How Did the Bolsheviks Survive the Early Days?

Lily Jayne Senner
How did the Bolsheviks Survive the early days?

After the October Coup in 1917, the Bolshevik’s power as the government of Russia was not completely solidified. This was mainly due to the vast opposition that the Bolsheviks experienced from all over Russia along with other pressing issues such as food shortages, an exhausting war, and a crippled economy. Yet the Bolsheviks not only survived the early day‘s of empowerment but went on to rule Russia for the next 70 years. This essay will examine the factors that allowed the Bolsheviks to have such a sweeping success in ruling Russia.
A key factor that allowed Lenin and his party to dominate Russia was how the power was distributed throughout the government. The Bolsheviks created a system that took the form of a ‘pyramid of power’ this meant that the decisions and power sifted through all the political parties involved in the government finally leading up to the central committee; which was subjugated by the Bolsheviks. This meant that no matter what anyone else wanted if the Bolsheviks didn’t want to pass or agree with something, they didn’t have to; resulting in an extremely de facto government. The reason the Bolsheviks created this system how it was, is down to Lenin’s avid disbelief in democracy, Lenin favoured his ideal of democratic centralism, which invariable meant that he was in command and this ‘pyramid of power’ system suited Lenin’s desires. The fact that nobody else had such control of the government would have made it difficult for any change as they couldn’t get any alternative in the public domain as the Bolshevik system wouldn’t allow it, therefore any opposition that did exist wouldn’t be able to express their opinions and so the Bolsheviks were in a pretty secure position, thus able to survive the early days.
The Bolsheviks secure position as government was aided by the expulsion and banning of other political parties. This meant that all the authorities establishments were under the dictatorship of the Bolsheviks. This was exhibited by the Sovnarkom and the Secretariat which worked together to make the laws and to enforce them. This emphasised how the idea that Russia was now a socialist state is a complete fallacy, the matter of fact was that Russia was a one party state and thats how it remained for the next 70 years. This inevitably meant that the Bolsheviks were in complete control, no one could threaten them as they ran Russia and all its establishments.
Although the governmental system that the Bolsheviks introduced was a key component to their success, something that cannot be ignored was Lenin’s approach to being the leader which made him and his party a indestructible party. Lenin was extremely pragmatic; this made him malleable to Russia’s needs. A good example of this can be seen in how he quickly dealt with the pressing social and economic issues. This is shown well in his introduction of ‘state capitalism’. As a Marxist, Lenin didn’t have much to say on economic policy, but seeing as this was a major issue at the time, he promptly took inspiration from the previous policy’s to try and deal with the issue. This made him and his government seem as if they were really doing things as oppose to the provisional government who were thought to not have done much. This increased their support which they dearly needed to overcome the vast opposition. This helped to strengthen their position in power and made it more likely for them to be successful.
Lenin’s pragmatic approach is also clearly shown in his approach to the Land issue, which had been causing peasantry unsettlement since the emancipation of the serfs. Again being a Marxist, Lenin found himself at a loss when it came to land policy. And although marx passed of the peasantry as somewhat useless to revolution, Lenin was fully aware he could not ignore 4/5ths of the Russian population. This led Lenin to adopt an SR slogan “Land to the peasants” and introduce reforms that allowed the re distribution of land to those that could cultivate it, this not only pleased the peasants but everyone as it began to tackle the huge Food crisis; this led to the countryside swinging with the Bolsheviks. Lenin’s pragmatic stance allowed the Russian people to see him as an amiable leader which boosted the Bolshevik support, again stabilising their position at the top of Russia.
Lenin’s approach to being leader was not only of being pragmatic but also being undeniable ruthless. This was clearly shown in his creation of the cheka (the Bolshevik police). The Cheka’s key job was to destroy ‘counter-revolutionary’ activities, this is somewhat vague and therefore allowed the Bolsheviks to stretch this statement to whatever it wanted, this resulted in extreme political oppression; opposition was kept at bay and therefore no one could threat the success of the Bolsheviks as government. Lenin’s ruthlessness can also be exhibited by the dissolution of the constituent assembly, this basically meant that Russian was rid of all other progressive parties. Lenin was not a democrat, he was a revolutionary; he dealt with opposition, not with negotiation but by brutally crushing them. This was shown well when Lenin dissolved the constituent assembly by holding the opposing at gunpoint with the red army. Lenin’s ruthlessness allowed him to assert himself above the other less ‘extreme’ parties, this meant that they simply could not challenge the Bolsheviks and so Lenin became leader of Russia.
It was now established that no other party or organisation had any real threat to bring down the Bolsheviks with, the only challenge Lenin had to overcome was the possibility of internal splits within the Bolsheviks. This was predominantly a threat when it came to the decisions over the war issue and the treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Lenin wanted to end the war immediately, this was because he saw no point in continuing a devastating war that wouldn’t affect them to badly if they lost anyway. Whereas Trotsky wanted a slower approach to ending the war, this is shown by his statement “neither peace, nor war”. This disagreement between the two leaders of the Bolsheviks really shows how split the party was on the war issue, which could have been disastrous for the party if luck hadn’t been on Lenins side. When the Germans proposed the terms of the Brest - Litovsk treaty, many of the Bolsheviks opposed signing as it consisted of hugely embarrassing terms for Russia, Lenin had to work very hard to get the majority of the Bolsheviks to agree to sign it, and when he finally did there was uproar. The Left Communists completely opposed even pulling out of the war as they felt it was a strong revolutionary component, and Lenin was heavily criticised. This was a crucial time for the Bolsheviks, their success as government depended entirely on what happened next. Luckily for Lenin the war tides changed; Germanys western front completely collapsed and they withdrew nearly all of their troops out of Russia, this meant that the terms of the Brest- Litovsk Treaty didn’t affect Russia at all. This crushed all internal opposition towards Lenin and he seemed hugely superior. This made the Bolsheviks an unstoppable, united force with no inkling of weakness resulting in their profound success in taking power over the Russian Empire. Overall i feel that everything the Bolsheviks did to maximise their chances of survival in the early days contributed to their successfulness, however i think that the key factor that allowed them to be fully in control was how united the Bolshevik party was after the Brest-Litovsk Treaty incident as it meant that they all understood what had to be done, metaphorically the Bolshevik party was a well oiled machine that worked efficiently as nothing opposed the decisions being made.