Civil War Outcomes and Lenin's Achievements

Outcomes and Consequences of the Civil War Years

• 1918: Dissolution of the Constituent Assembly; banning of opposition press and political parties

• 1921: Lenin banned factionalism, gaining complete control.

• GPU (secret police) was established to target political opposition.

• War Communism was instituted to supply armies and cities during the Civil War, later failing, replaced by the New Economic Policy (NEP) for economic revitalization

• 1922: Russia was not the stateless, classless society Marx envisioned in his 1848 Communist Manifesto.

• Bolshevik policies strengthened state power, with all decisions made by political elites.

• Bolsheviks created a new bourgeois class (Kulaks and Nepmen) instead of eliminating existing ones.

Achievements of Lenin and Trotsky during the Civil War

• Strong leadership skills
• Mastered public speaking
• Characterized opponents (White Army and foreign forces) as imperialists seeking to destabilize Russia.
• Used economic controls (War Communism) during the Civil War to gain control.
• Cracked down on political opposition via the Cheka.
• Led the Red Army effectively.
• Enforced strict discipline and harsh punishments.
• Utilized ex-Tsarist generals and soldiers in the Red Army, leveraging their experience.
• Assigned political commissars to military units to maintain ideological alignment.
• Introduced mass conscription.
• Developed propaganda to portray the White Army and foreign forces as imperialists seeking to destabilize Russia.

Social Changes under Bolshevik Rule

• Women: Leading female Bolsheviks aimed to liberate women from oppressive state and church structures, equaling them to men. The Zhenotdel served as a department of women's affairs. Reforms included voting rights, property rights, divorce, abortion, and paid maternity leave.
• Education: Prior to 1917, illiteracy was high in Russia. Bolsheviks prioritized literacy for political awareness. By 1919, universal literacy became policy..
• Young People: The KOMSOMOL (All-Union Leninist Young Communist League) was established to indoctrinate youth in Communist ideology.
• Religion: The Orthodox Church lost wealth and land. The Bolsheviks viewed religion as incompatible with communism, suppressing religious figures, leading to arrests, executions and forced conversions.

Failure of War Communism and the New Economic Policy (NEP)

• War Communism's failure to improve the economy—hyperinflation, food shortages, low wages—resulted in strikes and riots.
• The NEP (New Economic Policy) was introduced as a temporary fix to Russia's economic woes by Lenin, introducing private enterprise, reintroduction of money into the economy, and increased freedom for trade unions. Peasants were granted rights to sell excess grain, improving working conditions, increasing harvests & industrial production.

The Creation of the USSR

• The USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) was formed as a collection of socialist countries, replacing the Russian Empire.
• The Russian Empire was isolated from Europe.
• Tsar Nicholas II abdicated in March 1917.
• Bolsheviks seized power in October 1917.
• Several territories declared independence from the collapsing Russian Empire.
• Bolsheviks aimed for worldwide communist revolution.
• Communists consolidated control over Russia via eliminating political opposition, using terror, and establishing soviets in surrounding territories.
• The USSR was officially established in December 1922.
• The USSR Constitution was formalized in 1924, legitimizing the new state.
• The USSR was dissolved in 1991.

The Death of Lenin

• Vladimir Lenin died in 1924.
• A power struggle ensued to succeed Lenin as head of the USSR.
• Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky were leading contenders.
• Lenin's political testament, outlining his opinions on each Communist Party member, fueled a power struggle, including Stalin and Trotsky.

Overview of the Bolshevik Power Struggle

• Joseph Stalin, Leon Trotsky, Nikolai Bukharin, Lev Kamenev, Grigory Zinoviev Mikhail Tomsky, and Alexei Rykov were major players in this struggle.
• Stalin utilized his position as General Secretary of the Party, Commissar for Nationalities, Commissar of Workers' and Peasants' Inspection, as well as a member of the Politburo to consolidate power.

Reasons for Stalin's Victory in the Power Struggle

• Stalin's charisma and political acumen, building support within the Party using loyalists, making him appear indispensable.
• Stalin skillfully manipulated and leveraged the cult of Lenin's personality.
• The public image of opposing figures (e.g., Trotsky) was damaged.
• Stalin's willingness to be flexible on ideology.
• Purging and manipulating rivals and political opponents.
• Stalin's ability to tap into populist sentiments.

Collectivization

• Steep increase in the price of industrial goods and a decrease in the price agricultural goods caused conflict.
• Peasants were isolated from urban centers.
• Collectivization aimed to create large state-run farms to produce grain for urban populations.
• Land was confiscated and Kulak populations were exiled due to non-cooperation, resulting in widespread famine.
• Estimated 10 million peasants died due to mass deportations and famine.

Successes and Failures of Collectivization

• Agricultural production declined significantly.
• Livestock populations drastically decreased by 50% and a large portion of the population refused to work on state-run farms—leading to economic hardships and famine.

Reasons for Industrialization

• The transformation of the Soviet Union from an agrarian society into an industrial one was crucial for its survival.
• The NEP was deemed insufficient for industrial growth.
• Lenin's death in 1924 meant no clear successor, creating a power vacuum.
• Stalin's desire for complete state control of the economy.
• Economic modernization was prioritized above all else.

The Five Year Plans

• Stalin implemented five-year plans to achieve rapid industrialization.
• The plans were unrealistic with forced industrialization leading to widespread hardship.

The Great Terror

• An era of widespread violence, arrests, imprisonment, and executions perpetrated by Stalin's regime.
• This was partly motivated by Stalin's paranoia about threats to his power.
• Targeted political rivals and anyone who threatened his power.

The Purges

• Targeted political opponents, including members of the Communist Party, military leaders, intellectuals, and ethnic minorities.
• Used show trials, executions, and forced labor camps (gulags) to eliminate rivals.
• Created a climate of terror and intimidation in Soviet society.

Propaganda, Censorship, and Official Culture

• Stalin's propaganda aimed to promote Communist Party values, loyalty, collectivisation, and industrialisation.
• Controlled and suppressed information deemed inappropriate to maintain Stalin's positive public image.

Stalin as Totalitarianism

• A system where the government has total control over every aspect of citizens' lives.
• Six key criteria of totalitarianism:
  • Single-party rule
  • Powerful ideology
  • Total control over armed forces
  • Total control over communication
  • Total control over the economy
  • Extensive use of terror, police control, brutality and intimidation