1917 Russian Revolution: Bolshevik Rise, Civil War & Stalin’s Totalitarian Rule
The October 1917 Revolution
Social and political instability, exacerbated by the ongoing war, could not be halted by the interim government. Continuous defeats weakened the government and strengthened the role of the Soviets. Bolshevik leader Lenin returned and the April Theses established a program: withdrawal from the war, land redistribution, worker control of factories, autonomy for nationalities, and transfer of power to the Soviets. A popular insurrection was prepared in July but failed, and Lenin was exiled again. The government faced an army coup led by the conservative Kornilov. The government was not respected by either the right or the left. The Bolsheviks again attempted to overthrow the government and succeeded. On 24 October, the Soviets, controlled by Bolsheviks, seized strategic points. The fall of the government culminated after the assault on the Winter Palace.
The revolutionary government withdrew from the war with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, decreed the distribution of land to poor farmers, and recognized national minorities.
Civil War and War Communism
The civil war began in 1918. To win the revolution, supporters of the Tsarist regime and proponents of a liberal political system tried to end the revolution by force. The country was divided: counter-revolutionaries supporting the White Army, the Red Army, and the Bolsheviks. The counter-revolutionaries had foreign aid. The civil war lasted three years and ended with the victory of the Reds led by Trotsky. To supply the cities, the government adopted an economic policy of War Communism, which consisted of the nationalization of industry, collectivization of the countryside, and requisitioning of grain from farmers. During War Communism, the foundations for the new state were laid. Under Lenin, the pattern of the liberal-bourgeois state was broken, and a dictatorship of the proletariat was created. Other parties were prohibited. The economic and political measures created discontent, leading to strikes and riots, the most notable being the revolt of the Kronstadt sailors in 1921.
Rise of Stalin
Lenin died in 1924. Leadership of the party and state was to be exercised by a group of leaders (Stalin, Trotsky, Kamenev, Zinoviev), but they had continuous disagreements. Stalin defended the idea of abandoning the global revolution and focusing on consolidating socialism in the USSR.
Stalin Implements a Totalitarian Dictatorship
In 1929, Stalin seized all power. To ensure his power, he used three means: the cult of personality through propaganda extolling Stalin’s image as a great benefactor and father of the people, and removing any perceived enemies; reinforcement of party power—if one wanted to participate in politics through the Soviets, it was necessary to be a member of the CPSU; and terror—the NKVD silenced any opposition, with the help of part of the population. More intense purges took place between 1933 and 1939, including the Moscow trials, which condemned party leaders. Thousands of people were sent to concentration camps (gulags) in Siberia and subjected to inhumane conditions. Stalin rose to absolute control. The CPSU determined that culture and art would serve to form communists, and from 1932, he began the persecution of artists, accusing them of being counter-revolutionaries and bourgeois. The only recognized official tendency was called Socialist Realism, which had a traditional style and thematic.