Lenin in Power

1. Read Source 20. What aspects of War Communism are the sailors most angry about? Would you expect peasants in Russia to feel the same?
They were angry about how they had hoped for freedom but instead they got violence from the Soviets. I would expect the peasants to feel the same because they have been promised better living conditions and the Bolsheviks are not giving them that. They are extremely violent and no one is happy.

2. Does the evidence of Source 23 prove the NEP was a success? Explain your answer with reference to Sources 22, 24 and 25.
Source 23 shows that the NEP was successful in improving the production in Russia, but as source 25 explains, this didn't mean that the living and working conditions improved, and in fact it got worse. It seems that the supporters of the NEP overlooked the underlying bad conditions, and just thought it was good because productions was improving.

3. From all you have found about Lenin, do you agree with Source 26? Why or why not?
I agree with source 26 partially. I agree that he was a good leader in regards of public speaking and being "one of the people," but I disagree that he was a good person. He changed the free elections so that it would be in the Bolshevik's favor and he created the Cheka which was a ruthless group that got rid of Lenin's oppositions.

How did the Bolsheviks consolidate their rule?
4. Write an explanation of how the Bolsheviks made their rule more secure. Mention the following:

The power of the Red Army
Treatment of oppostion
War Communism
The New Economic Policy
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The victory in the Civil War
The Promise of a new society
Propaganda

Is any one of the above factors more important than any of the others? Explain.



The Bolsheviks consolidated their power by doing many things. When Lenin took power, he promised the Russian people that he would improve the society and fix all of the existing problems and used the slogan "Peace, Bread and Land." This made many Russians support him and believe that he would fix the problems. They used violence to get rid of their opposition and force people to support them. The Red Army terrorized villages and the Cheka got rid of any opposition. War Communism was used to end the war with Germany, but to do so Russia was put into extremely horrible conditions. The government had control over basically everything. When their was mutiny with the soldiers, Lenin realized he needed to revise the controls of the government under war communism. He allowed peasants to sell extra grain and pay a tax on it rather than give it to the government. The Bolsheviks also used the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk to end the war. Russia lost a lot of their population, industry, agriculture and other important aspects just to end the war. This was made because it would have been impossible to restore order in Russia if there was a war going on.
I think that the power of the Red Army, the treatment of the opposition and the Cheka are very important because they show that Lenin used violence to try and gain more support.