HIST 1115 Lecture Notes - Imperialism, Trans-Siberian Railway, Nikolai Bukharin
Russian Civil War
Consolidating Bolshevik Power
Everything that Lenin does is about power
The Bolsheviks win
The majority of the Russians oppose the Bolsheviks
They had to fuse the urban revolution with the rest of the revolutions
The Bolsheviks begin to impose their will on the country side eventually
The opposition groups begin to wake up
In 1917 they had staged a coup
After the war, the Czars generals begin to work against the Bolsheviks
Ethnic groups want separation
They are going to see armies from other countries
The people are allowed to go to the polls, the Socialist Revolutionaries win the
majority of the seats
oBolsheviks lose the vote
oThe Bolshevik red guard surrounds the constituents and shut it down
oThat was the end of the attempt for democracy
Not all the Bolsheviks agreed with Lenin saying
Lenin was not willing to compromise, every other group is just WRONG
Lenin’s logic is the only correct course
When the terms of Brest-Litovsk are finalized, the Bolsheviks decide to move the
capital
oThey move it from Petrograd to Moscow
oMost places don’t send their people to the new capital
The Left wing Social Revolutionaries work with the Bolsheviks
The rest of them are appalled by what they had agreed to for the Treaty of Brest
Litovsk
They try to stop the treaty
oBy assassination
oThey try to kill the German Ambassador
oThey try to kill Lenin, hit him but does not kill him
They make up the Cheka: Bolshevik’s Secret Police
oPreventing political enemies
oInstrument of “The Red Terror”
oThey didn’t want mensheviks, socialist revolutionary
oThey have unchecked power
oA lot of career criminals are in the Cheka
oThere was a lot of purging in these years
When Brest-Litovsk liberates the White Army
Forces in the Civil War
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Admiral Kolchak : White general
oThe Entente think that this guy may be able to end Socialism
oThey give him money for his forces
oHe is working with anyone he can muster, but not anyone from the
opposition parties
oThey are all Czarist,
Even the generals were not working together to topple the Bolsheviks
Most of the Majority of Russian territory was ruled by the Bolshevik’s enemies,
they only ruled a small amount of Russia
Trotsky is the hero of the hour, he planned the Bolshevik Rev.
He wins the Civil war for the Bolsheviks
oHe is able to build the army the Red Army
oHe manages to get Generals to fight with them
Holds their families hostage to get them to fight
oHe is ruthless in fighting the civil war
oHe barely rests
oA series of local wars
oAble to defeat the White forces, despite the white forces holding more
territory
The white forces don’t coordinate their campaigns
Where ever the white forces occupy, they make a lot of chaos and are furious
with the peasants
Lenin decides that the opportunity of Civil war is a great time to push the ideal of
Socialism
oHe wanted to borrow what Germany did during the war to take chanrge of
the economy
oHe wanted to take charge of all Economic command
oThis is how they could collectivize
oThe peasants were not happy about this effort
oThe peasants were the losers
oThey peasants were resisting would burn it, eat it, hide it etc rather that
giving it to the Red Army
oThe city was starving because peasants did not provide
The Peasants can hardly support the Whites
oThey didn’t want to support the old regime
oThey also didn’t really want to support the Reds, but it’s a bit better
In Ukraine, they are given a sort of freedom
othe Bolsheviks were fighting to get them back
oas were the Whites
oIn Ukraine, there was a lot of resistance about Bolsheviks
oStalin noted how much they were resisting the Bolsheviks
oThey wanted independence
The West loathe the Bolsheviks
oThey don’t like socialism
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Everything that lenin does is about power. The majority of the russians oppose the bolsheviks. They had to fuse the urban revolution with the rest of the revolutions. The bolsheviks begin to impose their will on the country side eventually. The opposition groups begin to wake up. After the war, the czars generals begin to work against the bolsheviks. They are going to see armies from other countries. Not all the bolsheviks agreed with lenin saying. Lenin was not willing to compromise, every other group is just wrong. Lenin"s logic is the only correct course. When the terms of brest-litovsk are finalized, the bolsheviks decide to move the capital: they move it from petrograd to moscow, most places don"t send their people to the new capital. The left wing social revolutionaries work with the bolsheviks. The rest of them are appalled by what they had agreed to for the treaty of brest.
