Russia was torn between the world war and the population was threatened as levels of starvation rose whilst industry fell. The provisional government could not do much to stop Russia plummeting as they did not have much power and the people of Russia failed to support them (1). The citizens of Russia were desperately looking for help and the Bolshevik party, created with the help of Lenin and Trotsky in the year 1917, had the answer. Slowly, they had managed to become one of the most powerful parties ever created, but many factors were to cause the consolidation of power.
In this essay I will be comparing the significance of Vladimir Lenin in the Bolshevik consolidation of power with another important factor; Leon Trotsky. In my opinion the role of Lenin in the consolidation of power of the Bolsheviks was very crucial. This is because without Lenin’s ideology, consisting of distributing land amongst the poor, feeding the starving and an end to the war with Germany, the Bolsheviks wouldn’t have gotten any support from Russia. Lenin was the one to publish his, in N. N. Sukhanov‘s words, “lunatic ideas” (2) in the April Theses, a collection of his views.
The radical changes within Russia were the main reason as to why Lenin gained publicity and support from the Russians because Lenin’s main goal was to agitate the masses against the provisional government (3). Lenin’s views which were “peace, bread , land” helped the peasants, which were most of his supporters considering that 80% of Russia’s population were of the working class and peasants. Due to the help of Lenin and his extreme ideology, the Bolshevik party gained support from the soldiers, peasants and workers, who shared the same views as Lenin did.
Quoted from the Edexcel history guide, problems the Provisional Government should have solved, but didn’t were taken into the hands of Lenin and he helped the people of Russia by telling everyone that the Bolsheviks had more to offer than the provisional government, gaining him much more support. (4). Lenin then on cleverly created the early decrees on the 25th of October, 1925, which allowed the Bolsheviks to keep the power they gained whilst helping the peasants. If Lenin hadn’t voiced his controversial ideas and created the early decrees, the Bolsheviks would not have had as much support from the people and the war would’ve carried on.
Another instance where the role of Lenin was put to the test was when Russia wanted to pull out of the war. However, when the treaty of Brest-Litovsk arose, Germany became greedy and started making “excessive” requests. Even though Lenin had agreed, Leon Trotsky, his right hand man, refused to accept the treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Lenin was thinking about the stability of the country and realized that Russia could not keep fighting for longer and using this ideology, he managed to persuade Trotsky to sign the treaty.
Since Russia had lost 80% of its coalmines, 50% of industry , 26% of railways and 27% of its farmlands(5), the population was left stunned and furious but Lenin knew that Russia could not fight Germany any longer, especially with the revolution and civil war occurring. If Lenin didn’t take any action, Germany would’ve carried on fighting Russia, to the point where Russia wouldn’t exist anymore ,which would’ve have demeaned the power of the Bolsheviks before they could even consolidate it.
As said by Steve Phillips, Lenin was quick to realize that Bolsheviks consolidation would be extremely difficult to achieve while the war against the Germans continued, hence the formation of the treaty of Brest- Litovsk(6). Steve Phillips also focuses on the influential role of Lenin as he mentions the only way the Bolsheviks would listen to him and sign the treaty was that if he threatened to resign. This example shows the crucial role of Lenin in shaping the future of the Bolsheviks and this shows how important Lenin is in the consolidation of power of the Bolsheviks and how influential he is (6).
Steve Phillips uses many facts to prove the importance of Lenin which is very reliable as he not only talks about the importance of his role but also the impacts and the aftermath of Lenin’s actions, proving to not be biased as he not only mentions Lenin’s successes but also his failures. Lenin’s significance is portrayed when the civil war was coming to an end. To destroy all opposition to communism, win the civil war and bring Russia’s economy under government control, Lenin adopted the policy called war communism, which although cost extreme hardships, meant that the army could get enough resources to stay in power (5).
All food was taken and distributed, with the army being the priority. Although this was bad for the people of Russia, the army prospered under the food shortages. Lenin cleverly banned strikes and used the red terror to destroy opposing communists which allowed the Bolsheviks to have all power and assert their place. Many people of Russia however didn’t like having their rights taken away so Lenin was compliant and introduced the new economic policy (NEP) in 1921.
Money was reintroduced and the state stopped taking food from peasants for the army, giving the people of Russia their rights back. Support for the Bolsheviks increased and without Lenin, Russia would’ve stayed under food shortages and would’ve encountered many more dilemmas. In my opinion, Leon Trotsky also played an important role in the Bolsheviks rise to power, however his role wasn’t as significant as Lenin’s. John D Clare states that Lenin did not like Trotsky; however, Trotsky was so clever and critical that Lenin was forced to work with him.
John D Clare’s mixed views showed me many points that showed the significance of both Lenin and Trotsky for example; Although Trotsky worked under Lenin, he was given many responsibilities and had a very high status as the commissioner of war and foreign affairs. When Trotsky was exiled in 1900, he had very bright plans for the future of Russia and worked as the editor of Pravda (truth) newspaper, the main communist newspaper. He used propaganda and censorship to convince the communists to believe the same ideology he believed in, a vital reason as to how he managed to convince the people of Russia to support the Bolsheviks (7).
Without the support of Trotsky and his propaganda, the people of Russia wouldn’t have known about the Bolsheviks, and worse, they might’ve turned against them. I agree more to John D Clare’s statements compared to the other sources because he had impressively backed his points with dates and facts, which makes his source reliable and easy to access. His main position as the leader of the red army allowed Trotsky to command five million people, after he rebuilt the Red Guard into the red army(7). Trotsky was the reason as to how the Bolsheviks gained so much power as he insisted on using ex-tsarist officers to train and control the red army.
He used strict discipline in order to help the army and this greatly supported the Bolsheviks and helped them win the civil war. Trotsky also was the reason as to how the civil war was won, because not only did he recruit trained army officers- which was extremely difficult to do due considering most supported the whites- but also because he organized food and weaponry (8) and forced the red army to attack the Kronstadt sailors across melting ice, ruthlessly stooping the result and putting an end to the civil war. In other words, he won the civil war virtually single handed.
This was one of the main reasons as to how the Bolsheviks consolidated their power and without the training of the army commanded by Trotsky, they wouldn’t have had the chance to be noticed. Furthermore, without Trotsky’s harsh commands and the declaration of “war is the instrument of policy” the civil war would’ve carried on, destroying the Bolshevik party and everything they had worked for. I believe that both Lenin and Trotsky had a significant impact on Bolshevik consolidation of power, although in my opinion Lenin had a more important role because he was the controller and figurehead; the leader of the Bolsheviks.
Author C. N Trueman discusses the importance of Lenin and his opinions clearly focus on how Lenin was the reason as to how the Bolsheviks consolidated their power, saying that when the party split in 1903, the Bolsheviks had one obvious leader, which was Lenin. I completely agree with his opinions as he has managed to convince me with his persuasive views and his validated arguments but in my opinion, this source isn’t very authentic because it is biased and it talks more about the success and failures of Lenin more than Trotsky. (9).
However other sources have led me to also believe that Trotsky also had a big part in the consolidation of power because it was Trotsky who carried out the plans and was considered the brains, even if it was under Lenin’s control. Furthermore, it was his responsibility to help the people of Russia; therefore he had a more influential role. However, although both had an impact, they both worked together in order to help Russia, even though Lenin did not like Trotsky. They managed to put their differences aside to help their country, which shows how spirited and determined they both were.
The revolution in November 1917 was the perfect example of how the pair worked together. As per the usual, Trotsky carried out the plans that Lenin created effortlessly, although it did bring a disastrous aftermath which was the only weakness of their plan, it was then again fixed by Lenin and the use of the statement “peace, bread, land”(9) This statement had a very big impact on the Russians because due to the first world war, Russia was facing many problems such as food shortages and inflation(5).
Quoted from Malcom chandler and Jwright, Lenin was the only leader who tried to take full advantage of the situation in 1917 and with his effort, the Bolsheviks became the largest party in the Petrograd soviet. (10) To conclude, I believe Lenin’s role was the most significant as to how the Bolsheviks consolidated their power because he was the one that lead them to victory and bought them the support of Russians, therefore allowing them to become the most biggest, powerful party in the Petrograd soviet, however although Lenin played the biggest part, Trotsky also played a very important role as to how the Bolsheviks consolidated heir power, however he was not as important as Lenin.
This is because he was under the command of Lenin and he only carried out the plans that was created, although very stealthily. If it wasn’t for Trotsky, the Bolsheviks wouldn’t have been able to win the revolution in 1917 and come into power but if it wasn’t for Lenin, the Bolsheviks would not have been known and the war may still have carried on, destroying Russia. This proves how significant the role of Lenin is.