Bolshevik Revolution & Stalin’s USSR: A Deep Dive
The October Revolution and the Rise of the Bolsheviks
Revision of October 2nd: In October 1917, Lenin returned, provoking the October Coup, which marked the Bolsheviks’ seizure of power. Through a military coup, aided by workers, they took the Winter Palace and created the new government’s Council of People’s Commissars. This Bolshevik-led council established the Soviet state and issued several key decrees:
- Decree on Peace: Sought to end Russia’s involvement in World War I.
- Decree on Land: Redistributed land to the peasants.
- Decree on the Press: Established censorship of opposing viewpoints.
- Decree Creating Political Police: Established a repressive apparatus, including torture chambers.
Elections were held for a Constituent Assembly, but when the Bolsheviks lost, they dissolved it, establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat (communism). This triggered a civil war.
The New Economic Policy (NEP)
The NEP was a solution to the crisis, allowing a degree of market capitalism. It permitted private property in the countryside, while the state maintained control of banking, heavy industry, and foreign trade. Money was reintroduced. The results were positive, with expanded agricultural and industrial production. However, it also led to the emergence of a prosperous peasantry (kulaks) and enriched merchants. Despite the economic improvements, the single-party dictatorship continued. Internal factions within the Communist Party were banned, riots were violently suppressed, civil rights were curtailed, critics were imprisoned, and the church was persecuted. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was created, federating republics like Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. A constitution was established in 1924.
Stalin’s USSR: Terror and Transformation
Stalin’s USSR was characterized by:
- Personality Cult: The leader was considered infallible and held absolute power.
- Repression and Elimination of Dissent: A 1936 constitution legalized the dictatorship.
The USSR consisted of 11 republics and 20 autonomous regions. Universal male and female suffrage was recognized for those over 18, but only Communist Party members could be candidates. A privileged bureaucracy, the nomenklatura, formed within the Communist Party, enjoying a higher standard of living and power.
Stalin used terror to subjugate society, employing the NKVD (political police) to carry out purges. Left-wing opponents and right-wing rivals were eliminated. Former allies of Lenin and other party members were sentenced to death and executed. Between 1937 and 1938, approximately 700,000 people were executed in purges within the army. Around 8 million people were sent to the Gulag (forced labor camps). Repression continued throughout Stalin’s rule.
Private property in the countryside was abolished, and peasants were forced into collective farms or state farms. A great famine occurred in 1932, resulting in millions of victims. The regime blamed the landowning farmers, and between 5 and 10 million were deported or killed. Agriculture began to recover only in 1934.
The Five-Year Plans
Industrial policy had two main objectives:
- Create a powerful heavy industry to surpass capitalist countries.
- Achieve economic, technological, and military independence.
To accomplish this, Five-Year Plans were designed, setting objectives to be met every five years:
- 1st Plan (1929-1933): Focused all resources on heavy industry.
- 2nd Plan (1934-1938): Strengthened the arms industry.
- 3rd Plan: Interrupted in 1941 by World War II.
The result was the development of heavy industry and the military, but at the cost of the population’s standard of living.