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The Russian Revolution
1.0 Introduction
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the new nation - the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917 (as per Russian Julian calendar; March in the Gregorian calendar). In the second revolution, during October 1917, the Provisional Government was removed and replaced by a Bolshevik (Communist) government.
The February Revolution (March 1917) was a revolution focused around Petrograd (now St. Petersburg). In the chaos, members of the Imperial parliament or Duma assumed control of the country, forming the Russian Provisional Government. The army leadership felt helpless in suppressing the revolution and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, the last Tsar of Russia, abdicated. The Soviets (workers' councils), which were led by more radical socialist factions, initially allowed the Provisional Government to rule, but watned the right to influence the government and control various armed forces. The February Revolution was made possible due to heavy military failures of Russian Army during the First World War (1914-1918), which left the army in a state of disarray.
Thus, two powers reigned simultaneously for a while, in which the Provisional Government held ‘state power’ while the national network of Soviets, led by socialists, had the loyalty of the lower-class citizens and the political leftists. During this period there were frequent strikes. When the Provisional Government chose to continue fighting the war with Germany, the Bolsheviks retaliated. They campaigned for the abandonment of the war effort. The Bolsheviks formed workers militias under their control into the Red Guards (later the Red Army) over which they exerted substantial control.
In the October Revolution (November in the Gregorian calendar), the Bolshevik party, led by Vladimir Lenin, and the workers' Soviets, overthrew the Provisional Government in St Petersburg. The Bolsheviks appointed themselves as leaders of various government ministries and seized control of the countryside, establishing the Cheka (secret political police force) to quash dissent. To end the war, the Bolshevik leadership signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany in March 1918.
Finally, a Russian civil war began between the "Red" (Bolshevik), and "White" (anti-Bolshevik) groups, which continued for many years, with the Bolsheviks ultimately winning it. In this way the Revolution paved the way for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). While many notable historical events occurred in Moscow and St. Petersburg, there was also a broad-based movement in cities throughout the state, among national minorities throughout the empire, and in the rural areas, where peasants took over and redistributed land. Thus, it was a widespread upheaval which destroyed the old order completely.
2.0 Causes of the Russian Revolution
Revolutions never happen overnight. They simmer for decades, even centuries. Russia in the late nineteenth / early twentieth century was a massive empire, stretching from Poland to the Pacific, and home in 1914 to 165 million (16.5 crore) people of many languages, religions and cultures. Ruling such a massive state was difficult, and the problems within Russia produced a revolution in 1917 which swept the old system away. Several key fault lines can be identified as long term causes, while the short term trigger was clearly the World War I.
2.1 Peasant poverty
In 1916, a full three quarters of the Russian population were peasants who lived and farmed in small villages. In theory their life had improved in 1861, before which they were serfs - members of the lowest feudal class who were owned and could be traded by their landowners. 1861 saw the serfs freed and issued with small amounts of land, but in return they had to pay back a sum to the government, and the result was a mass of small farms deeply in debt. The state of agriculture in central Russia was poor, using techniques deeply out of date and with little hope of improving thanks to widespread illiteracy and no capital to invest.
Families lived just above the subsistence level, and around 50% had a member who had left the village to find other work, often in the towns. As the central Russian population boomed, land became scarce. Their life was in sharp contrast to the rich landowners, who held 20% of the land in large estates and were often members of the Russian upper class. The western and southern reaches of the massive Russian Empire were slightly different, with a larger number of better off peasants and large commercial farms. The net result was that by 1917, a central mass of disaffected peasants arose, angry at increased attempts to control them, and at people who profited from the land without directly working it. The common peasant mindset was firmly against developments outside the village, and it desired autonomy.
2.2 A growing and politicised urban workforce
The industrial revolution came to Russia largely in the 1890s, with ironworks, factories and the associated elements of industrial society. While the development was neither as advanced nor as swift as in a smaller country like Britain, Russia's cities began to expand and large numbers of peasants moved to the cities to take up new jobs. By the turn of the nineteenth to twentieth centuries, millions were in these tightly packed and expanding urban areas, experiencing problems like poor and cramped housing, bad wages, and a lack of rights in their jobs. The government was afraid of the developing urban class, but more afraid of driving foreign investment away by supporting better wages, and there was a consequent lack of reforming legislation. The urban workforce often remained closely linked to the peasants, being a travelling worker or retaining land in the village.
These workers swiftly began to grow politicised and became angry against government restrictions on their protests, forming a fertile ground for the socialist revolutionaries who moved between cities and exile in Siberia. In order to try and counter the spread of the anti-Tsarist (anti-Royal) ideology, the government formed legal, but powerless, trade unions to take the place of the banned but powerful equivalents. In 1905 and 1917, heavily politicised socialist workers played a major role, although there were many different factions and beliefs under the umbrella of 'socialism'.
2.3 Tsarist Autocracy and a lack of representation
Russia was ruled by an emperor called the Tsar, and for three centuries this position had been held by the Romanov family. They ruled alone, with no true representative bodies: even the Duma, an elected body created in 1905, could be completely ignored by the Tsar when he wished to, and he did. Freedom of expression was limited, with censorship of books and newspapers, while a secret police operated to crush dissent, frequently either executing people or sending them to exile in Siberia. The result was an autocratic regime under which republicans, democrats, revolutionaries, socialists and others increasingly were desperate for reform. Some wanted violent change, others peaceful, but as opposition to the Tsar was banned, opponents were increasingly driven to extreme measures.
The Tsar Nicholas II has sometimes been accused of lacking the will to govern. Historians like Figes have concluded that this wasn't the case; the problem was that Nicholas was determined to govern while lacking any idea or ability to run an autocracy properly. That Nicholas' answer to the crises facing the Russian regime - and the answer of his father - was to look back to the seventeenth century and try to resurrect an almost late-medieval system, instead of reforming and modernising Russia, was a major problem and source of discontent which directly led to the revolution. We find similar strands of imperial thought in other major revolutionary periods too, most notably the French revolution of 1787.
There was a strong reforming - essentially westernizing - movement in Russia during the mid-nineteenth century under Alexander II, with elites split between reform and entrenchment. A constitution was being written when Alexander II was assassinated in 1881. His son, and his son in turn (Nicholas II), reacted against the reform, not only halting it but starting a counter reform of centralized, autocratic government.
2.4 Ineffective government
The late Tsarist government wasn't just autocratic, it simply wasn't very good. There was a mass of competing bodies out of whose confusion law, judgement and government decisions appeared entirely arbitrary, random, or reliant on patronage. Indeed, historians like Figes have concluded that Russia was under-governed, that the mass of peasant villages had little contact with the upper reaches of imperial government, as there was little in the way of local government. Government had to go through landed nobility, largely in the zemstovs, but after peasant emancipation these landholders declined and then turned on the government, demanding reform. In this way the bedrock of the old tsarist regime turned on the tsar. Furthermore, the rulers had little idea of the peasant view, and the mass of peasants had no engagement with the government; they had no worries about the wiping away of the whole Tsarist regime in 1917.
2.5 Alienated military
The backward Russian military had created a mass of soldiers who, having been treated inhumanely and less than the common citizen, wanted some shred of dignity and better conditions. In 1917, the Bolsheviks would appear to offer this. In addition, the professional officer class was also alienated from the Tsar and his court over the question of modernizing. In had become apparent to the officers that war was changing, but the army remained mired in the past. These professionals turned to the Duma to try and force a solution.
2.6 Politicized civil society
By the 1890s, Russia had developed an educated, political culture among a group of people who were not yet numerous enough to truly be called a Middle Class, but who were forming between the aristocracy and the peasants / workers. This group were part of a 'civil society' which sent their youth to be students, read newspapers, and looked towards serving the public rather than the Tsar. Largely liberal, the events of a severe famine in the early 1890s both politicized and radicalized them, as their collective action outlined to them both how ineffective the Tsarist government now was, and how much they could achieve if they were allowed to unite. The members of the zemstovs were chief among these. As the Tsar refused to meet their demands, so many of this social sphere turned against him and his government.
3.0 series of events which ULTIMATELY led to the Russian Revolution
3.1 Russia's defeat in the Russo-Japanese War
Russia took on Japan in 1904, when Japan competed with them for Manchuria and Korea. The Russians were optimistic, as they were sure their vast superiority of numbers would easily defeat the tiny Japan. But this was not to be. Japan, with their advanced technology destroyed the Russian Army, armed with their "primitive" weapons as compared to the Asians. This defeat was a great humiliation for Russia. The people lost confidence in the Tsar and the military. Russia, all along priding itself on military excellence, suddenly defeated by Japan! How would that reflect on the people?
3.2 Bloody Sunday
On Sunday, 22nd January 1905, more than 200000 workers, led by a priest of the church Father Gapon, took part in a peaceful demonstration in St. Petersburg (later known as Petrograd, and then Leningrad). They proceeded to the Winter Palace to present a petition to the Tsar regarding better working conditions, medical benefits and more freedom. They also wanted a parliament, or a Duma, to represent their views. In confusion, the unarmed demonstrators were shot at by the Tsar's troops. There were many outbursts after that. Troops mutinied, peasants rose up and strikes emerged, all demanding that the Tsar create a Duma and more freedom.
In the October Manifesto, the Tsar decided to form a Duma and allow more freedom of speech. This was the Tsar's real chance to improve people's lives by implementing reforms and increasing work condition standards. He could have employed the Duma well to gain him support and yet keep the people happy at the same time. Instead, he made a big mess out of everything. There were 4 Dumas within the span of 1906 and 1917, and the first 3 were changed due to the Tsar's selfishness and hunger for power. All 4 Dumas were powerless and did not really represent the people at all.
3.3 Rasputin - the mad monk
Alexei - Tsar Nicholas II's son - suffered from haemophilia, where his blood was unable to clot after bleeding due to a lack of platelets in the blood. Rasputin, who claimed to be a holy monk from the remote wastelands of Siberia, was able to use his "supernatural healing powers" to heal Alexei. Rasputin did ease some of Alexei's pain, but most of what he did seemed a scam to the citizens. The Tsarina (Tsar's wife) doted on her son and thus naturally treated the monk better. Rasputin abused his authority and replaced many ministers with his own family and friends, regardless of whether the previous ministers were good. His direct access to the royal household and interference in matters of government irritated everyone. This led people to disliking Rasputin severely and thus blaming the Tsar for his trust in dangerous person.
Rasputin's influence continued into wartime. Tsarina Alexandra sought his opinion on a variety of policy matters. Rasputin, generally ready to offer advice, occasionally offered advice on Russian military strategy, although such advice never proved beneficial.
In one sense Rasputin's presence, while damaging the public perception of the Romanovs, benefited the Tsar. Military calamities were often attributed by the Russian public to Rasputin's baleful influence: therefore it deflected direct criticism away from the Tsar himself.
However with the Tsar's decision to take personal command of his army from the front at Mogilev in Belarus (thereby relieving his uncle, Grand Duke Nikolai, of the role), disaster beckoned. Not only was the Tsar now directly associated with the fruits of his army's efforts (which continued its extended poor run), but in his absence domestic governance of political affairs was effectively left in the hands of the Tsarina, and Rasputin (with the Prime Minister, Boris Sturmer, ever willing to defer to the Tsarina's wishes).
With Rasputin offering advice on the appointment (and dismissal) of public and church officials, and rumour spreading that the Tsarina and Rasputin were in the pay of the Germans, a group of nobles at court, led by Felix Yusupov, determined to resolve the appalling damage inflicted by Rasputin upon the monarchy by planning his murder.
Yusupov invited Rasputin to dine at his home on 29 December 1916 where he was given poisoned wine and cakes. Alarmed at Rasputin's apparent immunity to the poison, Yusupov shot him in panic.
After a brief period of collapse Rasputin recovered and managed to escape into the courtyard, where he was again shot (by another conspirator, Vladimir Purishkevich). Finally, presumably to make quite sure of the matter, Rasputin's body was dropped through a hole in the Neva river, where he finally died by drowning. His corpse was later discovered on the Neva's banks.
As an attempt to salvage the credibility of the monarchy, Yusupov's bold move came too late; if anything, the murder of Rasputin removed a buffer between the royal family and their critics: no longer could the nation's ills be attributed to the mad monk who had prophesised his own demise.
3.4 World War I
This can be considered as one of the more important reasons for the revolution. Russia was, as we know, one of the most major powers in the world at that time. Up against a Germany that was being attacked from all sides, Russia expected a quick and decisive victory. In actual fact, Russia suffered a series of humiliating defeats.
Tsar Nicholas II then decided to take matters into his own hands and take over as Commander-in-Chief. He went up to the battlefront to direct the battle, in the hope that his "brilliant tactics", "marvellous maneouvering" and "royal presence" would spur the army to victory. Sadly, this was not to be as his lack of military experience and inferior expertise devastated the Russian Army entirely, with the blame left on his shoulders. News of the large casualties and disappointing results of the campaign led to the people blaming the Tsar and losing even more trust in him as the weeks went by.
When the Tsar was at the front, the Tsarina Alexandra was in charge of matters back in the capital. Under the influence of Rasputin, the Tsarina made many new changes to the administration and plunged the country into further crisis. Futhermore, the Tsarina was a German by birth, and incurred many people's wrath by just being so (Germany was the biggest war enemy of Russia!).
The war effort was hampered greatly by many constant problems. These included shortages of ammunition and other supplies, an inefficient transportation and distribution system, incompetent military leadership, low morale and desertions, and high land losses and casualty rates.
The war was financed through borrowing and printing money (rubles) instead of raising taxes, as they felt that doing so would cause objections from the already-unhappy people. Wages did not keep pace with inflation, and Ukraine, the largest corn-producing area, was lost in the war. The inefficient railway system was unable to distribute food efficiently. Inflation went through the roof.
Most of the young men went to fight for the army, leaving the women and elderly to do the work on farms. Also, corn prices were fixed, but clothes prices were rising. Many peasants had to go into factories to work. Lousy living conditions made things even worse.
4.0 The Course of the Revolution
During the year 1917, two revolutions took place in Russia. The February revolution of 1917 led to the defeat of Czarism, and a republic was established in its place. However the October Revolution of 1917 established the dictatorship of the proletariat (i.e. the laboring class).
The February revolution of 1917 began with the bread riots on February 23. This was followed by a general industrial strike on February 25, in Petrograd. The entire Petrograd garrison and the police, joined the revolution by February 27, and by the following day, Petrograd fell into the hands of the revolutionaries.
The February revolution was the spontaneous outbreak of a large number of workers and peasants. By February 27, two organizations came into existence; namely the Provisional Committee of the Duma and the Provisional Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' Deputies. The latter which represented factory workers, social revolutionaries, Mensheviks and Bolsheviks - was to guide the revolution.
The Czarist ministers were arrested on February 28, 1917 and Commissars were appointed in their place by the Provisional Committee of the Duma. The mutiny of the troops occurred on March 1, 1917. Though the Czar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate on March 2, 1917, all the members of the royal family remained under house arrest at Yekaterinburg , until they were all shot dead on July 16/17, 1918. This brought Czarism in Russia to an end.
A provisional coalition government came into existence by March 3, 1917, under the premiership of Prince George Lvov. The Allied powers soon recognized the provisional government; it was considered the 'legal successor' to the Czarist government.
However, an ever-increasing number of workers and soldiers came to recognize the Soviets of Workers and Soldiers. Thus a Dual Power was established by the revolution, namely the Provisional Government and the government of the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. The latter was soon established in all cities, towns and districts. The first All -Russian Congress was announced by the end of March, 1917.
The brilliant leadership and the moving spirit of Vladimir Lenin was responsible for the October Revolution in Russia. Under his leadership, the Bolsheviks criticized and exposed the shortcomings of the Provisional Government. A huge armed demonstration was held against the Provisional Government in Petrograd, on July 17, 1917. Prime Minister George Lvov was forced to resign. He was succeeded by Alexander Kerensky as the new Prime Minister.
However Kerensky's new coalition Government soon grew unpopular. At the same time, the masses became attracted towards the Bolsheviks, whom they regarded as the true champions of the revolution. The Bolsheviks became the majority party in most of the Soviets by October 2. They formed the Military Revolutionary Committee under Leon Trotsky. Under this committee, the Red Guards were organized and commissars were procured to take charge of the Petrograd army units. Thus the complete allegiance of the Petrograd troops was secured.
On October 25, the Winter Palace, where the Provisional Government was in session under armed protection, was attacked by the Red Guards. All the ministers were arrested and killed. Since the October revolution was a deliberately planned coup d'état by Lenin and the Bolshevik controlled Petrograd Soviet, Lenin is rightly considered to be the Father of the Bolshevik Revolution.
According to the Constitution published and adopted on July 10, 1918, Russia was named as the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic. While the Constitution of 1918 guaranteed certain basic rights to the exploited people, it also imposed some basic obligations on them. In 1922, the All-Russian Congress of Soviets created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic.
In 1921, Lenin introduced the New Economic Policy (N.E.P) which was a blend of state socialism and state capitalism.
After Lenin's death in 1924, there was a keen struggle between his lieutenants Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin, for taking his place. Stalin was successful in establishing his dictatorship in the party, as well as in the country.
Joseph Stalin then inaugurated an era of Five-Year plans in order to convert the weak, agrarian Russian economy into a powerful and stable industrial economy. He also attempted to get rid of the Kulaks, by mechanization and the collectivization of all the farms. Thus the First Five-Year Plan in 1928, the Second Five-Year Plan in 1933, and the Third Five-Year Plan in 1938, helped Stalin to realize his objectives completely. Owing to these Five-Year plans, the Soviet Union became the second most highly industrialized country by 1940. The Revolution also enabled the Soviet Union to emerge from World War II as the second super power; the first being the U.S.A. In 1936, Stalin gave a new constitution to the U.S.S.R, which provided for such features as a secret ballot and universal adult franchise. But Stalin was to remain a feared dictator, responsible for the purge and death of millions of his own countrymen.
5.0 Effects of the Russian Revolution
5.1 An end to the war
After Lenin's government secured power, one of its first major goals was to get Russia out of World War I. Following his Decree on Peace, Lenin sent out diplomatic notes to all participants in the war, calling for everyone to cease hostilities immediately if they did not want Russia to seek a separate peace. The effort was ignored. Therefore, in November 1917, the new government ordered Russian troops to cease all hostilities on the front. On December 15, Russia signed an armistice with Germany and Austria, pending a formal peace treaty (the treaty was not completed until March 1918).
Russia's exit from the war was very costly, but Lenin was desperate to end the war at any cost, as the Germans were threatening to invade Petrograd. In the peace, Lenin consented to give up most of Russia's territorial gains since the time of Peter the Great. The lost territories included Finland, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bessarabia, and the Caucasus region, along with some of the coal-mining lands of southern Russia. The Soviets would not regain these territories until the end of World War II.
5.2 The SPC and the November elections
Following the revolution and the Second Congress of Soviets, Lenin's new government, the SPC, faced the overwhelming task of governing a country in chaos. Communication was poor, and large chunks of the country, including the Ukraine, were still occupied by foreign armies. Outside of Petrograd and Moscow, especially in more distant regions such as Siberia and Central Asia, it was hard even to define what was happening politically, much less to take control of it.
At least in theory, the SPC was a democratic institution. They had been voted into power (after they had taken it) and were supposed to answer to the Executive Committee and in turn to the future Constituent Assembly. Indeed, Lenin, expecting the Bolsheviks to do well, allowed elections for members of the Constituent Assembly to proceed as scheduled throughout the month of November. When the final tally was in, however, Bolshevik candidates received less than 25 percent of the vote. The highest percentage, 40 percent, went to the Socialist Revolutionary (SR) party, which at the time was mildly sympathetic to the Bolsheviks. However, members of other more hostile parties, including the Cadets (Constitutional Democrats), had strong showings as well.
5.3 Revolutionary dictatorship
Because the Bolsheviks did not fare well in the elections, the Constituent Assembly became a problem for them. Initially, it appeared that the Bolsheviks might have to make some severe compromises in order to stay in power. However, they dealt with this problem first by declaring the Cadet Party illegal and then by demanding that the Constituent Assembly voluntarily give up its legislative authority-a move that would have remade the body into essentially a rubber stamp for Bolshevik policy.
In the end, the Constituent Assembly met only once, on January 5, 1918. During the meeting, the assembly refused to give up its authority but did nothing to challenge the Bolsheviks, who watched over the meeting with loaded guns. When the assembly adjourned the next morning, the Bolsheviks declared the assembly permanently dissolved and accused its members of being "slaves to the American dollar".
5.4 The Third Congress of Soviets
The assembly was replaced by the Third Congress of Soviets, 94 percent of whose members were required to be Bolshevik and SR delegates. The new group quickly ratified a motion that the term "provisional" be removed from the official description of the SPC, making Lenin and the Bolsheviks the permanent rulers of the country.
Until this point, the Bolsheviks had often used word democracy in a positive sense, but this changed almost instantly. The Bolsheviks began to categorize their critics as counterrevolutionaries and treated them as traitors. The terms revolutionary dictatorship and dictatorship of the proletariat began to pop up frequently in Lenin's speeches, which began to characterize democracy as an illusionary concept propagated by Western capitalists.
5.5 The Bolsheviks' consolidation of power
In March 1918, even as Lenin's representatives were signing the final treaty taking Russia out of World War I, the Bolsheviks were in the process of moving their seat of power from Petrograd to Moscow. This largely symbolic step was a part of the Bolshevik effort to consolidate power.
Although symbolism of this sort was a major part of the Bolsheviks' strategy, they knew they also needed military power to force the rest of the country to comply with their vision while discouraging potential foreign invaders from interfering. Therefore, they rebuilt their military force, which now largely consisted of 35,000 Latvian riflemen who had sided with the Bolsheviks when they vowed to remove Russia from World War I. The Latvian soldiers were better trained and more disciplined than the Russian forces upon which the Bolshevik forces had previously relied. These troops effectively suppressed insurrections throughout Russia during the course of 1918 and formed the early core of the newly established Red Army.
The other major instrument of Bolshevik power was the secret police, known by the Russian acronym Cheka (for Extraordinary Commission to Combat Counterrevolution and Sabotage). Officially formed on December 20, 1917, the Cheka was charged with enforcing compliance with Bolshevik rule. At its command, Lenin placed a Polish revolutionary named Felix Dzerzhinsky, who would soon become notorious for the deadly work of his organization. Tens of thousands of people would be murdered at Dzerzhinsky's behest during the coming years.
5.6 The roots of Civil War
No specific date can be set forth for the beginning of the civil war in Russia, but it generally began during the summer of 1918. As the Bolsheviks (often termed the Reds) were consolidating power, Lenin's opponents were also organizing from multiple directions. Groups opposing the Bolsheviks ranged from monarchists to democrats to militant Cossacks to moderate socialists. These highly divergent groups gradually united and came to fight together as the Whites. A smaller group, known as the Greens, was made up of anarchists and opposed both the Whites and the Reds.
In the meantime, a contingent of about half a million Czech and Slovak soldiers, taken prisoner by the Russian army during World War I, began to rebel against the Bolsheviks, who were attempting to force them to serve in the Red Army. The soldiers seized a portion of the Trans-Siberian Railway and attempted to make their way across Siberia to Russia's Pacific coast in order to escape Russia by boat. In the course of their rebellion, they temporarily joined with White forces in the central Volga region, presenting the fledgling Red Army with a major military challenge. In response to these growing threats, the Bolsheviks instituted military conscription in May 1918 in order to bolster their forces.
5.7 The Red Terror
The Red Terror was carried out in post-revolutionary Russia by the Cheka headed by Felix Dzerzhinsky along with units of the Red Army. The Red Terror started as a result of an attempt to kill Vladimir Lenin by Fanni Kaplan in August 1918 and the murder of the Cheka leader in St. Petersburg. This failed assassination attempt on Lenin was used as a rationale for the secret police and the army to round up and deal with anyone suspected of counter-revolutionary activities. From his hospital bed Lenin instructed the Cheka to "prepare for terror".
There was no obvious government body that could hold back the work of the Cheka. Dzerzhinsky could simply explain the organisation's work: for example the arrest and execution of 800 people in St. Petersburg in 1918 was explained away as those executed were 'enemies of the state' or 'enemies of the revolution'. Few were brave enough to argue with such an accusation in case they themselves were accused of the same crime. None of the 800 was put on trial. They were arrested and then shot. Dzerzhinsky himself said that the Cheka operated on a 24 hour basis: those who were held were usually dealt with within 24 hours. The Red Terror lasted from September 1918 to October 1918 though some believe that it actually lasted until the end of the Russian Civil War. The work of the Cheka during the Red Terror received the support of Lenin who argued on its behalf that the people they were dealing with were trying to re-establish into power those who had abused and exploited others in pre-revolutionary Russia. Above all else Lenin wanted to keep what had been won during the months of 1917. Therefore the Cheka was given effectively a free rein in Russia. Someone's occupation or the size/value of their house could be enough to seal their fate.
The work done during the Red Terror also received support from a leading Bolshevik - Gregory Zinoviev. He said that the enemies of the Bolshevik government should be "annihilated". Lenin himself wrote to Dzerzhinsky that the opponents of the Bolshevik government should be made "to tremble".
Given that the future USSR was in chaos in 1918 and that the work was done by the secret police, it is hard to find accurate figures of those who suffered during the Red Terror. If it was done to make people "tremble" then there is a chance that the figures were exaggerated simply to scare potential opponents into acquiescence. It is thought that between 10,000 to 15,000 people were summarily executed by the Cheka between September and October 1918 in areas under the formal control of the Bolsheviks - such figures were published in official journals and openly publicised. As there were no public trials, such figures cannot be verified. However, it is thought that the figures for summary executions in areas previously under the control of the Whites were far higher than 15,000. Lenin himself gave the order for the execution of 50,000 in the Crimea alone and some include these figures as part of the "Red Terror" as opposed to being the end result of the Russian Civil War.
The Red Terror resulted in the execution of thousands of men classified as "bandits". However, the term never had a legal definition and it seems very likely that it became a one-word fits all to explain the arrest and then execution of suspects. Those who harboured the thousands of deserters from the Red Army were arrested and punished as they were branded "bandits". This meant that many families suffered as the result of just one member of it defying the law.
5.8 Assessing Bolshevik Russia
After the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks had very little planning in place, and their rule got off to a rough start when they came in behind the SRs in the elections of the Constituent Assembly. The working class was still a minority in Russia; the Bolsheviks would change that in time, but at the outset their rule could be maintained only by force.
The Bolsheviks faced major opposition from within Russia and for many different reasons. Among the most contentious issues was Russia's costly exit from World War I. Though many had wanted out of the war, they did not approve of Lenin's readiness to lose vast amounts of territory. In addition, the Bolsheviks' sudden dismissal of the Constituent Assembly and their silencing of all other political voices was offensive to many as well. The result was the Russian civil war, which would be horrifically painful for the country and that, in the end, would cost even more lives than had World War I. The years following, with the violence of Joseph Stalin's purges and forced collectivization of Russia's lands, would not be much better.
5.9 The Great Purges (1934-39)
In 1934 Sergey Kirov, a rival to Stalin, was murdered. Although Stalin is believed to have been behind the assassination, he used it as a pretext to arrest thousands of his opponents, who, in his words, might have been responsible for Kirov's murder. The years after saw Stalin's political opponents put on 'show trials', where they pleaded guilty to impossible charges of treason (e.g. Zinovyev and Kamenev in 1936, Bukharin, Tomsky and Rykov in 1938).
In 1937, the Commander-in-Chief of the Red Army and 7 leading generals were shot. In 1938-39, all the admirals and half the Army's officers were executed or imprisoned. In the same period of time thousands of religious leaders were imprisoned while churches were closed. An indication of the vast scope of the Great Purge was the discovery, during the Second World War, in Vinnytsia (Ukraine) of a mass grave containing 10,000 bodies of residents of the region who were shot between 1937 and 1938. Given the lack of complete data, it is difficult to establish the total loss of life brought about by the Stalinist terror. An average estimate is that in the Soviet Union as a whole, about 500,000 were executed in 1937-39 and somewhere between 3 and 12 million were sent to labor camps.
Thus the Russian revolution brought in its wake a long and fearful period of retirbution punctuated with material growth. The Cold War that started post World War I with the USA was to define USSR’s politics till its collapse in 1989.
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