Russia and the Soviet Union: 1917-1941 - Bolshevik Consolidation of Power Study Notes (copy)

Sources of Historical Material

• The information presented has been primarily compiled from the following authoritative sources:   - Ken Webb: Russia and the Soviet Union 1917 to 1941, Get Smart Education.   - Robert Service: From Tsarism to the 21st Century, Penguin Publishing ($2021$).   - Orlando Figes: Research via http://www.orlandofiges.info/.   - Alpha History: Research via www.alphahistory.com.

Overview of Bolshevik Ideology

• Vision for the Future: Bolshevism was more than an acquisition of power; it was a vision for a communist society characterized by:   - Poverty-free equality.   - Production through machines rather than manual labor.   - The absence of a centralized state used to oppress people.

• Decentralized System: It was intended to be a decentralized system where people managed their own daily existence.

• Guiding Principle: It adhered to the phrase defined by Karl Marx: “…from each according to his ability, to each according to his need”.

• Supply and Demand:   - Supply: Provided by individuals working within their field of capability.   - Demand: Fulfilled by providing for basic survival needs (food, shelter, energy, etc.).   - Social Standard: There was no place for luxury or disparate wealth.

Foundational Figures of Communism: Marx and Engels

• Karl Marx ($1818$-$1883$):   - Born in Germany as a Christian of Jewish origin.   - Fled to London following revolutionary activity in $1848$.   - Authored The Communist Manifesto, outlining his utopian communist state.   - Worked as a London correspondent for a New York paper while researching at the British Museum.   - Published Volume $1$ of Das Kapital in $1867$, which served as a critique of the limitations and oppressiveness of capitalism.

• Friedrich Engels (Born $1820$):   - Born in Germany but moved to Manchester in the $1840$s to run his father’s textile manufacturing business.   - Became concerned with the issues facing the Industrial Revolution working class.   - Befriended, financially supported, and co-authored works with Marx.   - Completed Das Kapital after Marx’s death.   - Irony: It is noted that capitalism provided the funding that helped create the origins of communism.

The Communist Manifesto

• Class Antagonism: Marx argued that modern bourgeois society rising from feudal ruins did not eliminate class conflict; it established new classes, conditions of oppression, and forms of struggle.

• Societal Split: Society is increasingly splitting into two hostile camps: the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat.

• Revolutionary Class: As industry develops, the proletariat increases in number and concentration, growing in strength. Marx asserts that “the proletariat alone is a real revolutionary class.”

• Focus on Germany: German revolutionary efforts were viewed as a prelude to a proletarian revolution because the country was on the verge of a bourgeois revolution.

• Forcible Overthrow: The ends of communism can only be attained by the “forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions.”

• Famous Call to Action: “The proletariat have nothing to lose but their chains. They have the world to win. Working men of all countries, unite!”

Questions & Discussion: Marx and Modern Society

• Source Analysis Activity:   - What is the core concern of Marx about the nature of society that had replaced the feudal system in Europe?   - What is his solution to the injustices that he observed? (Include quotes).   - Evaluation: Can authentic communism be a peaceful movement? Why or why not?

• Class Struggle Context: Marx defined history as the history of class struggles: “freeman and slave, patrician and plebian, lord and serf… oppressor and oppressed.”

• Outcome of Struggle: Battles ended in either a “revolutionary reconstitution of society at large (New World Order)” or in the “common ruin of the contending classes.”

• Modern Discussion: Some argue we are in a “Neo-Marxist assault on society” focused on the confrontation between the ‘privileged/oppressor’ and the ‘under-privileged/oppressed.’ Is there justification for this concern in modern political discourse over the past decade?

Marxist Evolutionary Theory

• Historical Lens: Society is viewed through the lens of “oppressor” vs. ‘‘Oppressed” (‘‘haves’’ and ‘‘have nots’’).

• Stages of History: History functions in logical stages. As the oppressed grow to recognize inequality and resent the wealth of oppressors, they rise to topple them, creating a new stage.

• The Socialist Stage: The stage known as the “dictatorship of the proletariat” occurs when workers control the state.

• Transition to Communism: Counter-revolutionaries and those with non-socialist attitudes must be “rooted out and eliminated” before society can reach the ideal of communism.

Socio-Economic Context: Pre-Revolutionary Russia

• Peasant Living Conditions (Barbara Tuchman, The Proud Tower, $1997$):   - Lived in “warrens of the poor” characterized by hunger, dirt, and smells of latrines and stale beer.   - Single-room dwellings housed men, women, children, and grandparents together.   - Rooms served as places for eating, sleeping, fornicating, defecating, and dying.   - Furnishings consisted of old boxes for chairs, foul straw for beds, and boards propped on crates as tables.   - Families often lacked enough clothes for all children to go outside simultaneously.

• Opulent Wealth of the Rich:   - Contrast to the poor who lacked basic necessities.   - The rich lived in marble-floored houses with $30$ to $50$ rooms.   - Dined on fish, fowl, and red meat in single meals.   - Wrapped in furs and served by retinues of servants who blacked boots and lit fires.

Vladimir Lenin and the Formation of the Bolshevik Party

• Background: Born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov in $1870$ outside Moscow to well-off parents.

• Alexander Ulyanov: Lenin’s older brother was involved in anti-Tsarist revolutionary activity and was hanged in $1887$ after a failed assassination attempt on the Tsar; this event infuriated Lenin and pushed him toward revolution.

• Legal Career and Exile: Lenin attained a law degree despite his revolutionary involvement. In $1895$, he was arrested during an anti-government strike and exiled to Siberia for $4$ years.

• Exile in London: Moved to London in $1900$, starting the newspaper Isokra (“The Spark”) to promote the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party ideals. He spent only a few months in Russia between $1900$ and $1917$, developing his theories primarily from abroad.

The Social Democrat Labour Party Split ($1903$)

• The Mensheviks (led by Martov):   - Believed the party should be broad-based with wide membership.   - Advocated for a democratic constitution where members could challenge leadership ideas.   - Pursued a long-term strategy where workers would slowly grow in number and consciousness while improving conditions within the existing system. This was considered more “authentic” Marxist theory.

• The Bolsheviks (led by Lenin):   - Favored a centralized, small, and highly disciplined party of “self-sacrificing” revolutionaries.   - Believed in a strict hierarchy.

Lenin’s Pragmatic Solutions: Bolshevism

• Organizational Theory (What is to be Done?, $1902$):   - The party must be “few in number” and consist of “unsentimental” revolutionaries.   - The party would lead and educate the proletariat, who were seen as unable to develop revolutionary consciousness on their own.   - This countered Marx’s vision of an organic, anarchic uprising.

• Addressing Russia’s Backwardness: Since Russia was economically backward, Lenin argued revolution would actually be easier than in developed capitalist states because the regime could be toppled by a concentrated revolutionary action.

• Global Outlook (Imperialism: the Highest Stage of Capitalism, $1916$):   - Capitalism was seen as a “dead idea.”   - Great capitalist powers would destroy themselves in wars for domination.   - War would be the “catalyst for revolution.”   - A Russian revolution would inspire advanced Western European workers to overthrow capitalism; those more advanced socialist states would then aid Russia.

• The Revolutionary Transition (The State and Revolution, $1917$):   - The party would take over existing Tsarist structures (public service, military, businesses).   - The transition from monarchy/capitalism to communism required a “dictatorship of the proletariat.”   - This meant an authoritarian regime acting on behalf of the people, involving a coercive police state to eliminate internal and external enemies.

The $1905$ Revolution and Lead up to $1917$

• $1905$ Failure: Lenin joined the workers' revolution in October $1905$ but fled into exile for $12$ years when Tsarist forces regained control. During this time, Bolshevik membership declined.

• WWI Opportunity ($1914$): Lenin viewed the major war between Western capitalists as the pragmatic opportunity he needed. He argued Russian workers should not fight Germans but should turn on their own military and civilian leadership.

The October Coup $1917$

• Failure of the Provisional Government: After Tsar Nicholas II was deposed, the Provisional Government tried to rule via democratic ideals (“broad church”) but failed to implement requested worker reforms.

• Lenin’s Position: “There must be no parliamentary republic… but a republic of Soviets of Workers, Agricultural Labourers and Peasant Deputies…” (April $1917$).

• The Coup Strategy: With the collapse of the Kornilov coup in September, the Bolsheviks became the victorious military force defending the Provisional Government.

• Key Factors for the Bolsheviks:   - Leadership of the Petrograd Soviet (Trotsky as President).   - Perception as defenders of the people.   - Weakness of the Provisional Government after failed German offensives.

• Timing: Lenin convinced the party to seize power in October, stating, “IIistory will never forgive us [if we wait].” It was delayed until the Second Congress of Soviets ($25$th of October) so the Bolsheviks could claim power on behalf of all Soviets.

Trotsky’s Organizational Role

• Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC): Formed and led by Trotsky; the MRC controlled the capital’s military power.

• Tactical Actions:   - Ordered the Red Guard to occupy key infrastructure (transport hubs, bridges, etc.).   - Ordered the Red Guard to arrest Provisional Government politicians in the Winter Palace.

• Consolidation: Negotiated to bring all Soviets into the plans to avoid factional war.

The Early Soviet Government: SOVNARKOM

• Structure: Known as the Council of People’s Commissars (SOVNARKOM), formed after other Soviet leaders walked out in protest of Bolshevik singular rule.

• Cabinet Members:   - Chairman: Lenin   - Foreign Affairs / War: Trotsky   - Internal Affairs: Rykov   - Social Welfare: Kollantai   - Nationalities: Stalin   - Popular Enlightenment: Lunacharsky

• Weaknesses in late $1917$ (Diagram $3.1$):   - Lack of coercive power: No police, no fully constituted army.   - Bureaucracy issues: Civil servants were on strike; state bank refused cooperation (took $10$ days to open vaults).   - Limited territorial control: Mostly just the “rectangular band” between Petrograd and Moscow ($30 imes 400~ ext{miles}$).   - Electoral Failure: Performed poorly in the Constituent Assembly elections.   - Economic Disaster: Food shortages and rural anarchy.

Early Decrees and Reforms

• Peace Decree: Issued on the $26$th of October, calling for immediate negotiations for an “honest democratic peace.” This addressed the most unpopular position of the Provisional Government.

• Land Decree: Peasants were given the right to seize land from the nobility without compensation. This was technically anti-communist (private property) but was a pragmatic necessity to gain support.

• Social Reforms:   - $8$-hour workdays.   - Worker-controlled factories.   - Sickness, unemployment, and pension benefits.   - Equal legal status for women in marriage and legalized abortion.   - Abolition of military ranks, uniforms, and saluting.

• Anti-Church Measures: Separated church and state, introduced civil marriage, and confiscated church land to remove a rival ideology.

Totalitarian Consolidation

• Shutting Down Democracy: When November elections garnered only $24\%$ Bolshevik support, the Assembly was shut down by troops.

• Information Control: Rival publications were outlawed. Lenin believed controlling information was key to controlling belief.

• Suppression of Rivals: Non-Bolshevik socialist parties (like Mensheviks) were outlawed; members were imprisoned or killed.

• Banning Strikes: Formerly a socialist activity, strikes were now prohibited.

The CHEKA and the Red Terror

• Formation: Created by decree in December $1917$ as a secret police force to identify counter-revolutionaries (“burzhui” or “enemies of the people”).

• Leadership: Felix Dzerzhinsky, a fanatical and ruthless Bolshevik of Polish extraction.

• Growth: Started with a few hundred agents; grew to over $100,000$ within two years.

• Operations: Operatied without judges, courts, or legal oversight. Used extra-legal violence and torture.

• Statistics: Estimated to have killed $50,000$ opponents in its first year.

• Torture Methods (Orlando Figes, A People’s Tragedy):   - Kharkov: The ‘glove trick’.   - Tsaritsyn: Sawing victims’ bones in half.   - Voronezh: Rolling naked victims in nail-studded barrels.   - Kiev: Attaching rat cages to torsos and heating them so rats ate through guts.   - Odessa: Chaining victims to planks and pushing them into furnaces or boiling water.   - Winter Torture: Pouring water on naked victims until they became “living ice statues.”

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March $3$, $1918$)

• Lenin’s Motivation: Russia’s economy was in freefall, people were starving, and grip on power was loose. He needed peace at any cost to refocus resources internally.

• Negotiations: Trotsky acted as chief negotiator, attempting to draw out proceedings hoping for a German revolution.

• Concessions: Russia yielded enormous space, including major food-producing areas and industrial zones in independent Ukraine.

• Short-Term Impact: Germany transferred millions of troops to the Western Front and used Russian coal and iron for their war effort.

• Medium-Term Impact:   - Left Socialist Revolutionaries (allies) revolted against Bolsheviks.   - Civil War was sparked to restore Russian territorial integrity.   - Western allies (Britain, France, USA, Japan) intervened to support the “Whites.”

The Russian Civil War ($1918$-$1921$)

• Combatants:   - The Reds: Workers and peasants army organized by Trotsky; included Kronstadt sailors and former Tsarist officers.   - The Whites: Divergent anti-Bolshevik forces (Socialist Revolutionaries, monarchists, nationalists, Czech legion, Western allies). Led by generals such as Kolchak, Kornilov, Denikin, and Wrangel.   - The Greens: Peasant gangs and guerrillas (like Makhno) protecting their own land.

• Outcome: The Reds won due to Trotsky’s organization and the Whites’ lack of a unified agenda.

War Communism

• Definition: The first version of the Soviet planned economy ($1918$-$1921$). It aimed to abolish private trade, nationalize large-scale industry, and replace the money system with state rationing ($1920$).

• Grain Requisitioning: Harvest surpluses became state property. Armed “grain brigades” used force, beating and torturing peasants to retrieve grain. Moscow took what it needed regardless of whether seeds for next year remained.

• Hyperinflation: The state flooded the market with bank notes to destroy the monetary system and ensure reliance on state rations.

• Rationing Classes: Rations were class-based; soldiers and workers received the most, while “burzhui’’ received the least.

• Humanitarian Impact: Resulted in widespread famine. The Volga famine ($1921$-$1922$) killed approximately $5~ ext{million}$ people. Total deaths from fighting, terror, and famine reached approximately $10~ ext{million}$ .

The New Economic Policy (NEP)

• Catalyst for Change: Peasant uprisings (Tambov rebellion) and the Kronstadt Sailors' mutiny ($1921$) forced Lenin to realize War Communism was unsustainable.

• Kronstadt Rebellion Details: Sailors demanded democratic rights (freedom of speech), equal rations, and an end to Bolshevik power monopoly.

• NEP Reforms ($1921$):   - End of grain requisitioning; replaced by a “tax in kind” (roughly $50\%$ of surplus, later paid in cash).   - Return to a money economy ($1923$).   - Private shops and small businesses (Nepmen) allowed to operate.   - The state retained control of the “commanding heights” (banks, electricity, transport, heavy industry).

• Economic Results:   - Grain production increased from <50~ ext{million tons} ($1921$) to $72.5~ ext{million tons}$ ($1925$).   - Industrial wages doubled.   - Scissor Effect: Agricultural prices fell while industrial prices rose, causing peasants to withhold crops because they couldn't afford manufactured goods.

Political Crisis and the Ban on Factions

• Disillusionment: Young Bolsheviks felt the NEP was a betrayal of the revolution and a slide back toward capitalism.

• Workers’ Opposition: Led by Shlyapnikov and Kollontai, calling for more worker control.

• 10th Party Congress Resolution: Lenin banned all factions within the party. No one could challenge Central Committee decisions without being charged with “factionalism.”

• The Nomenklatura System: All major party/government jobs were appointed by the party. This rewarded cronyism over ability and created a new party elite, making the party strictly hierarchical and undemocratic.

Questions & Discussion: Review Activities

• Flow Diagram: Create a flow diagram showing how Lenin sought to create a socialist state through Bolshevik ideology.

• Mindmap - CHEKA: Map out the origins, leadership (Dzerzhinsky), and actions of the Cheka.

• Brest-Litovsk Questionnaire:   - What were core conditions of surrender?   - Why was it important for Trotsky to take over negotiations?   - How did German negotiators view Trotsky?   - List territorial and economic concessions.

• NEP Comparison Table: Categorize NEP features into Successes and Failures (using Economic, Social, and Political headers).

• Summative Analysis: Evaluate the importance of ideology vs. pragmatism in Bolshevik policies up to Lenin’s death in $1924$ (consider Peace/Land decrees, War Communism, and NEP).