Russian Revolution: Bolsheviks, Civil War, and Lenin’s Legacy
The Bolshevik Revolution
As soon as the new Bolshevik government was formed, Lenin enacted many new laws. For example, divorce was made easier, free education for all was planned, and some of the minority peoples in Russia, such as the Georgians and Ukrainians, were offered more independence. The Bolsheviks claimed to represent the proletariat, the working people, based on the Marxist theory of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Lenin advocated for the Bolshevik party to act as a dictator. Most of the Bolshevik supporters in Russia were in the army, Petrograd, and the navy. The Bolsheviks used the telegraph to spread the revolution.
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918)
Lenin had hoped that the Russian Revolution would spark revolutions all over Europe. The Russians opened peace talks with the Germans soon after the revolution and deliberately kept the talks going for as long as they could, hoping for the expected revolution. In the end, the Germans lost patience and forced Trotsky to sign the treaty, as the Russian army was crumbling and he had promised peace to the soldiers. The treaty took away 25% of Russia’s population, 25% of the railway system, 35% of the grain-producing area, and 70% of the industry. Britain and France were angry with Russia for leaving the war.
NEP: New Economic Policy
Was NEP a Success?
Peasants were allowed to farm their own land and sell their own produce, with the government taking a percentage of their produce as tax. The more they produced, the more they could keep. People were also allowed to run small businesses again. Lenin kept what he called ‘the commanding heights of the economy’ in the hands of the state. Even here, some of the principles of communism were broken. High salaries were paid to experts to run the factories, and bonuses were paid to those who met high production targets.
The Civil War (1918-1921)
Russia suffered a terrible civil war from 1918 to 1921. The Bolsheviks, who were called ‘Reds’ (because the communist flag was red), only controlled the areas of Petrograd and Moscow. The others, which included liberals, social revolutionaries, and anarchists, were called ‘Whites’. The Whites opposed the Bolshevik government and advocated for free control. They were helped by Britain, Japan, France, and the USA. Russia was also invaded by Finland and Poland. The Red Army had to be closely managed if the Bolshevik state was to survive. Leon Trotsky was the organizer of the October Revolution.
Why Did the Reds Win the Civil War?
The Reds won because they acted together, while the White forces did not.
Famine
Russia was in total collapse after seven hard years of war, and the land was not being farmed. War communism had brought passive resistance from the peasants. They could not fight the food requisitioning. Towns were deserted as people went into the countryside to look for food. Agricultural production was down by 50%, and industrial production was down by 90%. No one knows how many Russian people died.
Death of Lenin
In 1918, a social revolutionary called Dora Kaplan fired several shots at Lenin. In 1922, he suffered a stroke and never fully recovered. He died in January 1924, having organized the Bolshevik party until it was ready for revolution. He had called for a second revolution in 1917.