How Did Lenin Impose control On Russia
Lenin was the ruler of the Bolshevik party. In 1917 he began the Civil War against the opposing force that was called The Whites. A few days after he had seized power in Petrograd, Kerensky sent troops to try and bring down Lenin and then bring back the provisional government. Unfortunately for Kerensky they were easily held back. They were stopped in the suburbs by a force of pro-Bolshevik workers, soldiers and sailors. Whilst this was going on, Lenin set up his new government called the Sovnakom. This stands for ‘The Council Of People’s Commissars’. Lenin was the chairman whilst Trotsky was commissar for war and Stalin was commissar for nationalities. Alexandra Kollontai was the only woman in the Sovnakom. When the Government was established he went on to try and keep his promises. To end the war, give land to the presents and get food to the cities. If he did not do this then his support would completely be lost. After doing this he set up the Cheka. These were the Bolsheviks secret police. The leader of this ruthless group was called Felix Dzerzhinski. The group was set up in Lubyanka, which was in Moscow.
By the time it had come to November Lenin had been forced to hold the elections promised by the provisional government. To Lenin’s horror the railway workers threatened to stop working and shut down the railways if Lenin did not go ahead with the first free elections. The elections were to choose a constituent assembly, which would work out a plan for Russia in the future. Due to the fact that the party with the most votes would win the election it posed a great threat to the future of the Bolshevik party.