Was Lenin More Significant for His Actions in 1917 or for His Subsequent Actions from 1918 to 1924?
Essay Preview: Was Lenin More Significant for His Actions in 1917 or for His Subsequent Actions from 1918 to 1924?
Report this essay
Was Lenin more significant for his actions in 1917 or for his subsequent actions from 1918 to 1924?
Lenin was a Russian revolutionary and was best known for being one of the main leaders of the October Revolution in 1917 and the first head of the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic. But was Lenin more significant for his actions in 1917 or his subsequent actions from 1918 to 1924? That is the question I will be exploring in this essay and I will be thinking of all of his actions in the mentioned years.
Lenins main role in 1917 was to spearhead the revolution. In February 1917 the February Revolution took place, the result of an accumulation of social, political and economic problems caused by the war. In 1917 the war effort caused economic chaos and by February people in the towns of Russia were starving and freezing. Workers and soldiers set up the Petrograd Soviet which elected an Executive Committee, which contained independents and members of political groups, including Bolsheviks. Many of the more prominent Bolsheviks were abroad and powerless. Lenins own initial surprise at the news from Petrograd was quickly translated into feverish attempts to return home and catch up with the Revolution.
In April 1917 Lenin published his April Theses. This document outlined Lenins aims for the future: to end the war; to give all power to the Soviet; to give all property and land to the people and worldwide revolution. Lenin forced these ideas through despite opposition and skepticism form the party. The April Theses became the basis of the partys policy. This brought the Bolsheviks much support and made them into strong competition against the provisional Government.
In October 1917 the Bolsheviks staged a coup to take over the provisional Government in Petrograd. Late at night, on the 25 October, Trotskys red Guards helped by the Kronstadt sailors took over the bridges in Petrograd and the telephones lines. They cut off Petrograd off from the rest of Russia. The Red Guards took over the Government buildings, the banks and the railway station. At 9.40pm they took over the Winter Palace. The Bolsheviks had seized control of Russia. The importance of Lenin in these events was not crucial, although his significance was seen in the events leading up to the coup and immediately afterwards. It was Lenins clarity of determination that enabled him to seize power in the vacuum which developed after the failure of the Provisional Government.
One of Lenins main priorities when he came to power was to end the war with Germany. Reconstruction would become impossible with the Germans on Russian soil. Therefore an armistice was signed with the Germans and peace negotiations began. Lenin ordered that any German conditions should be accepted but he had great difficulty in convincing his colleagues that this was the way forward. He realized that the Bolsheviks needed to get a quick treaty from the Germans to bring about the end of the war so that the Bolsheviks could concentrate on the work they needed to do in Russia. Eventually peace was signed in March 1918 in the form of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Under the treaty, Russia lost Riga, Lithuania, Livonia, Estonia and some of White Russia. These areas had great economic importance as they were some of the most fertile farming areas in Western Russia. Lenins practical and realistic approach enabled him to strengthen the Bolshevik party even more.
Another immediate issue for Lenin was with the Constituent Assembly. The Constituent Assembly was set up by the Provisional Government after Tsar Nicholas abdicated. In November 1917 elections took place. The Bolsheviks were disappointed with the results as the Socialist Revolutionaries won instead. On 5th January the leader of the Socialist Revolutionaries was elected President. Later that day Lenin announced that the Constituent Assembly had been dissolved and ruled by decree. Soon afterwards all opposition political groups were banned in Russia. A secret police, the Cheka, was set up to deal with spies and counter-revolutionaries. There was a great deal of repression in Russia, such as all non-Bolshevik papers being banned. The freedom of opinion in Russia, which had been achieved by the Provisional Government, was lost in the space of two months. Banks were put under Bolshevik government control. The Bolsheviks banned religion and abolished the teaching of history and Latin.
Some things did improve for the workers. An eight-hour day was introduced as well as unemployment pay and pensions. The Bolsheviks gave the land previously owned by the nobles to the peasants, and factories were handed over to workers committees. There was also a huge campaign to teach everyone to read. Trains went around the country