When Lenin returns to Russia on 3rd April 1917 he announces what is known as the ‘April Theses’. Lenin’s programme was summed up in the words ‘Peace, Bread and Land’. Lenin promised the people these things to get them on his side and to appeal to soldiers, workers and peasants. Lenin guaranteed them these things to introduce his party and to encourage them to side with him rather than the provisional government.
The long term affects of this were that once in power Lenin would have to keep his promise to the people.
Lenin and Trotsky formed the Red Guard and set up the Military Revolutionary Committee which planned the October Revolution. The revolution itself was reasonably peaceful. The plan was to storm the Winter Palace but, almost everybody had lost faith in the provisional government and its leader Korensky had already evacuated the capital. Initially the effects of this were that the Bolsheviks came into power, the long term effects were they remained in power for most of the century.
As a direct result of the October Revolution the Bolshevik party took over Russia by using the ‘Cheka’ (secret police) to squash any political opposition.
He introduces the New Soviet State with a one party rule. Other political parties such as the Mensheviks, the Socialist Revolutionaries and the Kadets were weakened by the arrest of their leaders and the closing down of their newspapers. This resulted in Russia being run by a totalitarian dictatorship for many years.
Initially Lenin realised the first need was for peace, he arranged a cease fire with Germany and discussed a peace treaty. The treaty of Brest Litovsk was eventually signed in March 1918. This ended the war between Russia and Germany. Lenin was unwilling to sign the treaty at first because the terms of the treaty were harsh and it meant Russia would lose a lot of territory. However, Lenin was given no choice. The Germans had invaded Russia and were threatening Petrograd. Lenin felt the Germans would destroy his government, and he was sure the treaty would not be in place for long as World Revolution was soon to follow. The long term effects of the treaty of Brest Litovsk were that Russia never regained all her lost territory and the treaty created unrest between Russia and Germany.
Unrest between the Communist party and their opponents led to a civil war in Russia in 1918. Most of the fighting was over by 1920 but the last stage of the war involved a struggle with Poland. Peace was made between Russia and Poland at the treaty of Riga in 1921. The Reds (Bolsheviks) won the war and retained power but this was at the cost of a vast number of human lives. The long term affects of the civil war was the introduction of ‘War Communism’ and the huge famine that followed.
During the war Lenin had introduced ‘War Communism’. War Communism was the state control of industry and agriculture. This created social distress and led to riots, strikes and demonstrations. War Communism also resulted in famine in Russia. The reasons behind this were the peasants wanted to keep the land they had been given and they were unwilling to sell the food they grew. There was an urgent need for food, particularly in the towns. Lenin ordered squads of soldiers to requisition food and seize it without payment these were known as Requisition Squads. This resulted in the peasants growing less food and famine in Russia. In the short term War Communism helped Lenin win the civil war but in the long term it devastated the country. As a direct result of War Communism Lenin witnessed the ‘Kronstadt Rebellion’.
In March 1921 thousands of sailors who protested about their living conditions and the running of Russia, rebelled against Lenin. The hatred for communism was beginning to grow so Lenin sent the Red Army to crush the rebellion. There was a three week struggle and many of the rebel sailors were killed. After the Kronstadt uprising Lenin responded by introducing the New Economic Policy. He made agreements with the peasants to allow them to keep or sell any food they had left after the government had taken a fixed amount. In industry the smaller factories were returned to their previous owners (privatised). After the N.E.P there were great improvements in Russia. The results of the N.E.P brought about Trotskys criticism of Lenin. He accused Lenin of being capitalist. Lenin realised that in order to take a giant leap sometimes one must take a couple of paces back first. The creation of the N.E.P brought about the rise of the Russian economy.
Lenin and the communist party brought many changes to Russia. Russia had been governed by the tsar and his family for three hundred years. When Lenin gained power he brought about a lot of reforms and in effect modernised Russia to some extent. He also brought Russia through the civil war. The major effects of Lenin on Russia and the Russian people are the introduction to communism in Russia and that he will be remembered as a great leader and had the respect and admiration of a lot of Russian people.
