Highlight any five changes brought by Lenin after October revolution to make Russia a socialistic country .
Answers
(a) Weaknesses of opponents
The Social Revolutionaries in particular had suffered for years from bitter splits over such issues as the validity of terrorism, participation in the Duma and support for the Provisional Government. So it was no surprise that when the moment came they were deeply divided over whether they should participate in the new Bolshevik government. Ultimately, seven leftist Social Revolutionaries joined the government at the end of 1917 and helped to draft the decree which legitimised the seizure of the land by the peasants. This not only exacerbated the divisions in the party, but consolidated the position of the Bolsheviks in the countryside.
(b) Ruthlessness of Bolsheviks
The weaknesses of their opponents made it much easier for the Bolsheviks to crush them. In summer 1918 a failed rebellion by the SRs in Moscow and an assassination attempt on Lenin persuaded the Bolsheviks to unleash the ‘Red Terror’. This was presided over by the CHEKA, formed shortly after the October Revolution under the leadership of Dzerzhinsky (‘we stand for organised terror: this should be frankly stated’). Within months, membership of the Menshevik and SR parties had fallen by two-thirds. The following year, Victor Serge felt that the Soviet state had ‘reverted to the procedures of the Inquisition’ and by the time of Lenin’s death an estimated 250,000 opponents had been liquidated.
Military Opposition: Brest-Litovsk and Civil WarWhilst the Constituent Assembly undermined the regime’s political opponents, the peace treaty signed with Germany in March 1918 served to unite its military opponents. Upon seizing power, Lenin was determined to secure ‘peace at any price’: the war had already brought down the Tsar and the Provisional Government, and if the Bolshevik regime was not to go the same way then the war needed to end. Under the punitive Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Russia ceded Finland, the Baltic states and Poland – a million square kilometres of territory containing 80 per cent of her coal mines and 30 per cent of her population.
Even within the Bolshevik party, the treaty was deeply unpopular: Lenin secured its ratification by the Central Committee only by threatening his resignation, and even then by only a majority of one. Given the unpopularity of the treaty within the party, it is hardly surprising that it united anti-Bolshevik military forces. Three ‘White Army’ commanders posed a serious threat to the Bolshevik regime based around Moscow: Kolchak attacked from the East, Denikin from the South, and Yudenitch from the West. This movement, which had in total over 250,000 troops, was united by a hatred of the Bolsheviks and a desire to restart the war against Germany. This latter objective won them the support of Russia’s former allies, who invaded Russia themselves: Britain and France took control of Murmansk and Archangel in the North, whilst the Americans attacked from the Far East, helping Japan to take control of Vladivostok. At one stage, the Bolsheviks had lost control of almost three-quarters of Russia. However, by spring 1920 all three armies had been defeated and Lenin could finally turn his attention to rebuilding the Russian economy.
Causes of Bolshevik success(a) Personal unity
Although the Whites had a number of able generals, this advantage was offset by the fact that many of them (for example, Denikin and Kolchak) did not get on with each other and there was no effective overall leader to co-ordinate their efforts. The foreign powers too were divided: Lloyd George criticised both Churchill’s ‘obsession’ with the Civil War and the refusal of the French to commit resources to the campaign. In contrast, whilst the Reds had similar rivalries these were not as damaging because they had a recognised leader in Lenin.
(b) Ideological unity
The contrast between the fragmented Whites and the focused Reds was a result of ideology as much as personality: Red soldiers were not only twice as numerous as Whites, but were also united in a common cause. In contrast, the Whites had divided loyalties. Their patriotic rallying cry of ‘Russia: one and indivisible’ was both hopelessly vague and utterly unconvincing, given their reliance upon foreign aid, which was a propaganda disaster.