The Bolshevik Consolidation of Power

4.1
The early Bolshevik decrees of
November–December 1917
 When the Bolsheviks seized power from the
Provisional Government, in October 1917, they
claimed they were doing so on behalf of the workers,
peasants and soldiers of Russia.
 They condemned the previous government for failing
to reform Russia or take them out of the war.
 Having taken power, the Bolsheviks were determined
to show the people of Russia that they were capable
of bringing in these great changes. They began to do
so with a series of important laws – or decrees.
 The Decree on Peace,
November 1917
 This was the first decree passed by the All-
Russian Congress of Soviets after the
Bolsheviks had seized power.
 It called for all countries involved in the war
to immediately begin peace negotiations.
 The aim was to create peace ‘without
annexations and indemnities’.
 The Decree on Peace,
November 1917
 This meant that no country’s land was to be seized by
another, and no country would punish another with
massive fines.
 This increased support for the Bolsheviks among the
Russian army and civilians.
 The Bolsheviks also hoped that it might encourage German
soldiers to begin their own Bolshevik-style revolution, and
spread it across Europe.
 This didn’t happen.
 The Decree on Land,
November 1917
 That same day – 8 November – a decree
distributed the land of wealthy landowners to
the peasants.
 Many peasants had taken this land already –
but the decree gave this the force of law, and
indicated that the new Bolshevik government
approved of the land seizures.
 The Decree on Land,
November 1917
 Land redistribution was something that the
Provisional Government had failed to do –
and this had lost it a lot of peasant support.
 In December, the Bolsheviks went further and
nationalised* Church land.
 At the same time, many Russian churches
were damaged or shut.
 Decrees on workers’ rights
 In November and December 1917, several more decrees were published, which
aimed to improve the lives of workers in the Russian towns and cities:
 The Decree on Work introduced an eight-hour working day and a forty eight hour
week – to give workers less demanding hours.
 The Decree on Unemployment brought in unemployment insurance – to support
workers who found themselves injured, ill or unemployed.
 The Decree on Workers’ Control allowed workers’ committees to run their factories
– many workers had already seized control of their workplaces.
Decree on Nationalities,
November 1917
 This promised all the different peoples of the old tsarist Russian
empire that they could have their own governments – of their own
choice.
 No longer would Russian rule and the Russian language be forced
on the different peoples of the Russian empire – who included
Ukrainians, Georgians, Armenians, Poles, and many others.
 This was an attempt to stop these nations breaking away and
becoming independent.
 It seemed as though the Decree on Nationalities would give these
groups more rights – but, in reality, they actually became more
tightly controlled under Bolshevik rule than ever before.
The soviets’ response to
the Bolshevik decrees
 The Bolshevik decrees gained them increased
support from across the system of soviets.
 It seemed that a new kind of Russia was
emerging – one in which those who were
unhappy with the ‘old Russia’ would finally
find things changing in ways that benefitted
them.
The soviets’ response to
the Bolshevik decrees
 In November, all titles had been abolished: people would
no longer be addressed by titles like ‘Your honour’ or
‘Your Excellency’.
 From this point onwards, everyone would simply be
described as ‘Comrade’.
 It seemed that a classless society was emerging. These
changes encouraged those soviets which were not run by
Bolsheviks to accept the new government and support its
right to rule.
 This was important because, at first, the Bolsheviks did not
control every soviet.
Dealing with
political
opponents
 The election of the
Constituent Assembly
 The Provisional Government had put off calling a
general election, and it was overthrown by the
Bolsheviks before an election had been arranged.
 The Bolsheviks were also reluctant to organise
elections, as they did not intend to set up a
parliamentary democracy*.
 Their real intention was to work through the soviets that
they controlled. However, there was a great expectation
that a general election should be held – so Lenin finally
agreed.
 In November 1917, 41.7 million people voted in the
long-awaited election.
 Irakli Tsereteli, speech at the
Constituent Assembly (18th
January, 1918)
The Constituent Assembly elected by the whole
country should be the highest authority in the land;
then why send it an ultimatum? Has civil war helped
the soviet to realise the revolutionary programme?
On the contrary it assists the German militarists to
divide the revolutionary front, which should be
national, not class. The break-up of the Constituent
Assembly will only serve the interest of the
bourgeoisie, whom the Bolsheviks profess to be
fighting. It alone can save the Revolution.
David Shub, Lenin (1948)
The Bolshevik pledge was plain enough. But the Bolshevik leaders
were well aware that the elections, scheduled by the Provisional
Government for 25 November, would not give them control of the
Constituent Assembly. On the other hand, after having taken power
they could not flatly repudiate their promise.
"On the very first day, if not the first hour of the Revolution," relates
Trotsky, "Lenin brought up the question of the Constituent Assembly.
"We must postpone the elections. We must extend the right of
suffrage to those who have reached their maturity (eighteen years).
We must outlaw the adherents of Kornilov and the Cadets", said
Lenin.
"We tried to argue with him that it would not look right. We
ourselves had accused the Provisional Government of delaying the
elections to the Constituent Assembly.
"Nonsense," Lenin replied. "It is facts that are important, not words."
 The election of the
Constituent Assembly
 The results were a disappointment to the Bolsheviks – who
only won 168 seats. In contrast, the Socialist
Revolutionaries (SRs) gained 370 seats.
 Some SRs (the Left SRs) actually supported the
Bolsheviks; but, nevertheless, the results were not good for
the Bolsheviks – they had won less than 25% of the vote,
while the various SRs gained just over 40% of all votes.
 The remaining votes were split between other parties –
such as Mensheviks, anarchists*, Kadets and others.
 Those who were elected, expected to sit in a new
parliamentary body called the Constituent Assembly.
 Announcement made
by Sovnarkom – the There is no place for enemies of the people,
central council landowners and capitalists in the Constituent
representing the All- Assembly! The country can be saved only by a
Russian Congress of Constituent Assembly of representatives of the
Soviets – in toiling and exploited classes of the people! Long
November 1917. live the revolution! Long live the soviets! Long
Lenin was the chair of live peace!
Sovnarkom.
 Sovnarkom declares the Constitutional
Announcement made by Democratic Party [Kadet Party], an organisation
Sovnarkom in November of counter-revolutionary revolt, to be a party of
1917, banning the Kadet enemies of the people. The political leaders of
Party. the counterrevolutionary civil war will be
arrested.
 The Bolsheviks abolish
the Constituent Assembly
 The Constituent Assembly finally met in January
1918 – but the Bolsheviks had no intention of
letting it continue.
 They had no control over the assembly – and they
had no intention of giving up the power that they
had seized in October 1917.
 So, after just one day, the assembly was broken up
by Bolshevik Red Guards and sailors from the
Baltic Fleet at Kronstadt.
 The Constituent Assembly is gathering at a time
when the whole country is enveloped in the
A declaration by the flames of civil war and all democratic freedoms
Menshevik Party on 5 have been suppressed, when... freedom of speech,
January 1918, on the assembly, unions and even the right to strike do
opening day of the not exist, when the prisons are full of experienced
Constituent Assembly. revolutionaries, socialists and even members of
the Constituent Assembly itself, when there is no
justice.
*Setting up
the Secret
Police
Cheka (secret police) set up to
deal with ‘spies and counter-
revolutionaries’.
 The Cheka
 Since the Bolshevik revolution of 1917
Russian communists had been nervous about
plots to oust their government.
 They formed a secret police force, known as
the Cheka, to deal with conspirators.
 The Cheka
 Initially the Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC),
established before the revolution, was given power to
conduct searches, arrests and seizures, enforce curfews and
protect alcohol stores.
 Lenin also authorised them to use the “strictest measures”
to prevent profiteering, food hoarding and sabotage.
 But the MRC was only ever meant to be a temporary body
and was disbanded in early December. A committee
headed by Felix Dzerzhinsky was convened to report on
ways to fight counter-revolution and sabotage.
The end of democracy in
Russia?
 The end of the Constituent Assembly
signalled the end of democracy in Russia.
With the assembly disbanded, the
Bolsheviks set about consolidating their
one-party control over Russia.
 They used the Russian railway network to
spread Bolshevik control to the main
cities of central Russia.
 In areas where there were soviets that did
not accept the rule of the Bolsheviks, they
were now brought under direct control by
force. Historians sometimes refer to this
as the ‘Railway War’.
The end of democracy in
Russia?
 At first Lenin’s government –
represented by Sovnarkom (short for
‘Council of People’s Commissars’)
– included Left SRs as well as
Bolsheviks.
 This alliance lasted until March
1917. It broke down when the Left
SRs refused to accept the Bolshevik
decision to sign the Treaty of Brest-
Litovsk, with Germany, in order to
get Russia out of the First World
War.
 Taking Russia out of the First
World War:
the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
 The Bolsheviks had promised to end Russia’s
involvement in the First World War; and the
job of negotiating the end of the fighting was
given to Trotsky as Commissar for War.
 Trotsky had hoped Russia could avoid
continuing to fight the war; but he also wished
to avoid surrendering, because the Germans
were making huge demands on Russia. He
hoped for a middle way: ‘no peace, no war’.
 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
 Trotsky was to be disappointed. The Germans kept
advancing, and Petrograd seemed in danger of
being captured. The capital was moved to
Moscow (and has stayed there ever since).
 The so-called ‘Left Communists’ wanted to
continue the war, but Lenin finally persuaded his
colleagues to agree to the German terms. The Left
SRs walked out in protest. Now the government
was entirely Bolshevik.
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
In March 1918, the Treaty of Brest-
Litovsk was signed with Germany. The
main outcomes of the treaty were:
 Russia lost all its western lands:
Finland, Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania, Ukraine and parts of
Poland; it also lost Georgia
 Russia lost 62 million people – or
26% of its population
 Russia lost 27% of its farmland,
26% of its railways, and 74% of
its iron ore and coal
 Russia had to pay Germany 300
million gold roubles.
 Reasons for the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Bolsheviks had agreed to the treaty for a number of reasons:
 They needed a ‘breathing space’ – a chance to get their rule
organised without being overwhelmed by the military and
economic problems caused by continuing to fight the war. It was
continuing with the war that had undermined the tsar and the
Provisional Government.
 They also realised that there were many groups in Russia
opposed to them. If Bolshevik rule was to survive, it needed to
concentrate all its attention on strengthening its hold on Russia,
increasing its support, and preparing to defend itself against the
threats it faced within Russia.
 The Bolsheviks hoped that revolution would soon break out
across Europe – and the treaty they signed would then be torn up.
 Reactions to the treaty
in Russia
 In a sense, the treaty saved the Bolshevik
government – as they could not have continued to
fight the war – and soldiers were relieved that the
fighting seemed to be over.
 But it was also a crushing blow to Russia, and
encouraged the Bolsheviks’ enemies to try and
overthrow their government and restore Russian
greatness. The Left SRs even assassinated* the
German ambassador to Russia in the hope of
starting the war again.
Reactions to the treaty in
Russia
 Most horrified of all were the nationalists.
Russia had been humiliated and had lost
huge amounts of its territory.
 The Russian empire in the west had been
stripped of its most valuable regions.
 The nationalists began to form
themselves into ‘White Armies’ to
overthrow the ‘Reds’ (the Bolsheviks)
and – in their view – save Russia.
 For Russia, the end of the First World
War began a slide towards Civil War.
 The Bolsheviks began to change Russia
through a series of revolutionary
Summary
decrees.
 They failed to get sufficient votes in a
general election and so shut down the
Constituent Assembly.
 They pulled Russia out of the First
World War – even though this came at a
high price.
 The tsar and his entire family were
murdered, so that opposition to the
Bolsheviks could not form around them.