Lenin’s Russia/Soviet Union
Contention: Lenin’s Russia and consolidation of the Soviet Union was characterised by various decrees
and policies that ensured either the support of the people or the elimination of opposition. The
economic policies of State Capitalism, War Communism, and the NEP characterised the social, economic
and cultural nature of Russia between 1917-1921.
Arguments:
1. Consolidation of Soviet State through decrees
Lenin was able to consolidate his Soviet State through implementing various decrees that gained
popular support for the Bolsheviks, eliminated opposition, and followed through with the promise for
“peace”
Land Decree (November 1917)
- 1917 more than 80% of Russian people lived on the land
- Land decree allowed peasant to take over estates without compensation – land belonged to the
people and could no longer be sold, leased, or mortgaged
o = peasants with greater support for Lenin and Bolsheviks
Decree on Peace (November 1917)
Required new government to “Start immediate negotiations for peace” with Germany while conceding
no payment of reparations or indemnities or loss of Russian land or people
- However, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 3rd, 1918) went against this decree (mediated by
Trotsky)
o Poland, Finland, the Baltic states, and most of Ukraine was surrendered to Germany.
 Russia lost 1.3 million square miles of important territory, including important
grain-growing regions in Ukraine.
 Surrendered around 62 million people to German rule, around one-third of its
total population.
 Lost 28 per cent of its heavy industries and three-quarters of its iron and coal
reserves.
HP EH Carr “Trotsky was the hero of the revolution; he fell when the heroic age was over”
One Day parliament
Constituent assembly (November 1917)
- 41.7 million people voted
o Bolsheviks received 9.8 million votes (24%) giving them 168 out of 703 seats
o Left-wing social revolutions got 39 seats
o Right- Wing revolutionaries received 17.1 million votes (41%) giving them 380 seats
HP Bunyan “The Constituent Assembly could no longer be used against their opponents; on the
contrary, it became the rallying cry of those who aimed to end the dictatorship”
Constituent Assembly (5th Jan 1918)
Soviet decrees on peace and land were replaced with SR policies
- This disgusted Bolsheviks and Left SR deputies who walked out of the assembly (including Lenin)
Speech Lenin (6th Jan) claimed the Soviets had “taken all the power and rights into their own hands. The
Constituent Assembly is the highest expression of the political ideals of bourgeois society, which are no
longer necessary in a socialist state.”
HP Pipes on the closing of the constituent Assembly “The machine gun become for them the principial
instrument of political persuasion”
2. Economic policies – State Capitalism and War Communism (SPECS = big failure, poor living
conditions, war-torn Russia)
The consolidation of Lenin’s Soviet Union was characterised by various economic policies that ranged
from controlling to resembling capitalism. These included State Capitalism, War Communism, and the
New Economic Policy.
State Capitalism
When the Bolsheviks seized power in October 1917, they inherited a nation that was exhausted and
deprived by three years of war.
- Economy needed to be rebuilt as it had been devastated by shortages, strikes, labour
disruptions, failing infrastructure, poor/unpredictable supply of resources
o Had to recover economy before it could be rebuilt = state capitalism
State capitalism – mixed economy (major companies and industries in private hands but under state
control)
- Bourgeois managers and experts would retain roles in industries, factories, manufacturing
o Sectors managed by the Vesenkha (government department)
- Lenin argued that capitalist development was necessary to restore production and build a solid
foundation for the construction of a socialist economy
o Karl Marx’s argument that socialism can only take root in a capitalist economy
o Won majority support, criticised by Bukharin and left-wing faction
PQ: Lenin – promised that socialism would be “the next step forward from state-capitalist monopoly.”
War Communism
PQ: Lenin – “War communism was thrust upon us by war and ruin… it was a temporary measure.”
War Communism was introduced through a series of decrees in mid-1918. Empowered the state to
commence grain requisitioning and formally nationalised all Russian industries.
Industries
- Assumed control over industrial enterprise, put industry under centralised economy,
nationalised all industries
o Introduced strict centralised management and state control of foreign trade
o Professional state-employed managers replaced the factory committees with the duty
to increase production and maximise efficiency
- Tightened labour discipline
o Fines for those who arrived late or failed to turn up to work
o Internal passports issued to prevent workers from leaving cities
 1916-1920 northern and central Russian cities lost 33% of their population to
the countryside
- Workers could be imprisoned or shot if targets weren’t met (introduced 1921)
o Payments in ration tokens, unions-controlled workers
-
HP: Martin Sixsmith “Workers were no longer seen as agents of the revolution but as raw
materials, an expendable force to be exploited in the great experiment of building socialism”
-
HP British historian Peter Oxley estimated that out of 100 million deaths during the period of
war, 95% were from famine and disease.
Grain requisitioning
- Groups of Red Guards, soldiers, workers forced peasants to hand over grain harvest (was
‘officially bought’, but often brutally confiscated)
o Grain requisitioning detachments were allowed to keep some grain as their reward
o Peasants left with insufficient grain for months ahead and lost horses, carts and
firewood
 Slowed production, abandoned farmlands, drop in productivity = massive
shortages in the cities
HP Sally J Taylor: the Bolsheviks relied “more and more upon repression and outright violence as the
main methods of securing meat and grain from the peasants.”
3. Economic policies – NEP = political and social divides, some improves
NEP
The NEP was introduced in 1921 to provide “breathing space” (Lenin) for the economy that was about to
collapse after 7 years of war.
HP Sov CPSU “A strategic retreat” “A temporary but necessary step backwards in order to ensure the
revolution survived”
- Russia’s agricultural output had been restored to pre-world war I levels
- Russia had produced 80 million tons of grain (1913) however this fell to 50 million tons (1921)
but in the four years of NEP it increased to 72.5 million tons
NEP Decree called “On the replacement of provdrazyorstka [grain requisitioning] with prodnalog [fixed
tax]”
- A money economy was reinstated – ended grain requisitioning in rural areas
o Peasants required to given certain proportion of produce as tax but were permitted to
sell surplus
- State retained control over heavy military and strategic industries
o However, private ownership of smaller businesses and private trade were permitted
o Rationing ended and industries had to pay workers with wages
-
Thousands of peasants returned to work the land
Weather conditions improved with a period of more consistent rainfall (after catastrophic
droughts of 1920-21)
o = 1922 and 1923 harvest were extremely successful
 Prices more than halved between august 1922 to Feb 1923 as food became
more available
o Grain production and livestock numbers approached pre-world War I levels (1925)
However, the Scissors Crisis showed a failure in the policy
- Raw materials (such as oil, coal, and steel) in inadequate supple due to ongoing disruptions in
Russia’s transport network and slow recovery in mining
o Cost of manufactured items had increased to almost three times their 1913 prices by
latte 1923
o However, food prices were around 90% of their 1913 levels
Effects of the scissors crisis
-
-
Low food prices = farmers received smaller sums for their crops, high industrial prices meant
they could not afford manufactured goods
o Not enough money to buy advanced machinery/equipment/building materials
 Could not increase productivity
Low crop prices = disincentive to production (no point working hard for small profits)
10th Party Congress (March 1921) Lenin introduced ‘One Party Unity’
- Essentially a ban on factionalism (Lenin said that “no factionalism of any sort” would be
tolerated). This aimed to stifle criticism of the NEP
o Non-compliance would mean immediate expulsion from the Party
- An accompanying resolution condemned the ‘Workers’ Opposition’
o Lenin declared all socialist parties other than the Bolsheviks to be outlawed, following
through with policy of 1918 to suppress all opposition to Bolshevik rule
 Lenin – “Marxism teaches that only the Communist Party is capable of training
and organizing a vanguard of the proletariat and the whole mass of the working
people”
PQ Young Bolshevik Alexandre Barmine (1921) “ We felt as though the revolution had been betrayed
and it was time to quit the party”
HP Conquest “a hypocrisy of communism”
HP Rev Service “The NEP seemed to be a betrayal of the revolution”
Historiography:
HP Lib Pipes “A betrayal of the revolution and Bolshevik ideology” (NEP)
Consolidation of new Soviet State
Contention: Lenin was able to consolidate the new Soviet State by using legal methods, economic
policies, and terror and coercion to control the population under Bolshevik ruling.
Arguments:
1. Consolidation of Soviet State through decrees (legal methods)
Lenin was able to consolidate his Soviet State through implementing various decrees that gained
popular support for the Bolsheviks, eliminated opposition, and followed through with the promise for
“peace”
Land Decree (November 1917)
- 1917 more than 80% of Russian people lived on the land
- Land decree allowed peasant to take over estates without compensation – land belonged to the
people and could no longer be sold, leased, or mortgaged
o = peasants with greater support for Lenin and Bolsheviks
Decree on Peace (November 1917)
Required new government to “Start immediate negotiations for peace” with Germany while conceding
no payment of reparations or indemnities or loss of Russian land or people
- However, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 3rd, 1918) went against this decree (mediated by
Trotsky)
o Poland, Finland, the Baltic states, and most of Ukraine was surrendered to Germany.
 Russia lost 1.3 million square miles of important territory, including important
grain-growing regions in Ukraine.
 Surrendered around 62 million people to German rule, around one-third of its
total population.
 Lost 28 per cent of its heavy industries and three-quarters of its iron and coal
reserves.
HP EH Carr “Trotsky was the hero of the revolution; he fell when the heroic age was over”
One Day parliament
Constituent assembly (November 1917)
- 41.7 million people voted
o Bolsheviks received 9.8 million votes (24%) giving them 168 out of 703 seats
o Left-wing social revolutions got 39 seats
o Right- Wing revolutionaries received 17.1 million votes (41%) giving them 380 seats
HP Bunyan “The Constituent Assembly could no longer be used against their opponents; on the
contrary, it became the rallying cry of those who aimed to end the dictatorship
Constituent Assembly (5th Jan 1918)
Soviet decrees on peace and land were replaced with SR policies
- This disgusted Bolsheviks and Left SR deputies who walked out of the assembly (including Lenin)
Speech Lenin (6th Jan) claimed the Soviets had “taken all the power and rights into their own hands. The
Constituent Assembly is the highest expression of the political ideals of bourgeois society, which are no
longer necessary in a socialist state.”
HP Pipes on the closing of the constituent Assembly “The machine gun become for them the principial
instrument of political persuasion”
2. Economic policies
The consolidation of Lenin’s Soviet Union was characterised by various economic policies that ranged
from controlling to resembling capitalism. These included State Capitalism, War Communism, and the
New Economic Policy.
State Capitalism
When the Bolsheviks seized power in October 1917, they inherited a nation that was exhausted and
deprived by three years of war.
- Economy needed to be rebuilt as it had been devastated by shortages, strikes, labour
disruptions, failing infrastructure, poor/unpredictable supply of resources
o Had to recover economy before it could be rebuilt = state capitalism
State capitalism – mixed economy (major companies and industries in private hands but under state
control)
- Bourgeois managers and experts would retain roles in industries, factories, manufacturing
o Sectors managed by the Vesenkha (government department)
- Lenin argued that capitalist development was necessary to restore production and build a solid
foundation for the construction of a socialist economy
o Karl Marx’s argument that socialism can only take root in a capitalist economy
o Won majority support, criticised by Bukharin and left-wing faction
PQ: Lenin – promised that socialism would be “the next step forward from state-capitalist monopoly.”
War Communism
PQ: Lenin – “War communism was thrust upon us by war and ruin… it was a temporary measure.”
War Communism was introduced through a series of decrees in mid-1918. Empowered the state to
commence grain requisitioning and formally nationalised all Russian industries.
Industries
- Assumed control over industrial enterprise, put industry under centralised economy,
nationalised all industries
o Introduced strict centralised management and state control of foreign trade
o Professional state-employed managers replaced the factory committees with the duty
to increase production and maximise efficiency
- Tightened labour discipline
o Fines for those who arrived late or failed to turn up to work
o Internal passports issued to prevent workers from leaving cities
 1916-1920 northern and central Russian cities lost 33% of their population to
the countryside
- Workers could be imprisoned or shot if targets weren’t met (introduced 1921)
o Payments in ration tokens, unions-controlled workers
-
HP: Martin Sixsmith “Workers were no longer seen as agents of the revolution but as raw
materials, an expendable force to be exploited in the great experiment of building socialism”
HP British historian Peter Oxley estimated that out of 100 million deaths during the period of
war, 95% were from famine and disease.
Grain requisitioning
- Groups of Red Guards, soldiers, workers forced peasants to hand over grain harvest (was
‘officially bought’, but often brutally confiscated)
o Grain requisitioning detachments were allowed to keep some grain as their reward
o
Peasants left with insufficient grain for months ahead and lost horses, carts and
firewood
 Slowed production, abandoned farmlands, drop in productivity = massive
shortages in the cities
HP Sally J Taylor: the Bolsheviks relied “more and more upon repression and outright violence as the
main methods of securing meat and grain from the peasants.”
NEP
The NEP was introduced in 1921 to provide “breathing space” (Lenin) for the economy that was about to
collapse after 7 years of war.
HP Sov CPSU “A strategic retreat” “A temporary but necessary step backwards in order to ensure the
revolution survived”
- Russia’s agricultural output had been restored to pre-world war I levels
- Russia had produced 80 million tons of grain (1913) however this fell to 50 million tons (1921)
but in the four years of NEP it increased to 72.5 million tons
NEP Decree called “On the replacement of provdrazyorstka [grain requisitioning] with prodnalog [fixed
tax]”
- A money economy was reinstated – ended grain requisitioning in rural areas
o Peasants required to given certain proportion of produce as tax but were permitted to
sell surplus = Thousands of peasants returned to work the land
- State retained control over heavy military and strategic industries
o However, private ownership of smaller businesses and private trade were permitted
o Rationing ended and industries had to pay workers with wages
-
Weather conditions improved with a period of more consistent rainfall (after catastrophic
droughts of 1920-21)
o = 1922 and 1923 harvest were extremely successful
 Prices more than halved between august 1922 to Feb 1923 as food became
more available
o Grain production and livestock numbers approached pre-world War I levels (1925)
However, the Scissors Crisis showed a failure in the policy
- Raw materials (such as oil, coal, and steel) in inadequate supple due to ongoing disruptions in
Russia’s transport network and slow recovery in mining
o Cost of manufactured items had increased to almost three times their 1913 prices by
latte 1923
o However, food prices were around 90% of their 1913 levels
- Low food prices = farmers received smaller sums for their crops, high industrial prices meant
they could not afford manufactured goods
o Not enough money to buy advanced machinery/equipment/building materials
 Could not increase productivity
- Low crop prices = disincentive to production (no point working hard for small profits)
HP Conquest “a hypocrisy of communism”
HP Rev Service “The NEP seemed to be a betrayal of the revolution”
3. Elimination and control of opposition through terror and coercion
The Bolsheviks were able to consolidate their authoritarian state through using the paramilitary unit
CHEKA to terrorise and coerce opposition into complicance.
HP Fitzpatrick: The Cheka became an organ of terror, dispensing summary justice including executions,
making mass arrests, and taking hostages at random in areas that had come under White control...”
- Paramilitary unit CHEKA dealt with opposition brutally. Bolshevik-ordered Red Terror campaign
of intimidation, arrests, violence, and executions
o Began mid-1918 following an assassination attempt on Lenin, carried out by the Cheka
- Was a campaign that sought to eliminate opposition, political dissent and threats to Bolshevik
power
o Cheka carried out almost 8500 executions in the first year , almost ten times that
number were arrested, interrogated, detained, tried or sent to prison and labour camps
 True number of extra-legal killings much higher, approaching 6 figures
The CHEKA was established as a Bolshevik security agency formed to identify and eradicate counterrevolutionary activity.
- The Cheka carried out arrests, interrogations, executions and campaigns entirely of its own
accord, and was not restricted by the rule of war.
o With this free reign, Cheka agents were able to persecute, detain, torture and
summarily execute thousands of suspected spies, tsarists, counterrevolutionaries,
kulaks, black marketeers and other ‘enemies of the state’.
o The Cheka grew exponentially during the turmoil and growing opposition of 1918 and
dealt with opposition through violence and deterrents.
To be the "sword and shield of the revolution" --> defending regime from enemies within
- 1918-1920 went from a couple hundred investigators to a bureaucratic and paramilitary
behemoth containing more than 100,000 agents. Operated outside the rule of law
First 2 years:
- Executed 900 people suspected of trading on the black market
o Additional 600 bureaucrats executed for "economic crimes" (taking bribes)
o Over 12,000 people killed by Chekists in 1918-20
 Historians suggest around 200,000 or more are realistic
PQ: Dzerzhinsky: "we stand for organised terror, terror being absolutely indispensable in the current
revolutionary conditions"
- Dzerzhinsky argues that the use of terror and coercion was a necessary and defensive means of
taking down counter-revolutionary forces. Argues it is organised and discrete. Despite the lives
that are lost is necessary.
- Some executions were carried out for public effect --> Cheka agents appeared in audience of a
Moscow circus and shot clown Bim Bom who was making fun of the Bolsheviks and their leaders
- Lenin ordered the Penza Cheka to hang at least 100 men "and make sure that the hanging takes
place in full view of the people"
Historiography:
Western or liberal historians argue that violence and terror were simply an aspect of Bolshevik ideology
and part of a cruel regime. Argues that terror and coercion were always an aspect of Bolshevik control
and not merely a defensive tool
“Arbitrary arrests, mass shootings, torture and imprisonment were an integral element of Bolshevik
policy long before anti-Bolshevik armies gathered.” – Liberal historian Jamie Bisher
Revisionist and libertarians believe the terror and coercion by the Cheka was a "creature of its time" and
a panicked response to the growing counter revolutionary movements. Anti-Bolshevik terrorism was
apparent, and the violence and terror was merely a response.
Civil War
The Civil War began with growing resistance to the Bolshevik regime that seized control of Russia in
October 1917.
- Opposition to the Bolsheviks after October Revolution intensified after the closure of the
Constituent Assembly (January 1918) and the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (formal
agreement that ended Russia’s involvement in WWI).
o To Tsarists, liberalists, Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries, the Bolsheviks had
betrayed the promise of a democratic government and had betrayed Russia to the
German Kaiser
 Opposition grew into a fully-fledged counter-revolutionary movement
Contention: The Reds were able to achieve victory in the Russian Civil War due to various strengths of
the Red Army, as well as weaknesses of the Whites. The consequences of the war included the Great
Famine of 1921 and the disastrous results of War Communism.
Arguments:
1. Red Army strengths, Kronstadt Revolt, CHEKA, propaganda
Reds
Red Army
- The Bolshevik forces were weary of the whites, and created a more professional and
conventional army
o Compulsory military service was introduced and by 1918 to 1920, over 5 million men
were serving in the Red Army.
- Rigid discipline and control were the hallmark of the army: officers found guilty of cowardice or
treachery were executed, men who showed initative and courage were promoted rapidly
Kronstadt Revolt (1st to 18th March 1921)
Anti-Bolshevik uprising: Kronstadt sailors and workers frustrated by control and policies of Bolshevik
party. They demanded for a series of reforms which the BP refused to accept
- In retaliation Lenin ordered the Red Army to attack naval fortress and Kronstadt was crushed
after 24 hours
- Sailor’s families taken hostage and Petrograd and Trotsky instructed the sailors to surrender or
families would be ‘shot like partridges’ (terror+ coercion)
HP Liberal Conquest “Kronstadt saw the Party aligned finally against the people”
HP Marxist Hobsbawm “By 1921… the revolution was in retreat in Soviet Russia though politically
Bolshevik power was unassailable"
Cheka (formed Oct revolution 1917)
The CHEKA was established as a Bolshevik security agency formed to identify and eradicate counterrevolutionary activity.
- Paramilitary unit CHEKA dealt with opposition brutally. Bolshevik-ordered Red Terror campaign
of intimidation, arrests, violence, and executions
o Began mid-1918 following an assassination attempt on Lenin, carried out by the Cheka
- Was a campaign that sought to eliminate opposition, political dissent and threats to Bolshevik
power
o Cheka carried out almost 8500 executions in the first year, almost ten times that
number were arrested, interrogated, detained, tried or sent to prison and labour camps
 True number of extra-legal killings much higher, approaching 6 figures
The Cheka carried out arrests, interrogations, executions and campaigns entirely of its own
accord, and was not restricted by the rule of war.
o With this free reign, Cheka agents were able to persecute, detain, torture and
summarily execute thousands of suspected spies, tsarists, counterrevolutionaries,
kulaks, black marketeers and other ‘enemies of the state’.
o The Cheka grew exponentially during the turmoil and growing opposition of 1918 and
dealt with opposition through violence and deterrents.
To be the "sword and shield of the revolution" --> defending regime from enemies within
- 1918-1920 went from a couple hundred investigators to a bureaucratic and paramilitary
behemoth containing more than 100,000 agents. Operated outside the rule of law
PQ: Dzerzhinsky: "we stand for organised terror, terror being absolutely indispensable in the current
revolutionary conditions"
- Dzerzhinsky argues that the use of terror and coercion was a necessary and defensive means of
taking down counter-revolutionary forces. Argues it is organised and discrete. Despite the lives
that are lost is necessary.
-
Propaganda
In the areas the Bolsheviks controlled they organise a propaganda campaign
- Agitprop (agitation propaganda) was used to encourage soldiers.
- Trotsky’s train was fitted with equipment to produce posters and leaflets
o This and other trains contained cinemas where propaganda films were shown
- Speeches, newspapers, and leaflets continually told the people that, through the Soviets, they
oversaw Russia.
Instructed to the people their living conditions would improve and wealth would be distributed more
fairly.
- Bolsheviks portrayed as patriotic party who would defend Russia from imperialists, spread fear
that Russia would be taken over by foreign countries and absorbed into their empires
Geographical implications
At the beginning of CW, Reds controlled central area of Russian between Petrograd and Moscow, giving
them a number of key advantages:
- Majority of Russia’s railways were in this area allowing for easier communication between
various battlefronts
o = Trotsky was able to move troops and supplies quickly to positions under attack,
Commissar for war was able to visit battlefronts in an armored train and take personal
command
- Majority of Russia’s industry was in this area
o Troops were kept supplied and equipped with weapons, ammunition, and supplies
- Whites
o Had forces in Estonia, Arkhangelsk, the Caucasus, and Western Siberia (1919) but the
distance between bases was enormous
 It was almost impossible to convey messages, coordinate attacks, move men
and munitions between bases
2. White Army weaknesses, poor foreign intervention
The White Army suffered from divided leadership, lack of support and failed foreign intervention.
- Whites had several leaders who each were determined to take control of Russia themselves
o While they were trying to defeat the Reds, they were in competition with each other
- No single political program = disunity
Lack of support from Russians
- Whites did not take advantage of the Bolshevik’s inability to win over the rural community
o Treated peasants with contempt, helped landowners recover estates
 = peasants saw Bolsheviks as able to help them retain land, didn’t support
Whites
White Terror
- Resistance to troops led to villages and farms burnt down, bridges and water stations destroyed,
hostages taken and shot
o More than 25,000 people shot or tortured by Kolchak’s forces
o Ruthless towards Jews – 100,000 to 150,000 Jews in Ukraine and Southern Russia were
killed
Foreign intervention
Foreign powers intervened in the Russia civil war to try to force the collapse of Bolshevism. Foreign
intervention was launched by Allied nations at the end of World War I
- The signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 3rd, 1918) made the Bolshevik be seen as
traitors to the war in addition to a political threat to democratic capitalist nations
o Most foreign power refused to recognise the legitimacy of the Bolshevik regime instead
they dealt with White generals in exile
White Support
- British landed in Murmansk (March 1918)
- Italian, French, and American troops joined Japanese in far east (second half 1918)
- British and French troops entered the Caucasus and Black Sea area (second half of 1918)
- German armies on the western border of Ukraine
- Japanese troops occupied Vladivostok in the east (April 1918)
Foreign units rarely directly engaged with the Bolsheviks but were more interested in protecting
resources previously lent to Russia
- After WWI, no nation wanted to commit large troop numbers to a major conflict and as a result,
foreign troops began to withdraw from Russia in 1919
- 2nd July 1918 the supreme Allied War Council decided to intervene in Russia – French and British
forces landed and created an eastern front to against the Bolshevik forces
• Whilst the army consists of mainly anti-Bolshevik Russian forces it was also supported by
allied interventionist nations such as the British Empire, United States, Japan, China,
France, Poland, Greece, Italy, Romania, and Czechoslovakia.
- 250,000 troops from more than 14 different states took part in the fighting
Therefore, foreign intervention did very little to force the collapse of Bolshevik and hence contributed to
the Bolshevik success in consolidating their Soviet regime
3. Consequences of the war: Great Famine (1921), War Communism
More War Communism notes below
The Civil War caused a myriad of economic issues that plagued the Russian workers and peasants and
resulted in the Great Famine of 1921.
PQ: Lenin – “War communism was thrust upon us by war and ruin… it was a temporary measure.”
War Communism was introduced through a series of decrees in mid-1918. Empowered the state to
commence grain requisitioning and formally nationalised all Russian industries.
Industries
- Assumed control over industrial enterprise, put industry under centralised economy,
nationalised all industries
o Introduced strict centralised management and state control of foreign trade
o Professional state-employed managers replaced the factory committees with the duty
to increase production and maximise efficiency
- Tightened labour discipline
o Fines for those who arrived late or failed to turn up to work
o Internal passports issued to prevent workers from leaving cities
 1916-1920 northern and central Russian cities lost 33% of their population to
the countryside
- Workers could be imprisoned or shot if targets weren’t met (introduced 1921)
o Payments in ration tokens, unions-controlled workers
War communism effects:
- Industrial output was 85% down
- Agricultural output was 40% down
- Coal production was 70% down
- Electrical energy output was 75% down
- Industrial output at 20% of pre-war levels
- 25 million dead due to famine
- Small factories were in 1920 producing just 43% of their 1913 total.
- Large factories were producing 18% of their 1913 figure.
- Coal production was at 27% of its 1913 figure in 1920
Historiography:
- HP: Martin Sixsmith “Workers were no longer seen as agents of the revolution but as raw
materials, an expendable force to be exploited in the great experiment of building socialism”
- HP British historian Peter Oxley estimated that out of 100 million deaths during the period of
war, 95% were from famine and disease.
War Communism
Contention: Lenin cunningly employed War Communism to consolidate the Bolshevik state. However,
the policies were a devastating failure that drove Russia into a downward spiral of food shortages,
severe inflation, and the Russian famine of 1920-1921.
Arguments:
1. Industry = big failure, authoritarian
War Communism was effectively a centralised command economy. This meant that the Supreme
Council of National Economy assumed control over industrial enterprise (December 1917).
- Put industry under a centralised economy, nationalised all industries
o Introduced strict, centralised management, state control of foreign trade
- Professional state-employed managers replaced the factory committees with the duty to
increase production and maximize efficiency
Tightened labour discipline (authoritarian, drove opposition)
- Fines introduced for those who arrived late, failed to turn up to work
- Internal passports issued to prevent workers from leaving the cities
o Between 1916-20 northern and central Russian cities lost 33% of their population to
countryside
- Workers could be imprisoned or shot if targets weren’t met (introduced 1921)
- Payments took the form of ration tokens
- Unions controlled workers
HP: Martin Sixsmith “Workers were no longer seen as agents of the revolution but as raw materials, an
expendable force to be exploited in the great experiment of building socialism”
Big failure anyway (industrial output fell significantly)
- Industrial output was 85% down
- Coal production was 70% down
- Electrical energy output was 75% down
- Small factories were in 1920 producing just 43% of their 1913 total.
- Large factories were producing 18% of their 1913 figure.
- Coal production was at 27% of its 1913 figure in 1920
HP British historian Peter Oxley estimated that out of 100 million deaths during the period of war, 95%
were from famine and disease.
Trotsky described the control of labour during War Communism as the “right of the dictatorship to send
every worker to the place where he is needed in accordance with the state plan”
2. Agriculture and peasantry = disaster
The policies under War Communism and the centrally commanded economy meant that large farms
were established to supply the Red Army and famished urban workers with food. However, this was
very unsuccessful and resulted in famine.
- ‘Soviet Farms’ were the first real communisation of land
● Called ‘socialist grain factories’ by peasants who desired individual ownership of land
Food Supplies Dictatorship (May 1918) – Grain requistioning
- Sent groups of red guards, soldiers, and workers from large town to force peasants to hand over
their grain. ‘Officially’ grain was bought, however often it was brutally confiscated
o Grain requisitioning detachments were allowed to keep a share of their collection as a
reward
-
Peasants were left with insufficient grain for months ahead, and slowed production (some
abandoned their farmlands as they had no motivation to farm) = drop in productivity
o Lost other important items to the squads including horses, carts and firewood
o Agricultural output was 40% down = severe shortages in major cities
o 1/3 land abandoned to grass, thousands of cattle and horses slaughtered
o Harvest of 1921 only yielded 48% of what had been produced in 1913
HP Sally J Taylor about the Bolsheviks – “relied more and more upon repression and outright violence as
the main methods of securing meat and grain from the peasants.”
= much discontent among the peasants, opposition everywhere, famine!
- 5 million died, 16 million affected (not so good for popular support)
3. Bourgeoise = enemies to the state, tightened control
The Bourgeoise class were seen as enemies to the state and were targeted under the policies of War
Communism. Many had to rely on selling their valuables on the black market to buy food for survival.
- 42% of prostitutes in Moscow were from bourgeoisie families, young girls ‘had to sell
themselves for a loaf of bread’ (1921)
Pravada on Red Terror: “Workers! If you do not now destroy the bourgeoisie it will destroy you”
Food rationing system
- Only labour force and red army soldiers were given adequate food
- Essential civil servants and professionals (e.g. doctors) were given a small quantity of rations
o ‘bourgeois parasites’ (burzhui) were on the edge of starvation
Lenin War Communism was the “internal war to destroy bourgeois attitudes”
Private trade and manufacture forbidden
- Money become less important as was replaced with ration tokens = Russia turned to a bartering
economy
o Rationing helped create a system of semi-controlled barter, huge black market trade
during CW
- Peasants were divided categories: poorer peasants were seen as allies of the proletariat, ‘kulaks’
(rich from making a personal wealth through farming) seen as enemies of the people.
Message to Russians “He who does not work, shall not eat”
- Housing was controlled by committees
o Farm owners of large houses were forced to share their home with several families and
live in one room
HP Social historian Orlando Figes “War Communism was not just a response to the Civil War. It was a
means of fighting civil war, a set of policies to make class war against the peasantry and other social
'enemies'."
Historiography:
HP Centrist historian Sheila Fitzpatrick: “To cope with a desperate situation, they turned to more radical
policies…”
Conclusion: Overall, the policy of War Communism was a prime example of the Bolshevik’s
uncompromising economic policies. It served to weaken support for the regime and strengthen
opposition.
New Economic Policy
Contention: Lenin implemented the New Economic Policy in Russia to attempt to reconcile Russia’s
economy with growth and prosperity following the disaster of War Communism. However, the benefits
were limited and caused both economic and political divides.
HP McCauley: “If War Communism was a leap into socialism, then the NEP was a leap out of socialism”
Arguments:
1. Aim: to help the economy recover from War Communism (leniency by Lenin), some success!
Before the NEP was implemented, the Russian economy was in a very dire state, and the public were
beginning to lose faith in the Bolshevik leadership.
NEP: "We must try to satisfy the demands of the peasants who are dissatisfied, discontented and cannot
be otherwise" - Lenin
Pre-NEP:
- Industrial output at 20% of pre-war levels
- Food harvest at 48% of pre-war
- 25 million dead due to famine
Lenin justified the capitalist-leaning policies with the intention of providing “breathing space” for the
economy which was on the brink of collapse after seven years of war.
NEP successes:
- Russia’s agricultural output restored to pre-world WWI levels
- Russia produced 80 million tons of grain in 1913, 50 million tons in 1921
o 4 years of NEP it increased to 72.5 million tons
NEP Decree: reinstating a money economy (as opposed to grain requisitioning)
- Rationing ended and industries had to pay workers with wages
- Ended grain requisitioning in rural areas
o Peasants required to given certain proportion of produce as tax, but were permitted to
sell surplus
o Thousands of peasants returned to work the land
- Weather conditions improve with a period of more consistent rainfall (after catastrophic
droughts of 1920-21)
o 1922 and 1923 harvest were extremely successful
 Prices more than halved between august 1922 to Feb 1923 as food became
more available
o Grain production and livestock numbers approached pre-world War I levels (1925)
- State retained control over heavy military and strategic industries
o Private ownership of smaller businesses and private trade were permitted (capitalism!)
HP Lib Pipes “A betrayal of the revolution and Bolshevik ideology”
Contrasts with… HP Sov CPSU “A strategic retreat” “A temporary but necessary step backwards in order
to ensure the revolution survived”
2. Scissors crisis = NEP not working too well
While the NEP was successful in some regards, the Scissors Crisis of the mid-1920s was an economic
downfall of this policy.
- NEP stimulated a rapid recovery in agricultural production. However, industrial production
lagged and failed to match this growth
o = a shortage of manufactured goods
Agricultural gains
-
Weather conditions improve with a period of more consistent rainfall (after catastrophic
droughts of 1920-21)
o Grain production and livestock numbers approached pre-world War I levels (1925)
…vs industrial lag
- Russia was in short supply of capital, technical and managerial expertise, freight transport, and
infrastructure
- Urban workforce depleted due to 7 years of war
o Factories and manufacturing centres lacked skilled workers, utilised inefficient practices
which limited production and increased costs
- Raw materials (such as oil, coal, and steel) in inadequate supple due to ongoing disruptions in
Russia’s transport network and slow recovery in mining
o Cost of manufactured items had increased to almost three times their 1913 prices by
latte 1923
o However, food prices were around 90% of their 1913 levels
Effects of the scissors crisis
- Low food prices = farmers received smaller sums for their crops, high industrial prices meant
they could not afford manufactured goods
o Not enough money to buy advanced machinery/equipment/building materials
 Could not increase productivity
- Low crop prices = disincentive to production (no point working hard for small profits)
Attempts to fix the crisis
- Moscow tightened grip on under-performing industries:
o Ambitious production targets were set, staff numbers in labour-intensive sectors were
cut, production was made to be more cost-efficient, stores who sold their commodities
at inflated prices were forcibly shut
 250,000 closed in 1923-24
HP Hosking “party members were given economic reason to resent the NEP, to add to political ones”
Some successes:
- 1923 cereal production increased by 23% compared with 1920
- Factory output increased: 1920-1923 factory output increased by 200% (although from a low
starting point)
- 1926 industry reached production levels of 1913
3. NEP as a step towards capitalism = controversial, caused political divide
The NEP was controversial within the Bolshevik party as some saw it as a retreat from socialism and a
step towards capitalism. This created ideological tension between the ranks in the Communist party.
- Main criticism of NEP: the reintroduction of money and private trade = communism
• Produced class of profiteers known as ‘Nepmen’ (Rich peasants, retailers, traders, smallscale manufacturers who stood to gain from free trading.)
HP Figes: “The ‘Nepmen’ were a walking symbol of this new and ugly capitalism”
- NEP was seen by some as sacrificing the working-class interests to the peasantry as peasants
were being allowed to grow rich at the workers’ expense
o Workers’ Opposition dubbed the NEP the ‘New Exploitation of the Proletariat’
10th Party Congress (March 1921) Lenin introduced ‘One Party Unity’
- Essentially a ban on factionalism (Lenin said that “no factionalism of any sort” would be
tolerated). This aimed to stifle criticism of the NEP
o Non-compliance would mean immediate expulsion from the Party
-
An accompanying resolution condemned the ‘Workers’ Opposition’
o Lenin declared all socialist parties other than the Bolsheviks to be outlawed, following
through with policy of 1918 to suppress all opposition to Bolshevik rule
 Lenin – “Marxism teaches that only the Communist Party is capable of training
and organizing a vanguard of the proletariat and the whole mass of the working
people”
PQ Young Bolshevik Alexandre Barmine (1921) “ We felt as though the revolution had been betrayed
and it was time to quit the party”
HP Conquest “a hypocrisy of communism”
HP Rev Service “The NEP seemed to be a betrayal of the revolution”
Historiography:
HP Lib Pipes” A betrayal of the revolution and Bolshevik ideology”
HP Soviet CPSU “A strategic retreat” “A temporary but necessary step backwards to ensure the
revolution survived”
Terror and Coercion
Contention: The Bolsheviks used terror and coercion between 1917 and 1924 to eliminate opposition,
maintain Bolshevik ideology and force the general population into submission through instilling fear into
the people. However, while terror and coercion were important in strengthening the regime, as stated
by historian Sheila Fitzpatrick it would be “inadequate to explain (Bolshevik) victory simply in terms of
military strength and terror”.
Arguments:
1. Consolidated Soviet ideology, forced general population into submission/compliance
Terror and coercion played an important role in consolidating the Soviet state through the forcible
imposition of Bolshevik ideology on the population and coercing the people into compliance.
- Shut down the opposition press (socialists, centre and right), anything anti-Bolshevik
o Controlled what media the public were exposed to
- Started a propaganda campaign against political and ‘class’ enemies = fear and obedience
o Pitched the proletariat against the bourgeoise (bourgeoise can be arrested)
 Pro-Bolshevik newspaper PQ: “let there be a flow of bourgeoisie blood, as much
as possible”.
- “Universal literacy” and the Bolshevik decree on education
o Actions taken to widen the audience who is receptive to politics and propaganda
o Encouraged class warfare using propaganda
 “The illiterate person stands outside politics,” Lenin
 If peasants could read, they could access propaganda, develop class
consciousness, and support the revolution
- Violent threats = tightened grip on power. Publicity of actions against counterrevolutionaries =
deterred opposition and coerced population into control (threatening)
o September 5th Central Committee issued a decree calling on the Cheka "to secure the
Soviet Republic from the class enemies by isolating them in concentration camps"
HP Pipes liberal – “The machine gun became for them the principle instrument of political
persuasion…and they could use it with impunity”
- Public dealing with counterrevolutionaries = consolidated Soviet ideology publicly
o Order by Soviet commissar Girgori Petrovski that “reasons (for) executions must be
made public”
o Agricultural province of Tambov formed the Union of Toiling Peasants in 1920 (peasants
dissatisfied with Bolshevik policies calling for political equality, land reform and an end
to the civil war)
 Bolsheviks responded by publicly dismissing the legitimacy of the Tambov
uprising, calling them “kulaks” (bandits).
 Sent 100,000 Red troops to shoot all suspected rebels, use poison gas to flush
them out of hiding places, construct concentration camps and capture civilian
hostages.
 By mid-1921 the uprising had been suppressed.
HP: Lanis – there was “popular sympathy for the cause of the rebellion” but that “no one in Tambov
lamented the death of the ‘hero’ Alexander Antonov in 1922”.
- This contradiction portrays the fear that Bolshevik terror and coercion instilled into the
population through the publicity and brutality of their tactics, exemplifying the effectiveness of
this method in consolidating the Soviet state between 1917 and 1924.
2. Elimination of opposition, brutally quashing opponents
Bolshevik terror and coercion were vital to the consolidation of the Soviet state through their role in
eliminating opposition and brutally quashing any resistance to the regime.
Bolshevik leader Dzerzhinsky PQ: “we stand for organised terror, terror being absolutely indispensable
in the current revolutionary conditions”, highlighting the importance of fear in consolidating the Soviet
state.
CHEKA!
- Paramilitary unit CHEKA was employed to brutally deal with any opposition
o Bolshevik-ordered Red Terror campaign = intimidation, arrests, violence and executions
 Began mid-1918 following an assassination attempt on Lenin, carried out by
CHEKA
 Went from hundreds of investigators in 1918-1920 to more than 100,000 agents
in the peak of its being
- Red Terror campaign = to eliminate opposition, political dissent, and threats to Bolshevik power
o Estimated by an OGPU official that the Cheka “executed some twenty or thirty thousand
persons, perhaps fifty thousand”, however historians suggest that numbers greater than
200,000 are more realistic.
Pipes liberal – “…the ‘Red Terror’ was… designed to nip in the bud any thoughts of resistance to the
dictatorship” (harsh and brutal method to establish authoritarian control)
- Red Terror and CHEKA operated outside the rule of law
- First two years:
o Executed 900 people suspected of trading on the black market
o Additional 600 bureaucrats executed for "economic crimes" (taking bribes)
o Over 12,000 people killed by Chekists in 1918-20
o Historians suggest around 200,000 or more are realistic
- Free reign: Cheka agents were able to persecute, detain, torture and execute thousands of
suspected spies, tsarists, counterrevolutionaries, kulaks, black marketeers and other ‘enemies of
the state’.
o American journalist George Seldes wrote that this terror was “in the mind and marrow
of the present generation”, showing the role that fear played in achieving public
submission to Bolshevik rule.
Executions carried out for public effect to terrorise population into compliance
o Cheka agents appeared in the audience of a Moscow circus and shot a clown Bim Bom
who was making fun of the Bolsheviks
o Lenin ordered executions with the direction to “make sure that the hanging takes place
in full view of people”.
 = Coercive nature of the terror tactics
HP: Liberal historian Jamie Bisher describes “arbitrary arrests, mass shootings, torture and
imprisonment” as “an integral element of Bolshevik policy long before anti-Bolshevik armies gathered”,
supporting the liberal argument that violence and terror were simply an aspect of Bolshevik control and
not merely a defensive tool.
Contrast with Soviet view Dmitri Volognov – “force and coercion [was] required to combat their armed enemies” (necessary step
in fulfilling Bolshevik promises – positive view)
-
3. Not so important – needed popular support
While terror and coercion were important in strengthening the Bolshevik regime, the Soviet state would
not have been able to be consolidated without popular support.
- Lenin’s government implemented economic and social reforms favourable to the population to
secure the support of the people and to stay in power.
State Capitalism
Needed to rebuild the economy via capitalist-resembling methods before a socialist economic policy
could be employed. = State Capitalism.
- Lenin implemented policies of “state capitalism” that abolished bans on private trade, grain
requisitioning and allowed small businesses to reopen.
o Wealthy peasants were favoured by these reforms and a new class of “Nepmen” traders
emerged who took over 75% of all retail
NEP
- Following 1921 economic crisis, famine, strikes in Petrograd as a result of the failures of War
Communism, the Bolsheviks compromised and employed the NEP
o NEP = flexibility in the red’s rule, Lenin’s willingness to compromise ideology to maintain
power = responsiveness to below
 Some opposed this: left-wing Bukharin describes the Bolsheviks as “making
economic concessions to avoid political concessions”
- Necessity of NEP (as opposed to just terror and coercion): pre-NEP…
o Industrial output at 20% of pre-war levels
o Food harvest at 48% of pre-war levels
o 25 million dead due to famine
 Terror/coercion on its own could not have kept Bolsheviks in power
HP: Conquest critically describes Lenin’s policies as a “hypocrisy of communism”
- However, the famine came to an end and agricultural production exceeded pre-revolution
levels, achieving popular support and improved living conditions.
o The CPSU official history describes the NEP as “a temporary but necessary step
backwards in order to ensure the revolution survived”. This highlights the ability of the
regime to adjust to the needs of the people and secure popular support.
Social reforms and decrees to appease the masses
- Implemented various decrees:
o The Land Decree (peasants to take over estates of the gentry without compensation)
o The Worker’s Control Decree (giving direct management to the workers)
o The Rights of the People of Russia decree (the right of self-determination to national
minorities).
 These reforms gave the appearance of Bolshevik attempts of change, and even
if they didn’t translate to the betterment of lives, it was through this façade that
the Bolsheviks were able to maintain the support of the masses.
Liberal historian Robert Service remarks how “despite all the problems, the Soviet regime retained a
vision of political, economic and cultural betterment... Bolshevik leaders, unlike tsars, strove to identify
themselves with ordinary people…”.
- The element of exhaustion amongst the population from the political turmoil was another factor
highlighted by Service that encouraged the consolidation of the Soviet state through the desire
of the population to have a stable government.
HP: Revisionist Acton – ‘No Russian government had ever been more responsive to pressure from below
or less able to impose its will on society.”
Historiography:
Pipes liberal - No-one embraced this philosophy more enthusiastically than the Bolsheviks: “merciless”
violence, violence that strove for the destruction of every actual and potential opponent, was … the only
way of dealing with problems.”
The control able to be achieved through terror and coercion is seen in Lenin’s statement that “one man
with a gun can control one hundred without one” and was an important aspect in eliminating opposition
and deterring counterrevolutionaries. However, as revisionist historian Acton accurately notes it was
“not so much military strength as pragmatic decisions to maintain popular support” and lay the
foundations for the consolidation of the Soviet state.
Foreign Relations
Contention: Russia’s foreign relations between 1918-1924 were characterised by Bolshevik ideology, the
need to end Russian involvement in WWI, and foreign intervention in the Civil War.
Arguments:
1. Ending the WWI, Russia-Germany relations
Soviet foreign policy between 1917-1924 was largely shaped by economic conditions.
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 3rd 1918)
In spite of its harsh terms, the treaty was signed in recognition of Russia’s serious financial predicament
and that it was in Russia’s economic interests to establish trade
- Peace decree signed five months after the Soviet decree on peace which required new
government to “Start immediate negotiations for peace” with Germany while conceding no
payment of reparations or indemnities or loss of Russian land or people
- Negotiations (Mid December 1917) undertaken in Brest-Litovsk (polish town)
o Agreed to an indefinite ceasefire with formal peace talks beginning five days later
o Discussed relations in an informal atmosphere – German delegates dined and socialised
with the Bolshevik group
 Russians were relaxed and leaked information about the state of their
government, military and nation
o Trotsky arrived and demanded all negotiations must be done across the table however
in Jan Trotsky refused to sign the German demands and returned to Russia
 One general commented that Trotsky ‘negotiated’ as though the Russians were
winning the war rather than losing it.
- Late Feb, German offensive forced Bolsheviks back into negotiations and German delates issued
Russians with ultimatum and five days to negotiate and sign the treaty
HP EH Carr: “Trotsky was the hero of the revolution; he fell when the heroic age was over”
Outcomes
o
o
Poland, Finland, the Baltic states and most of Ukraine was surrendered to Germany.
Russia lost 1.3 million square miles of important territory, including important graingrowing regions in Ukraine.
o Surrendered around 62 million people to German rule, around one-third of its total
population.
o Lost 28 per cent of its heavy industries and three-quarters of its iron and coal reserves.
HP Crampton “Treaty gave the Germans and Austrians domination over the vast-producing areas”
Treaty of Rapallo (1922)
- Between Germany and Soviet Union to restore diplomatic communication (renouncing earlier
treaty claims), cooperate secretly in military matters, cancel all claims for debts
- Major victory for Russia and Germany, disappointment to France and Soviet Union (friendly
relations between Germany and Russia)
o Was agreed that Germany would promote industrialisation in the Soviet Union
2. Ideology-driven relations – International Socialism
Aim: to spread Communism in Europe
- Most important foreign policy aim was to promote a worldwide revolution
o Lenin maintained that if a Communist state could be established in Russia (economically
backward), it could work in more advanced Capitalist countries
- This was of critical importance as it determined the survival of the regime
PQ: Trotsky, that ‘either the Russian Revolution will create a revolutionary movement in Europe, or the
European powers will destroy the Russian Revolution’.
Communist International/Comintern (March 1919)
In order to organise Communist revolutions internationally, Lenin founded the Comintern in Moscow,
1919
- A communist of international deletes with the role of monitoring the process of the
international revolution and giving support, supplies and training to socialist parties and
revolutionary groups abroad
- First Comintern convened in March 1919 in Moscow
- Included delegates from left-wing parties around the world including France, Britain, the USA,
Germany, the Baltic states, Japan, Australia
However, the Comintern experienced little tangible success:
In Europe, there was two newly founded soviet regimes: the Hungarian Soviet (collapsed after 2
months) and the Bavarian Soviet (toppled by right-wing reactionaries after a month)
- However, there was little inclination for socialism in post 1919 Europe
Ultimately the failure of European socialism meant Bolshevik Russia was isolated with little support
outside its borders
Russo-Polish War
- Red army troops came close to capturing Warsaw in August 1920
o According to Lenin, Poland represented the ‘red bridge’ the Bolsheviks had to cross to
spread the Communist Revolution into Western Europe
- Red army’s defeat by Polish troops marked a change in foreign policy
o Although the Comintern continued to operate behind the scenes and became
dominated by Soviet Russia, the plan of exporting the revolution took a back seat in
favour of coexistence with Capitalist Western governments
 = peace with Poland, NEP = compromises
HP Sov CPSU “A strategic retreat” “A temporary but necessary step backwards in order to ensure the
revolution survived”
3. Civil War – foreign intervention
Foreign powers intervened in the Russia civil war to try to force the collapse of Bolshevism. Foreign
intervention was launched by Allied nations at the end of World War I
- The signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 3rd, 1918) made the Bolsheviks be seen as
traitors to the war in addition to a political threat to democratic capitalist nations
o Most foreign power refused to recognise the legitimacy of the Bolshevik regime instead
they dealt with White generals in exile
Civil war –
Reds – with the upper hand
- The Bolshevik forces were weary of the whites, and created a more professional and
conventional army
o Compulsory military service was introduced and by 1918 to 1920, over 5 million men
were serving in the Red Army.
-
Rigid discipline and control were the hallmark of the army: officers found guilty of cowardice or
treachery were executed, men who showed initative and courage were promoted rapidly
Whites – weaknesses
The White Army suffered from divided leadership, lack of support and failed foreign intervention.
- Whites had several leaders who each were determined to take control of Russia themselves
o While they were trying to defeat the Reds, they were in competition with each other
- No single political program = disunity
Lack of support from Russians
- Whites did not take advantage of the Bolshevik’s inability to win over the rural community
o Treated peasants with contempt, helped landowners recover estates
 = peasants saw Bolsheviks as able to help them retain land, didn’t support
Whites
White Terror
- Resistance to troops led to villages and farms burnt down, bridges and water stations destroyed,
hostages taken and shot
o More than 25,000 people shot or tortured by Kolchak’s forces
o Ruthless towards Jews – 100,000 to 150,000 Jews in Ukraine and Southern Russia were
killed
Therefore… foreign intervention to fight an ideological battle against communism
White Support
- British landed in Murmansk (March 1918)
- Italian, French, and American troops joined Japanese in far east (second half 1918)
- British and French troops entered the Caucasus and Black Sea area (second half of 1918)
- German armies on the western border of Ukraine
- Japanese troops occupied Vladivostok in the east (April 1918)
Foreign units rarely directly engaged with the Bolsheviks but were more interested in protecting
resources previously lent to Russia
- After WWI, no nation wanted to commit large troop numbers to a major conflict and as a result,
foreign troops began to withdraw from Russia in 1919
- 2nd July 1918 the supreme Allied War Council decided to intervene in Russia – French and British
forces landed and created an eastern front to against the Bolshevik forces
• Whilst the army consists of mainly anti-Bolshevik Russian forces it was also supported by
allied interventionist nations such as the British Empire, United States, Japan, China,
France, Poland, Greece, Italy, Romania, and Czechoslovakia.
- 250,000 troops from more than 14 different states took part in the fighting
Therefore, foreign intervention did very little to force the collapse of Bolshevik and hence contributed to
the Bolshevik success in consolidating their Soviet regime