The New Regime: The Civil War,

The New Regime: The Civil War, 1918-1922

 

·         Brest-Litovsk Treaty (1918)

o   The Bolsheviks signed a peace treaty with Germany, ceding control over the Baltic provinces, Poland, and Ukraine.

o   This marked a poignant territorial loss for Russia, undoing two centuries of expansion.

o   Lenin uncovered this loss, believing it would be temporary due to an inevitable Marxist revolution across Europe.

·         Lenin’s Revolutionary Vision

o   Lenin believed that the war in Western Europe would lead to the downfall of imperial regimes, including Germany.

o   He expected the liberated nations to join a broader socialist revoltuion.

o   His promise of peace helped him overthrow the Provisional Government under Kerensky.                

·         Civil War Erupts

o   After the Bolsheviks came to power, Russia descended into a civil war.

o Opposition included a wide range of groups. Tsarist loyalists, liberals bourgeois, and anti-Leninist socialists.

o   The anti-Bolshevik forces received support from the Western Allies.

·         Peasants Role

o   Both Bolsheviks and their opponents view the support of the peasantry during the civil war.

·         Bolshevik Institutions

o   The Communist Party became the ruling institution.

The Soviets, established in 1905 and 1917, p[played a key role in governance.

o   The Council of People’s Commissars was created immediately after the Bolshevik coup.

·         Cheka

o   Formed on December 7, 1917, the Cheka became the political police to counter revolutionaries and sabotage.

o   Overtime, it evolved into various organizations: OGPU, NKVD, MVD, and KGB

·         Red Army

o   Founded in January 1918, with Leon Trotsky as war commissar, it became crucial in the Bolshevik victory during the Civil War.

·         July 1918 Constitution

o   A new constitution was introduced to formalize the Bolshevik government structure.

War Communism (1918-1921)

  • Economic Policy: The Bolshevik regime adopted war communism to manage the economic and food crises during the civil war. This policy involved nationalizing large industries, leaving some under the control of workers' committees, and imposing food requisitions.

  • Food Shortages: Peasants, facing worthless money and insecure property rights, produced less food. Many farmers hoarded their produce, resulting in government requisitions to forcibly collect food from the countryside.

  • Class Conflict: This led to class warfare between urban workers (supported by agricultural laborers) and farmers, particularly larger landowners, who resisted these requisitions.

Civil War (1918-1922)

  • Anti-Bolshevik Resistance: Opposition to the Bolsheviks came from various groups:

    • Peasant Support for Anti-Bolshevik Leaders: Many peasants, fearing for their livelihoods, joined anti-Bolshevik forces.

    • Czech Legion: A force of around 45,000 Czechs, who had deserted the Austro-Hungarian army, allied with Social Revolutionaries on the Volga River after Bolshevik officials attempted to disarm them.

    • Whites: A coalition of anti-Bolshevik groups, including tsarists, liberals, and non-Bolshevik socialists, commonly referred to as the "Whites," fought the Bolsheviks.

Foreign Intervention

  • Allied Powers' Intervention: The Allied governments believed Bolshevism was temporary and sought to defeat it with minimal effort. They aimed to bring Russia back into World War I against Germany.

    • Vladivostok Campaign: An inter-allied military intervention was planned to land at Vladivostok, cross Siberia, and join the Czech Legion to defeat the Bolsheviks.

    • Japanese and American Troops: Japan contributed 72,000 soldiers, while the United States provided 8,000 soldiers. This campaign started in August 1918.

Bolshevik Response

  • Red Army: Under the leadership of Trotsky, the Red Army fought multiple enemies during the civil war:

    • Ukraine: They fought against the Germans and French in Ukraine, which had declared independence after the Bolshevik Revolution.

    • South Russia: The Red Army defeated General Wrangel's White forces in the south.

    • Siberia: They fought against Admiral Kolchak, who declared himself the ruler of all Russia in Siberia.

    • Nationalist Movements: The Bolsheviks reconquered regions like Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, which had declared independence in 1918.

Japanese Ambitions in East Asia

  • Japanese Motives: Japan saw the collapse of the Russian Empire as an opportunity to expand its influence in East Asia. While they supported the Vladivostok intervention, their goal was less about defeating Bolshevism and more about extending their sphere of influence.

Continued Fighting and Aftermath

  • Polish-Soviet War (1920): The Bolsheviks also waged war against Poland, which had gained independence following the collapse of the Russian Empire.

  • Civil War Conclusion: The Russian Civil War ended in 1922 with the Bolsheviks in control of most of the former Russian Empire, though skirmishes continued in some regions.

Anti-Bolshevik Forces

  • Disunity Among Anti-Bolsheviks:

    • Anti-Bolshevik factions ranged across the political spectrum from extreme tsarists to left-wing Social Revolutionaries, leading to internal divisions and weakened efforts.

    • Many right-wing anti-Bolsheviks alienated the peasantry by attempting to restore expropriated lands, worsening tensions with rural populations.

    • The White Terror involved punitive reprisals against Bolshevik supporters, deepening resentment in occupied regions.

  • Foreign Intervention:

    • Allied forces, including British, French, American, and Japanese troops, occupied parts of Russia to support the anti-Bolsheviks.

    • Archangel was occupied by British, French, and American forces until 1919, while Japanese troops stayed in Vladivostok until 1922.

    • Despite these interventions, the Allies were divided:

      • France supported anti-Bolshevik forces in Ukraine and Poland.

      • Britain and America were eager to disengage after the end of World War I.

Trotsky and the Red Army:

  • Leon Trotsky played a crucial role in forging the Red Army during the civil war.

    • He restored discipline and organized the army, assigning political commissars to oversee loyalty and effectiveness.

    • The Red Army grew stronger, using national patriotism to unite against foreign intervention, and gaining peasant support by distributing land.

The outcome of the Civil War:

  • By 1922, the Bolsheviks had re-established control over most of the former tsarist empire, except in certain European regions:

    • Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania remained independent.

    • Romania gained Bessarabia, and Poland retained a larger eastern frontier after the Polish-Soviet War of 1920.

    • Russia lost vast territories and buffer zones built up over centuries, many of which remained outside Soviet control until World War II.

The Red Terror:

  • The Red Terror began during the Civil War, akin to the French Terror of 1793, but more brutal in its execution.

    • Thousands of people were executed without trial, including hostages, in what became a mass extermination of opposition to the new Soviet regime.

    • The Cheka, the Bolshevik political police, became infamous for its ruthlessness. It sought to eliminate all opposition, targeting individuals based on class background:

      • A bourgeois background was enough to condemn someone.

      • Working-class individuals were not exempt from the Terror either, especially if seen as potential threats.

    • Fanny Kaplan, who attempted to assassinate Lenin in 1918, was executed despite coming from a working-class family.

  • Kronstadt Rebellion (1921):

    • The sailors at Kronstadt, who had been early supporters of the Bolsheviks, rose up against the party's control of the Soviets, seeking to renew the revolution from the left.

    • The rebellion was crushed, and thousands of sailors were executed in what became a petty bourgeois suppression by the Bolshevik regime.

Consolidation of Bolshevik Power

  • Role of the Red Army:

    • The Red Army, under Leon Trotsky’s organization, was central to the Bolsheviks' victory in the Civil War (1918-1920).

    • The army also played a key role in suppressing internal uprisings such as the Kronstadt Rebellion (1921).

  • The Red Terror:

    • The Red Terror targeted not only the bourgeoisie but also dissenting factions, including former revolutionaries and communists.

    • The terror succeeded in its goal of consolidating the Bolsheviks' power, along with the military victories of the Red Army.

    • Surviving members of the bourgeoisie adopted the guise of "toilers" to avoid persecution.

    • Mensheviks and other socialists who fled to Europe told stories of the brutal Terror, leading many European socialists to reject communism as a violent and distorted version of Marxism.

The Establishment of the USSR:

  • Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR):

    • After the civil war ended and foreign intervention ceased, the Bolsheviks were able to focus on political reorganization.

    • In 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was formally established.

    • Initially, there were four republics in the Union, signaling the beginning of a federative system that would eventually expand.

Expansion of the USSR and New Republics

  • By the beginning of World War II, the number of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs) grew from 4 to 15.

    • Many of the new republics were established in Central Asia, but the majority of the Soviet population lived in the three large Slavic regions:

      • Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR) (now Russian Federation since 1991)

      • Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) (now Ukraine since 1991)

      • Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) (now Belarus since 1991)

  • Territorial Expansion During WWII:

    • The USSR absorbed territories after WWII, transforming them into Soviet Socialist Republics:

      • Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania (previously independent since the end of WWI)

      • Bessarabia (from Romania), which became the Moldavian SSR (now Moldova since 1991)

      • Karelia (from Finland), which became the Karelo-Finnish SSR from 1940-1956.

Federalism and Nationalities in the USSR

  • The federal structure of the USSR aimed to address the problem of nationalism.

    • The USSR granted autonomy to different national groups while holding them together in a higher union.

    • The 1924 Constitution articulated the desire to unite all workers globally into a "World Soviet Socialist Republic."

    • In theory, republics were allowed to secede or new republics could join voluntarily, but no republic seceded until 1991, and no new republics joined voluntarily.

Cultural Autonomy and National Identity

  • Cultural autonomy was granted to various nationalities within the USSR:

    • 100 languages were spoken across the Soviet Union, and 50 distinct nationalities were recognized.

    • Even small or isolated communities received the right to use their own language, maintain their own schools, wear their traditional dress, and follow their own customs.

    • The Soviet regime even encouraged the development of cultural nationalism, with some 50 languages being written for the first time and national songs, dances, and folklore being celebrated.

Hierarchy of Nationalities

  • The nationalities were organized into different levels of autonomy, based on their size and importance:

    • Soviet republics were the highest level of autonomy.

    • Below them were autonomous republics, autonomous regions, and cultural districts, which had representation in the Soviet of Nationalities, the upper legislative house created by the 1936 Constitution.

Russian Dominance within the USSR

  • The Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR) dominated the USSR, comprising over half of the population and about three-fourths of the territory.

  • Along with Ukraine and Belarus, the USSR had an overwhelmingly Russian and Slavic character.

  • Despite the formal claim that each Soviet republic was sovereign and had rights (e.g., to conduct its own foreign affairs), real political and economic authority was centralized in the hands of the Soviet central government.

Separatism and Centralized Control

  • Even though the Soviet government worked to suppress separatism, signs of it remained, especially in Ukraine.

  • During World War II, several autonomous areas were dissolved for alleged separatist activities or collaboration with German invaders.

  • By the late 1980s, it was clear that the Soviet Union could not prevent the disintegration of the multinational empire it had inherited from the tsars, which contributed to its eventual collapse in 1991.

State and Party Structure

  • The governance structure of the USSR and its component republics followed the pattern developed during the revolution, formalized in the 1924 and 1936 constitutions.

  • The principle of parallelism was adopted, in which two parallel structures existed:

    • State structures (e.g., government institutions).

    • Party structures (e.g., the Communist Party apparatus) that paralleled the state at every level.

This section emphasizes the dominance of Russia within the USSR, the challenges of separatism, especially in Ukraine, and the centralized control of both state and party governance despite the theoretical autonomy of the Soviet republics.