Access the Methods Used by Either Peron or Lenin to Maintain His Position as Ruler of a Single Party State

After the February revolution on 1917 which saw the abdication of the Tsar, Russia was in turmoil. It had gone (in a matter of days) from being one of the most

The treaty of Brest Litovsk was a peace treaty signed on march the 3rd 1918. Between the Central powers and the Bolshevik Government, the bolsheviks had to sign the humiliating peace treaty which brought the end of the war between Russia and Germany. This did bring the end of wold war.

The Civil war was vital to the consolidation of power however it was only possible through the execution of War communism. War communism was an economic policy the Bolsheviks had created to meet the demands of war from 1918-1921. It forced manpower to either be directed to the Red Army or to the industry. It also confiscated all grain and food and allocated it to where it would be most productivity towards the war effort. The implementation of War Communism enabled the Red Army to be supplied with both food and weaponry and industrial workers to be fed. This was effective in allowing the Bolsheviks to maintain and effectively fight the civil war without the lack raw materials. David Christian believes that War Communism was essential as it ‘supplied towns and armies with enough food and supplies to keep providing war material to keep fighting’. Although War communism was effective towards the war effort it also significantly damaged the economy. The economy of Russia was shattered, there was a food shortage, fuel shortage and money had absolutely no value. The rouble was only worth 1% of its value in 1918, 10million died of starvation and agricultural output was 60% of pre war levels. War Communism enabled the logistics of war to be met which enabled the victory however

In 1917, Russia was crumbling into pieces. The World War I was draining all of Russia’s resources. There was shortage of food throughout the country, which left people starving. At the battlefront, millions of Russian soldiers were dying, they did not possess many of the powerful weapons that their opponents had. The government under Czar Nicholas II was disintegrating, and a provisional government had been set up. In November of 1917, Lenin and his communist followers known as the Bolsheviks overthrew the provisional government and set a communist government in Russia. However, in 1924, Lenin died and Josef Stalin assumed leadership of the Soviet Union, which was the name for the communist Russia. Stalin was a ruthless leader who brought

Due to Russia’s sheer amount of citizens in the country, it resulted in a overcrowded society, poor housing along with poor living and working conditions (created by economic problems in Russia) led to social tension in cities. In terms of land and agriculture, the Russians had methods that were inefficient and backwards- as they still used wooden ploughs and very few animals and tools. With not enough land to go around (due to the controlling of private property), vast expansion of peasant population in the later half of the 19th century led to overcrowding and competition for land. The diverse people of Russia desperately needed a social reform. With peace established with Germany, the of lack of a compete control over the country then led to the civil war immediately after the Bolsheviks assumed power. The Reds (communists) and the Whites (anti-communists, Capitalists, western forces) fought a series of battles that resulted in countless deaths. The White forces received support from the Western Allies during the internal war. The United States, England and Canada had contingents of men inside of Russia initially to guard supplies they had sent during the war, but they were in a position to fight if their governments thought necessary. The Red Army was able to defeat the much larger White armies over the course of the three-year

The Russian Civil War (1917-1923) saw millions of deaths and millions further starved. The Bolsheviks saw the importance of maintaining their power in the cities in order to maintain power over the country itself. To keep the people happy thus, they realised they needed to keep the people fed. This led top the eventual inception of War Communism. An economic/agricultural policy incorporated by War Communism was known as Prodrazvyorstka – requisition of agricultural surpluses from peasants in excess of absolute minimum for centralized distribution among the remaining population. This meant that the Bolsheviks could seize whatever food they needed from the countryside towns and villages and distribute it amongst the urban population in cities such as Petrograd and Moscow.

On 24-26 October, the Bolshevik Party seized power from Kerensky’s Provisional Government. This was achieved with surprising ease. Retaining their newly acquired power, however, was to prove difficult. Nonetheless, the Bolsheviks proved successful in consolidating their power from 1917-1924, achieving this through a combination of pragmatic reforms and ruthless terror. This ultimately led the Bolsheviks far from their original goals and ideologies, and by 1924, the Soviet Union was a highly centralised one-party state.

He left Trotsky in charge of planning the event, and he became the main leader of the Bolsheviks, the communist party he founded. In an attempt to bring the government down,in November 6th the Red Guards, first took main points in the city of Petrograd . Not many people were killed in the process. In November 8, the soldiers decided to take the Winter Palace. Here the Provisional Government surrendered and were captured and arrested.Lenin then gave a speech, revealing his own self and announcing that the government he was creating.

The introduction of War Communism during the Russian Civil War, is evidence of Russian moving towards a Totalitarian State. Many aspects of War communism were totalitarian in nature. For instance the creation of a Supreme Economic Council, formed to take complete control over the Russian highlights the central control over the most vital aspect of the state, that the Bolsheviks enforced. Other measures include the requisitioning of excess grain from the Peasants. Many of these policies were met with opposition, particularly among the agricultural peasants. This opposition was in turn met with brutal force, which was another example of the nature of complete state authority. War communism continued on until the end of the Civil war, by which time the Bolshevik forces had succeeded in crushing all opposition. The success of the red forces meant that Russia was a step closer in becoming a Totalitarian state, as they were now the most powerful party in Russia, with complete control over all its territory.

The Bolshevik revolution heavily damaged the Russian economy, making it clear that the country will have to find support from the outside (4). But, destroyed economy did not worry Lenin and Trotsky, who were ready to conquer new territories because they thought that their “revolution would expire

There were major problems for the government, counting the central issues. People were suffering from the hardships of World War I including: a huge number of deaths at the front, hyperinflation, transportation breakdowns, empty shelves in stores and lack of fuel to heat people’s homes. These issues were linked in a cruel circle; the only way to end the economic and social crisis was to get out off war but by doing so, that would mean the withdrawal of foreign aid, which would create an economic crisis of its own. The central issues dissatisfied the proletariat, soldiers and peasants. When Lenin returned, he promised his most popular slogans, which were ‘Peace, Land and Bread’ and ‘All Power to the Soviets’ which were designed to gain support for the Bolsheviks and undermine the Provisional Government. ‘Peace, Land and Bread’ was a popular message because ‘peace’ meant an instant end to conflicts and referred to Bolshevik opposition to war; ‘bread’ meant a promise of food in the towns and cities, and ‘land’ meant all of it to be nationalised for the peasantry. This was a popular message in a country tired of war and faced food shortages. This emphasised the Provisional Government’s support for the unpopular war and proved their failure to help the land and food shortages. Lenin’s solution ‘All Power to the Soviets’ made the workers and peasants believe that the

The Russian Civil War of 1918 was the cumulating of the Russian monarchial government’s slow reformation to institute civil reforms and freedoms for the intelligentsia, the creation and subsequent closing of the Constituent Assembly by the Socialist Revolutionary Party, the embarrassing Treaty of Brest Litovsk, and the Czarist support of the nobility, who were stripped of their land after the Bolsheviks coup. These emotions came to a head when a coalition of multiple Russian political parties joined together to topple the Bolshevik power control, led by Vladimir Lenin. The power that Lenin and the Bolsheviks had held for little more than a year had come under attack. The Bolsheviks were now faced with another war in which the direction of Russia

In March of 1918, Russia and Germany signed the Treaty of Brest -Litovsk. This treaty was signed to end the war between Russia and Germany, since Germany suffering many casualties and losing strength. Russia had given a major part of territory to Germany and all of their allies. This treaty triggered many people and anger started to arise in many Russians.

The Russian economy was already in a critical state at the time of the Revolution but the crisis worsened as World War was replaced by Civil War. In 1917 Lenin introduced ‘War Communism ' which meant that special measures were needed to deal with a national emergency. The period between 1918 and 1921 came to be known as the period of War Communism. Farms and factories were put under state control and private trade was banned. Food was taken for soldiers and industrial workers. Peasants who refused to hand it over to the red Army were shot or sent to labour camps. The Cheka

The Russian Civil War raged from 1918 until the start of 1921. During this time the Bolsheviks faced massive opposition to their rule in the form of the White Armies, led by the former officers of the Tsarist state, and also from intervention by the forces of foreign countries. The Bolsheviks were surrounded, and often outnumbered by their opponents. At times, their situation seemed hopeless. Yet, by the start of 1921, the Bolsheviks had defeated their enemies and gained a complete victory. This victory can be attributed to the party’s aims, leadership, geography, and support.