The Russian Revolution III

Part III: The Red Terror

“The state is an institution built up for the sake of exercising violence. Previously, this violence was exercised by a handful of moneybags over the entire people; now we want [...] to organize violence in the interests of the people.”

Inside Lenin’s first few months in power, he was facing a food shortage. Lenin came to power around November 1917 following the Bolshevik October Revolution, and by early 1918 Russian cities in the west were beginning to see signs of famine. Lenin blamed this on the kulaks (wealthier peasants) whom he accused of hoarding grain to increase its financial value. Upon this belief, he formed a committee of enforcers responsible for confiscating grain from the kulaks to distribute throughout the cities. However, it turned out that Lenin’s Committee of Poor Peasants was persecuting all kinds of peasants—not just the kulaks as instructed. This led to social unrest and hostility amongst the people of Russia and helped set the stage for the Russian Civil War (the civil war technically started in 1917 when the provisional government was overthrown by the Bolsheviks).

The confiscation of grain disincentivized the kulak farmers from producing a surplus of grain; without financial incentive to produce, the farmers would only produce enough for their own personal consumption. Why would they bother wasting their own resources to produce grain that the government would just take away and redistribute? Other forms of resistance came from black market goods that were often utilized by families or small communities to survive. If caught, Lenin ordered the execution of everyone involved. The implementation of these enforcement committees by order of Lenin was creating unpopularity amongst the peasant class—Lenin’s main support base. Lenin recognized this and would eventually abolish the Committee of Poor Peasants shortly after its formation.

During this same year, the soviet government (early called Sovnarkom) inaugurated the Red Terror. The Red Terror was a campaign of intimidation, arrests, violence, and executions aimed at anyone who opposed, or might possibly oppose the communist vision of the Bolshevik party. In an attempt to avoid association with the genocide, Lenin delegated the bloody responsibilities to the Russian political police—the Cheka. They started with members of the bourgeoisie and administration from the tsarist regime; including the Russian Orthodox Church (Lenin was a devout atheist and strongly rejected any form of religion). Quickly the persecution moved on to anti-Bolsheviks, people who behaved “suspiciously”, social outcasts, prostitutes, and so on. Lenin was a huge advocate of utilizing violence to instill fear among his opposition to ensure the success of the revolution. “It is not by refusing to lie that we will abolish lies: it is by eradicating class by any means necessary”- Karl Marx.

By 1920, the Cheka had become the most powerful institution in The Soviet Union as they terrorized and overtook territory all over the country. Exact numbers are difficult to quantify, but experts believe that up to 200,000 executions took place inside of Lenin’s first four years in power. This number does not include the millions that died from starvation (5 million in 1921 alone). So far, Lenin’s time in power had been a catastrophe; and he knew it. Uprisings were taking place all over the country, and the Bolsheviks feared they would be overthrown. This realization forced the party to introduce, what Lenin called, the New Economic Policy (NEP).

The NEP was an economic restructuring of the production of goods—particularly in small industry manufacturing and farming. It legalized the privatization of certain businesses who would now be able to shift back to a profit-focused system. However, Lenin wasn’t keen on giving up industrial manufacturing, transportation, and foreign trade—those industries would remain under state control. Lenin blamed the failed state-controlled economy on the civil war, claiming the Bolshevik party was forced to implement policies of war communism that were not aligned with the party’s initial economic vision. Socialist absolutists saw it as a betrayal, to which Lenin responded with an explanation of merely a means to an end.

You must attempt first to build small bridges which shall lead to a land of small peasant holdings through State Capitalism to Socialism. Otherwise you will never lead tens of millions of people to Communism. This is what the objective forces of the development of the Revolution have taught. – Vladimir Lenin (1921)

Interestingly enough, the positive impact of a capitalist shift was immediate. Food production and small-time manufacturing increased and progressed. Starvation numbers declined and wealth began to circulate more effectively throughout the economy. The bizarre part of the NEP was that, even as it proved its efficacy, the Bolsheviks hated it. They were apologetic about the integration of a free-market system. Formulating excuses for the temporary shift and adamantly promising a return to state-controlled enterprise in the near future.

As Lenin’s health began to decline dramatically, more and more responsibility was delegated to Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky—both of which were trusted handy men for Lenin throughout the revolution. All three were advocating for a Soviet-first, communist government rebirth. As Lenin’s health continued to worsen, Trotsky and Stalin began fighting for leverage within the party. Both were conspiring plans to gain the inside track to replace Lenin when the time came. This will eventually lead us to the rise of Joseph Stalin.