WWI - Changes in Russia (Lesson)

Changes in Russia. 

The Provisional Government ruled by liberal political principles, a dangerous mistake in wartime as radical groups such as the Bolsheviks (Marxists led by Vladimir Lenin in exile and Leon Trotsky) were gathering support. The economy was in chaos, the war effort was hopeless (the government made the decision not to withdraw from WWI), the workers and trade unions took over the running of the factories, and anarchism ran rampant in the urban areas. Within two months, the rural areas were following the lead of the cities as many landowners fled the countryside and the peasants called for land allotment. The Mirs remained the mainstay of peasant mentality as the land seizures were conducted on behalf of village communities. Massive Russian desertions skyrocketed as soldiers responded to the news of land seizures. In April, Lenin was smuggled into Russia by the Germans as the agreement was that once he gained power, he would withdraw Russia from the war. Lenin pushed for a proletarian revolution using the slogan "Peace, Land, and Bread."

By July (July Days), all liberal ministers (the Cadets) resigned, including the provisional head, Prince Lvov. Mass demonstrations and popular disorder reigned. While this internal dissent had the appearance of Bolshevik markings, the truth was the Bolsheviks were caught off guard and were unable to take advantage of the situation. Lenin was forced to flee to Finland as Alexander Kerensky took control of the Provisional Government. However, the Provisional Government's troubles were not over as Kerensky was soon forced to deal with an attempted conservative led coup. General Kornikov who had recently been appointed as commander and chief of the military had been given the dictate to restore order. He intended to obey his orders and once accomplished, assume control of the government. Kerensky was forced to look to the Soviets for support against Kornikov. The coup ultimately failed as Kornikov's troops proved unreliable and the Petrograd workers diverted and obstructed the troop trains. The Bolsheviks gained the most from this disruption as they were not associated with the bourgeoisie and rightist policies. In fact, they were most identified with the workers and the armed uprisings giving them the political edge. By the fall of 1917, the Bolsheviks had gained a majority in the St Petersburg and the Moscow soviets. Lenin urged for an armed insurrection which occurred in October as the Bolshevik Central Committee agreed an uprising to be desirable in principle. This decision led to the development of factions within the Bolshevik organization.

Leon Trotsky became the leader of the Bolshevik majority in the Petrograd Soviet, a position he used to plan the October insurrection against Kerensky's government. As the members of the Provisional Government met inside the Winter Palace, the Bolsheviks laid siege causing the government to surrender signaling the end of that government. Meanwhile the 2nd Congress of Soviets, which was in session, mandated support for the transfer of power to the soviets. The Mensheviks (liberals) and the Social Republicans (SR) quit the Congress in protest. As a result of the October/November Revolution, the Council of People's Commissars took control of the government led by Lenin (returned from exile). The Council's membership was wholly Bolshevik with the Bolshevik dominated soviets gaining control in the provinces. The Bolsheviks did not form a coalition government which alienated the other political factions in Russia. As the October Revolution was an independent action, the Bolsheviks established a secret police (similar to the Czar's police) to maintain control. Now in power, the Bolsheviks considered themselves as the first of an international proletarian revolutionary movement with Trotsky appointed as the Commissar of Foreign Affairs.

By early 1918, the Bolsheviks had negotiated the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk officially withdrawing Russia from World War I. The treaty called for territorial concessions to Germany as technically Russia was negotiating as a defeated power. Per the treaty, the Russians lost Finland, Russian, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, part of Belorussia, the Ukraine, and Transcaucasia. In mid-1918 civil war broke out between the Bolsheviks (Reds) and the Mensheviks (Whites) which was not concluded until 1920. The Mensheviks were a coalition group with members ranging from monarchists to radicals who disagreed with the Bolshevik philosophy. The Bolsheviks saw the civil war as a class war as they were fighting the monarchists, bourgeoisie, and foreign powers (former allies). Lenin instituted War Communism which was an economic policy designed to strengthen the war devastated economy. Under War Communism, major industries and banks were nationalized, private trade was prohibited, food was requisitioned from the peasants to feed the cities, and the Supreme Economic Council supervised the operations of the Russian economy. The royal family was taken by the Urals Soviet and, on orders from the government, all members of the family were executed. The civil war experience "militarized the revolutionary political culture of the Bolshevik movement".

As a minority dictatorship, the Bolsheviks were authoritarian, a symbol of which was the Cheka, the government's secret police. This organization became the symbol of repression and terror (for the 20 provinces of Eastern Europe in 1918 and the first half of 1919 8,389 people were shot and 87,000 were arrested) operating openly and violently. The Bolshevik regime quickly put their stamp on the government. They separated church and state, seized church property, closed most churches, prohibited religious instruction, and only recognized civil marriages. The Gregorian calendar was dropped while the Julian calendar was adopted (calendar Western Europe used). Titles of nobility were abolished as the old social structure was destroyed. Once the Bolsheviks had defeated the Mensheviks and they were firmly in power, Lenin terminated War Communism and instituted the New Economic Policy of the (NEP).

The NEP was instituted as a result of the Kronstadt Revolt, a 1921 rebellion which shook Lenin into the realization that pure Marxist ideals were unrealistic in the face of poor economic conditions Russia faced. The NEP allowed for partial restoration of capitalism. The state maintained control of large industries, transportation, and foreign trade as smaller industries were turned over to private operators and cooperatives, as well as private trade permitted. Peasants were permitted to rent additional land and to hire labor. Concessions were granted to foreign capitalists. Through the NEP the economy was revived.

 

The Soviet State

The Constitution of 1918 established the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic controlled by the All Russian Congress of Soviets (parliament) with the executive authority being the Council of the Peoples Commissars (RSFSR). The Communist International (Comintern), an organization which worked to promote revolution in other countries became a foundation for Russia's foreign policy. This policy of diplomacy soon was replaced as it became apparent that the world revolution was not likely. By 1920, relations had been established with Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Turkey, Persia, and Afghanistan. In 1922, The Treaty of Rapallo was signed to establish friendship with Germany and by 1924, the USSR had established relations with most of the western states including Great Britain, France, and Italy.

In 1922, Lenin suffered a stroke and never fully recovered, dying in 1924. Most assumed that Trotsky who had been 2nd in command during the revolution would succeed Lenin. Trotsky was a believer in the Doctrine of Permanent Revolution, the philosophy that revolution began as a bourgeoisie revolution which turned into a proletariat revolution which would turn into a world proletariat revolution. Competing with Trotsky was the General Secretary of the Communist Party, Joseph Stalin. Stalin was not as well known as Trotsky but used his position to pressure members of the party to support him. Unlike Trotsky, Stalin believed in the Doctrine of Socialism in One Country, the theory that the Soviet Union could survive even if no other countries were communist. Ultimately, Stalin won control of the government expelling Trotsky from the Politburo and later forcing him into exile in Mexico (he was murdered in Mexico in 1940 via Stalin's orders).

In 1924,a new constitution created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) adding the Ukraine, Belorussia, and Transcaucasia to the RSFSR. Stalin ended the NEP and established the Five Year Plans in its place. The Five Year Plans were designed to: end the NEP, eliminate capitalism, create a socialist economy, promote the rapid development of heavy industry, and collectivize agriculture. He placed the Soviet economy under the centralized direction of the State Planning Commission (Gosplan). Workers were given incentives to increase industrial and mining quotas by being offered better housing, higher wages, and awards.

In 1936, the "Stalin Constitution" was adopted – the USSR at that time a federation of states (11 later to be 15) – The government was made up of the Supreme Soviet (parliament) which consisted of two houses (Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of the Nationalities). Members were directly elected by citizens 18 or older. The Council of the People's Commissars exercised executive authority. While the government looked to be a republic. all the power was held by the Communist party. The Party leadership was elected by the Central Committee who controlled the party through the Political Bureau (Politburo). The 1922 Cheka was reorganized as the KGB which enforced Stalin's policies assuring the USSR remained a police state. In 1934, Sergi M Kirov, the chief of the Communist party in Leningrad was assassinated (he had challenged some of Stalin's policies). The government blamed a conspiracy organized by Trotsky (actually Stalin had given the order) and the secret police began a mass round up of party members and others. Three public trials were held, involving more than 50 defendants all being convicted and executed. In 1937, a secret trial of the USSR's top military leaders was held resulting in their executions followed by an extensive purge of Russia's officer corp. By 1939, as many as 10 million prisoners had been sent to the labor camps and/or executed. In the end. the purge destroyed any possible opposition to Stalin as he killed millions, most for no reason other than to instill terror in the Russian citizenry.

 

 

During the Great Purge Stalin also went after photographs and paintings. He had long been a supporter of manipulating art as propaganda - having had himself added to paintings of Lenin in order to appear to have been closer to the man then he was. During the Purge, Stalin employed artists to take political enemies out of images including the one above. After being accused, Stalin's head of the secret police, Nikolia Yezhov is removed from the photograph.

 

RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.