russia under the bolsheviks 1917-1924 russia under the bolsheviks 1917-1924

RUSSIA RUSSIA UNDER THE UNDER THE BOLSHEVIKS BOLSHEVIKS 1917-1924 1917-1924

RUSSIA RUSSIA UNDER UNDER THE THE BOLSHEVIKS BOLSHEVIKS 1917-19241917-1924

• By 26 Oct 1917, Russia had a Bolshevik Government

• Enormous support from workers in Russian cities, esp Petrograd and Moscow

• Support also from ordinary soldiers• However, events were to show that they

did not have support from most of the Russian people

RUSSIA UNDER THE BOLSHEVIKS 1917-1924

• Bolsheviks had no intention of sharing power

• They believed they knew what was best for the Russians

• Dealt ruthlessly with anyone who thought otherwise

• Evidence : Elections in Nov 1917

• Bolsheviks obtained only 25% of the votes

• Lenin allowed parliament to meet for one day and then closed it down

• It never met again

the Bolshevik dictatorshipthe Bolshevik dictatorship

• Bolsheviks tried to establish their rule wherever they could

• Set up the CHEKACHEKA, a secret police force• Does this ring a bell?

Dictatorship : Ruler or government has complete power and does not give people opportunities to decide if they want to ruled by other parties

• Russia was ruled by a dictatorshipdictatorship for most of the 20th century

• Communism only collapsed in the early 1990s


• Lenin set up a Congress of Soviets to govern Russia

• Most members were Bolsheviks• Mar 1918 : the party name was changed

to the Communist Party• 1924 : Country’s name was changed to

the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) a union of four republics - Russia, the Ukraine, Byelorussia and Caucasus

• The old Tsarist regime had become the new communist Soviet Union


• Lenin’s first act was to fulfill his promise of peace to the people

• In Mar 1918, he signed the Treaty of Treaty of Brest-LitovskBrest-Litovsk

• Russia was out of World War I• The treaty gave away a huge amount of

land in the west to Germany together with 1/3 of its population, 1/3 of its farmland, 4/5 of its coal mines, over half of its factories

• Lenin thought it was a price worth paying• Lenin also issued other decrees official orders

the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 1918 the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 1918

the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk,

1918

the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk,

1918

• Land : took land from the Tsar, nobles and the landowners– Redistributed it to the

peasants

• Factories : Put under the control of elected committees of workers

• Press : All non-Bolshevik newspapers were banned

• Secret Police : The Cheka was set up to suppress opposition

• Peace : The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

Lenin’s decrees

• Out of the frying pan, into the fire• Out of WWI, into the Russian Civil Wars• Bolsheviks (the Redsthe Reds) vs the Whitesthe Whites a mixed group of

Tsarists, Liberals, Social Revolutionaries and Mensheviks

• The Whites were brought together only by their common hatred of the Bolsheviks

• Joined at various times by foreign powers Britain, France, US, Poland, Japan

• Different reasons for being involved– Bring Russia back to WWI to play its part in trying to

defeat Germany– Taking over Russia’s land at a time when it was prr-

occupied with its own problems– Fear that communism might spread to their countries

The Russian Civil Wars, 1918-1921 The Russian Civil Wars, 1918-1921

• Initially successful by eventually driven back by the Reds by 1921

Reasons

1. Reds control the centre and two main cities1. Whites had to fight around the edges• Affected the movement of troops

2. Disunity among Whites• Whites had different armies, each with their own leaders• Set up their own “governments”; at one point, 20 govts

co-existed• Quarrelled among themselves, no strong leader

3. Whites were on the same side as foreign invaders• Unpopular because of this

Why the Whites lostWhy the Whites lost

Reasons

4. Red Army was efficient• Built up by Trotsky • Trotsky’s leadership played a vital role• Introduced conscription• Boost morale and discipline• outstanding military strategist

5. Offer of a united government• Whites were linked to the old aristocracy• Thus did not win the support of the peasants• Peasants hated Whites more than the Bolsheviks• Did not want to lose their lands or the control of

factories


Reasons

6. Control of Resources• Reds controlled factories, railways• Thus had access to resources• “War CommunismWar Communism” to ensure that the Red

Army was well-kept and well-fed


• Revolutions, wars and strife affected economic life

• Normal economic activities suffered

• fields uncared for• railway lines pulled up• factories burnt• millions starved or died

because of epidemics• Natural disasters - Great

Drought in southern Russia in 1921 - severe famine

• Russian economy was on the verge of collapse

Lenin’s Economic Policies, 1918 - 1924Lenin’s Economic Policies, 1918 - 1924

• A harsh economic policy designed to keep a tight state control on the economy

• An emergency measure to help Bolsheviks win the war

• 3 parts• Nationalisation of all businesses employing

more than 10 people businesses taken over by the state

• Banning of private trade goods can only be sold by the state

• Requisitioning (seizing) grain from peasants in order to supply the cities and the army

• WC helped Bolsheviks win the civil war

War CommunismWar Communism

• Peasant reaction– some attacked govt collectors sent to seize their

grains– hid spare food– some simply grew less– one of the causes of famine

• Effect : Discontent in the countryside spread to the towns and the cities


Kronstadt MutinyKronstadt Mutiny

• Mar 1921 : sailors at the naval base of Kronstadt who strongly supported the Bolsheviks in 1917 rebelled

• Rebellion was brutally crushed but Lenin learnt a lesson

• A limit to the suffering that the people were prepared to put up with the Bolshevik govt

• Put in place a New Economic Policy


WAR COMMUNISMWAR COMMUNISM

• State took over all factories and decided on the goods they made

• State took over the transport system

• Strikes were made illegal


• State took over all factories and decided on the goods they made

• State took over the transport system

• Strikes were made illegal

Lenin’s New Economic Policy, 1921Lenin’s New Economic Policy, 1921

NEW ECONOMIC NEW ECONOMIC POLICYPOLICY

• Factories with less than 20 workers could be privately owned

• State still controlled transport system and major industries


• Factories with less than 20 workers could be privately owned

• State still controlled transport system and major industries


• Private trade was banned


• Private trade was banned



• Workers were offered extra food or money for extra work done

• Anyone could open a shop, or sell or hire out goods


• Workers were offered extra food or money for extra work done

• Anyone could open a shop, or sell or hire out goods


• Food rationing

• Food was taken from the peasants by force to feed the town workers and the army


• Food rationing

• Food was taken from the peasants by force to feed the town workers and the army


NEW ECONOMIC POLICYNEW ECONOMIC POLICY

• Peasants could sell off surplus food, paying a 10% tax on profits

• Peasants could take on more land and hire workers

• A group of rich farmers, called kulakskulaks, soon sprang up

NEW ECONOMIC POLICYNEW ECONOMIC POLICY

• Peasants could sell off surplus food, paying a 10% tax on profits

• Peasants could take on more land and hire workers

• A group of rich farmers, called kulakskulaks, soon sprang up


What do you think

of the New Economic Policy?

Possible AnswerPossible Answer : A : A temporary compromise which temporary compromise which signalled a return to a certain signalled a return to a certain degree of private enterprise degree of private enterprise until recovery was certain. until recovery was certain.

• The policy was soon successful• Led to an increase in the amount of food and

industrial goods produced• However, the NEP did not mean that Lenin

stopped believing in socialism• NEP was just a short-term measure to overcome

Russia’s economic problems• The govt still controlled major industries such

as coal and iron, banking, power supplies and others


Lenin’s deathLenin’s death

• Lenin had a series of stroke in 1922-23

• Died in 1924

• Founder of the first modern communis state

• Tremendous impact on people all over the world

• First time that people could see for themselves what communism meant in practice

• Some tried to bring to their own countries

• While no one disagrees about Lenin’s importance, people have very different views on the values of communism

• What about you?What about you?

russia under the bolsheviks 1917-1924 russia under the bolsheviks 1917-1924

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