A similar situation arose with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918. The Bolsheviks had promised they would end the war, which was partly why people supported them. However, the Germans were making excessive demands. Trotsky pulled out of the peace talks and refused to sign. Lenin managed to persuade the Russian representatives except Trotsky to sign and end the war. He knew that Russia’s army couldn’t hold up against the Germans for much longer. If Lenin hadn’t been there, the representatives may have followed Trotsky. The war would have gone on and the Russians could have lost a lot of land, turning the Bolshevik’s supporters against them. It could have led to the Reds being forced out of power, before they could consolidate it.
After the Bolsheviks seized power, the other socialist parties, such as the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, wanted a share of the power. They believed that the Bolsheviks had seized power on behalf of the Soviet and wanted a Socialist coalition. Lenin had no intention of allowing this, but he let the elections for the Constituent Assembly go ahead. He made sure that talks with socialist parties collapsed and when the Reds didn’t gain many seats in the Assembly, Lenin declared it redundant, on the 5th January 1918. Protesters were fired upon by soldiers. With a Socialist coalition, the Bolsheviks wouldn’t have had as much freedom and wouldn’t have been able to consolidate their power, but it may have prevented the Civil War.
As a result of the Civil War and War Communism, Russia was faced with economic collapse and widespread rebellion. Lenin decided to make a radical turnaround, in the form of the New Economic Policy. This was a brave move by Lenin, as many Bolshevik members believed it to be a ‘betrayal of the principles of the October Revolution’ (4). He tried to justify the idea by claiming it was only to be a temporary solution to the country’s problem, ‘a tactical retreat’ (5). Eventually the party decided, again, to back Lenin. There were divisions in the party due to the discontent in the cities over War Communism and if the Bolsheviks were to hold on to their power, they needed to stay united. Political repression, in the form of censorship, attacks on the Church and attacks on political rivals, accompanied the NEP. This was to prevent the return of Capitalism, which could result in a political system based on a coalition government. The NEP was probably vital for keeping the Bolsheviks in power. The peasants and workers were on the point of rebellion.
Although Lenin played a big part in the success of the Reds, many other factors helped them consolidate their rule.
Trotsky played a huge part during the Civil War, providing the Reds with a good war leader and strategist. The Whites were divided and lacked co-ordination with the allied armies. They were spread out allowing Trotsky to co-ordinate his forces and fight the White armies one at a time. The Bolsheviks were also in a better geographical position, based near Moscow, with the advantage of internal lines of Communication and control of the railways. He ensured tough discipline in the army, with the death penalty being used often, whereas the Whites had a problem with desertion. Had Trotsky not been appointed War Commissar, by Lenin, in 1918, the Reds chance of winning the Civil War would have been greatly reduced. He was a huge asset to the Reds.
Another factor for the Bolsheviks surviving for so long was the weakness of the opposition and the way the Bolsheviks exploited it. The Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries didn’t realise the potential of the Reds and failed to put up any violent anti-Bolshevik protest that could have toppled them from power. As well as their poor organisation during the Civil War, the Whites’ policies didn’t appeal to the workers and peasants, as the Bolshevik’s promises of ‘Peace, Bread and Land’ did. They feared that if the Whites won the Civil War they would lose the land to the nobles and higher classes. So even though the peasantry stayed fairly neutral during the Civil War, they would have been slightly more sympathetic towards the Bolsheviks.
Although the Bolsheviks’ opposition were weak, the Reds wanted to make sure that their power wasn’t threatened. They used ruthless methods and terror against the other socialist parties such as the Socialist Revolutionaries. The Cheka was set up, in December 1917 by Lenin to arrest and deal with any opposition. They also used force to deal with the civil service strikes and class warfare made it hard for the middle classes and other social groups to criticise the Bolsheviks.
The Bolsheviks not only had to deal with opposition from other political groups, but ‘internal enemies’ (6) too. In 1921, there was a ban on factions within the party. Groups such as the Worker’s Opposition had angered Lenin, he called for unity in the party. The ban meant that everyone was to accept decisions agreed by the Central Committee, or be expelled from the party.
I believe that no single factor was responsible for the success of the Reds, but it was a combination of several that allowed the Bolsheviks to prove their critics wrong. If the Reds hadn’t used terror to destroy their opponents, the peasantry and workers may still have supported the Bolsheviks due to their policies on land, food and ending the war. Some of the most important factors were; organisation of the Bolsheviks due to good leaders i.e. Lenin and Trotsky, terror and the weakness of opposition.
If the Red army hadn’t been led by Trotsky, even if they were in a better geographical position, they might not have been able to exploit the weaknesses of the other sides. Lenin also played a big part with his radical policies and ability to bring others round to his ideas, while keeping the party united.
Shortly after they seized power, the Bolsheviks didn’t have many supporters. People were angry, as the Bolsheviks had said they were seizing power on behalf of the Soviet, but they then didn’t want to share power with anyone. Terror, in the form of the Cheka, was used to prevent Russians from speaking out against the Bolsheviks, particularly around the time of War Communism, when the Bolsheviks were in trouble. It was also used to eliminate political opponents, no matter how weak.
Lastly, the weakness of opposition played a big part, allowing the Bolsheviks to set up a government after seizing power, win the Civil War and finally consolidate their power.
I don’t believe Lenin to be the most important factor in the consolidation of Bolsheviks' power, but he was among the three most important.
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- C. Read, quoted by C. Corin and T. Fiehn in Communist Russia under Lenin and Stalin
- - N.N.Sukhanov, quoted in Communist Russia under Lenin and Stalin
- - Trotsky, in a letter to Preobrazhensky in 1928, quoted in Communist Russia under Lenin and Stalin
- - quoted from Communist Russia under Lenin and Stalin
- - Zinoviev addressing the Bolshevik Party, quoted from Communist Russia under Lenin and Stalin
- - quoted from Communist Russia under Lenin and Stalin
