The Bolshevik party was afraid that other parties, if given the opportunity, would take over control, and so dictatorship also stopped any more revolutions from taking place. In the Civil war, the white consisted of many forces, made an attempt to overthrow the Bolshevik government. This Civil war was unsuccessful mainly due to the fact that the Bolshevik’s were in complete control of the country and so had many advantages such as the army, uses of taxes, railway etc. One of the first policies that Lenin brought forward was the unpopular War Communism. This meant that no industries could be privately owned, so the Bolsheviks being in power could take whatever food, equipment and profit they wished to from the business.
As War Communism was strongly disliked amongst the people, on many occasions the Cheka was called in to take the supplies that the starving, poverty-ridden people refused to give up. The Cheka, led by Dzerzhinsky, was another useful tool for the Bolsheviks, as they were employed under the state, but became increasingly violent towards anti-Bolshevik individuals.
The Royal family, although abdicated, was still a threat to Bolshevik power, as many still saw the Tsar as the real ruler of Russia. The Cheka, under Bolshevik orders assassinated Tsar Nicholas 2, along with allegedly 10 other members of his family (only 9 bodies were found in total). This ensured that there would never again be a Tsar as ruler of Russia; Bolsheviks were now a true dictatorship government.
It is clear that Lenin, along with many Bolshevik members saw that a dictatorship was essential in order for the Bolsheviks to maintain power and authority. They were a weak party, and so the threat of being removed from power, like the Provisional Government was apparent, especially after the Constituent Assembly. With events such as the Kronstadt Mutiny in 1921, the Tambov Rising in 1920-1 and the Civil War in 1918-21, the Bolsheviks only sure way of remaining in government was to set up a dictatorship.
The arrival of the Bolshevik government had a great effect on every aspect of people’s lives; including culture and religion. The traditional ‘High Culture’, which was strongly encouraged during the Tsarist regime, was disliked by the Bolsheviks and replaced by ‘Popular Culture’, which appealed to the masses. The Russian Orthodox Church was also becoming less of a powerful force, as more people begun to reject its ideas for those of Karl Marx.
Lenin was very lenient towards artists, and since the Tsar’s censorship policies had been stopped they were given freedom of speech. Lenin even encouraged artists who Trotsky described as ‘Fellow Travellers’ and who although did not believe in communist ideas were sympathetic to the revolution. Lenin saw the need for art, and set up the position of ‘Commissariat of Enlightenment’ to encourage and support artists. He also had a strong desire to keep talented writers and artists on the Bolshevik side, for he was aware how dangerous they could be to the public perception of the Bolsheviks.
Bolshevik member Alexander Bogdanov wanted all art to be available to everyone, giving working classes more independence and personal rights. Theatres, studios and Libraries become open to all. He believed a new form of art should be set up, created for all the people; this group became known as the ‘Constructivists’.
Not only were artists now freely expressing their current views, but the advances in technology also gave way to a new art called ‘Futurism’ which artists attempted to capture a futuristic world, emphasising on the machinery and technology.
The Orthodox Church was a very important figure during the Tsarist regime, having both wealth and control over the people. The Bolshevik disapproved with the church, seeing it as no more than a way of repressing and socially controlling the people. During Nicholas 2 rule two thirds of the population were Russian Orthodox, and so when the Bolsheviks attempted to eradicate them it was met with mixed feelings.
The Bolsheviks not only attacked the church because of its ruling, but because their ideology differed greatly from that of Karl Max. For the church symbolised greed and oppression to the Bolsheviks, but their soviet beliefs stated that everyone should be equal.
In 1918 Lenin went so far as to issue a decree that the church became separate from the state. This meant that a lot of the church land became state property, and it was not longer the official Russian religion. Religious education was banned in schools and many churches and monasteries were closed down.
After the Civil war Lenin took a softer approach to the Church, as hatred towards the Bolsheviks over religious freedom was growing. In 1920 a survey revealed that 55% of Russians were still active Orthodox Christians, and so Lenin had not been successful in eliminating it. The Bolshevik party had a great deal of pressure and expectations from the people, to live up to their promises, when coming into power. Although they clearly improved many social aspects such as art and literature, they were still unable to affectively change the religion. The Bolshevik heavily criticised the Tsar for the lack of rights given to the people, but was extremely hypocritical, as they too were attempting to take away people’s religion, in order for them to convert to their communist views.
