Background
Lenin managed to secure the Bolsheviks’ power by quickly declaring peace with Germany and nationalizing all the land. The Red Army was formed. The White Movement attacks during the civil war were resisted only with great difficulty.
State and society
In November 1917, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was declared. Lenin’s first government was called The Soviet of People’s Commissars (Sovnarkom).
In December 1922, the Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) was formed. It initially contained 4 republics: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and the Transcaucasian Republic. By the end of the USSR there were 15 republics.
In 1918 the Constituent Assembly was dissolved and all parties except the Communist Party were banned. The highest institutions of the party were the Politburo and Presidium, followed by the Supreme Soviet and the Council of Ministers.
A special secret police force, called the Cheka, was organized in 1917 (it was later named the OGPU, NKVD and KGB respectively). This organization began the Red Terror campaign against all who opposed the new Bolshevik government.
Foreign relations
The Soviet Union attempted to spread its influence and communism to its neighbors. In 1919 the Comintern, whose aim was to carry out provocations and initiate revolutions in other countries, was formed.
After World War II the Soviet Union was successful in establishing its hegemony over the Eastern European counties and started building socialism there.
It had numerous indirect armed conflicts with the United States in several parts of the world over hegemony.
Soviet Russia
1917-1991
The Bolshevik victory in the civil war transformed into the dictatorship of Stalin. World War II was followed by a bipolar Cold War. The experiment of communism collapsed after 74 years.
Lenin And His Comrades In Red Square. Unknown Photographer (Before 1923)
Background
Lenin managed to secure the Bolsheviks’ power by quickly declaring peace with Germany and nationalizing all the land. The Red Army was formed. The White Movement attacks during the civil war were resisted only with great difficulty.
State and society
In November 1917, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was declared. Lenin’s first government was called The Soviet of People’s Commissars (Sovnarkom).
In December 1922, the Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) was formed. It initially contained 4 republics: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and the Transcaucasian Republic. By the end of the USSR there were 15 republics.
In 1918 the Constituent Assembly was dissolved and all parties except the Communist Party were banned. The highest institutions of the party were the Politburo and Presidium, followed by the Supreme Soviet and the Council of Ministers.
A special secret police force, called the Cheka, was organized in 1917 (it was later named the OGPU, NKVD and KGB respectively). This organization began the Red Terror campaign against all who opposed the new Bolshevik government.
Foreign relations
The Soviet Union attempted to spread its influence and communism to its neighbors. In 1919 the Comintern, whose aim was to carry out provocations and initiate revolutions in other countries, was formed.
After World War II the Soviet Union was successful in establishing its hegemony over the Eastern European counties and started building socialism there.
It had numerous indirect armed conflicts with the United States in several parts of the world over hegemony.
New Economic Policy