USSR: Politics Theme Part 1

BOLSHEVIK AIMS
1. Get rid of upper and middle classes,
2. modernise the economy to unleash potential of Russia's resources
3. catch up to Western world with production (state control of production
THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION 1917
1. Provisional Gov was forced from power . At the time Bolsheviks were quite small, only 30 000 members
2. Revolution portrayed as a mass uprising of the workers> Propaganda presented this storming of the Winter Palace.as heroic.
3. Bolsheviks had seized power with very limited base of support, force would be required to ensure they held on
The Creation of a one-party state and the party congress of 1921
1. Bolsheviks were a minority party and thus had limited support
2. OPPOSITION
  1. Other left-wing groups e.g. Socialist Revolutionaries and the Mensheviks
  2. Groups on right e.g. Tsarist supporters and liberal groups, represented middle class
3. Bolsheviks and other left-wing groups shared many of the same socialist attitudes, yet Lenin declared there would be no sharing of power
4. Constitutent assembly Januray 1918: results not in Bolshevik's favour. SRs emerged as largest single party.
5. DESTRUCTION OF OTHER PARTIES
  1. Removal of vote from bourgeois classes
  2. Media restrictions, hard to publish newspapers
  3. SRs walked out of gov and lost all influence in protest of Bolshevik decision to pull out of WW1
  4. Bolsheviks renamed Communist Party March 1918, all parties effectively banned by 1921
  5. April 21 Lenin said "place for Mensheviks and SRs is in prison" mass arressts followed
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk 1918
1. Treaty took Russia out of war
2. This came at a great cost, Russia lost control over the Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. Finland, Ukraine and parts of Caucaus region. National humiliation for conservatives
3. Provided neccessary spur to White opposition, offered promise of foreign help. Britain, France, the USA and Japan eager to keep Russia in WW1, willing to provide arms, money and troop.
4. Lenin signed as he was aware that a key factor in bringing about collapse of Tsarist regime and Prov Gov was pressure of fighting the First World War. Sapped energy and resources of gov with littkle chance of succes
THE RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR 1918-21
1. White opposition, range of groups who wanted return of Tsar, liberals etc. Although initial opp. limited, Bolsheviks attacked by the forces of General Krasnov at Pulkovo Heights near Petrograd.
2. Started badly for Bolsheviks, area directly under control limited to central core based on Moscow stretching to Petrograd in North West. Surrounded all side by whites.
3. Whites made up of lots of different groups, united only by desire to get rid of Bolsheviks. Their divisions reflected in military strategy. Co-operation limited.
4. By end of 1920 all of the White strongholds had been defeated and Bolshevik rule had been extended across the country. Leon Trotsky, Comissar of War played a vital role
5. KEY RESULTS OF CIVIL WAR
  1. Bolshevik state highly centralised due to demands of war
  2. Bolsheviks made extensive use of terror against political opponents
  3. Experience reinforced militaristic values on the pop
The Tenth Party Congress 1921
1. March 1921, civil war was all but won and attention could be focused on dealing with divisions within Bolshevik Party
2. Huge growth in Party membership, 300,000 by end of 1917 to over 730,000 by 1921
3. Ban on factions within the Party put foward by Lenin at Congress of 21, known as "On Party Unity". Expulsion was penalty for breaking.
4. Came at a time of Bolshevik anxiety over their hold over Russia. 1921 Kronstadt Mutiny, revolt by sailors, and the Tambov Rising of peasants.
The nature of government under Lenin
1. Machinery of gov administration had fallen into chaos before the Bolsheviks came to power, Lenin needed to put in place astate administration that better suited his own revolutionary purposes.
2. Organisations that represented proletariat such as spvoets. trade unions and factory committees were brought under Bolshevik control then sidelined. System was devised based on representative bodies that in theory stemmed from the All-Russian Congress of Soviets and was headed by the Sovnarkom
3. The Sovnarkom was the COuncil of People's Comissars and took the role of a cabinet of top government ministers who were, in theory, responsible for making key decisions and giving gov orders
4. Central Executive Committee was a large group elected by Congress of Soviets. Task to oversee work of gov and administration
5. The All-Russian Congress of Soviets was the supreme law-making body of the state
6. Party control over the state
  1. The Politburo: Group of 7-9 leading members of Bolshevik Party who were chosen by paryu's central committee
7. Power became centralised in hands of Politburo. Party leadership ensured rigid central control
8. Growth to party bureaucracy
9. NOMENKLATURA SYSTEM: A system of appointing people to jobs from a list approved by the Party leadership. Evidence of commitment to the Party cause was necessary in order to remain on the list. Encouraged corruption as favours expected from those placed on the list and promoted.
10. Soviet Constitution 1924. 1922 position of Bolsheviks strong enough to extend control of the Party over the outlying regions of old empire. Confirmed power of Communist Party.
11. Use of terror: Cheka (secret police, then replaced by OGPU All-Union State Political Administration
12. Degree of centralisation: Central control did not always extend to remote areas, Gov was often chaotic and provided opp. for a local mafia of Bolsheviks and black marketeers to defiy Party orders
HOW DID STALIN EXERCISE POWER OVER THE COMMUNIST PARTY AND SOVIET STATE
1. Lenin died 1924 Jan.
2. STALIN'S OPPONENTS IN POLITBURO
  1. Trotsky
  2. Gregory Zinoviev
  3. Nikolai Bukharin
  4. Mikhail Tomsky
  5. Alexei Rykov
3. Stalin became party secretary 1922
  1. POWERS: Access to a vast amount of information: -All departments -All 26,000 personal files The ability to decide the agenda of Party meetings Organisation of the launch of the Lenin Enrolment Position of power over appointments, so he removed this enemies replacing them with his cronies
4. Elimination of opponents in government and party
  1. LENIN ENROLLMENT: A membership drive, to increase the number of industrial workers in the Party ranks. Over 500,000 workers were recruited, doubling party membership. was a source of employment and other privileges. This meant new members were often politically naive
    1. Stalin used to own advantage: The politically naive new members were supervised by Stalin, meaning he could keep them loyal to him
  2. Party Congress became dominated by people who owed their positions and loyalty to Stalin
  3. Stalin neutralized power by By exploiting the divisions within the Politburo over the best was for the Revolution to move forward
  4. Zinoviev and Kamerav were expelled from the Party after 15th Party Congressbut then allowed back in after 1928, because they renounced their previous views

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	Created by Will Barnes about 8 years ago