History 127C – Modern Russia Week 3 Lecture 504-17-12Civil War & The New GovernmentReviewParty Strength in 1917- Juneo Workers, peasants, sailors and soldiers are voting  First Congress of Sovietso Bolsheviks – 16%o Mensheviks – 39%o SR – 45% Agrarian, socialists; the peasant socialists- Augusto Everyone in the city voteso Kadet – 22% Middle class, liberals o Bolsheviks – 35%o SR – 39%o Mensheviks – 4%- Octobero Soviet election [workers, peasants, sailors and soldiers are voting)o Mensheviks – 12%o Other – 16%o SR – 28%o Bolsheviks – 44%- Novembero National election to the Constituent Assembly Everyone in the country regardless gets to voteo Other Socialists – 5%o Conservatives – 7%o Bolsheviks – 25%o SR – 58% Peasants recognize them as a peasant partyConstituent Assembly November 1917- Add all the socialists together [Mensheviks, Bolsheviks, other socialists, peasants] = 87% of the vote- The liberals and conservatives have collapsed in the deteriorating conditions of 1917o They have little to offer- Non-socialists parties received 13% of the votes- Bolsheviks are in control of Russiao Rags to riches story In the beginning of the year, they were outlawed, illegal, in jail, exiled and/or hiding. No more than 20,000 Bolsheviks  Managed to take power in every major cityWhy the Bolsheviks won in 1917- Crisis of the waro The war strained and finally broke the Russian economy, society, and credibilityo The political parties couldn’t cope militarily or economically with the crisis of the war - Weakness of moderates and other socialistso They had nothing to offer in this crisis - Provisional Government footdraggingo Not ratifying workers demandso Not ratifying peasant land seizureso Not getting out of the war- “Bread Pace Land” a popular slogano Bread for the workerso Land for the peasantso Peace for the soldiers- Bolsheviks put themselves at the head of a social revolution that was already under wayo Clever in seeing what was going ono Not in command Not why the Bolsheviks won- Because they were tightly disciplinedo Fractured in April, July, September, October- Because of Lenin’s iron leadershipo Lenin - Field Marshall of his party; yet, he wasn’t in command of the partyo Lenin marginalized in April, September, October- Because they conspired in secreto Their plans no secret from anybodyReds and Whites: the Civil War- All the non-Bolsheviks revolted- Reds and White terroro Red = Bolshevikso White = everybody else, included foreign detachmentso Real test for Bolshevik popularity; did they have enough support?o Killing, torturing prisonerso Sometimes entire villages were shot as a lesson for otherso No rules for war- Foreign interventiono Sixteen countries, including US, intervenedo No western, no capitalist state wanted to see Bolsheviks to survive If this “virus” spread, it could spread and undermine capitalismeverywhere- Devastationo Towns lost 1/3 of populationo People fled to the countryside for foodo Agriculture collapsedo Industry shatteredo Cholera, typhus, famine o No real census in Russia so we don’t know how many people died in the civil war- Tsar and Family Shot 16 July 1918o Bolsheviks execute the Tsar and his familyo Some Bolsheviks, the left wing, wanted to kill themo Some Bolsheviks, around Trotsky, wanted to put them on trial so theircrimes against humanity could be publicly enumerated and then kill them Trotsky as the prosecutor o Another group of Bolsheviks wanted to let them go Most thought that was a bad idea since the Tsar could organize opposition from abroad o Moscow: “Do what you think is best”o No one, even Lenin, wanted to go on record ordering the death of the Tsar Under no circumstance, liberate the TsarWhy the Reds won- Peasants and the lando 80-85% of the country were peasantso Peasants generally had an apolitical view on thingso Understood that the Red army confirmed their hold on their land, and that the Whites did noto Were more likely to feed the Red army- Internal lineso Geographical military reasono Controlled the center of Russia in Moscowo White army also attacked from the peripheryo Bolsheviks can easily rush forces/supplies from one side to the other- White disunityo Geographic disadvantageo Three general Russian White armieso Different platforms, different ideas and huge egoso Can never coordinate two attacks at once- National minorities – not all Slavic Russians- Patriotism o Xenophobia Civil War legacies: Bolsheviks- Notions that politics and massacre are the same things is embedded in the civil war- Notions that the way to solve political problems is via violenceo No compromise- No such things as loyal oppositiono Only opposition, they are the enemy so we kill each other- CHEKAo “Siege mentality”, legacy of violence as policy Mentality is that anything that we have to do to stay alive is okayo Grew out of the legacy of violenceo Mandate was to hunt infiltrators, saboteurs, spies, etco Initial mandate was very broad Could arrest, imprison, try, execute without any lawyers, trial, etc Extraordinary powers during the war, during the emergencyo Institutional legacy o Today they are the FSB- Party disciplineo “ban on fractions”o Make sure that our political leadership is unitedo Temporarily during the war-time emergency, there could be no other political party- Ban on parties- Suspend freedom of press, assemblyo Can’t afford dissent- Centralizationo Workers’ control to one-man management o The units would elect their own officerso In the factories, workers would form committees to decide what to produce, when to produce, etco In a war effort, you need discipline, coordination, not election, no democracy Bolsheviks back away from their democratic stance of 1917 and become centralizers in the economy and the armyPolicy Changes- “war communism” 1918-20o Temporary expedient or a Permananet early attempt to go straight to communismo Abolished moneyo Nationalized everything in the industry, commerce, etco Ran everything through state control and state planningo A lot of Bolsheviks liked this, but it very unpopular with peasants because of nationalization of agriculture; superstate o War time emergency o Grain seizures peasant revolts (1920) in various provinces  wanted to sell their harvest in the free market- Wartime dictatorshipo Kronstadt revolt (1921)o