The Red Terror And The Russian Civil War

Lenin's control of Russia led to the creation of the secret police, or Cheka. The officers were known as chekists, and instilled terror in citizens. They were used to quell any sort of opposition to Lenin's rule.

Bourtzeff’s justifies his opposition to the government’s policies and supporting the war by expressing the need for peace and unity in Russia. He states that the political parties of Russia are unified due to the Great war. Many socialists hoped that this war would bring reform to the country because they thought the government would have to make reforms. Likewise, Bourtzeff talks about how the government has not done much for the people until this war. Since the people of Russia were displeased by their current government they saw this war as an opportunity for peace and no more war.

This essay shall address the issue of how the far the brutality of Bolshevik Regime ensured the maintaining of it’s power between the years of 1917-24. This essay shall explore topics concerning the ‘Dictatorship Of The Proletariat’, The Cheka, War Communism, The Red Terror and other potential reasons for the Bolsheviks remaining in power. This essay shall also explore the various views put forth by various Historians such as Robert Conquest and Richard Pipes.

Trotsky’s leadership during the civil war was essential for the victory of the reds. His organisational skills and strong will transformed the red army into an effective fighting force. However a combination of factors also attributed to the Reds seizure of power , this includes; their geographical strength and control of industry and the weaknesses of their opponents.

After WWII the democratic U.S. and the soviets became engaged in a series of largely political and economic clashes we called the cold war. The rivalry between the two powers raised concerns in US that communist are inside the U.S. Which poses a U.S. Security threat and gets Americans scared. I believe that the red scare created McCarthyism and not the other way around because the red scare came right after wwII hysteria still left over from Hitler, the red scare is what led to actions that had an enduring effect on the us government and society, and because the us thinks soviet spies could be a threat to the US and cause Americans to start mistrusting and causing McCarthy to rise up with his accusations.

As well as pragmatic reforms, the Bolsheviks also used terror in order to consolidate their power from 1917-1924. In December 1917, the Bolsheviks created a new secret police institution (the Cheka) to provide security, encourage class warfare and bring the army under tighter control. An attempt on Lenin’s life in August 1918 saw the Cheka take harsh reprisals against all suspected enemies in what became known as the ‘Red Terror’. The middle class, former nobility and the clergy were key targets. During the Civil War, the Kadet party was outlawed and its leaders arrested. Russia had become a one-party state. The Cheka also killed the Tsar and his family to prevent them being used as a symbolic rallying point for counter-revolution. Despite compromising Communist ideology, these ruthless measures were successful in suppressing internal opposition and thus consolidating Bolshevik power.

Due to Russia’s sheer amount of citizens in the country, it resulted in a overcrowded society, poor housing along with poor living and working conditions (created by economic problems in Russia) led to social tension in cities. In terms of land and agriculture, the Russians had methods that were inefficient and backwards- as they still used wooden ploughs and very few animals and tools. With not enough land to go around (due to the controlling of private property), vast expansion of peasant population in the later half of the 19th century led to overcrowding and competition for land. The diverse people of Russia desperately needed a social reform. With peace established with Germany, the of lack of a compete control over the country then led to the civil war immediately after the Bolsheviks assumed power. The Reds (communists) and the Whites (anti-communists, Capitalists, western forces) fought a series of battles that resulted in countless deaths. The White forces received support from the Western Allies during the internal war. The United States, England and Canada had contingents of men inside of Russia initially to guard supplies they had sent during the war, but they were in a position to fight if their governments thought necessary. The Red Army was able to defeat the much larger White armies over the course of the three-year

The Red Scare was a nationwide scare from communism. The Cold War between America and the Soviet Union soon was referred to as the Red Scare. The Red Scare affected many people who were ruled by fear in the United States. Many compare this time to the witch trials in Salem, many were accused and even went to court of the accusations that were made on minimum evidence.

The Russian’s loss in the Russo-Japanese war was the another way that they got the public to turn against the provisional government and strengthen the communist revolt. The revolt got stronger and stronger until the Bolsheviks finally revolted and took down the Russian Provisional Government. Because of this, civil war erupted all over the country. At the end of this war, in 1920, the Bolsheviks set up the USSR, or Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, under control of Vladimir Lenin. When Lenin died, Stalin aggressively worked his way up until he was the leader of the USSR. In his control, Stalin set up a “5 year plan” to advance the Russian economy from just farming to also having industry. In this plan, he would also advance the military and “cleanse the country of villains” or those he saw as villains. To “cleanse the country”, Stalin would have unfair trials that would have many on trial at once. These were called his “Show Trials”. The majority, if not all, of these people were found guilty and sent for execution. They were executed all at once, and the executions were called the Purges. To advance the Russian economy, Stalin would work the farmers to death… literally. When the farmers revolted, Stalin stopped sending them food and even more died from starvation. On the last of the purges, 16 men were put on trial and accused of acts of terrorism towards Stalin and the Soviet government. Two of them were Stalin’s allies after Lenin’s death, Zinovyev and

Historians argue that the 1917 Russian Revolution represents a major turning point in world history. Two specific pieces of evidence that support this argument is that the Revolution led to the spread of communism with the formation of the USSR and the emergence of Russia as a world power. Both of the pieces support the argument. The Revolution led to the formation of the USSR, otherwise known as the world’s first nation to base its government on the teachings and writings of Karl Marx. This event would not only be groundbreaking for Russia, but the entire globe. The formation of a communist nation meant a new battle was about to start -- the battle between communism and capitalism. The formation of the USSR would directly lead to the Cold

The red terror started, as a result form an assassination attempt on Lenin from Fanni Kaplin in August 1918. From Lenin’s hospital bed he told the Cheka ‘prepare for terror’. There was no government that could argue against the work of the Cheka, they arrested and executed 800 people in St. Petersburg in 1918, the Cheka explained that they were ‘enemies of the state’ ‘enemies of the revolution’. The red terror lasted from September 1918 to October 1918. Lenin supported the Cheka and argued on their behalf. They were also supported by Gregory Zinoviev. War communism is were the Bolsheviks took control over the factories, mines, workshops and railways.The Bolsheviks took over the banks, private trade was not allowed, workers were forced to work in factories. The red army needed supplies to fight against the White army. The Bolsheviks were communists and they wanted to take control of industry and food production in Russia.

The Russian Revolution is a widely studied and seemingly well understood time in modern, European history, boasting a vast wealth of texts and information from those of the likes of Robert Service, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Allan Bullock, Robert Conquest and Jonathan Reed, to name a few, but none is so widely sourced and so heavily relied upon than that of the account of Leon Trotsky, his book “History of the Russian Revolution” a somewhat firsthand account of the events leading up to the formation of the Soviet Union. There is no doubt that Trotsky’s book, among others, has played a pivotal role in shaping our understanding of the events of The Revolution; but have his personal predilections altered how he portrayed such paramount

The introduction of War Communism during the Russian Civil War, is evidence of Russian moving towards a Totalitarian State. Many aspects of War communism were totalitarian in nature. For instance the creation of a Supreme Economic Council, formed to take complete control over the Russian highlights the central control over the most vital aspect of the state, that the Bolsheviks enforced. Other measures include the requisitioning of excess grain from the Peasants. Many of these policies were met with opposition, particularly among the agricultural peasants. This opposition was in turn met with brutal force, which was another example of the nature of complete state authority. War communism continued on until the end of the Civil war, by which time the Bolshevik forces had succeeded in crushing all opposition. The success of the red forces meant that Russia was a step closer in becoming a Totalitarian state, as they were now the most powerful party in Russia, with complete control over all its territory.

Even after the Red Army’s victory in the Civil War, the policy of War Communism was maintained. As a short-term measure the policy produced the results Lenin wanted but severity increased Bolshevik unpopularity resulting in a number of minor outbreaks of resistance during the 1920s. But the Kronstadt Rising of 1921 proved to be highly disturbing to Lenin as he described it as the ‘lightening flash that illuminated the true reality of things’.

Ten years in exile had not swayed Lenin?s determination to create and direct a powerful revolution. Lenin returned to Russia from exclusion in February 1917, believing that the time was ripe to seize power. The Russian economy was in ruin after the army was nearly defeated and the people exhausted as a result of the First World War. The country was in an unstable state, suitable for a revolution (Levinthal 119). Around October 20, Lenin, in disguise and at considerable personal risk, slipped into Petrograd and attended a secret meeting of the Bolshevik Central Committee held on the evening of October 23. Not until after a heated 10-hour debate did he finally win a majority in favour of preparing an armed takeover. Now steps to enlist the support of soldiers and sailors and to train the Red Guards, the Bolshevik-led workers' militia, for an armed takeover proceeded openly under the guise of self-defense of the Petrograd Soviet. Even at great personal risk, Lenin was adamant in spurring a successful revolution.