How did the Communist Party maintain power between 1917 and 1921?

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How did the Communist Party maintain power between 1917 and 1921?

The strategies employed by the Communist Party were of fundamental importance in the consolidation of Bolshevik power between 1917- 1921. This was achieved through the Leadership of Leon Trotsky and the Red Army, a combination of pragmatic reforms and ruthless terrorism used as a weapon of government policy. The implication of war communism, the New Economic Policy and ultimately the leadership and ideologies of Vladimir Lenin, thus enabled the overthrow of the Provisional government, while forming the Soviet Union into a highly centralised one-party state.

Leon Trotsky’s political career was marked by many successes that in turn proved to play a significant role towards the consolidation of Bolshevik power. Recognised as a revolutionist and a Russian Marxist theorist, it was essentially Trotsky’s organisational skills, ideological beliefs and the ability to be flexible in his position of Commissar of War in relation to the Red Army. The Red Army was officially established on January 28, 1918 out of the old Imperial Russian military forces. Its purpose at the outset was to defend the Soviet Union’s frontiers and protect the Revolution from its enemies. Recruitment was originally meant to be voluntary, in keeping with Communist ideals, but within months compulsory conscription was introduced. As a result Trotsky was enabled to transform an ill-disciplined army of 300,000 troops into a large, military machine of 5 million. This gave the Red Army an enormous numerical advantage over the opposition (white) forces and so assisted in their successful defeat. In addition, the recruitment of 50,000 former Tsarist officers were produced, that subsequently enabled military experience and expertise to be drawn upon. Trotsky imposed forced conscription; party controlled blocking squads, compulsory obedience (death penalty for desertion) and officers chosen by leadership instead of the rank and file. In defending this ideology, it can be concluded that through the leadership of Leon Trotsky, the Bolsheviks were able to maintain a state of power as all political and military opposition to their rule had been quenched.

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The application of Red Terror as a weapon of government policy was indicated in the earliest days of the Bolshevik government. Described as having been officially announced on September 2, 1918, this was a campaign of mass arrests, executions and atrocities conducted by the political police. It thus possessed the role of eliminating counter-revolutionaries who belonged to the former ruling class. The chosen instrument enforced to inflict this hostile terror was the Cheka. After its establishment in December 1917, the Communist party was subsequently enabled to maintain power through the execution of decrees on the Courts. This abolished the existing ...

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