Much of Lenins success was no doubt explained by his towering domination over his [Bolshevik] party. To what extent does this explanation account for his rise to power and rule, 1917 to 1924?

        Apparent from the successful spread of his ideology, Lenin was able to promote it through different political strategies. The first was his influential work What is to be Done? which was published in 1902 explaining his expectations and his beliefs of what the future held for Russia. He stressed the need for a new party-type consisting of professional revolutionaries who would act as the ‘vanguard of the proletariat.’ In the book, he also rejects reliance upon the eventual good sense of workers and peasants and represents a substantial break with past traditions of the Russian left. Later, he created a variety of short slogans like “Peace, bread, land” which were of much more success amongst the peasants and uneducated. The slogans were based on the main demands of the time: an end to Russian participation in the war, an end to food scarcity, and an end to the land question. Lenin’s book was addressed mainly to the intellectuals as Lenin was aware of who would and who would not read it. Trotsky said that even if the people did not read Lenin and his books, he had already read them, meaning that the slogans had been created for the purpose of circulating the Communist ideology amongst those who would not read the book. So far, all the successes have been his own.

        After the October/November revolution in 1917 and the Bolshevik rise to power, Lenin needed a way to preserve the control and power, and this was done through a reign of terror. Thus, other Bolsheviks appeared, and two divisions were created within the defense: the CHEKA and the Red Army, neither of which was under the direct control of Lenin. The CHEKA had its own Chief of Police, and the Red Army was under Trotsky’s control and leadership. The soldiers of the Red Army had also been trained by Tsarist generals, whose families’ lives had been threatened, because of their experience and capabilities, but this took place under the supervision of Bolsheviks. Both these units were used to control the people and overpower them through terror. Without them, Lenin would not have been able to implement his decrees on land and peace. Leading both the defensive faction that considered of the CHEKA and Red Army at the same time as being the Chairman of the People’s Commissars was impossible, so he must have delegated his power. The men to whom he delegated the power became very influential, and it was Trotsky who led the Red Army to victory against the Whites during the 1918-1921 Civil War. Had they not been capable of leading and fulfilling their obligations to the party, Lenin would not have been as successful in his rule over Petrograd and most of Russia. This dependence upon the CHEKA and Red Army leaders demonstrates the value of other Bolsheviks to the maintenance of Bolshevik, and Lenin’s, rule over Petrograd, and it shows that Lenin did not entirely dominate the political scene.

        A fourth and important reason for Lenin’s success was the fact that he was willing to compromise. He willingly sacrificed part of his beliefs to maintain stability within Russia. The first evidence of this was the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918 when he gave away a large section of Russia to the Germans to stop Russian losses in World War I. This loss included 26% of the Russia’s population, 32% of its arable land, 33% of its manufacturing industry, and 75% of its coal and iron resources. He also later compromised with Poland on March 18, 1921, over the Treaty of Riga when he allowed the Poles to extend their borders in to what had previously been Russia. Another time when he compromised again was for the New Economic Policy, NEP, when he sacrificed his beliefs of profit and private ownership for economic stability within Russia. He understood that the War Communism he had faith in had caused inflation, starvation, as well as an industrial collapse, so he allowed some private ownership and trade of surplus for profit. These compromises may have provoked criticism, but Lenin’s priority was retaining the support of the peasantry and proletariat which needed food and money. He kept the main industries like coal, iron, and fuel centralized, but he allowed some liberties. Even if the CHEKA and the Red Army had intervened to resist the German and Poles and to persist the continuation of War Communism, the Bolsheviks would have lost their power to either the Germans, the Poles, or revolutionaries. They would have followed the Tsar into insignificance. In the case of the treaties and the NEP, Lenin played a huge role.

        It can be assumed that Lenin had played an impressive role in his success because his name continues through the pages of history. His intelligence and composure were so contagious to surrounding Bolsheviks and Russians that they provoked E.H. Carr into saying that the Bolshevik success resulted from Lenin imposition of his personality upon the party and its decisions. He was a predominant feat of the Bolshevik Party, serving as the ‘mouthpiece’ for publicity, as well as the one finding new means of regulating control over the people. His dependence upon other Bolshevik individuals, especially Trotsky, mars any possible argument of his domination of the party caused his success as, without the Bolsheviks and their support, Lenin would have lost his influence over Petrograd and Russia.