Bolsheviks and the Russian civil war

what was the problems for the bolsheviks?

The bolsheviks had extensive problems:

• getting people to take them seriously

• providing an effective government

• strikes

• own party not being happy

• need there powerbase to be happy

• army and ending the war

• law and disorder

• geographical problems countryside and minorities

• economy

• lack of support from other political groups

what was the problem with getting the new govt up and running?

• many govt departments didnt take him seriously

• Lenin didnt want to share the power or work with the soviets

How did lenin attempt to solve the issues with setting up a new govt?

• he created a new government department called SOVNARKOM → this was made up of the bolsheviks

• this led to limited power to other groups

What was the problems with landownership?

• peasants wanted their landback

Waht was lenins attempt to deal with landownership?

• Lenin gives a decree to allow peasants to have their lands back

What were the problems for running industry?

• it was too inefficent → workers were unhappy due to there poor working conditions and the war effort given

what was lenin’s attempt to deal with the running of industry?

• gave a maxiuim work day of 8 hours

• workers control their factories

What was the ending of the war problems?

• people wanted the war to be ended

• Bolsheviks not unified

What was lenins attempt in making the end of war no long a problem?

The treatty of Brest-Litosik

what were the consequences of the treaty of Brest-Litovsk?

it was a shameful admitation of the end of the war in russia leading to the people of russia being unhappy with the result

what were the problems with dealing with other socialists?

• lenin did not wanna work with other socialists → pressure to work with others

what attempts were made by lenin to deal with other socialist?

• bring in the SR’s into SOVNARKON

• hold an election with consititent assembly → but was not favourable in the Bolsheviks( 175 seats Bolsheviks, 410 seats SR and 100 to other parties)→ ruled in the name of the people that these results were no longer valud and this was a higher shut down of resistance

What was the problems with the oppositon?

• had loads of newspapers that opposed

• opposition parties performed well in elections

what were the attempts made by lenin to handle the opposition?

• lenin closed all of the centre and right socialist press pumping loads of money into closing them

• had to arrest them creating political terror.

what was the problem with national minorites?

• independace was wanted

how did lenin attempt to deal with the national minorities?

• rights of the people of Russia decree → this created self deterimantion for national minorites and it was in long run just a paper measure

why did the civil war start?

• bolshevik intentions were clear

• alienated other socialist groups

• liberals and conservatives hated them

• dissolution of the ministries

• class tensions

• urban and rural divide

• treat of brest-litovik

who were the reds?

Workers, peasants

they were desprate to hold the power that the had made

who were the whites?

liberals, former tsarists, nationalist, seprtist moderate socialist, social revolutionaries

Anti bolsheviks

why were the white army so weak?

• goegraphical

• different view points

• lack of foreign support

• lack of railway

• national groups were relucant to fight beyod their own reasons

• brutaility of white army → ethnic cleansing

• rightist

what roles did other countries play?

• allied troops sent to russia to open eastern front

• churchill encourgaed british government £100 milion

• fear of communisim

• not to keen to join after WW1

• Feance got involved as they were loaned money by the Tsar

• japan wanted more land

• USA, canada, italy, Greece, serbia no appetitite after ww1

why was trotsky so important?

• restored discipline → more professional →pragmatic

• reorgnasiation and restoration of the ranking system

• tsarist officers were brought back → family kidnapped and then if failure to fight they would be shot (opposed by leading BOlsheviks but still went ahead)

• lenins supported as it was desperate

what was the red army like?

• not disciplined

• went fron 5 million in 1919 to 5 million in 1920

• loads of anti-semitnisim → common soilders were killed and it became common for those in power to abuse it and begin killing those below them

• soilders were shot for retreating ( the order of it was that the first commissan than the commander - in the words of trosky)

why did the reds win due to the unity and organisation?

• the bolsheviks had tough discipline on their soliders such as the death penalty and had a more organised structure to their army which included better communication and coordination

• whereas the whites had struggles as they couldn’t control the army generals and there was therefore a lack o f commmunication between the army as no one could agree on the terms

why did the reds win based on geography?

• the bolsheviks land was were the major of russian industry was so they had better access to suppilies

• whereas the whites land was poor and unequiped

why did the red win based on the support?

• bolsheviks had the support of the majority of workers as they were giving them alll the freedoms

• whereas the whites were losing the support of nationalist groups due the lack of decisions they were making

why did the reds win based on the leadership?

• Bolsheviks leadership knew the value of propaganda whereas the whites were curel to thier men

the bolsheviks said that ‘ the whites will take your land’

what was life like in Russia during the civil war?

• displaced people → refugee

• weathy middle classes were moving out of russia

• violient and brutal

• starvation

• cannibalism → food shortages

• chaotic→ breakdown of the centralised control → can fend for themselves

• cossacks→ mass rape and pograms (115k in ukraine alone)

• White army burried miners alive in rostov

• disease → typhus 1 million died

• whites routinely shot miners who didnt produce enough coal

why did Lenin adopt war communism?

Trotsky→ war

Lenin → communism

• key issue → the tanking of the economy in the spring 1918

• decree was not working

• worker committees not capable to run factories

• shortages created

• industrial output and consumer goods were non existent

• inflation rises and the value of the rouble has decrease

• bread was running out and there were food riots in the cities

• the policies put by lenin 1918-1921 was called war communsim

what was the key features of war communism?

• rationing

• labour discipline

• banning of private trade

• nationalisation of industry

• grain requisitioning

rationing

• class based system

• red army and labour force were priority

• civil servants and professionals least → barley enough food to live on as it was given to the burshui

labour discipline

• fines for lateness and absenteeism

• internal passports introduced to stop fleaing in the countryside

• piece work rates brought back and bonuses and work book for rations

banning of private trade

• it was banned and only state trading could be used

• led to a black market

nationalisation of industry

• all industry state controlled adminstrated by the supreme council of national economy

• central authrorities replaced worker committees

• closure of factories → helped keep jobs

grain requisitioning

• hard to find grain for hard pressed cities

• may 1918 food suppiles dictoraship

• standards policy

• peasants resisted bitterly

• this was pragmatic as they needed to feed the population

• ideological unleash class warefare against kuklas

how were the Bolsheviks pragmatic?

decree → easy to gai peasants support

treaty of brest-Litovisk → End of war economy

stop strikes decrree of workers control

right of the people → giving national minorities