet Russia decided to invade Poland with the hope of encouraging revolutions across Europe. By 1921, however, after Poland successfully defended Warsaw, the Soviets suffered a number of setbacks and the President of Poland, Marshal Josef Pilsudski, decided to push eastwards into Russia. Pilsudski sought an agreement with Wrangel directed against the Red Army, but Wrangel was unwilling to grant concessions to the Poles.
Another reason for the Red victory was the relative lack of foreign intervention in favour of the Whites’. After 1917, British, Japanese, American and French troops were sent into Russia aiming to overthrow the Bolshevik government and allow Russia to re-enter the war against Germany. After the war ended, however, the nature of the task changed, and Western governments were keen to overthrow Lenin, seeing communism as a threat to traditional western ideals. The Japanese stayed in Russia largely due to Japan’s own desires on Russian territory. However, the extent of foreign intervention was never significant, British presence largely being confined to Archangel’sk and supplying resources to the White armies. Furthermore, after a war that had lasted four long years, public opinion called for the withdrawal of troops from conflict. As a result, the degree of foreign intervention was never sufficient in order to prevent the Bolsheviks winning the Civil War. Despite this, it is true that foreign intervention prolonged the war and prevented the Reds from achieving a swift victory.
The reasons for the Bolshevik victory in the Russian Civil War can be explained in part by White weaknesses, in political terms and in terms of military strategy, as well as the lack of foreign intervention. More significantly, however, was the great advantages enjoyed by the Red Army. This derived from Trotsky’s organisational successes in training and supplying an effective fighting force, together with Russia’s geographical position which allowed the Bolsheviks to exploit significant amounts of human and economic resources in the prosecution of the Civil War, as well as the advantages in transport and communications infrastructure that resulted from such a geographical position. There is no doubt that even if the soldiers in the White armies were better trained and fought more effectively, only the Reds controlled the resources that were necessary to fight such a war.
The Cheka
The Cheka was used by Vladimir Lenin to consolidate his power after the November 1917 Revolution. The Cheka was the first of numerous Soviet government apparatuses created to control the people – others being later organisations such as the OGPU and the KGB. Because of the very long formal titles that these organisations had, many had nicknames by which they have eventually become known. Formally the Cheka was the ‘All-Russian Emergency Commission for Combatting Counter-Revolution and Sabotage’.
The Russian Civil War had made it clear that not everyone in what was to become the USSR favoured Lenin and the Bolsheviks being in power. The main task of the Cheka was to hunt out what became known as “enemies of the state” and to deal with them. This led to what became known as the “Red Terror”. While in theory the Cheka had to operate by the letter of the law, this was not the case and such was its power that no one could do anything about it if they were arrested for being an ‘enemy of the state’. The Cheka became judge, jury and invariably executioner. In 1929 a former member of the Cheka stated that he believed that it had executed 50,000 people.
The Cheka was created by emergency decree on December 20th 1917 and its first leader was Felix Dzerzhinsky and its headquarters were in Petrograd / St. Petersburg. Within a year, Cheka operatives could be found throughout Russia and their purpose was simple: to hunt out ‘enemies of the state’. In 1921, there were at least 200,000 Cheka members. Most of them were Bolsheviks but in 1918 a few Socialist Revolutionaries were allowed to join though they were all arrested in 1918 as a result of an attempted murder of Lenin. Their remit covered just about every aspect of life in Russia, including hunting for thousands of army deserters and people who hoarded food while others starved. Eventually Cheka units were also given control of border security. The organisation of the Cheka also constantly evolved to reflect the complicated day-to-day life in post-revolution Russia.
In its first days the Cheka was given a code of conduct to work by from the All-Russian Central Committee; suspected counter-revolutionaries could be initially interrogated but had to be handed over to the revolutionary tribunals. Cheka members could only participate in a “preliminary investigation”. However, these were never enforced and the Cheka usually dealt with suspects in their own manner and failed to hand them over to any other authority such was the perceived threat of counter-revolutionaries in Russia and also the belief that any other method wasted time which could be better spent hunting out even more ‘enemies of the state’.
Such was the importance of railways to Russia that the Cheka was also ordered to look after these to ensure that counter-revolutionaries were not undermining this aspect of Russian society.
The Cheka hierarchy had given itself a list of those it should suspect as being ‘enemies of the state’. Clearly anyone who had fought for the Whites during the civil war was high on their list as were former officers in the Imperial Army. Also anyone who owned property valued at 10,000 roubles or more was on the list. They also had the full support of Lenin himself who wanted the swift round-up of ‘enemies of the people’. This support meant that there was little to stop the Cheka becoming an immensely powerful organisation that answered to few people. If anyone from on high questioned what they were doing, the answer they got was simple: ‘we did it for the people’. Such an approach continued to bring support from Lenin and with this any reproach was minimal. For example, 800 people were arrested in the Spring of 1918 in Petrograd and shot without having been put on trial – the Cheka being judge, jury and executioner. Lenin was told that the arrested were class enemies and with Lenin on their side, no one was willing to question what the Cheka did. In fact some of the 800 had been arrested and shot simply because of their religious beliefs. On September 5th 1918, the Cheka started what became known as the ‘Red Terror’. The rationale for this was yet another failed attempt on Lenin’s life. No one is sure how many were killed by the Cheka during the ‘Red Terror’ and the figures vary widely from 3,000 to 8,000.
On February 6th 1922 the Cheka was formally renamed by the Soviet government and became the GPU, part of the NKVD. Though its name may have changed it still had the same chief, Dzerzhinsky. He remained in power until his death in 1926.
War Communism
War Communism was the name given to the economic system that existed in Russia from 1918 to 1921. War Communism was introduced by Lenin to combat the economic problems brought on by the civil war in Russia. It was a combination of emergency measures and socialist dogma.
One of the first measures of War Communism was the nationalisation of land. Banks and shipping were also nationalised and foreign trade was declared a state monopoly. This was the response when Lenin realised that the Bolsheviks were simply unprepared to take over the whole economic system of Russia. Lenin stressed the importance of the workers showing discipline and a will to work hard if the revolution was to survive. There were those in the Bolshevik hierarchy who wanted factory managers removed and the workers to take over the factories for themselves but on behalf of the people. It was felt that the workers would work better if they believed they were working for a cause as opposed to a system that made some rich but many poor. The civil war had made many in the Bolsheviks even more class antagonistic, as there were many of the old guard who were fighting to destroy the Bolsheviks.
On June 28th, 1918, a decree was passed that ended all forms of private capitalism. Many large factories were taken over by the state and on November 29th, 1920, any factory/industry that employed over 10 workers was nationalised.
War Communism also took control of the distribution of food. The Food Commissariat was set up to carry out this task. All co-operatives were fused together under this Commissariat
War Communism had six principles:
1) Production should be run by the state. Private ownership should be kept to the minimum. Private houses were to be confiscated by the state.
2) State control was to be granted over the labour of every citizen. Once a military army had served its purpose, it would become a labour army.
3) The state should produce everything in its own undertakings. The state tried to control the activities of millions of peasants.
4) Extreme centralisation was introduced. The economic life of the area controlled by the Bolsheviks was put into the hands of just a few organisations. The most important one was the Supreme Economic Council. This had the right to confiscate and requisition. The speciality of the SEC was the management of industry. Over 40 head departments (known as glavki) were set up to accomplish this. One glavki could be responsible for thousands of factories. This frequently resulted in chronic inefficiency. The Commissariat of Transport controlled the railways. The Commissariat of Agriculture controlled what the peasants did.
5) The state attempted to become the soul distributor as well as the sole producer. The Commissariats took what they needed to meet demands. The people were divided into four categories – manual workers in harmful trades, workers who performed hard physical labour, workers in light tasks/housewives and professional people. Food was distributed on a 4:3:2:1 ratio. Though the manual class was the favoured class, it still received little food. Many in the professional class simply starved. It is believed that about 0% of all food consumed came from an illegal source. On July 20th 1918, the Bolsheviks decided that all surplus food had to be surrendered to the state. This led to an increase in the supply of grain to the state. From 1917 to 1928, about ¾ million ton was collected by the state. In 1920 to 1921, this had risen to about 6 million tons. However, the policy of having to hand over surplus food caused huge resentment in the countryside, especially as Lenin had promised “all land to the people” pre-November 1917. While the peasants had the land, they had not been made aware that they would have to hand over any extra food they produced from their land. Even the extra could not meet demand. In 1933, 25 million tons of grain was collected and this only just met demand.
6) War Communism attempted to abolish money as a means of exchange. The Bolsheviks wanted to go over to a system of a natural economy in which all transactions were carried out in kind. Effectively, bartering would be introduced. By 1921, the value of the rouble had dropped massively and inflation had markedly increased. The government’s revenue raising ability was chronically poor, as it had abolished most taxes. The only tax allowed was the ‘Extraordinary Revolutionary Tax’, which was targeted at the rich and not the workers.
War Communism was a disaster. In all areas, the economic strength of Russia fell below the 1914 level. Peasant farmers only grew for themselves, as they knew that any extra would be taken by the state. Therefore, the industrial cities were starved of food despite the introduction of the 4:3:2:1 ratio. A bad harvest could be disastrous for the countryside – and even worse for cities. Malnutrition was common, as was disease. Those in the cities believed that their only hope was to move out to the countryside and grow food for themselves. Between 1916 and 1920, the cities of northern and central Russia lost 33% of their population to the countryside. Under War Communism, the number of those working in the factories and mines dropped by 50%.
In the cities, private trade was illegal, but more people were engaged in this than at any other time in Russia’s history. Large factories became paralysed through lack of fuel and skilled labour.
Small factories were in 1920 producing just 43% of their 1913 total. Large factories were producing 18% of their 1913 figure. Coal production was at 27% of its 1913 figure in 1920. With little food to nourish them, it could not be expected that the workers could work effectively. By 1920, the average worker had a productivity rate that was 44% less than the 1913 figure.
Even if anything of value could be produced, the ability to move it around Russia was limited. By the end of 1918, Russia’s rail system was in chaos.
In the countryside, most land was used for the growth of food. Crops such as flax and cotton simply were not grown. Between 1913 and 1920, there was an 87% drop in the number of acres given over to cotton production. Therefore, those factories producing cotton related products were starved of the most basic commodity they needed.
How did the people react to War Communism? Within the cities, many were convinced that their leaders were right and the failings being experienced were the fault of the Whites and international capitalists. There were few strikes during War Communism – though Lenin was quick to have anyone arrested who seemed to be a potential cause of trouble. Those in Bolshevik held territory were also keen to see a Bolshevik victory in the civil war, so they were prepared to do what was necessary. The alternate – a White victory – was unthinkable.
Also the Bolshevik hierarchy could blame a lot of Russia’s troubles on the Whites as they controlled the areas, which would have supplied the factories with produce. The Urals provided Petrograd and Tula with coal and iron for their factories. The Urals was completely separated from Bolshevik Russia from the spring of 1918 to November 1919. Oil fields were in the hands of the Whites. Also the Bolshevik’s Red Army took up the majority of whatever supplies there were in their fight against the Whites.
No foreign country was prepared to trade with the Russia controlled by the Bolsheviks, so foreign trade ceased to exist. Between 1918 and November 1920, the Allies formally blockaded Russia.
The harshness of War Communism could be justified whilst the civil war was going on. When it had finished, there could be no such justification. There were violent rebellions in Tambov and in Siberia. The sailors in Kronstadt mutinied. Lenin faced the very real risk of an uprising of workers and peasants and he needed to show the type of approach to the problem that the tsarist regime was incapable of doing. In February 1921, Lenin had decided to do away with War Communism and replace it with a completely different system – the New Economic Policy. This was put to the 10th Party Conference in March and accepted. War Communism was swept away. During War Communism, the people had no incentive to produce as money had been abolished. They did what needed to be done because of the civil war, but once this had ended Lenin could not use it as an excuse any longer.
New Economic Policy
The New Economic Policy (NEP) was introduced to replace the failed policy of War Communism. The NEP advanced with almost a capitalist approach to economic growth. Wages were paid in cash not kind and surplus staff was dismissed. Under War Communism, Lenin employed the communist belief that everybody had the right to a job and people were employed regardless of whether they were actually needed or not. The NEP brought some form of economic sense back to Russia’s economy. Trade was to operate on an economic and commercial accounting basis. Industry was divided into ‘trusts’, which controlled various ‘enterprises’. In the first stages of NEP, theoretical restrictions were placed on a firm’s freedom to buy and sell but by 1922, these limits were dropped and profit-making became the main aim of those in industry. No industry was obligated to supply the state and, as Lenin had commented, the Communists had to learn how to trade.
However, the NEP did not totally solve Russia’s economic problems. The disaster that had been World War One and the tribulations of the civil war and War Communism had devastated the economy. Any sustained advances in the economy would take centuries. Factories, freed from the shackles of War Communism, did start to produce goods but few had the money to buy them. As workers could be dismissed, unemployment started to grow. Lenin allowed industry bosses to use foreign capital – but few countries were brave enough to invest in the fledgling communist state. Therefore, money was earned from exporting produce that could not be sold in Russia. The export of grain and coal helped to kick-start Russia’s economy and by 1924-25, Russia’s imports were nine times higher than the 1921-22 level. Though this would seem a major achievement in just three years, the 1921-22 figure was so small that the increase is not as spectacular as would first appear.
However, an expanding economy needed a decent transport system. The civil war had decimated Russia’s rail system. In 1921, 50% of Russia’s trains were off the tracks due to a lack of repairs and the skilled men needed to repair them. A huge effort was needed to build up the rail system and by the end of 1923, the rail system carried 45% more passengers and 59% more goods than two years earlier. By the end of 1927, the number of people/goods carried by trains passed the 1913 figure. If advances were made in the rail system, roads remained massively backward with transport being almost wholly based on horse and cart.
The NEP also needed a stable currency and this was difficult to achieve after such huge economic dislocation in such a short space of time. The rouble of 1922 had an inflationary value of 60,000 over the 1913 figure – and the 1922 budget was based on the pre-war rouble. The rouble was discredited and associated with the old regime. Therefore, a new currency was needed, and a decision to do this took place in July 1922. It was to be called the chervonets. By 1923, the paper rouble became worthless. Because the new economy was backed by gold, the demand for the chervonets was high and it became the sole currency in February 1924. The task of moving Russia over to a new currency was handed over to the State Bank. Such was the move to this new currency, that the state had a financial budget surplus at the end of 1925. This was a major achievement – but as with anything in Russia, it did disguise problems. Many financial transactions in rural areas were still done in a form of bartering as the economic modernisation being witnessed in the cities had yet to fully transfer itself to the countryside. This imbalance was to lead to a major economic problem – the so-called ‘Scissors Crisis’.
The Scissors Crisis started in October 1923 when industrial prices were three times higher than agricultural prices. The incentive to produce more food in the countryside had led to much higher production. With so much food around, prices for farm produce fell when compared to industrial prices as industry, by the very nature of it, took longer to recover (the re-building of factories/equipment etc). Compared to the countryside, costs in industry were high. As farming was still based around physical labour, there was never a shortage of workers in the countryside. Equipment remained primitive and cheap. However, the farmers were producing in quantity. Their produce was food, primarily grain, as they knew that this could be sold in the cities – and the driving force was legally to make a profit. Industries based on cotton found that they were starved of their most basic raw material as the farmers knew that food was a much better bet to grow. The government could not allow the cities to get hungry again. Therefore, the government became the principle purchaser of food but they used their position to force down the price that the farmers wanted. With less money, the farmers had less capital to buy products from the cities. The government responded to this by forcing down the prices of manufacturing produce and decrees were issued that controlled prices. Government interference in the economy was never far away.
The NEP transformed agriculture. War Communism had taken away any incentive to produce as the state requisitioned all surplus food. NEP brought back the incentive to farm productively as surplus food could be sold and profits were taxes. The introduction of a food tax – prodnalog – was a simple recognition that the food produced equalled private property. If it was anything else, how could it be taxed?
After 1917-18, land was reapportioned. The huge estates of Nicholas II’s reign were now divided up. By 1927, there were 25 million peasant holdings in Russia (98.3% of all farmed land) and given decent weather, many of these holdings, post-War Communism, made a reasonable living. The extremes of poverty and riches in the countryside had diminished.
However, farming was still relatively backward and many peasant communities used strip farming and the three-field system. Modern crop rotation was rarely used and even by 1928, 5.5 million households still used the sokha – a wooden plough. Therefore, while the production of food increased greatly, it could have been so much better. The most powerful of the peasants were the wealthier kulaks who made extra money by selling their surplus seed to the poorer peasants in times of need.
Lenin saw the way ahead for the peasants as mechanisation. This would increase food production and stimulate industrial production in the factories. Above all else, Lenin wanted to restore agriculture to pre-war levels so that it recovered from the devastation caused by two wars. In this he was very successful.
In 1913, the area of sown land was 105 million hectares. By 1922, this had dropped to 77.7 million hectares but by 1925 had recovered to 104.3 million hectares.
In 1913, the number of horses on farms was 35.5 million. By 1922, this had dropped to 24.1 million but by 1925, the number of horses stood at 27.1 million.
In 1913, the number of pigs on farms was 20.3 million. By 1922, this had dropped to 12 million but by 1925, the number of horses stood at 21.8 million.
In 1913, the amount of grain grown was 80 million tons. By 1922, it had risen to 50.3 million tons and by 1925, the figure stood at 72.5 million tons. The government bought 75% of this. What could be exported was, but this figure declined as the 1920’s advanced as Lenin and his successors wanted the cities fed. The government hoped to get the perfect solution – the peasants had their produce bought and the city workers were able to feed themselves.
Can the NEP be classed as a success? Compared to the disaster of War Communism, it was. Compared to the utter economic dislocation caused by World War One, it can also be seen as a success. There were many major problems to address post-1918. The NEP had started to do just this by the late 1920’s. There were still many more problems to solve and Stalin attempted to do this with collectivisation.
Russia 1918 to 1921
Russia by 1918 appeared to be in the hands of the communists (the Bolshevik Party) led by Lenin. The Provisional Government had been overthrown and the Bolsheviks had appeared to have gained power in Russia and that the country’s problems seemed to be over. In fact, those problems had only just begun.
Lenin controlled just a strip of land that ran form Petrograd to Moscow. He did not control any other area in this vast country. There were also many people who hated the thought of communists having control over them. There were also many who wanted the tsar back in power. All the groups that opposed Lenin were called the Whites. A civil war broke out in Russia with the Whites fighting to get rid of the Reds - the Communists. Russia was also still in World War One.
Lenin's problems = limited control of Russian territory many groups against his rule still in World War One
By 1921, Lenin had come through all of these problems and was the head of a communist government in Russia. How did this come about?
1. He pulled Russia out of the war with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed in March 1918. This was a cruel treaty which the Russians had to sign. Trotsky was given the task of negotiating with the Germans. Russia was to loose a great deal of land which included 60 million people to the Germans. The land also included 25% of her farming land and 75% of her iron ore and coal deposits. But the treaty got Russia out of the war and allowed Lenin the time to concentrate on home issues. (Note : remember this treaty when looking at Versailles and how harsh Versailles appeared to be. Many thought that if the Germans were willing to hand it out, they should be willing to take similar punishment.)
2. The forces that were against Lenin in the civil war were never a united group. Each had its own reason for fighting the communists and the groups that fought the Reds never united into one large army. As such, the Red Army lead by Trotsky, could pick them off one by one. Also the communists held the 2 most important cities in Russia (Moscow and Petrograd) with all the main communication centres in them including rail lines etc. Trotsky also used ex-tsarist officers who had experience in leading men and fighting battles. Their skill was to prove invaluable and there were 50,000 of them. Trotsky was also a brilliant leader who instilled into his men a belief in what they were fighting for. Discipline was harsh. If a unit performed badly in battle, its leader was shot and the men sent to prison. The Reds also treated the people very well - they were ordered to do this - while the Whites frequently abused those who lived in areas that they were in. The Reds were usually seen as liberators when they advanced to an area where the Whites had been. The peasants were also promised land by the Reds while the Whites promised to restore land back to its original owner.
Using these tactics of picking off one White army and winning the support of the people, the Reds claimed victory in 1921. With the Whites out of Russia or dead, Lenin now had Russia under his control.
Any problems were dealt with by the Cheka - the feared communist secret police. They had used what was known as the Red Terror during the civil war to keep people in order. To survive during the civil war, Lenin introduced War Communism. What was this?
In the factories, the government took complete control. The workers who had been given to right to run factories, had that right taken away. Managers ran them and discipline was strict. Food was rationed. Workers and soldiers received the most while civil servants received little. The workers had to do what the government said they had to - just as in the days of the tsar! In the countryside, the Cheka was sent out to take food from the peasant farmers. Anybody found keeping food from others was shot. The peasants responded by producing food only for themselves and so the cities were more short of food than before. Life under Lenin appeared to be worse than under Nicholas II!
The civil war had devastated Russia’s economy. People survived by doing whatever they could - there was a great increase in robberies and law and order was on the verge of breaking down. Agriculture had been ruined by the war and in 1921, after a drought, there was a terrible famine. Five million people died as a result of this. Cannibalism was common amongst those who survived. Every part of industry was at a worse level than it had been in 1913: By 1921, opposition to Lenin had grown. The country was in a disastrous stare when compared to the state it had been in under the tsar. Workers formed themselves into Workers’ Opposition demanding a) higher wages b) more food and c) the return of workers control of industry. These were the same workers who had supported Lenin in 1917 !!
Also sailors at a base near Petrograd rose up against the communist government. The base was called Kronstadt. It needed 20,000 soldiers from the Red Army to put down the rising and those sailors who had surrendered were executed. This uprising deeply upset the government as sailors had always been seen as loyal supporters of the communists.
Lenin knew that he had to change the economy if he was to survive. In 1921, War Communism was scrapped and the New Economic Policy (NEP) was introduced. The NEP had 4 main features :
The taking of grain by the Cheka was stopped. The peasant farmers would have to give to the government a set amount of grain each year in tax but if they produced any extra they could sell it in the open market and make money. Traders could buy and sell. This had been illegal under War Communism. Small factories producing things which the people could buy but were not essential to life, were returned to their original owner. They could sell goods and make a profit. Larger factories producing essential items remained under the control of the government.
Did the NEP work? Russia was better off generally by 1928 when it ended but not by much. After the devastation of the First World War (1914 to 1918) and then the civil war (1918 to 1921), one would have expected the figures for industry to have improved but there were still major problems. Unemployment was high, crime was high, some peasants were rich but many were very poor. By 1926, Russia had reached production levels of 1914 but there were many problems still to solve.
Lenin died in 1924 of a stroke. Petrograd was renamed Leningrad in his honour - its third name change. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/russia_1918_to_1921.htm
There is little doubt that in the immediate aftermath of the October Revolution, the Bolshevik hold on power was by no means secure. Although there were 300,000 Bolshevik Party members, a large part of the population were apathetic towards the Bolshevik Party. The Bolsheviks controlled many major cities, but its presence in the countryside was limited. The Bolsheviks succeeded in gaining power in Petrograd not due to their own popularity, but largely due to the unpopularity of the Provisional Government. Despite the challenges he faced, over the next few years Lenin was able to consolidate his hold on power and establish a dictatorship that was to last until 1992.
Throughout 1917 Lenin promised the people of Russia ‘Peace, Land and Bread’. Almost immediately after coming power, Lenin signed the ‘Decree on Land’ which abolished private property and distributed the land among the peasants. At the same time, the ‘Decree on Peace’ stated Lenin’s intention for Russia to withdraw from WWI and seek a peace settlement with Germany. Lenin was aware that it was the Provisional Government’s unwillingness or inability to act on questions of land and peace that contributed to its unpopularity and allowed the Bolsheviks to take power so easily in October. Although the Bolsheviks had difficulty enforcing land reform, due in part to its limited presence in the countryside, and the fact that a number of Bolshevik leaders were not willing to capitulate to Germany, the decrees issued by the new Bolshevik government were a sign of Lenin’s awareness of the urgency of at least partially carrying out these promises.
One of Lenin’s first challenges after taking power was the fact of the Constituent Assembly elections. The Constituent Assembly was in theory to be the sovereign decision-making body in Russia and possessed more legitimacy than Lenin’s Council of the People’s Commissars. Lenin allowed the elections to take place, but it soon became clear that the Bolsheviks performed badly. Given their appeal both to the peasants and the workers, it was unsurprising that the SRs won the elections with over 40% of the vote and controlling a majority of the seats. This prompted Lenin to suppress the Constituent Assembly on the first day that it met - January 5, 1917. Although the representatives of the Constituent Assembly would form an alternative government in Samara, Lenin was able to consolidate his control of the Russian heartland, which was to prove vital for his prosecution of the Civil War.
In March 1918, Lenin signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk concluding peace with Germany. The peace terms were very harsh and amounted to a Russian capitulation in the war. A number of senior Bolsheviks opposed concluding a punitive and humiliating peace with the Germans, and Lenin had instructed Trotsky, in his post as Commissar for Foreign Affairs, to delay any agreement with Germany. However, the Germans were starting to become impatient and their armies were poised to launch a strike against Petrograd. Lenin therefore decided to come to terms with Germany, no matter how punitive. Lenin argued that signing the treaty was an act of necessity, “a step back in order to take two steps forwards.” Indeed, by making peace with Germany Lenin was able to concentrate his attention on his domestic opponents and consolidating power in Russia.
In order to eliminate his political opponents, in December 1917 Lenin established the Cheka as his secret police, headed by the Polish Communist Felix Dzerzhinsky. In the summer of 1918, Lenin launched the Red Terror in an effort to kill his political opponents. Around 6000 people died as a result of the Red Terror, the most prominent victims of which was the Romanov family. In June 1918 the tsar and his family were shot in the city of Ekaterinburg. Although official Soviet records state that the murder of the Romanovs was an arbitrary decision taken by local Communists during a period of political tension, the historical facts suggest that Lenin had ordered the execution of the former tsar and his family. Lenin was afraid that the tsar might be rescued by monarchists and be seen as a figurehead under whom Lenin’s opponents could rally. The efforts of the Cheka were not, however, fully effective. In August 1918 Lenin was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt by an SR terrorist, and the injuries that he sustained in the incident may have been responsible for health complications that culminated in his death in early 1924.
It goes without saying that a key part of Lenin’s consolidation of power was the victory of the Red Army over the White armies in the Civil War. The reasons for Bolshevik victory will be explained in greater detail at a later point, but largely stem from the geographical advantages of the Reds, together with the lack of co-ordination between the White armies. The Red Army controlled the Russian heartland, and crucially controlled the two biggest cities - Moscow (the new capital) and Petrograd. Transport and communications infrastructure was at its most advanced and extensive in this area, and this facilitated the movement of troops and supplies across the country. The Red Army was opposed by forces led by Admiral Kolchak in the east, General Anton Denikin from the south, and a small force under General Nikolai Yudenich in the south-west. However White attacks were uncoordinated, allowing the Red Army to defeat each army separately. By 1920 the Bolsheviks had gained control of a large part of the country, and by 1921 the Red Army successfully forced the remaining Whites out of the Crimea.
Despite the Civil War coming to an end in 1921, Lenin was confronted with a series of crises in 1921 that threatened the government. Peasant uprisings were taking place throughout the country, as the threat from the Whites was eliminated, the peasants no longer supported the Bolsheviks. Nestor Makhno’s Green Army outlasted the Whites and continued fighting the Red Army. Strikes had also intensified in the towns and cities as the war effort caused serious shortages of necessity goods. The situation seemed to recall the last days of tsarist Russia in 1917. More embarrassing for Lenin, his party was divided and there was a major mutiny against the Bolsheviks at the Kronstadt naval base. The Kronstadt sailors had played a key role in the October Revolution and were considered by Lenin as revolutionary heroes. The fact that the Kronstadt sailors had openly defied the Bolshevik regime made Lenin aware that a change of policy was required.
Lenin responded by using force on one hand, and offering concessions on the other. In March 1921 Lenin sent detachments of the Red Army to suppress the Kronstadt Mutiny. On March 16, 50,000 troops advanced across the ice towards the naval base, accompanied by bombing from the air. Faced with such overwhelming firepower the Kronstadt sailors surrendered, although the Red Army had suffered losses numbering 10,000. Any remaining rebels were either sent to Siberia or brutally executed. Furthermore, Lenin ordered the suppression of peasant revolts across the countryside, as the Red Army unleashed mass terror on villages and provincial towns. Makhno finally gave up the struggle in August 1921 and fled to Romania.
However, during the Tenth Party Congress, held simultaneously to the assault on Kronstadt, Lenin announced his New Economic Policy (NEP). The NEP reversed the policy of ‘War Communism’ which had been in place during the Civil War. It allowed the return of a limited free market where peasants were able to trade and exchange goods. Furthermore, the requisitioning of grain was abandoned in favour of a tax, which was at a much lower rate than the quotas that had been in place under War Communism. The NEP was successful in allowing the Russian economy to recover and thus allow Lenin some extra breathing space. Although kulaks and NEP men (traders and merchants who profited from the NEP) made substantial profits, for which Lenin was criticised by members of his party, Lenin did not believe that the NEP would lead to a return of a capitalist system as the ‘commanding heights’ of the economy (banks, transport, heavy industry) remained under state control.
In March 1921 Lenin also faced opposition from his own party in the form of the Democratic Centralists and the Workers’ Opposition. The Democratic Centralists believed that the Bolshevik state was being bureaucratised and believed that grassroots members of the party should have a greater influence on party policy. The Workers’ Opposition, led by Alexander Shlyapnikov and Alexandra Kollontai, sought to defend trade union rights against what they thought was the militarisation of labour under Trotsky’s ideas. In the Tenth Party Congress Lenin announced the Ban on Factions. Lenin stressed the importance of party unity and assumed an even greater hold over the party. Nobody could question the leadership without being charged with factionalism and potentially being excluded from the party. As a result, Lenin was able to maintain both his position as Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars, as well as Bolshevik power. Lenin was aware that a disunited party result in a collapse of political authority.
Lenin also was keenly aware of the ‘nationalities problem’. The Bolsheviks had come to power promising greater autonomy for the ethnic minorities that lived within the Russian Empire. However, Lenin was reluctant to grant full independence, given that areas such as the Ukraine were of great economic importance to the Russian state. Furthermore, in 1920-21 Lenin had sought to bring about revolution in Europe via a successful invasion of Poland. Although the Russo-Polish War had resulted in defeat for the Red Army, Lenin signalled his intention to keep as much land as possible under communist control. The solution Lenin arrived at was the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The USSR was established in 1922, and was to comprise of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics which were in theory autonomous. Local cultural practices were permitted and local languages were taught in schools. Although in reality the Russian Socialist Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) directed proceedings from Moscow, the arrangement allowed the minorities far greater rights than those they enjoyed under the Russian Empire.
It is possible to say that by 1922, Lenin had managed to consolidate power in Soviet Russia and had virtually eliminated opposition to Bolshevik rule. Indeed, even though Lenin’s incapacity and death in January 1924 was to lead to a leadership contest which was not resolved until 1930, Communist power was never in any doubt. It is clear, therefore, that Lenin’s greatest success came not in seizing power in October 1917, but in maintaining and consolidating his power and overcoming a number of challenges to the Communist Party’s hold on power. It can be seen that Lenin was skilful in adopting a range of policies, some conciliatory and concessionary, others forceful and repressive. Lenin’s two major concessions came in the form of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and the introduction of the New Economic Policy, whereas he was shown to be ruthless in the suppression of peasant uprisings and the assault on the Kronstadt naval base. Above all, Lenin was pragmatic, being aware of the threats to his power and being able to come up with effective responses. Lenin’s efforts between 1917 and 1922 attest to his political genius, even if he was seen to be tyrannical and dictatorial. These traits would be more readily found in his successor, Josef Stalin.
Why did the Reds win the Russian Civil War? http://historyrevision.wordpress.com/
Soon after the Bolshevik seizure of power, right-wing groups began to join together to oppose Lenin’s new government. Although there were disturbances throughout 1918, most notably the revolt of the Czech Legion in June 1918, it was only in 1919 when these groups, known to history as the White armies, gathered enough strength in order to confront the Bolsheviks. The three main White armies consisted of Admiral Alexander Kolchak’s troops which controlled large parts of eastern Russia, General Anton Denikin’s forces based in southern Russia, and a small force led by General Nikolai Yudenich which was based in the southwest, threatening Petrograd. Although the White armies were to enjoy success and conquer large parts of Russia, ultimately they were defeated by the Red Army.
One of the main reasons for the Bolshevik victory was the lack of coordination among the White armies. In November 1918, Admiral Kolchak’s forces had taken control of Samara and took over the government which had been set up by the SRs and the Mensheviks. Kolchak subsequently adopted the title ‘Supreme Ruler’, which was later recognised by the other White generals. Indeed, by 1919 all three White armies were ready to launch major offensives against the Bolsheviks. However, although Kolchak was able to drive westwards and take a significant amount of land in the east, by April 1919 the Red Army launched a successful counter-offensive which drove Kolchak’s forces back into Siberia. Four months later, Denikin’s forces launched a major offensive on a wide front which penetrated within 150 miles of Moscow, but Yudenich’s army only attacked Petrograd in October, when the Red Army began to resist Denikin’s offensive. Although Lenin had considered abandoning Petrograd in order to save Moscow, Semyon Budyonny’s cavalry successfully pushed Denikin’s forces southwards, and soon afterwards Yudenich was also forced to withdraw.
In addition to the lack of operational co-ordination between the three White armies, political differences also weakened the Whites’ ability to fight effectively. Not only were there differences between the three main commanders, though Kolchak was nominally at the head of the White Army, but the Whites as a whole included men of varying political opinions. Although the Whites are traditionally portrayed as conservatives who hoped to restore the tsarist social order, there were also members of the socialist parties which Lenin had suppressed. The White armies were a loose coalition of men who opposed the Bolshevik government, and on many occasions this coalition came close to breaking down, undermining the Whites’ war effort.
Much of the credit for the Bolshevik victory has been given to the efforts of Leon Trotsky in his capacity as War Commissar. After the end of the First World War, the Bolsheviks believed that a permanent army was superfluous to the needs of the new government. Instead, workers and peasants would take up arms in order to defend the motherland. However, it was soon realised that with the growing threat from the White armies, it was necessary to have an effective and well-trained army. The task of creating the Red Army was given to Trotsky, who restored a system of ranks to create incentives, and with the assistance of former Imperial generals drilled the army to become a disciplined and effective fighting force. Even though poor conditions in the army meant that desertions were not uncommon, on the whole the Red Army was more disciplined than the White Army.
A key part of the Bolshevik victory lay in geography. Although the Reds controlled a comparatively small area of Russia, the area they controlled was the Russian heartland, encompassing the two capitals, Moscow and Petrograd. The Bolsheviks also controlled more than 80% of the Russian population. This was a decisive advantage and enabled greater number of troops to be deployed and supplied. It is estimated that the combined strength of the White armies never exceeded 500,000. On the other hand, by 1921 the Red Army numbered 2 million men. The fact that the Reds controlled the major industrial centres also enabled it to supply the soldiers at the front more effectively than the Whites were able to. For example, Denikin’s forces made great progress across a wide front, but the swiftness of the advance meant that supply lines were overstretched and the army had great difficulty in advancing further towards Moscow. The Reds, on the other hand, controlled most of Russia’s railways and were able to transport troops and supplies rapidly between their bases and the front line. The very fact that the three White armies were geographically separated by hundreds of miles also made coordination difficult. Although Lenin’s policy of War Communism (involving nationalisation of the economy and forcible requisitioning from peasants) is said to have caused a great deal of suffering throughout the country, some historians argue that this enabled Lenin to direct the necessary economic resources for the war effort.
On the whole, the Bolsheviks were more successful than their White adversaries in winning political support from the localities. Even though the majority of peasants resented both sides, they largely supported the Reds since the Bolsheviks offered more than the Whites offered. The Whites championed aristocratic government and Russian nationalism, yet the White armies largely operated in rural areas where there were a majority of non-Russians. The Whites were unwilling to seek cooperation with the locals, while the Red Army was keen to portray itself as defending Russia against tyranny. The key example of the Whites’ failure to seek an agreement with ethnic minorities occurred in the 1920-21 Polish-Soviet War. By 1920 large parts of the White armies had been defeated but a small force remained in the south under Denikin’s successor Baron Pyotr Wrangel. In 1920 Soviet Russia decided to invade Poland with the hope of encouraging revolutions across Europe. By 1921, however, after Poland successfully defended Warsaw, the Soviets suffered a number of setbacks and the President of Poland, Marshal Josef Pilsudski, decided to push eastwards into Russia. Pilsudski sought an agreement with Wrangel directed against the Red Army, but Wrangel was unwilling to grant concessions to the Poles.
Another reason for the Red victory was the relative lack of foreign intervention in favour of the Whites’. After 1917, British, Japanese, American and French troops were sent into Russia aiming to overthrow the Bolshevik government and allow Russia to re-enter the war against Germany. After the war ended, however, the nature of the task changed, and Western governments were keen to overthrow Lenin, seeing communism as a threat to traditional western ideals. The Japanese stayed in Russia largely due to Japan’s own desires on Russian territory. However, the extent of foreign intervention was never significant, British presence largely being confined to Archangel’sk and supplying resources to the White armies. Furthermore, after a war that had lasted four long years, public opinion called for the withdrawal of troops from conflict. As a result, the degree of foreign intervention was never sufficient in order to prevent the Bolsheviks winning the Civil War. Despite this, it is true that foreign intervention prolonged the war and prevented the Reds from achieving a swift victory.
The reasons for the Bolshevik victory in the Russian Civil War can be explained in part by White weaknesses, in political terms and in terms of military strategy, as well as the lack of foreign intervention. More significantly, however, was the great advantages enjoyed by the Red Army. This derived from Trotsky’s organisational successes in training and supplying an effective fighting force, together with Russia’s geographical position which allowed the Bolsheviks to exploit significant amounts of human and economic resources in the prosecution of the Civil War, as well as the advantages in transport and communications infrastructure that resulted from such a geographical position. There is no doubt that even if the soldiers in the White armies were better trained and fought more effectively, only the Reds controlled the resources that were necessary to fight such a war.
The Cheka
The Cheka was used by Vladimir Lenin to consolidate his power after the November 1917 Revolution. The Cheka was the first of numerous Soviet government apparatuses created to control the people – others being later organisations such as the OGPU and the KGB. Because of the very long formal titles that these organisations had, many had nicknames by which they have eventually become known. Formally the Cheka was the ‘All-Russian Emergency Commission for Combatting Counter-Revolution and Sabotage’.
The Russian Civil War had made it clear that not everyone in what was to become the USSR favoured Lenin and the Bolsheviks being in power. The main task of the Cheka was to hunt out what became known as “enemies of the state” and to deal with them. This led to what became known as the “Red Terror”. While in theory the Cheka had to operate by the letter of the law, this was not the case and such was its power that no one could do anything about it if they were arrested for being an ‘enemy of the state’. The Cheka became judge, jury and invariably executioner. In 1929 a former member of the Cheka stated that he believed that it had executed 50,000 people.
The Cheka was created by emergency decree on December 20th 1917 and its first leader was Felix Dzerzhinsky and its headquarters were in Petrograd / St. Petersburg. Within a year, Cheka operatives could be found throughout Russia and their purpose was simple: to hunt out ‘enemies of the state’. In 1921, there were at least 200,000 Cheka members. Most of them were Bolsheviks but in 1918 a few Socialist Revolutionaries were allowed to join though they were all arrested in 1918 as a result of an attempted murder of Lenin. Their remit covered just about every aspect of life in Russia, including hunting for thousands of army deserters and people who hoarded food while others starved. Eventually Cheka units were also given control of border security. The organisation of the Cheka also constantly evolved to reflect the complicated day-to-day life in post-revolution Russia.
In its first days the Cheka was given a code of conduct to work by from the All-Russian Central Committee; suspected counter-revolutionaries could be initially interrogated but had to be handed over to the revolutionary tribunals. Cheka members could only participate in a “preliminary investigation”. However, these were never enforced and the Cheka usually dealt with suspects in their own manner and failed to hand them over to any other authority such was the perceived threat of counter-revolutionaries in Russia and also the belief that any other method wasted time which could be better spent hunting out even more ‘enemies of the state’.
Such was the importance of railways to Russia that the Cheka was also ordered to look after these to ensure that counter-revolutionaries were not undermining this aspect of Russian society.
The Cheka hierarchy had given itself a list of those it should suspect as being ‘enemies of the state’. Clearly anyone who had fought for the Whites during the civil war was high on their list as were former officers in the Imperial Army. Also anyone who owned property valued at 10,000 roubles or more was on the list. They also had the full support of Lenin himself who wanted the swift round-up of ‘enemies of the people’. This support meant that there was little to stop the Cheka becoming an immensely powerful organisation that answered to few people. If anyone from on high questioned what they were doing, the answer they got was simple: ‘we did it for the people’. Such an approach continued to bring support from Lenin and with this any reproach was minimal. For example, 800 people were arrested in the Spring of 1918 in Petrograd and shot without having been put on trial – the Cheka being judge, jury and executioner. Lenin was told that the arrested were class enemies and with Lenin on their side, no one was willing to question what the Cheka did. In fact some of the 800 had been arrested and shot simply because of their religious beliefs. On September 5th 1918, the Cheka started what became known as the ‘Red Terror’. The rationale for this was yet another failed attempt on Lenin’s life. No one is sure how many were killed by the Cheka during the ‘Red Terror’ and the figures vary widely from 3,000 to 8,000.
On February 6th 1922 the Cheka was formally renamed by the Soviet government and became the GPU, part of the NKVD. Though its name may have changed it still had the same chief, Dzerzhinsky. He remained in power until his death in 1926.
War Communism
War Communism was the name given to the economic system that existed in Russia from 1918 to 1921. War Communism was introduced by Lenin to combat the economic problems brought on by the civil war in Russia. It was a combination of emergency measures and socialist dogma.
One of the first measures of War Communism was the nationalisation of land. Banks and shipping were also nationalised and foreign trade was declared a state monopoly. This was the response when Lenin realised that the Bolsheviks were simply unprepared to take over the whole economic system of Russia. Lenin stressed the importance of the workers showing discipline and a will to work hard if the revolution was to survive. There were those in the Bolshevik hierarchy who wanted factory managers removed and the workers to take over the factories for themselves but on behalf of the people. It was felt that the workers would work better if they believed they were working for a cause as opposed to a system that made some rich but many poor. The civil war had made many in the Bolsheviks even more class antagonistic, as there were many of the old guard who were fighting to destroy the Bolsheviks.
On June 28th, 1918, a decree was passed that ended all forms of private capitalism. Many large factories were taken over by the state and on November 29th, 1920, any factory/industry that employed over 10 workers was nationalised.
War Communism also took control of the distribution of food. The Food Commissariat was set up to carry out this task. All co-operatives were fused together under this Commissariat
War Communism had six principles:
1) Production should be run by the state. Private ownership should be kept to the minimum. Private houses were to be confiscated by the state.
2) State control was to be granted over the labour of every citizen. Once a military army had served its purpose, it would become a labour army.
3) The state should produce everything in its own undertakings. The state tried to control the activities of millions of peasants.
4) Extreme centralisation was introduced. The economic life of the area controlled by the Bolsheviks was put into the hands of just a few organisations. The most important one was the Supreme Economic Council. This had the right to confiscate and requisition. The speciality of the SEC was the management of industry. Over 40 head departments (known as glavki) were set up to accomplish this. One glavki could be responsible for thousands of factories. This frequently resulted in chronic inefficiency. The Commissariat of Transport controlled the railways. The Commissariat of Agriculture controlled what the peasants did.
5) The state attempted to become the soul distributor as well as the sole producer. The Commissariats took what they needed to meet demands. The people were divided into four categories – manual workers in harmful trades, workers who performed hard physical labour, workers in light tasks/housewives and professional people. Food was distributed on a 4:3:2:1 ratio. Though the manual class was the favoured class, it still received little food. Many in the professional class simply starved. It is believed that about 0% of all food consumed came from an illegal source. On July 20th 1918, the Bolsheviks decided that all surplus food had to be surrendered to the state. This led to an increase in the supply of grain to the state. From 1917 to 1928, about ¾ million ton was collected by the state. In 1920 to 1921, this had risen to about 6 million tons. However, the policy of having to hand over surplus food caused huge resentment in the countryside, especially as Lenin had promised “all land to the people” pre-November 1917. While the peasants had the land, they had not been made aware that they would have to hand over any extra food they produced from their land. Even the extra could not meet demand. In 1933, 25 million tons of grain was collected and this only just met demand.
6) War Communism attempted to abolish money as a means of exchange. The Bolsheviks wanted to go over to a system of a natural economy in which all transactions were carried out in kind. Effectively, bartering would be introduced. By 1921, the value of the rouble had dropped massively and inflation had markedly increased. The government’s revenue raising ability was chronically poor, as it had abolished most taxes. The only tax allowed was the ‘Extraordinary Revolutionary Tax’, which was targeted at the rich and not the workers.
War Communism was a disaster. In all areas, the economic strength of Russia fell below the 1914 level. Peasant farmers only grew for themselves, as they knew that any extra would be taken by the state. Therefore, the industrial cities were starved of food despite the introduction of the 4:3:2:1 ratio. A bad harvest could be disastrous for the countryside – and even worse for cities. Malnutrition was common, as was disease. Those in the cities believed that their only hope was to move out to the countryside and grow food for themselves. Between 1916 and 1920, the cities of northern and central Russia lost 33% of their population to the countryside. Under War Communism, the number of those working in the factories and mines dropped by 50%.
In the cities, private trade was illegal, but more people were engaged in this than at any other time in Russia’s history. Large factories became paralysed through lack of fuel and skilled labour.
Small factories were in 1920 producing just 43% of their 1913 total. Large factories were producing 18% of their 1913 figure. Coal production was at 27% of its 1913 figure in 1920. With little food to nourish them, it could not be expected that the workers could work effectively. By 1920, the average worker had a productivity rate that was 44% less than the 1913 figure.
Even if anything of value could be produced, the ability to move it around Russia was limited. By the end of 1918, Russia’s rail system was in chaos.
In the countryside, most land was used for the growth of food. Crops such as flax and cotton simply were not grown. Between 1913 and 1920, there was an 87% drop in the number of acres given over to cotton production. Therefore, those factories producing cotton related products were starved of the most basic commodity they needed.
How did the people react to War Communism? Within the cities, many were convinced that their leaders were right and the failings being experienced were the fault of the Whites and international capitalists. There were few strikes during War Communism – though Lenin was quick to have anyone arrested who seemed to be a potential cause of trouble. Those in Bolshevik held territory were also keen to see a Bolshevik victory in the civil war, so they were prepared to do what was necessary. The alternate – a White victory – was unthinkable.
Also the Bolshevik hierarchy could blame a lot of Russia’s troubles on the Whites as they controlled the areas, which would have supplied the factories with produce. The Urals provided Petrograd and Tula with coal and iron for their factories. The Urals was completely separated from Bolshevik Russia from the spring of 1918 to November 1919. Oil fields were in the hands of the Whites. Also the Bolshevik’s Red Army took up the majority of whatever supplies there were in their fight against the Whites.
No foreign country was prepared to trade with the Russia controlled by the Bolsheviks, so foreign trade ceased to exist. Between 1918 and November 1920, the Allies formally blockaded Russia.
The harshness of War Communism could be justified whilst the civil war was going on. When it had finished, there could be no such justification. There were violent rebellions in Tambov and in Siberia. The sailors in Kronstadt mutinied. Lenin faced the very real risk of an uprising of workers and peasants and he needed to show the type of approach to the problem that the tsarist regime was incapable of doing. In February 1921, Lenin had decided to do away with War Communism and replace it with a completely different system – the New Economic Policy. This was put to the 10th Party Conference in March and accepted. War Communism was swept away. During War Communism, the people had no incentive to produce as money had been abolished. They did what needed to be done because of the civil war, but once this had ended Lenin could not use it as an excuse any longer.
New Economic Policy
The New Economic Policy (NEP) was introduced to replace the failed policy of War Communism. The NEP advanced with almost a capitalist approach to economic growth. Wages were paid in cash not kind and surplus staff was dismissed. Under War Communism, Lenin employed the communist belief that everybody had the right to a job and people were employed regardless of whether they were actually needed or not. The NEP brought some form of economic sense back to Russia’s economy. Trade was to operate on an economic and commercial accounting basis. Industry was divided into ‘trusts’, which controlled various ‘enterprises’. In the first stages of NEP, theoretical restrictions were placed on a firm’s freedom to buy and sell but by 1922, these limits were dropped and profit-making became the main aim of those in industry. No industry was obligated to supply the state and, as Lenin had commented, the Communists had to learn how to trade.
However, the NEP did not totally solve Russia’s economic problems. The disaster that had been World War One and the tribulations of the civil war and War Communism had devastated the economy. Any sustained advances in the economy would take centuries. Factories, freed from the shackles of War Communism, did start to produce goods but few had the money to buy them. As workers could be dismissed, unemployment started to grow. Lenin allowed industry bosses to use foreign capital – but few countries were brave enough to invest in the fledgling communist state. Therefore, money was earned from exporting produce that could not be sold in Russia. The export of grain and coal helped to kick-start Russia’s economy and by 1924-25, Russia’s imports were nine times higher than the 1921-22 level. Though this would seem a major achievement in just three years, the 1921-22 figure was so small that the increase is not as spectacular as would first appear.
However, an expanding economy needed a decent transport system. The civil war had decimated Russia’s rail system. In 1921, 50% of Russia’s trains were off the tracks due to a lack of repairs and the skilled men needed to repair them. A huge effort was needed to build up the rail system and by the end of 1923, the rail system carried 45% more passengers and 59% more goods than two years earlier. By the end of 1927, the number of people/goods carried by trains passed the 1913 figure. If advances were made in the rail system, roads remained massively backward with transport being almost wholly based on horse and cart.
The NEP also needed a stable currency and this was difficult to achieve after such huge economic dislocation in such a short space of time. The rouble of 1922 had an inflationary value of 60,000 over the 1913 figure – and the 1922 budget was based on the pre-war rouble. The rouble was discredited and associated with the old regime. Therefore, a new currency was needed, and a decision to do this took place in July 1922. It was to be called the chervonets. By 1923, the paper rouble became worthless. Because the new economy was backed by gold, the demand for the chervonets was high and it became the sole currency in February 1924. The task of moving Russia over to a new currency was handed over to the State Bank. Such was the move to this new currency, that the state had a financial budget surplus at the end of 1925. This was a major achievement – but as with anything in Russia, it did disguise problems. Many financial transactions in rural areas were still done in a form of bartering as the economic modernisation being witnessed in the cities had yet to fully transfer itself to the countryside. This imbalance was to lead to a major economic problem – the so-called ‘Scissors Crisis’.
The Scissors Crisis started in October 1923 when industrial prices were three times higher than agricultural prices. The incentive to produce more food in the countryside had led to much higher production. With so much food around, prices for farm produce fell when compared to industrial prices as industry, by the very nature of it, took longer to recover (the re-building of factories/equipment etc). Compared to the countryside, costs in industry were high. As farming was still based around physical labour, there was never a shortage of workers in the countryside. Equipment remained primitive and cheap. However, the farmers were producing in quantity. Their produce was food, primarily grain, as they knew that this could be sold in the cities – and the driving force was legally to make a profit. Industries based on cotton found that they were starved of their most basic raw material as the farmers knew that food was a much better bet to grow. The government could not allow the cities to get hungry again. Therefore, the government became the principle purchaser of food but they used their position to force down the price that the farmers wanted. With less money, the farmers had less capital to buy products from the cities. The government responded to this by forcing down the prices of manufacturing produce and decrees were issued that controlled prices. Government interference in the economy was never far away.
The NEP transformed agriculture. War Communism had taken away any incentive to produce as the state requisitioned all surplus food. NEP brought back the incentive to farm productively as surplus food could be sold and profits were taxes. The introduction of a food tax – prodnalog – was a simple recognition that the food produced equalled private property. If it was anything else, how could it be taxed?
After 1917-18, land was reapportioned. The huge estates of Nicholas II’s reign were now divided up. By 1927, there were 25 million peasant holdings in Russia (98.3% of all farmed land) and given decent weather, many of these holdings, post-War Communism, made a reasonable living. The extremes of poverty and riches in the countryside had diminished.
However, farming was still relatively backward and many peasant communities used strip farming and the three-field system. Modern crop rotation was rarely used and even by 1928, 5.5 million households still used the sokha – a wooden plough. Therefore, while the production of food increased greatly, it could have been so much better. The most powerful of the peasants were the wealthier kulaks who made extra money by selling their surplus seed to the poorer peasants in times of need.
Lenin saw the way ahead for the peasants as mechanisation. This would increase food production and stimulate industrial production in the factories. Above all else, Lenin wanted to restore agriculture to pre-war levels so that it recovered from the devastation caused by two wars. In this he was very successful.
In 1913, the area of sown land was 105 million hectares. By 1922, this had dropped to 77.7 million hectares but by 1925 had recovered to 104.3 million hectares.
In 1913, the number of horses on farms was 35.5 million. By 1922, this had dropped to 24.1 million but by 1925, the number of horses stood at 27.1 million.
In 1913, the number of pigs on farms was 20.3 million. By 1922, this had dropped to 12 million but by 1925, the number of horses stood at 21.8 million.
In 1913, the amount of grain grown was 80 million tons. By 1922, it had risen to 50.3 million tons and by 1925, the figure stood at 72.5 million tons. The government bought 75% of this. What could be exported was, but this figure declined as the 1920’s advanced as Lenin and his successors wanted the cities fed. The government hoped to get the perfect solution – the peasants had their produce bought and the city workers were able to feed themselves.
Can the NEP be classed as a success? Compared to the disaster of War Communism, it was. Compared to the utter economic dislocation caused by World War One, it can also be seen as a success. There were many major problems to address post-1918. The NEP had started to do just this by the late 1920’s. There were still many more problems to solve and Stalin attempted to do this with collectivisation.
Russia 1918 to 1921
Russia by 1918 appeared to be in the hands of the communists (the Bolshevik Party) led by Lenin. The Provisional Government had been overthrown and the Bolsheviks had appeared to have gained power in Russia and that the country’s problems seemed to be over. In fact, those problems had only just begun.
Lenin controlled just a strip of land that ran form Petrograd to Moscow. He did not control any other area in this vast country. There were also many people who hated the thought of communists having control over them. There were also many who wanted the tsar back in power. All the groups that opposed Lenin were called the Whites. A civil war broke out in Russia with the Whites fighting to get rid of the Reds - the Communists. Russia was also still in World War One.
Lenin's problems = limited control of Russian territory many groups against his rule still in World War One
By 1921, Lenin had come through all of these problems and was the head of a communist government in Russia. How did this come about?
1. He pulled Russia out of the war with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed in March 1918. This was a cruel treaty which the Russians had to sign. Trotsky was given the task of negotiating with the Germans. Russia was to loose a great deal of land which included 60 million people to the Germans. The land also included 25% of her farming land and 75% of her iron ore and coal deposits. But the treaty got Russia out of the war and allowed Lenin the time to concentrate on home issues. (Note : remember this treaty when looking at Versailles and how harsh Versailles appeared to be. Many thought that if the Germans were willing to hand it out, they should be willing to take similar punishment.)
2. The forces that were against Lenin in the civil war were never a united group. Each had its own reason for fighting the communists and the groups that fought the Reds never united into one large army. As such, the Red Army lead by Trotsky, could pick them off one by one. Also the communists held the 2 most important cities in Russia (Moscow and Petrograd) with all the main communication centres in them including rail lines etc. Trotsky also used ex-tsarist officers who had experience in leading men and fighting battles. Their skill was to prove invaluable and there were 50,000 of them. Trotsky was also a brilliant leader who instilled into his men a belief in what they were fighting for. Discipline was harsh. If a unit performed badly in battle, its leader was shot and the men sent to prison. The Reds also treated the people very well - they were ordered to do this - while the Whites frequently abused those who lived in areas that they were in. The Reds were usually seen as liberators when they advanced to an area where the Whites had been. The peasants were also promised land by the Reds while the Whites promised to restore land back to its original owner.
Using these tactics of picking off one White army and winning the support of the people, the Reds claimed victory in 1921. With the Whites out of Russia or dead, Lenin now had Russia under his control.
Any problems were dealt with by the Cheka - the feared communist secret police. They had used what was known as the Red Terror during the civil war to keep people in order. To survive during the civil war, Lenin introduced War Communism. What was this?
In the factories, the government took complete control. The workers who had been given to right to run factories, had that right taken away. Managers ran them and discipline was strict. Food was rationed. Workers and soldiers received the most while civil servants received little. The workers had to do what the government said they had to - just as in the days of the tsar! In the countryside, the Cheka was sent out to take food from the peasant farmers. Anybody found keeping food from others was shot. The peasants responded by producing food only for themselves and so the cities were more short of food than before. Life under Lenin appeared to be worse than under Nicholas II!
The civil war had devastated Russia’s economy. People survived by doing whatever they could - there was a great increase in robberies and law and order was on the verge of breaking down. Agriculture had been ruined by the war and in 1921, after a drought, there was a terrible famine. Five million people died as a result of this. Cannibalism was common amongst those who survived. Every part of industry was at a worse level than it had been in 1913: By 1921, opposition to Lenin had grown. The country was in a disastrous stare when compared to the state it had been in under the tsar. Workers formed themselves into Workers’ Opposition demanding a) higher wages b) more food and c) the return of workers control of industry. These were the same workers who had supported Lenin in 1917 !!
Also sailors at a base near Petrograd rose up against the communist government. The base was called Kronstadt. It needed 20,000 soldiers from the Red Army to put down the rising and those sailors who had surrendered were executed. This uprising deeply upset the government as sailors had always been seen as loyal supporters of the communists.
Lenin knew that he had to change the economy if he was to survive. In 1921, War Communism was scrapped and the New Economic Policy (NEP) was introduced. The NEP had 4 main features :
The taking of grain by the Cheka was stopped. The peasant farmers would have to give to the government a set amount of grain each year in tax but if they produced any extra they could sell it in the open market and make money. Traders could buy and sell. This had been illegal under War Communism. Small factories producing things which the people could buy but were not essential to life, were returned to their original owner. They could sell goods and make a profit. Larger factories producing essential items remained under the control of the government.
Did the NEP work? Russia was better off generally by 1928 when it ended but not by much. After the devastation of the First World War (1914 to 1918) and then the civil war (1918 to 1921), one would have expected the figures for industry to have improved but there were still major problems. Unemployment was high, crime was high, some peasants were rich but many were very poor. By 1926, Russia had reached production levels of 1914 but there were many problems still to solve.
Lenin died in 1924 of a stroke. Petrograd was renamed Leningrad in his honour - its third name change. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/russia_1918_to_1921.htm
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