(f) How the government exercised control 1917-28

What did Lenin say in his 5 November 1917 declaration to workers?

‘Comrade workers, remember that you yourselves are administering the state. Nobody is going to help you if you do not yourselves unite and take over all state affairs. Rally round your soviets: make them strong. Get to work right there, at the grass roots, without waiting for orders. Institute rigorous supervision over production and accounting over products.’

How did Lenin’s declaration affect workers and peasants?

• Encouraged belief that factories, farms, and industries were in their hands.

• Aristocracy and bourgeoisie seen as powerless.

• Reality: equal distribution could only happen if goods existed.

• The economy was devastated by WWI and revolution chaos.

• State control could limit independence but help revive the economy.

• Economic policy (1917–1928) tried to solve this; by 1928, Stalin favored a command economy.

What was Lenin’s approach to nationalising industry?

• No clear blueprint from capitalism → socialism → communism.

• Transition required trial and error.

• Ideally, proletariat should control production, but bourgeois expertise was needed.

• Bolsheviks worked with experts initially, replacing them later.

• Transitional phase called state capitalism.

What challenge did Lenin face with workers’ and peasants’ self-management?

• Workers and peasants often acted independently of Bolsheviks.

• Risk: they might refuse to give up power, even to the party.

• Need to balance worker independence with party control.

Key measures of Lenin’s initial economic policy?

• Land Decree (Oct 1917): abolished private land ownership → land to “the people.” Pleasing to peasants.

• Decree on Workers’ Control (Nov 1917): factories controlled by industrial workers.

• Nationalisation of Banks (Dec 1917): private banks merged with the State Bank → People’s Bank of the Russian Republic.

What were the consequences of early economic reforms?

• Workers gave themselves huge pay rises → inflation.

• Managers dismissed, often violently.

• Experts removed → loss of technical skills.

• Economy suffered despite increased worker power.

How did the Bolsheviks respond to economic chaos?

• Government needed more control over the economy.

• Vesenkha (Supreme Council of the National Economy) established Dec 1917.

• Goal: supervise and coordinate economic activity.

What tensions existed in early Soviet economic policy?

• Conflict between worker self-management vs central government control.

• Central government’s role grew, especially during the Civil War (1918–1921).