Lenin and the Bolshevik government

When did the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets meet

October 1917

Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets

Informed that Bolsheviks have seized power

Mensheviks and right wing SRs walk out (they favoured a coalition government)

Little opposition to Bolsheviks now

Decree on Land when

October 1917

Decree on Land what

Sanctioned the requisition of private land by peasants, but stated that the division and redistribution could only be carried out by village soviets

Similar to what the SRs had proposed => won over the opponents of the Bolsheviks

Decree on Peace when

October 1917

Decree on Peace what

• Calls for immediate truce and a peaceful settlement

• Laid foundation for armistice that was signed on 2 December 1917

• Pulling out of war to focus on establishing government and consolidate power, war was also heavily unpopular and the issue hadn’t been dealt with yet

How did Bolsheviks spread power and what problems did they have

October revolution just a Petrograd revolution → hard to spread power, tried to do this by establishing more soviets in towns and cities. Opposition from ‘Old Guard’; reasons for Civil War

Constituent Assembly

• Bolsheviks allowed elections to this in November to avoid opposition

• Came together in January 1918

• Came 2nd to SRs; failed to win a majority

What did Lenin do to the Constituent Assembly

• Shut it down after one day

• Did it was an expression of the old regime/bourgeois

• No popular demonstration agains this move → Third Congress of Soviets approved closure of it

What did Lenin proclaim after the Constituent Assembly

The formation of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic; essentially the Great Russia of the old empire but ruled without a monarch

Rids Russia of ‘old ways’ from tsarist rule

(January 1918)

RSFSR

Constituted of Russia and parts of Central Asia, notably Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenia → widespread power + control

Brest-Litovsk when signed

3 March 1918 by Soviet representative → with Germany, huge loss of territory (1/3 European Russia) and reparations bill (3b roubles)

But does secure peace and allow to focus on Civil War

When did the Bolsheviks introduce a new constitution

July 1918

Repressive form of government

August 1918

Germany’s campaign on the Western Front collapsed, German army soon withdrew from Russia completely

German withdrawal from Russia meant…

Brest-Litovsk agreement meaningless, Lenin chance to rid party of those who opposed him now

(i.e. annulled by German defeat)

Democratic Centralism

under the Bolsheviks, the people would agree to being led by a cadre (group of key personnel) based in Moscow, until a genuine workers’ government could be put in place → idea that there would be a debate aspect amongst the party membership, vote taken after, undermining ‘democratic’ aspect

Central control of Russian affairs in the hands of…

Politicians elected by people of the RSFSR

All-Russian Congress of Soviets and the Central Executive Committee

• Mainstay of new gov.

• C.E.C. organising committee for the Congress

Summer of 1918 with regards to Central Executive Committee and outcomes

• SRs and Mensheviks expelled

• Dominated by Bolsheviks

• Many of these were also ‘People’s Commissars’ → i.e. overlap → in theory the commissars were supposed to be answerable to C.E.C., but overlap just meant that Russia was not far off being ruled as a ‘one-party state’

Who has all the power

Lenin and the Central Executive Committee

Sovnarkom i.e. the Council of People’s Commissars

• The people’s commissars who are basically ministers, gov. responsibilities

• Trotsky in charge of foreign affairs

• Stalin dealing with nationalities

Who was chairman of the Sovnarkom

Lenin → basically role of PM

To begin with who was also in the Sovnarkom

Left-wing SRs

The Cheka

Brutally repressing opposition, created in December 1917

To prevent the emergence/growth of counter-revolutionary movements, tool of government

When was Cheka disbanded and what was it replaced by

1922

Main Political Administration → GPU/OGPU

3 types of soviets

Provincial soviet, district soviet, village soviet

Members of sovnarkom product of chain of elections supposedly…

• Village soviets chose representatives for district soviets

• District elected members for provincial soviets

• Provincial soviets provided membership of Sovnarkom

However, soviets were dominated by

members of the Bolshevik party, so actually not that democratic as representatives still Bolshevik (one-party state)

Bolshevik party at a grassroots level

Cells, whose members would organise meetings (political workshops) to encourage grass-roots support

cell members then did what

were elected to town or district committees

Town/district committees then did what

Provide members to annual party congress

The annual party congress then did what

Chose members to form the party Central Executive Committee → 10% of congress members in it

Central Executive Committee responsible for…

Administration of Politburo, Ogburo and Orgburo

Politburo

Elite, small group of Bolsheviks → they formulated policy. Dominated C.E.C. and running of party

Orgburo

Organised party affairs

Ogburo

Responsible for maintaining order + dealing with opposition to party

Who had all the power in the party?

The Central Executive Committee → administration of Politburo, Ogburo, Orgburo, only 10% of its members were Congress members, elected members of Politburo etc.

All key posts held by

Senior Bolsheviks, administration swamped with the ‘leading cadres’ of the Bolshevik Party

During the Civil War what did the Cheka/Ogburo do

Eradicate any opposition towards a one-party state

Anyone wanting to get involved in politics had to…

Get permission to join Bolshevik Party or become part of an opposition movement in exile

CEC of state vs of Bolshevik Party

The Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the Soviets was the official, supreme state legislature/governing body of the Soviet state (like a parliament), while the Central Committee (CC) of the Bolshevik Party was the real power centre behind the state, making all major decisions for the ruling Communist Party that controlled the state apparatus. Though the CEC had Bolshevik majorities and legally held power, the Party's Central Committee (and its Politburo) dictated policy, ensuring the Party controlled the state, not the other way around. 

Membership stats 1921-1928

Just over 700,000 to around 1 million

Early 1930s (Stalin) stats on party makeup

• Nearly 10% apparatchiki (full-time, paid party organisers) → served mainly as party secretaries

• 30% ‘other’ administrators

• Both above educated, were middle-class during tsars

• Rest were uneducated workers or peasants, often party activists in spare time

Issues with hierarchical nature of government

• Regime less democratic

• Officials more detached from grass-roots affairs

• Workers less interested in politics

• More industrial workers recruited from peasantry → they didn’t care abt politics

The Lenin Enrolment

Campaign that aimed to encourage peasants to join the Party because it was becoming quite hierarchical → minimal effect on composition of party

Overall potential issues and problems with this system of government

• Illusion of being democratic → in practice not as most power is concentrated in party/state central executive committees

• Bolsheviks dominated at every level (despite ‘shadow’ system)

• Bolsheviks power to close down whatever opposes them e.g. with SRs and Mensheviks

• Central Executive Committee + Sovnarkom overlap