Causes of Bolshevik Success Using Voilence
How far do you agree that the Bolsheviks consolidated their hold on power in the years after the October/November revolution mainly through the use of violence against their opponents?
The Bolsheviks consolidated their power after October 1917 however they faced many severe problems which made keeping their power complex. For Lenin and the Bolsheviks winning political power was relatively easy compared with retaining it. The Bolsheviks may have had a temporary majority in the All-Russia soviet in October 1917, but they did not have a majority following in the country as a whole . Russia was in chaos, politically and economically, and normal government had broken down in large areas. . yet lenin was able to overcome these problems and hold ontopower to create the world first communist state. The Bolsheviks overcame these problems by use of violence in the form of repression, and violence in war communism and the red army during the civil war however violence against their opponents was not their only strategy, Lenin also put forward policies of reform which showed that they were willing to compromise their principles to keep hold of power when faced with early problems and after the outbreak of the civil war the disunity of the opposition and the geographical and organisational factors were key factors which helped the Bolsheviks consolidate their grip on power.
The enormous problems Lenin faced included the fact that Russia was still at war with Germany and Austria-Hungary and occupying forces controlled most of western Russia. At any minute they could march on the city which was virtually defenceless. The peasants had seized lands across the country, industrial production had slumped, unemployment was rising and so was inflation. Furthermore, although they were strong in cities such as Petrograd and Moscow, the Bolsheviks did not have mass support across the country. Lenin felt too vulnerable at the end of October 1917 to cancel the elections to the
The Bolsheviks consolidated their power after October 1917 however they faced many severe problems which made keeping their power complex. For Lenin and the Bolsheviks winning political power was relatively easy compared with retaining it. The Bolsheviks may have had a temporary majority in the All-Russia soviet in October 1917, but they did not have a majority following in the country as a whole . Russia was in chaos, politically and economically, and normal government had broken down in large areas. . yet lenin was able to overcome these problems and hold ontopower to create the world first communist state. The Bolsheviks overcame these problems by use of violence in the form of repression, and violence in war communism and the red army during the civil war however violence against their opponents was not their only strategy, Lenin also put forward policies of reform which showed that they were willing to compromise their principles to keep hold of power when faced with early problems and after the outbreak of the civil war the disunity of the opposition and the geographical and organisational factors were key factors which helped the Bolsheviks consolidate their grip on power.
The enormous problems Lenin faced included the fact that Russia was still at war with Germany and Austria-Hungary and occupying forces controlled most of western Russia. At any minute they could march on the city which was virtually defenceless. The peasants had seized lands across the country, industrial production had slumped, unemployment was rising and so was inflation. Furthermore, although they were strong in cities such as Petrograd and Moscow, the Bolsheviks did not have mass support across the country. Lenin felt too vulnerable at the end of October 1917 to cancel the elections to the