Further more the April thesis placed the Bolsheviks into a position of being the only serious substitute for the Provisional Government. All other socialist parties had aligned themselves with the provisional government, who had refused to take Russia out of the war. Hence for the population that wanted the war to end, the Bolsheviks became more and more attractive. But, because Lenin was exiled again, this time to Finland because he had released the April Thesis, his role in the immediate planning of the revolution and its execution was very limited.
All in all Lenin’s role in the October Revolution was not that important. Although he was leading the party and was the most important theorist, the main character in the organisation and execution of the revolution was Leon Trotsky. Stalin, who admits that it was mainly dues to Trotsky’s not Lenin’s achievements that the Bolshevik revolution succeeded, underlines this.
However once the revolution was successful and Lenin ruled over Russia, his role became more and more important. This can already be seen in his role played in ending Russia’s involvement in the First World War. The Germans represented the major threat to the new government after the revolution and ending Russia’s involvement in the war was a major step towards setting up a Soviet State. Trotsky who led the Russian delegation to the peace negotiations at Brest-Litovsk was very naïve and denied to accept the harsh terms demanded by the Germans. He and his delegations walked out of the negotiations announcing he would accept “neither peace nor war”. The Germans used the chance and advanced further into Russian territory. The realists in the government, headed by Lenin rapidly agreed to even harsher terms. Hence Lenin played a very important part in saving Russia from German occupation and hence in ensuring that his new government stayed in power.
And also in the civil war that followed the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Lenin’s role was very important, although many Historians such as Terry Brotherstone argue that Trotsky’s role was at least equally important.
The Historian David Christian argues that one of the three main reasons for Bolshevik victory in the civil war was that they enjoyed more support in the population. The whites failed to gain the support of the peasantry under which the Bolsheviks had little support and that made up 80% of the Russian population. The whites wanted to restore the land to the gentry while Lenin had written a Land decree, redistributing the Land among the peasantry. Hence the Bolsheviks found it much easier to recruit peasants than the whites. It is symbolic that at crucial stages in the war, parts of the white armies were crippled by peasant uprisings behind their lines. Hence Lenin’s policies played a vital role in the Bolsheviks survival of the civil war, as it was the Land decree drafted personally by Lenin that made the peasants favour the Bolsheviks over the whites.
Lenin’s introduction of War Communism further proved to be a vital step for the Bolshevik victory. The main changes under War Communism were that, all industry was nationalised and strict centralisation was introduced, workers discipline was strict and strikers could be shot, food and most commodities were rationed and distributed in a centralised way. This ensured that the Bolsheviks were better organised behind the front lines than the whites. They had a unified and highly efficient party and working force, which is mainly due to the introduction of Lenin’s “War Communism” policy. Hence Lenin played a major role in consolidating a Soviet state, as he played a main role in defeating the whites that wanted to seize power over the Bolsheviks. And although it was Trotsky that organised and led the Red Army very efficiently, Lenin’s role during the time of civil war was equally if not even more important to the part Trotsky played.
Lenin’s last major achievement in the new Soviet state was the introduction of his “New Economic Policy”, which saved the Bolsheviks from a possible popular uprising and economic collapse. After the civil war, Russia’s economy was in a very bad state. The country was shaken by famine and typhus; in some areas there was cannibalism. Soon millions died in what turned into one of the worst famines of the twentieth century. Now after the defeat of the whites and the threat of civil war gone, the Russian people did not tolerate harsh policies such as “War Communism” any more. Popular unrest increased steadily, however the most alarming sign for the need to change policy was the Kronstadt mutiny in February 1921. The mutiny was crushed by Trotsky’s red army in a bloody battle in which 15000 defenders died. According to David Christian, the Bolshevik Government was facing a crisis as serious as the crises the tsarist government faced in 1905 and 1917. And once again it was Lenin, who introduced the solution to the problems facing the Bolshevik government. On the tenth party congress in 1921 he introduced the New Economic Policy (NEP), threatening the congress that he would resign if his policy were not adapted. Essentially the NEP was a partial return to capitalism. Private enterprise was partially legalised (although large industry and banks remained in government hand) and peasants had to fulfil certain government quotas, however were allowed to sell any surpluses for profit. Lenin’s plan was successful. The NEP was a short term solution to the problems that faced the government in 1921. By giving the peasants what they had wanted for centuries, ownership of the land they worked, he increased support for the Bolsheviks in the largest social group in Russia. In 1922 rapid recovery, especially in agriculture, set in.
The NEP was the last policy or government action in which Lenin played a major part. In 1922 he suffered his first stroke and in the last two years of his life he only took very limited action in Soviet policy. After an only limited involvement in the Bolshevik revolution the part Lenin played in the new Bolshevik state can be summarised as having been a major theorist and policy maker. His policies, especially “War Communism” and the NEP played a considerable role in saving Bolshevik power from several threats.
