War Communism And The Russian Civil War

Vladimir Lenin, founder and leader of the Bolsheviks, failed the Soviet Union with his New Economic Policy (NEP), which was designed to bring more money to the USSR and help their economy flourish. This was introduced with the idea of “War Communism.” War Communism started during World War I and dealt with the economic and social problems facing the USSR during the war. With most resources going to the military, grain production was low and forced millions of peasants to move and turn to cannibalism. Peasants tried to revolt for change but were killed. Because of this, the Bolsheviks lost their main supporters (working class, peasants, etc.) This led Lenin to bring about the NEP. Many in his party saw the Capitalistic ideals of the NEP as a

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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

Nicholas II was known, not only for being the Emperor of Russia but also for his character and personality which undoubtably led him to his own downfall. Nicholas was often referred to as not being ready to become Tsar as well as being a weak leader. Firstly, Nicholas II himself, amongst a very large proportion of Russian society, believed that he was not prepared to be coronated Emperor. Nicholas himself stated “What is going to happen to me and all of Russia? I am not prepared to be a Tsar. I never wanted to become one. I know nothing of the business of ruling.”. (Russian Revolution Quotations 2015). Nicholas was aware of what he was getting himself into and that he was not prepared for such a role. This is further corroborated by the

During the 1900’s the Russian Government made it extremely hard for the Bolsheviks to progress which made them revolt against the government making this a prime matter for the start of the Revolution. The Czarist government was ostracized by the common people of Russia so Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown by the Provisional Government, whom later on were overthrown by Lenin and shortly after the Bolsheviks took control over Russia. Russia was hard to develop because of the major leaders who had control; Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky. Almost overnight an entire society was destroyed and replaced with one of the most radical social experiments ever seen. Poverty, crime, privileged and class-divisions were to be eliminated, a new era of socialism

How far were divisions amongst opponents responsible for the survival of Tsarist rule, 1881 - 1905?

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

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.

War Communism was introduced in 1918 as a means of consolidating Bolshevik power. War Communism attempted to replace the free market with state control over all means of production and distribution. In the towns, private trade was banned,

The concoction of communist regime caused paranoia within the people which lead to riots. The history of the Soviet Union greatly contributed to this unjustified fear. During the nineteenth century, Karl Marx, a revolutionary socialist, wrote the “Communist Manifesto” which presented the idea of Communism. In this political ideal, property is publicly owned and workers are paid to extent of their abilities and needs. Nowhere does the theory state dictatorship or any type of totalitarian government. This revolutionary speculation remains as Russia’s greatest achievements in history and unforgotten. However when Vladimir Lenin took control of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1917,

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.

By the mid 19th century, the majority of Russians lived in rural communities, which limited economic growth. Russia’s economy and ideology were considered primitive to Western countries, whose advancements in technological development were far beyond those in Russia. Russia’s antiquated technologies restricted economic progression, and thus trailed the developed countries of the West. A deplorable Russian economy led to an extremely small upper class and a prevalent lower class. A Russian consensus in 1897 determined that peasants made up 82% of Russia’s population. After years of mistreatment, Russia’s middle and lower class espoused an idea developed by Karl Marx— Communism. Communism was a totalitarian governmental ideology that believed in equally distributed wealth and property, state provided services, governmental control of economy and the focus on the community. Communism became extremely popular because it seemed to promise political and social equality and end the many hardships of the 19th century. In November 1917, communist supporters lead by Vladimir Lenin overthrew tsarist regime and promised a national reform during the Russian Revolution. Subsequently, a government body called the Bolsheviks quickly seized complete power in the November Revolution. However, right-wing, anti-Bolshevik parties rose up against the Bolsheviks, resulting in civil war. In late 1917, the Red Army (pro-Bolshevik) fought the White

The Russian Revolution is a widely studied and seemingly well understood time in modern, European history, boasting a vast wealth of texts and information from those of the likes of Robert Service, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Allan Bullock, Robert Conquest and Jonathan Reed, to name a few, but none is so widely sourced and so heavily relied upon than that of the account of Leon Trotsky, his book “History of the Russian Revolution” a somewhat firsthand account of the events leading up to the formation of the Soviet Union. There is no doubt that Trotsky’s book, among others, has played a pivotal role in shaping our understanding of the events of The Revolution; but have his personal predilections altered how he portrayed such paramount

Russia, officially known as the Russian Federation, has a total area of 17,098,242 sq km (“The World Factbook”) and is the largest country in the world. It is about 1.8 times the size of the United States (“The World Factbook”). Most of Russia is either large stretches of plains or areas with a lot of forests and mountains, with the exception of the Siberian Tundra. It is difficult to perfectly describe Russia’s climate because of it’s large size. However, in general, the country only has two seasons, summer and winter. In the summer they have very warm, continental weather and they have very harsh winters with a lot of snow. Russia is plentiful in natural resources. They are particularly

In the beginning Communism seemed to the people of Russia as a utopian ideal. The promise of the elimination of classes, of guaranteed employment, "The creation of a comprehensive social security and welfare system for all citizens that would end the misery of workers once and for all." Lenin's own interpretation of the Marxian critique was that to achieve Communism there would first have to be a socialist dictatorship to first suppress any dissent or protest. Through coercive tactics this new government seized power and in 1917 Lenin came to power. Under his "rule" Russia underwent radical changes in it's economic doctrines adopting a mixed which was termed the New Economic Policy, also referred to as NEP. This