Russian Revolution

The Bolsheviks seized power in Russia in November, 1917. Immediately after coming into power the Party was faced with many challenges and changing circumstances which threatened their position. These included their decision to back out of the First World War which resulted in the devastating Brest-Livosk Treaty, the opposition and resulting civil war, the failure of war communism and the mutiny of the Kronstadt revolt which was followed by the implementation of the New Economic Reform. When the Bolsheviks first came to power they were unprepared for these problems, however, this made them for flexible in response to changing circumstances and although they were often unwilling to make concessions, they were often forced to do so in order to remain in power and survive. As Lenin said Ð''It is better to give economic concessions then political ones', and although they often gave economic concessions they were less flexible with political matters, of which they only made concessions when they had no other choice. Orlando Figes, a non-determinist, claims that the Bolsheviks only survived by Ð''surrendering to the peasantry' in the case of their economic demands, whilst Richard Pipes argues that they survived through not only repression but also through the use of economic Ð''concessions' '.

The first challenge faced by the Bolshevik Party was delivering their promise of peace to the people, despite determination to give no concessions to the Germans, Trotsky, was forced by the Germans to sign a treaty with massive costs to Russia, by which they lost 26% of important, arable land. With Russia too weak to continue the war, the Party agreed that the Treaty must be accepted, adjusting thus to the changing circumstances. The Civil war that arose soon after (by opposition Stalin later called Ð''the enemies of Soviet power'-who wished to remove the Bolsheviks from power) forced the Bolsheviks party to adjust also to this change and fight for their survival. They were forced to abandon their economic policy in order to supply the army, which they did through war communism.

War communism was the nationalisation of all privately owned land, banks and industries. The government would allocate labour, distribute resources and regulate all industries. However, the most significant change was the compulsory requisitioning of grain from peasants using force, through the Cheka and Red Army. It was a failure as it discouraged peasants from producing and, according to the Offical Soviet history, production had fallen to one-seventh of its pre-war production figures by 1920.However, Pipes argues that the Bolsheviks Ð''did not introduce war communism to meet the threat of Civil War but wanted Civil War in order to force war communism and a communist state on Russia. Whether war communism was imposed to supply the army or to help impose Bolshevik control as Pipes claims, the Bolsheviks were responding to circumstances as they evolved. A year later, production figures were continuing to fall and the Bolsheviks had another problem, the threat of the Kronstadt Revolt, which Victor Serge, who strongly opposed the Bolsheviks, called a Ð''ghastly fratricide'. This was the revolt of the once loyal revolutionary sailors who now wanted a Bolshevik-free socialist state, free of its harsh controls and lack of freedom. After their defeat, the Party realised that that war communism was threatening their survival and they were