The Bolsheviks were still a minority and the there was pressure in the party to return to parliamentary style government. Lenin acted quickly dissolving the Constituent Assembly justifying this action on the grounds that the Congress of Soviets was more representative of the people that the Assembly, that rural masses were to ignorant to fully understand the state and the professional revolutionaries had to do it for them. Christian points out, "the opponents of the Bolsheviks failed to adopt a common campaign against Lenin and his followers." They had an overwhelming majority but the fear the removal of the Bolsheviks would involve violence, and would play into the hands of counter-revolutionaries' led opposition to adopting a soft line approach to the Bolsheviks.
Lenin resorted to terror to drive through his reforms and eliminate any opposition to the revolution. Shub quotes Lenin, "I will be merciless with all counter-revolutionists". Although his numbers were small the support of garrison troops and armed urban workers ensured control of the towns and cities. Lenin then moved towards a more systematic method of control establishing the CHEKA. Lenin banned political parties and censored the press, curtailed free speech and the right of free assembly. Formally the opposition had ceased to exist. The pursuit of the power was more important than the will of the people. Lenin had hardly given them what they promised, Peace, Bread and Land'. In fact he gave them famine and civil war'. Lenin simply replaced one autocratic power base with another of his own making to consolidate power.
Lenin was determined to have peace with Germany at any cost and the Russian people paid the price. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk imposed major land, industrial and economic indemnities. Counter-revolutionary or White' forces gathered signalling the start of the Civil War. Richard Pipes argues "this was in fact a deliberate and necessary part of the Bolshevik programme. The leaders of the Party were convinced that it would be impossible to achieve, then maintain power without a period of civil war." The Red Army led by Trotsky proved well drilled and were imbued with the notion that they were fighting in the defence of a cause'. Trotsky enlisted the services of ex-Tsarist officers to lead the inexperienced Red Army, conscripting all workers and peasants and exploiting the human and material resources of Greater Russia. Greenwood states, "Much was due to the driving initiative, the disciplined order, and the ruthlessness of the Bolsheviks themselves. They possessed in Lenin a leader of great strength and astuteness, and in Trotsky an organiser of extraordinary capabilities." The White forces lost the war because they were unorganised, had conflicting interests and allied support was half-hearted. The peasant support for the White forces was undermined by their fear that the landlords would return should the Bolsheviks be defeated. The crisis of the Civil War allowed the Bolshevik regime to centralise and consolidate its power it had hithero been unable to command.
For the Bolsheviks to sure up their powerbase they needed to keep the urban workers supplied with food, thus control of the economy was paramount. The initial moves towards a controlled economy to consolidate Bolshevik power are referred to the period of State Capitalism'. Lenin argued that the transition to a true proletarian economy would take time and in the interim the skills and cooperation of the bourgeoisie would be necessary. In the middle of 1918 due to the critically low Civil war levels of production and distribution the government introduced a more deliberate economic policy of War Communism'. The nationalisation of all industries was introduced in 1918 and labour was conscripted. In late 1918 heavy industrial goods were being allocated according to government directive. Industrialised production remained low, and priority was given to military hardware. The government introduced Prodrazvertska or grain requisitioning. Instead of creating the desired smychka further alienated the peasants who surrendered their crops only under duress and who often cut production levels or destroyed crops rather than hand them over. War Communism paved the way to the bureaucratisation of the nation and the party. Many have seen War Communism' as a deliberate attempt to swiftly impose Communism' upon Russia and only after it had failed was claimed to be a response to circumstances.
Economic hardships and military devastation caused major difficulties for the Bolshevik state by 1921. There were calls for a change in economic policy and for a freeing of debate and discussion. Future debate was stifled at the Tenth Party Congress in 1921. Lenin introduced the New Economic Policy (NEP) to reinforce the Party's hold on power. It included some capitalist features allowing small private business, with the state remaining in control of the major institutions. Requisitioning was abandoned which immediately eased the tensions within Russian society. Agricultural workers only had to sent part of their produce to the state, the rest could be sold as they wished. But the NEP generated ideals of greed and independence. Lenin was criticised for wavering from Marxist ideology taking socialism back to capitalism but it was stressed by the party this was not the case. It was merely a tactical retreat. Wood states, "The NEP was more than an acknowledgement that the Bolshevik revolution had been premature." It was an interim period, Lenin had come to see that political necessity and the need for Party unity was more important than ideological purity to consolidate Bolshevik power.
In conclusion the Bolshevik consolidation of power was characterised by three main features. The centralisation of power led by Lenin allowed Bolshevik control. This was enforced by use of terror and establishment of the Cheka and the Red Army and finally the control of the economy. However the consolidation of power did come at the cost of the people and sacrificed true socialist ideology.
