Lenin 1917-1924
The Nature of Government
1. Type of rule
- Dictatorship , Bolshevik communist
2. Structure
Local government
- Lenin could not afford for protests, so he gave the workers and peasants want they
wanted, power was thrown out to local soviets to manage their own affairs
Centralisation:
- The local communist party organisations took control of soviets across Russia, soviets
followed
- 1919 onwards, the central committee of party began to appoint its own trusted
nominees to key positions in soviets, to increase the centre’s control over local
government
Central government
- Lenin gained control through forming a new body, the Council of the People’s
commissars, Sovnarkom
- Made up of Bolsheviks, clear that Lenin had no intention of sharing power with the
Mensheviks, SRs or other socialist parties
- The power was strictly limited
- They ruled by decree:
- Oct 1917 Land decree- gave the peasants the right to take over the estates of the
gentry without compensation. Land could no longer be bought or sold or rented, it
belong to the ‘entire people’. This is not what the Bolsheviks wanted
- Workers’ control decree- factory committees were given the right to control
production and finance in workplace, and ‘supervise’ management, this did not give
direct management to the workers, but some took it to mean that
- Nov 1917 Rights of the people of Russia Decree- this gave the right of self-
determination to the national minorities in the former Russian empire
- Passing of decrees by the Sovnarkom without seeking approval of the Soviet, soviet
executive began to meet less frequently whereas the Sovnarkom met once or twice a
day
- Increasingly dominated by the communist party
,Centralisation of power:
Politburo
- 1919, the Politburo was created, forming an inner ruling group of around 7 people in
communist party
- Soon they took over the Sovnarkom as the key decision-making body and Sovnarkom
regarded as less important
- 1921 Centralisation, ban on factions, 10th party congress. Once party policy had been
agreed by the central committee, everyone was expected to accept it and not form
‘factions’ to challenge the party , penalty was expulsion from party
The nomenklatura system
- 1923, a list of 5500 designated party was drawn up, these were loyal people that could
be appointed by central party bodies
- Members less likely to debate issues or challenge the leadership, carry out instructions
- Tightened one party state internally, they became an elite
- The Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic (RSFSR) Jan 1918 declared
- During civil war, areas conquered by the Red Army were taken into RSFSR, regarded
as Russia
- Larger areas such as Ukraine, Belorussia or Georgia made into a separate republic
- Stalin wanted republics to be controlled by Moscow whilst Lenin wanted a system of
soviet republic, won and Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics - USSR was formed
in end of 1922
3. Repression
- Red terror
- Cheka
4. Opposition
- Creation of Sovnarkom: civil servants mounted protest strikes and State Bank refused
to hand over any money, took ten days and armed force to make the bank staff open
the vaults so government could get hands on roubles
, - Enormous pressure to Bolsheviks to form democratic government -> made alliance
with the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, brought them to Sovnarkom, he could claim to
represent a large section of peasantry
- sailors
- civil war
The Nature of Government
1. Type of rule
- Dictatorship , Bolshevik communist
2. Structure
Local government
- Lenin could not afford for protests, so he gave the workers and peasants want they
wanted, power was thrown out to local soviets to manage their own affairs
Centralisation:
- The local communist party organisations took control of soviets across Russia, soviets
followed
- 1919 onwards, the central committee of party began to appoint its own trusted
nominees to key positions in soviets, to increase the centre’s control over local
government
Central government
- Lenin gained control through forming a new body, the Council of the People’s
commissars, Sovnarkom
- Made up of Bolsheviks, clear that Lenin had no intention of sharing power with the
Mensheviks, SRs or other socialist parties
- The power was strictly limited
- They ruled by decree:
- Oct 1917 Land decree- gave the peasants the right to take over the estates of the
gentry without compensation. Land could no longer be bought or sold or rented, it
belong to the ‘entire people’. This is not what the Bolsheviks wanted
- Workers’ control decree- factory committees were given the right to control
production and finance in workplace, and ‘supervise’ management, this did not give
direct management to the workers, but some took it to mean that
- Nov 1917 Rights of the people of Russia Decree- this gave the right of self-
determination to the national minorities in the former Russian empire
- Passing of decrees by the Sovnarkom without seeking approval of the Soviet, soviet
executive began to meet less frequently whereas the Sovnarkom met once or twice a
day
- Increasingly dominated by the communist party
,Centralisation of power:
Politburo
- 1919, the Politburo was created, forming an inner ruling group of around 7 people in
communist party
- Soon they took over the Sovnarkom as the key decision-making body and Sovnarkom
regarded as less important
- 1921 Centralisation, ban on factions, 10th party congress. Once party policy had been
agreed by the central committee, everyone was expected to accept it and not form
‘factions’ to challenge the party , penalty was expulsion from party
The nomenklatura system
- 1923, a list of 5500 designated party was drawn up, these were loyal people that could
be appointed by central party bodies
- Members less likely to debate issues or challenge the leadership, carry out instructions
- Tightened one party state internally, they became an elite
- The Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic (RSFSR) Jan 1918 declared
- During civil war, areas conquered by the Red Army were taken into RSFSR, regarded
as Russia
- Larger areas such as Ukraine, Belorussia or Georgia made into a separate republic
- Stalin wanted republics to be controlled by Moscow whilst Lenin wanted a system of
soviet republic, won and Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics - USSR was formed
in end of 1922
3. Repression
- Red terror
- Cheka
4. Opposition
- Creation of Sovnarkom: civil servants mounted protest strikes and State Bank refused
to hand over any money, took ten days and armed force to make the bank staff open
the vaults so government could get hands on roubles
, - Enormous pressure to Bolsheviks to form democratic government -> made alliance
with the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, brought them to Sovnarkom, he could claim to
represent a large section of peasantry
- sailors
- civil war
