Russia in the Early 20th Century: Tsarist Rule & Civil War
Tsarist Russia in the Early 20th Century
In the early 20th century, Russia was a vast multinational empire spanning over 20 million km2, with territories in Europe and Asia, stretching from the Baltic Sea to China and the Pacific. Russians were the largest ethnic group, comprising about 40% of the population by 1900. The empire had formed around them. Geographically, it occupied the cities of St. Petersburg and Moscow, from where they had extended their power to Europe (Finland, Ukraine, Poland) and Asia (Siberia, Central Asia).
The Russian majority had imposed a policy of Russification on a patchwork of different peoples: administration, the Russian language, and the Orthodox religion. Other towns were Slavic, but among them were significant differences in language and religion. Muslims and Tartars from Central Asia were only connected to Russia through the authority of Emperor Nicholas II and the ruling Romanov dynasty, which had been in power since the 17th century.
The Russian Empire was economically and socially backward compared to most European states at the time. Over 80% of Russia’s population lived on large estates, with an agriculture based on cereals. The peasants were very poor. While they were theoretically free to emigrate, move to the cities, and become homeowners, in practice, they remained tied to rural life as day laborers and small tenant farmers, cultivating the land of wealthy peasants (kulaks).
The Civil War and Its Consequences
During the Civil War, which Russia experienced between 1918 and 1921, the Bolsheviks, who controlled the central region of the country, faced a broad anti-Bolshevik coalition harassing them from the periphery (Ukraine, Siberia, the Baltic states, and Poland). Contributing factors included disagreement among the Whites, the support of the peasant masses for the Bolsheviks (who were wary of the return of large landowners), and the powerful organization of the Red Army, primarily due to Trotsky.
Ultimately, the Bolsheviks triumphed in the Civil War due to the following factors:
- The disunity and heterogeneity of their opponents, who never had a unified leadership or program.
- The support of peasants and workers, fearful of losing the gains obtained in the October Revolution.
- The creation of the Red Army, organized by Trotsky, which restored iron discipline and created a powerful military force on the ruins of the Tsarist Army.
- Strong internal repression by the Cheka, the new secret police created by the Bolsheviks to pursue any kind of political dissidents, in a stage known as the Red Terror. The Bolshevik Party, now called the Communist Party, became the only permitted political force and the sole director of the Russian economy.
- A war economy in which all resources of the countryside and cities were aimed at supplying the front. A policy known as “war communism” was implemented, based on the nationalization of industries and fields. This policy increased state control over the economy and was contrary to the management of production by workers and peasants.
These economic measures led to popular discontent. This discomfort, combined with harsh repression, led to riots and revolts that were brutally crushed. The most famous was the Kronstadt rebellion. When the riots ended, the Bolsheviks abandoned their economic policy.