How Did The Guarding Play In The Bolshevik Revolution

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Towards and during the 1917 October Revolution, terror held the lives of the Russian population. This is particularly subject to the introduction of the CHEKKA (secret police) and Red Guard by the Bolshevik Party. However, along with terror and poverty, the promise for ‘peace, bread and land’ made by Vladimir Lenin made him all the more favourable to become leader. That leaves to question, was terror necessary in the consolidation of post-revolutionary societies?
One of the factors that played the more significant role in the Bolshevik consolidation is undeniably the CHEKA. The CHEKA were a temporary secret police formed by Lenin in December 1917 – to be abolished once Bolshevism had consolidated. The CHEKA ensured that anyone who had anti-Bolshevik …show more content…

With extreme discipline, unification and strong beliefs, compliance was a direct result. After the 1917 election and the confirmation of Lenin’s uncertainty, the Bolshevik loss by 195 votes to the Socialist Revolutionaries caused the Red Guard to force control, proving their power from the very beginning. The Bolshevik Red Guards denied entry to the provisional government through the storming of the Winter Palace once again proving the power they held which was due to organisation and strong opinions. Similar to the CHEKA, the Red Guard used scare tactics and enforced terror onto civilians and other groups who opposed the Bolshevik way however, were recognised …show more content…

However, although hard, Lenin knew to remain in power he would have to stick to his word and once in power, his leadership spoke itself – He was able to bring peace to the country by signing the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, therefore removing Russia from World War One and by doing this, allowing peace to flourish. However, with this came reparations, by signing the treaty, Russia gave up one third of her fertile land in the Ukraine Region to Germany and this caused unrest amongst his followers however, his promise for land was filled by the new Bolshevik decree’s. Once in power, Lenin abolished private ownership, workers owned their factories and worked a maximum of 8 hours and Large houses became shared households, enforced by the Red Guards and CHEKA, Lenin was also able to attain the ongoing support of the Peasants and working class which made over 80% of Russia’s