Topic B Analysis: Part Played by Lenin in the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution Introduction to the Topic: Before Lenin returned

from exile, he was a follower of Revolutionary Propaganda which promoted the dissemination of ideas that would help people win their freedom. In 1895 he will go onto found the League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class which was a consolidation of the city s (St. Petersburg s) Marxist groups. However, he will be arrested in December 1895 for charges that he was plotting against Tsar Alexander II; he was imprisoned for fourteen months. In February 897, he was exiled to Siberia for three years. During this time period, he published many theoretical works after he met Georgy Plekhanov, the Marxist who introduced socialism to Russia. At the end of his exile, Lenin left Russia and lived in Munich, London, and Geneva. During this time, he continued to write books about revolutionary politics and began to recruit members for the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. In 1903 Lenin attended the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. Here, Lenin led the Bolshevik faction while Martov led the Menshevik faction. Lenin briefly returned to Russia in 1905 for the Revolution that took place. However, after the Tsarist defeat of the revolution, he would continue his exile from 1907 to 1917 in Western Europe until the beginning of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917.

Role of Lenin 1: Urged the Socialist Revolution of the Workers and the Poorest Peasants y Lenin first accomplished this through his delivery of the April Theses which called for: worldwide socialist revolution, immediate end of the war, Soviets to take over the provisional government, and land to be given to the poor. This led to the slogan Bread, Peace, and Land which helped Lenin gain popularity from the peasants (the working class). The outcome of the March Revolution also gave Lenin s provisions power. y Why was this action significant? This action successfully persuaded the Bolsheviks that these components were key facets of moving forward, and these ideas largely set the ideological framework for the November Revolution. Lenin exposed and exploited the key failings of the provisional government. Russians were already tired and demoralized from the losses they suffered on the warfront (such as the loss of Poland to Germany). Land was taken away and rearranged from peasants due to the Land Reforms that took place in Russia from 1905. Although founded on the ideology of modernizing the common farmer, the government found itself involved in reordering and redistributing land to all the peasants in the village, rather than just to the peasant leaders. At this point, peasants became largely indifferent in the convoluted progression of the reform, and after the tsarist government's collapse with the ensuing lack of governmental coercion on village consolidation, peasants reverted to collective farming once more by the summer and fall of 1917. This created tension between land owning peasants and the government because the idea that land was communal was deeply rooted in tradition, and the notion of land being property that was led by private ownership only created further unrest. In the economy, there was a shortage in food and raw materials which only created more tension. Essentially, minority groups demanded that have more autonomy. The promise of Bread, Peace, and Land created support for Lenin and because of all of these problems with the provisional government the Bolshevik cause gained more support as people became unhappy with the government, the Bolsheviks gained support as people became more radicalized. y The power of Lenin s April Theses was recognized in the July Day riots by industrial workers and soldiers. Russian Army leader General Lavr Kornilov sent troops from the front to Petrograd in what appeared to be a military coup attempt against the Provisional Government. Kerensky was forced to turn to the Petrograd Soviet for help, allowing the revolutionaries to organize workers as Red Guards to defend Petrograd. The coup petered out before it reached Petrograd thanks to the industrial action of the Petrograd workers and the soldiers' increasing unwillingness to obey their officers.

This event shook confidence in the provisional government, and forced people to acknowledge Lenin s message of power to the Soviets, and how ultimately it was these Soviets who became the defenders of the revolution.

Role of Lenin 2: Establishing the Government y After Lenin takes power, in order for him to follow-up on the request for autonomy, he establishes the Sovnarkom which was the new ruling body of Russia and he was the chairman. This is significant because it initially consolidated power in the Bolshevik state. However, the local Soviets, filled with Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, still held power around Russia, since the Sovnarkom could not truly carry out its own laws, due to its precarious weakness. However, to achieve support, Lenin made several decrees: o Land Decree - Peasants had the right to overrun estates and redistribute land as they saw fit. However, it was temporary. Lenin did not see privately owned land as a Bolshevik policy o Worker s Control Decree - Factory committees of workers were allowed to control their production and finances by supervising management . NOT A BOLSHEVIK IDEA, but support was needed. o Rights of the People of Russia Decree - Right of self-determination of minorities in the Russian empire. Only a paper measure, since it could not truly be carried out. y In addition to following popular demands, Lenin also based his regime on terror and suppression of opposition. Lenin did this by: o o o o o o o y Shutting down oppositional press Arresting and outlawing the Kadets, who had dominated the Constituent Assembly Arresting right-winged Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries Establishing the CHEKA in December 1917 Class warfare against burzhui (bourgeoisie) Replacing judicial system with revolutionary justice (arbitrary and violent) Arresting and execution of civil servants

Lenin s actions, however, were met with enormous pressure from other socialist parties to form a coalition government. People wanted democratic freedom. After a railwaymen s union s decision to threaten to cut communication and supplies to Petrograd, Lenin was forced to give in and allow elections to the Constituent Assembly to take place, as well as to work with power sharing. However, to counter his personal downfall, Lenin did the following: o Formed a political alliance with the Socialist Revolutionaries, which gained him substantial peasant support. In return, he allowed some SRs in the Sovnarkom. Following his lack of seats in the Constituent Assembly, he declared it redundant. As a result, he closed it by force.

Though Lenin had signed a Decree of Peace in October, 1917, he was unable to simply generate a status quo with the Germans, since his borders were left unprotected by deserting soldiers. As a result, he signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on March 3, 1918, which gave away vast chunks of Western Russian land, which was the breadbasket. As a result, he lost support, both from the people and from the SRs.

Role of Lenin 3: Role in the Russian Civil War In 1919, the poles hoped to take advantage of the internal strife in Russia and make some land grabbing. By 1920, they had captured Kiev. However, by this time, the Bolsheviks had more or less won the Civil War and the fear of polish invasion united Russians of different political background against the common enemy. Within a short amount of time, the Poles were pushed back to Warsaw. Lenin saw this as an opportunity to build his red bridge of spreading communism to Western Europe. However, far from supplies, the Reds were defeated by the Poles. As a result, the Polish gained large parts of Ukraine and White Russia (aka Belarus). The Civil War had its share of atrocities. Here are some examples: y y y y Cossacks destroy the farms and claimed the lives of some 115,000 Jews on the Ukraine alone, Whites shot miners who did not produce enough coal in the Donbass region Reds nailed white officers medals into their shoulder pads Over 1 million are said to have died from Typhus or Typhoid fever

While Trotsky was managing the war, Lenin took care of domestic matters. His challenge came in fixing the rapidly deteriorating economy, which had faltered by the spring of 1918. His freedoms for the factory workers and the peasants had backfired and generated little manufacturing, as well as a massive food shortage within the cities, since the peasants refused to sell their food without becoming able to purchase goods. Additionally, wheat rich Ukraine was under Green army control. Thus, Petrograd was put under severe bread rationing (50 grams per day). This caused food riots. The workers also started leaving for the countryside in search of food, leaving the factories short of labor. Lenin had to find a way to keep the factories open and working completely, while also feeding the workers. His answer: War Communism Grain requisitioning Peasant resistance Quotas Ban on private trade Led to the formation of black markets Nationalization of industry All industry run by Vesenkha. Reinstatement of managers Labor discipline Fines for lateness or absentness Rationing Class-based rationing Soldiers and workers received the most Red Terror Workers, anarachists, and opposing socialists put down by the Cheka via arrests and executions Execution of the Tsar family on July 17, 1918 Demoralization Blaming local soviets Between 1918-1920, some 300,000 executions were performed Labor and concentration camps Cheka raids of black markets