Lenin's new state Flashcards
(16 cards)
Lenin’s ideology
Lenin seized power because he wanted to replace Capitalism with Socialism.
The creation of a one-party state
(what did Lenin promise)
Lenin promised a radical democratic government where workers, soldiers and peasants governed themselves through Soviets.
However, by 1922 Lenin had created a Communist dictatorship of a one-party state.
Lenin’s ‘Soviet State’
(Lenin’s new government)
In October 1917, Lenin seized power on behalf of the Soviets.
The October Revolution had formally handed power to the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which met in Petrograd in October 1917.
The Congress created Sovnarkom, a new government to replace the Provisional Government - Lenin was elected as the first head of the new government.
Decrees passed by Lenin’s new government
The Decree on Land - gave peasants the right to seize land from the nobility and the Church.
The Decree on Peace - committed to withdrawing from the First World War and seeking peace.
Worker’s Decrees (Nov 1917) - established an 8 hour maximum working day and a minimum wage.
Political Centralisation
Centralisation of power was Lenin’s prime method of establishing victory.
During the Civil War power passed from Sovnarkom, which was technically accountable to the Soviets, to the Politburo - the most powerful committee of the highly centralised Communist Party.
Bureaucracy
The new government also became increasingly bureaucratic.
The government relied on the skills of administrators to run the economy and the army during the Civil War.
Therefore, the Communist Nomenklatura who dominated the government were educated members of the former middle class, economists, statisticians, and engineers, who had worked for the Tsar’s government.
Authoritarianism
(what did Lenin use against opponants)
Lenin had promised a radically democratic regime - however they used terror and repression against their opponants.
In February 1921, Lenin went further and authorised the Cheka to destroy the remaining opposition political parties.
The Party congress of 1921
The Party congress of 1921 addressed the crisis created by the Civil War.
War Communism had created a famine.
The Red Terror led to backlash against the Communist repression.
Examples of rebellion
(The Party congress of 1921)
- From the autumn of 1920, peasants in Tambov rebelled against War Communism and Cheka brutality, by Jan 1921 a rebel force of 50,000 was fighting the Communists across the whole Tambov region.
- In early 1921 there was a wave of strikes across Russia’s main cities - in Petrograd the Red Army responded by opening fire on unarmed workers.
- Sailors at the Kronstadt naval base rebelled against Communist brutality - the mutineers demanded an end to War Communism and a restoration of democracy.
How did Lenin respond?
(The Party congress of 1921)
At the Party congress of 1921 Lenin responded by replacing War Communism with the New Economic Policy (NEP).
However, he continued to persecute other political parties and refused to allow a return to democracy.
The ban on factions
(who gave him opposition)
Lenin also faced opposition within the Communist Party from two factions:
- The Workers’ Opposition wanted to reintroduce workers’ control of industry.
- The Democratic Centralists wanted to make the Communist Party more democratic.
How did Lenin respond?
(the ban on factions)
Lenin responded by tightening Communist political control.
Lenin introduced a resolution, ‘On Party Unity’, which banned factions inside the party.
Party members found guilty of forming factions could be expelled from the Party as punishment.
The ban on factions helped strenghten Lenin’s position within the party by opposition to his policies more difficult to organise.
Lenin’s legacy
Lenin died in 1924 leaving a highly authoritarian political legacy.
Lenin succeeded in creating a dictatorship of the proletariat to defend the revolution.
However, he destroyed soviet democracy and replaced it with a one-party state.
Decline of Sovnarkom
Lenin did not abolish Sovnarkom - rather it simply ceased to function as the main centre of government.
From 1920, the Politburo effectively became the Government of Russia.
Sovnarkom played a much smaller role, merely approving the decisions that had already been made by the Politburo.
The ‘party-state’
(two structures)
By 1921, the new governent was based on two parallel structures:
- The Communist Party
- The Soviet State
From 1921 opposition parties were formally banned.
Consequently, the Communist Party dominated the Soviets creating a new form of government that became known as the ‘party-state’
A new elite
(Civil War)
In 1918 the Communist Party was a group of workers and revolutionaries.
By 1921 the Party became increasingly dominated by administrators from the former middle class.
The Party used its power to ensure that Communist Party members recieved more food and better accomidation than ordinary workers.
By the early 1920’s it was clear that although the Communist Party claimed to rule on behalf of the workers, it was becoming a priviledged new elite.
