Why did lenin face problems during the communist period?

Question by FldHckyBasktblALLSTAR: Why did lenin face problems during a communist period of time?
I wasn’t in class for the notes but I got them from a friend and it says “Lenin faces incredible problems” “Death, hunger, shattered government and economy”
This is all under a title of “Building communist Soviet Union”

Answers and Views:

Answer by Eden Astarte
The Communists came to power on November 7, 1917 and immediately ended Russia’s involvement in World War 1. To Lenin the most important things the revolution should initially do was deliver on its slogan “Peace, Land, Bread”, to ameliorate the problems inherited by centuries of Tsarist power abuse. Russia has been steadily decaying through out the first part of the 20th century – the shattered government refers to an impotent Provisional Government that came to power in “February” 1917. It was a coalition between the right wing of the Russian Social Democratic Party (Mensheviks), the mostly peasant based SR’s (Social Revolutionaries) and the Cadets (Constitutional Democrats). It essentially tried to create a Constitutional Monarchy… setting the Tsar as a figure head and allowing the Bourgeois elements of society mainly to rule. It was a terrible failure because it did not end the war. Essentially World War I was draining Russia of its resources in terms of food and money – most men were off fighting, so harvesting food was made difficult.

Economically Russia was completely backwards – the last time it had a serious modernization initiative was under Peter the Great – there was very little in terms of Industrialization.

Secondly, after the Bolsheviks (Communists) were in power the Cadets, some elements of the SR’s and Mensheviks and former Tsarist generals and military officers took up arms against the new Soviet Republic. The “White” armies as they were called also received much assistance from foreign powers. Over 20 nations from around the world sent in their armies to assist in the counter-revolutionary movement to squash the world’s first serious Communist Revolution – after having just climbed out of the hole of World War 1 the Bolsheviks were being pushed back down it by the Tsarists and Imperialist powers of the world that started the war in the first place.

Under the period of the Russian Civil war (from 1918 until about 1921) the government policy was something called “War Communism”:

“-All industry was nationalized and strict centralized management was introduced.
-State monopoly on foreign trade was introduced.
-Discipline for workers was strict, and strikers could be shot.
-Obligatory labour duty was imposed onto “non-working classes”.
-Prodrazvyorstka – requisition of agricultural surpluses from peasants in excess of absolute minimum for centralized distribution among the remaining population.
-Food and most commodities were rationed and distributed in a centralized way.
-Private enterprise became illegal.
-Military-like control of railroads was introduced. ”

Ultimately these steps were necessary for the Bolsheviks to retain power and by the end of World War 2 the USSR would emerge as a super-power because of the planned centralization of the economy in terms of industrialization, in spite of disasters which occured in the 1930’s such as “forced collectivation”.

When you do more research on your own just keep in mind Lenin died in 1924, so really the big issue under his leadership was the Civil War.

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