How Far Do You Agree That the Brutality of the Bolsheviks Was the Main Reason Why They Remained in Power in the Years 1917-24?

Lenin was able to consolidate Bolshevik rule in Russia by combining popular policies and repression: To what extent do you agree with this statement.

From the initial seizure of power in 1917 until 1924, the Bolsheviks were confronted with a series of crises that threatened their ability to control and govern in Russia. The response and resolutions to these crises included Initial Reforms, Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Civil War, Red terror, War Communism and the NEP. Under the leadership of Lenin, the execution of these responses were made possible and the Bolsheviks were able to maintain and expand their power. The Civil War however was the direct consequence of the Bolshevik’s actions as they tried to maintain their grasp on power. The victory in the Civil War was extremely pivotal for the Bolshevik consolidation of power as it brought control and power but more importantly it eliminated

There were four elected Duma which were all dispersed by the Tsar who would find an excuse to not trust them. Once the October Manifesto and the Fundamental Laws were passed, the Tsar Nicholas II ordered the army to shoot at protestors but the army refused and took the side of the revolutionaries. These Fundamental Laws re-established the autocracy as the Tsar became more reactionary. After the 1905 Revolution, the Tsar was able to regain control the uprisings in his country. He sent the police to arrest the leader of the St. Petersburg Soviet, a Worker’s Council, Trotsky and exiled him to Siberia. The army crushed a strike in Moscow which caused 1000 deaths. The Black Hundred who were the official strikebreakers, stopped riots in different parts of Russia and murders approximately 500 Jews. Eventually, the workers lost the will to fight and started working again in order to feed their families. The split of the opposition parties turned out to be an advantage for the Tsar who was able to use this against them.

Poor Living and Working Conditions as the Reason for Bolsheviks' Seizure of Power in 1917

Throughout the period 1855 to 1954, opposition to Russian governments was a common occurrence due to dissatisfaction of many civilians’ lives and the lack of development seen throughout Russia. However, as much as there were some successful movements throughout 1905 such as the Bolsheviks gaining support and eventually gaining power, there were also several failed attempts due to intense use of violence, terror and censorship by the state. It is arguable that whether opposition was successful, merely came down to the strength of the opposition group or the weakness of the government in power.

kept his word, once shooting one in ten of the soldiers in a group of

Over the period from 1855 to 1964, Russia saw various reforms and policies under the Tsars and the Communist leaders that had great impacts on its economy and society both positive and negative. Lenin definitely implanted polices that changed society and the economy for example with war communism. However whether his policies had the greatest impact is debatable and in this essay I will be assessing the view whether Lenin had the greatest impact on Russia’s economy and society than any other ruler between the period from 1855-1964.

The October 1917 Revolution is undoubtedly a momentous and extremely important event in Russia’s history, one that ousted the centuries-old Tsardom that ruled over the empire, in favour of the radical communist movement in the form of the Bolsheviks, headed by one Vladimir Iliych Lenin. However, did this sudden move from autocracy to a supposedly more progressive democracy actually bring about the modernisation of Russia industrially, agriculturally and culturally, or was it simply a rebranding of a totalitarian state that would continue to oppress the

Was war communism the main reason why the Bolsheviks were able to remain in power between 1918-1924?

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

When Lenin and the Bolsheviks officially came into power, the pressure from peasants could not be ignored. Lenin adopted a number of policies between the years 1918 to 1921 known as War Communism. These policies of War Communism targeted peasants, there was forced grain requisitioning, banning of private trade and labour discipline. Unsurprisingly, the peasants acted bitterly and began to lose support of the government, as seen in source B. This source is a propaganda poster used by the Bolsheviks in the 1920’s, when the Provisional

They grew rapidly in size and by the end of the civil war against the Whites, they had managed to accumulate a military five million soldiers strong. 75% of their total soldiers were peasants by birth. This created a major problem for the Bolsheviks in the social race. The peasant population was so vast that it was thought whoever could gain their vote and popularity would have the most power. In October of 1917 their support had been confined to the working-class districts associated with big industry cities. Without any support in the countryside, where most people lived, No one thought that the Bolsheviks would hold power for more than just a few weeks. Many people thought, and for good reason, that the peasants would rise up against them, because of all the power they obtained together. However, the Red Army won the civil war after many blood covered battles they fought to gain the upperhand. One main reason was because of their superior success in things they did with politics and army decisions, compared to the

The Bolsheviks created one of the most sophisticated propaganda machines of the early 20th century, establishing a wide range of government newspapers, while banning all counter revolutionary papers. This allowed them to develop and garner the support they needed to consolidate the regime. The implementation of a coercive machinery of power was crucial to their consolidation efforts. The building of a new army, police system, a disciplined ruling group and fiscal machinery necessary to support their regime. The evolution of the Red army showed clearly how the government were forced to abandon the idea of a “people’s army” and created an authoritarian style rule.

For example, Lenin had to kill the Romanov family line in order to sustain the socialist regime. It also has been proven that Lenin may not have sent the order to kill the Tsar and his family, although he did support it. Lenin saw that other leaders in Europe that still believed in the Tsar’s leadership could have supported Nicholas II and helped him overthrow the Bolsheviks, which would have ruined their reforms. In order to sustain a government that provided for the people and for potential violence to not ignite, the Romanovs had to be eliminated . Lenin also had to sustain the socialist order by eliminating peasant uprisings caused by war communism such as the Tambov Revolution (History). He later addressed these problems through the New Economic Policy. The economy then recovered. Prices of crops went down and agricultural production increased which allowed Russia to recover from years of famine. In the following years, Russia’s economy steadily grew and the food and land were distributed among peasants, upholding Russia’s motto of “Peace, Land, and Bread” ("The New Economic Policy"). After the Civil War ended in 1921, Lenin removed the wealthy peasants and nobles from their land. He then combined thousands of huge farms that were previously owned by nobles to collective farms that would be owned by the government. Although the peasants were forced to work on these farms, they received the food that was collected from them then distributed according to family size. Although what they had was not much, Lenin provided the people of Russia a secure land they could live on and enough food (Kyn). Clearly, the benefits that Lenin introduced to Russia heavily outweigh their

The Failure of the Provisional Government and the Rise of the Bolsheviks i. Subject of investigation. How did the failure of the Provisional Government allow for the rise of the Bolsheviks? ii. Methods to be used. 1.