Lenin, Amber, and the Bolsheviks

Lenin, Amber, and the Bolsheviks

The tragic love story

of an economy without

SHOPPING!

The tragic love story

of an economy without

SHOPPING!

Shopping is my favorite (favoUrite for

you Brits in the audience) hobby

Shopping is my favorite (favoUrite for

you Brits in the audience) hobby

Malls are monuments to consumerism No matter…I’ll just Charge IT! Engomi or NYC! It dosent matter to

me! Communism schmomunism, give me

CHOCOLATES, SHOES and a new HANDBAG to put them in! YAAAAAY!

Play me and have Nik Weiss read in a deep voice

Play me and have Nik Weiss read in a deep voice

After seizing power in 1917, the Empire (Bolshevik government) was to face massive problems before Darth Vader’s (Lenin’s) death in 1924. Initially, he had to restore order from the chaos that had brought them to power and bring a swift end to the unpopular war on terms lenient enough to prevent a split in the party. Only by surviving the ensuing civil war could it then hope to start rebuilding the economy.

After seizing power in 1917, the Empire (Bolshevik government) was to face massive problems before Darth Vader’s (Lenin’s) death in 1924. Initially, he had to restore order from the chaos that had brought them to power and bring a swift end to the unpopular war on terms lenient enough to prevent a split in the party. Only by surviving the ensuing civil war could it then hope to start rebuilding the economy.

HOW DID THE BOLSHEVIKS RESTORE ORDER FROM CHAOS?

They could only rely on Petrograd and Moscow for their support, elsewhere in the country, general strikes were the norm.

The answer then:1) Concession2) RepressionNow its your turn audience…think of an

example of both!!! (Pause for response) SUPER-DUPER! YOU GOT IT!

Concession (OOOHH like in the movie theaters at the

mall? Popcorn, large, extra butter for me

please!) The Social Revolutionaries are allowed into

the new government. This wins support of railway workers and some peasants.

Sovnarkom makes decrees:1) Proletariat - Industry nationalized, 8 hr workday2) Peasantry - land given to peasants

Repression Lenin: “Until we apply pressure by shooting on

the spot, we shall achieve nothing.” Lenin: “Dispersing the Constituent Assembly is

true democracy, the people are too ignorant to know what is in their best interests”*

Constitution of 1918: All opposition parties and their newspapers are banned

CHEKA formed and Red Terror begins, 50,000 are shot in 1918 alone.

* In November 1917, the Social Revolutionaries had won almost twice as many seats as the Bolsheviks

Assessment

Gave the B’s breathing space, but undermined their legitimacy & created future problems

Zimmerwald Left (Kamenev & Zinoviev mainly) begin to propagate the problems:land & industry decrees will create capitalism by nature*Bourgeois managers in cities*Kulak peasants in countrysides

How SUCCESSFULLY Did the B-Dogs end the war?

Almost immediately signed an armistace Lenin wants “peace at any cost” but Z Left

wants continued struggle against Imperialist Germany.

Trotsky buys time with “No Peace, No War” but eventually, germans re-invade

Trotsky “forced” to sign Brest-Litovsk; Russia loses:-80% of coal mines-30% of population (mainly Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania)

War over? Maybe; Success? You decide.

Street violence mounts (Uritsky is killed and Lenin is wounded)

Bolshevik Party splits (Zimmerwald Left made up of Kamenev and Zinoviev denounces the Treaty)

Red Terror kills 1500 in Petrograd Civil War begins (Whites under Denikin and

Yudenich from the West, Kolchak from the East, Japanese/US in Vladivostok, and UK and France in Archangel

Class, together enthusiastically ask, “But Amber, then why did the Bolsheviks win???”

Why the Bolsheviks wonWhy the Bolsheviks won

1) Trotsky, personnel and the Red Army

2) Economy and War Communism (call this W.C. …how’s that for a pneumonic device…pretty crappy, huh?)

3) Strategy and Weakness of the Whites

1) Trotsky, personnel and the Red Army

2) Economy and War Communism (call this W.C. …how’s that for a pneumonic device…pretty crappy, huh?)

3) Strategy and Weakness of the Whites

YAY Trotsky…etc

Trotsky inspires and organizes men/leads the Red Army from his mobile train HQ. He covers over 65,000 miles during the war.

War Soviets and CHEKA are under Trotsky and operate loyally and in organized fashion

Conscription is re-introduced 48,000 Tsarist officers are re-instated for the

Reds 1919-1920 Red Army grows from 1/2 million

to 5 million

YAY Economy

Commissars ordered workers where to go (factories/front)

Strikes outlawed Rationing introduced All grain surplus (and some necessary)

distributed by CHEKA to feed workers/army

YAY White (non) POWER!The Whites were…

Dispersed, no unity of purpose (Mensheviks, Tsarists, SRs)

Working with Foreign Powers who were ineffective and exhausted from war - used effectively by Lenin/Trotsky in propaganda campaign

Plagued by geographical, resource, communication issues.

Not centralized, nor held any key cities; General meetings conducted in Paris

Unable to gain mass support from any key constituency (peasants wanted to keep land, Republics not granted independence.

Now class, all together again, you say, “So now

that the B-Dogs have won the Civil War, Amby, What Challenge do they face?

HINT: It rhymes with schmegschmonomy

YES! ECONOMY

Causes of the problem:External Pressures: Valuable resources lost or cut

off due to 1) Brest Litovsk, 2) White’s Southern and Western positions, and 3) Foreigners international blockade

Internal (B-dog) Actions: 1) paper money led to inflation, 2) W.C. caused food shortage and subsistence farming and 3) Red Armies new victory gives them room to decide/become discontented (many join unemployed or unsatisfied masses)

Results of bad Schmegschmonomy in

1921 Cultivated land at 1/2 of its 1914 level 7 million (HIGHEST estimation)

Ruskies died of starvation 1/3rd of Proletariat went to countryside

to look for food Currency (Rouble) was reduced to

almost 1% of its pre-war value

Turning Point

KRONDSTADT!!! (For our sake we will call this K-FED…so now its K-FED versus the B-DOGS!)

SOLDIERS: “Soviets without B-dogs!”LENIN: “K-fed has been the pride and glory of

the revolution”LENIN: “This revolt is the flash that lit up reality

better than anything!”CLASS: Brittany never should’ve dumped him

B-Dog Response

Repression and Concession

…Sounds just like ol’ times

Repression

Red Terror kicks it mo-town style Internal Party debate banned 100,000 internal party expulsions Soviets come under complete control

of B-dog posse

Concession

NEP - To most analysts, this is progressive and pragmatic behavior (similar to many supporters of extreme who are stuck fighting for the validity of their ideology)

Agriculture: requisitioning ended, proportional tax introduced, surplus could be sold on open market by NEPmen

Industry: More efficiency needed; Light industries are returned to private owners, state employs experts in heavy industry

Outcomes

Agricultural policy successful - By 1924, production had closed in on pre-war levels (huge achievement considering human loss). Food is cheaper and affordable by most/all

Industry Bites It - Scissors Crisis (crisscross of agriculture and industrial prices makes farmers again lose incentive to produce). Longer recovery road means industrial prices remain high.

Lenin’s Legacy

USSR formed (the idea here is to have central government as most b-dogs wanted, yet allow for autonomy in the border states/minority groups…VERY PROGRESSIVE

Between this, his revolutionary leadership, original econ policies (W.C. and N.E.P), he had laid the foundation for a modern reinterpretation of Communism later called Marxist-Leninist.

CLASS: “But Amber, is Lenin good or bad?”

WHO CARES??? LET’S SHOP!

WHO CARES??? LET’S SHOP!