Government and Control in Wartime (AQA A-Level History): Revision Notes
Government and Control in Wartime
The drive towards centralisation
The Civil War accelerated the concentration of authority within the Bolshevik state. According to historian Orlando Figes, the roots of the totalitarian system can be traced directly to the Civil War period, when the Bolsheviks found it necessary to regulate every element of the economy and society. What began as a movement of revolutionary activists committed to radical change evolved into a regime that prioritised control, discipline, and direction from the centre. The Civil War validated and reinforced this approach.
Centralisation refers to the concentration of decision-making power in a small group at the top of the political hierarchy, rather than distributing authority across various levels or regions.
Early in the Civil War, Moscow replaced Petrograd as Russia's capital. This relocation held both practical and symbolic importance. Petrograd sat dangerously close to Russia's western frontier, making it vulnerable to attack. Moscow, by contrast, occupied a more defensible position in the Russian interior. Beyond military considerations, the move marked a deliberate break with the past. Petrograd had been constructed to open Russia toward the western world, embodying the outward-looking vision of the Tsarist state. Choosing Moscow signalled the regime's belief that it stood superior to that world. The change also reflected a shift in governing style, moving from the language of openness to one defined by military terminology: constant 'battles' and 'campaigns' conducted across multiple 'fronts'.
The expansion of Party power
More than half a million Party members served with the Red Army during the Civil War. They grew accustomed to following orders and employing whatever force appeared necessary. To ensure the government could operate efficiently, the Soviet bureaucracy expanded enormously during these years, reaching a point where administrative officials outnumbered workers by a ratio of two to one. Some observers have argued that this growth created what amounted to a dictatorship controlled by bureaucrats rather than by the working class.
Bureaucracy describes the system of administrative officials who carry out the day-to-day business of government through established procedures and hierarchies.
The Communist Party itself provided the actual driving force behind government operations. Although the Party structure appeared reasonably democratic on paper, with annual congresses elected by the mass membership, reality differed substantially. These congresses convened yearly during Lenin's lifetime, but policy was determined by the Party's Central Committee. In 1919, another body emerged that became the true centre of party decision-making. Known as the Politburo, this theoretically represented a sub-committee of the Central Committee. Its first elected members included Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin. Because Politburo members also held positions as government officials, the Politburo gradually assumed greater control over state affairs. The Sovnarkom met with decreasing frequency during the 1920s as power shifted.
Parallel structures of Party and government
An organisational bureau, the Orgburo, was also established in 1919 to oversee the activities of local Party committees and manage the permanent secretariat responsible for the party's routine administration. This created two parallel hierarchies operating simultaneously within the Soviet state:
The Soviet Government Structure
The Soviet government structure consisted of layers ascending from local and district soviets through provincial and city soviets, then the Congress of Soviets, the Central Committee, and finally Sovnarkom at the apex. In theory, this allowed representatives to be elected from below. The Congress of Soviets, elected by provincial and city soviets, functioned as the supreme law-making body. The Central Committee, elected by the Congress, administered the state and oversaw the bureaucracy when Congress was not meeting. In practice, the Central Committee's powers were transferred to Sovnarkom.
The Communist Party Structure
The Communist Party structure mirrored this arrangement but with different mechanisms of control. Local parties fed into provincial and city Party organisations, which sent delegates to the Congress. The Congress chose members for the Central Committee, which elected representatives to the Politburo. Theoretically, this structure allowed Party members to debate and vote on policy, with power residing ultimately with the Politburo. In practice, provincial and city Party organisations and key positions were selected by the Central Committee or Politburo, and delegates to Party Congresses were chosen from above rather than elected from below. Party members could obtain 'advantages' such as improved employment opportunities.
The Politburo consisted of seven to nine members drawn from the Central Committee and functioned as the Party's decision-making body, meeting almost daily. Sovnarkom comprised fifteen to twenty members from the Central Committee, issued orders and decrees, and decided policy, also meeting daily. The structure ensured Party dominance over governmental institutions.
The theory and reality of democratic centralism
Lenin employed the phrase 'democratic centralism' to describe the system, though the grip of the one-party state tightened considerably. In theory, the Soviet Union functioned as a democracy because workers and peasants elected members of their local soviets, who in turn selected those who sat on higher-level soviets and the All-Russian Congress of Soviets. These representatives therefore exerted influence on policy decisions. This democratic element combined with centralism because the central authorities then transmitted decisions downward to the masses.
The Gap Between Theory and Practice
Whilst engaged in a brutal struggle for survival, the Bolsheviks showed no concern for democratic procedures. Moreover, little serious reflection occurred about the dangers posed by centralised power, since such concentration of authority already formed part of Bolshevik ideology. The Party had never operated democratically in structure, and Russia possessed no genuine democratic tradition. The Bolsheviks rapidly embraced the methods of a one-party state.
Consolidation of authoritarian control
Between 1918 and 1921, the experience of fighting a Civil War bound the new Communist State more firmly to repression and 'terror'. The requirement for obedience to the Party intensified. New central controls were introduced to manage the economy and address food shortages, and terror was deployed systematically to enforce stringent new measures and eliminate opposition. The Bolsheviks and Communists adopted what can be described as a 'siege mentality' as they confronted internal and external enemies determined to destroy them. This mentality persisted within the Party long after the war concluded, and future Communist governments consistently reflected this outlook.
Evidence of state power: universal labour conscription
Worked Example: State Power Through Universal Labour Conscription (April 1918)
In April 1918, Sverdlov, Chairman of the Party Central Committee, issued a decree that demonstrated the regime's willingness to mobilise the entire population:
Key Provisions:
- The government deemed it an immediate priority to enlist all citizens in universal labour conscription and military service
- This policy encountered stubborn resistance from the bourgeoisie, who attempted to preserve their economic privileges through conspiracies, uprisings, and agreements with foreign powers
- Female citizens were trained, with their consent, on equal terms with males
- Military training became compulsory for workers and peasants who did not exploit the labour of others
- Those who evaded compulsory training or neglected their duties would be called to account
Significance: This decree illustrated how wartime necessity justified unprecedented state intervention in citizens' lives, setting a precedent for future government control over the population.
The formation of the USSR
Territories conquered by the Red Army during the Civil War were either absorbed into the 'Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic' (the designation given to the Bolshevik State in January 1918) or permitted to remain as separate republics. Examples of the latter included Ukraine, Belorussia, and Georgia. Stalin, serving as Commissar for Nationalities, disagreed with Lenin regarding the status of these independent republics. Stalin preferred them to be directly controlled by Moscow, whilst Lenin favoured a federation of soviet republics. Lenin prevailed in this dispute. At the close of 1922, the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was formally established. From that point forward, 'Russia' became known as the USSR or Soviet Union.
Key Points to Remember:
- The Civil War served as the crucible for Soviet totalitarianism, creating a system where the state controlled every aspect of economy and society through necessity, which then became permanent practice.
- The creation of the Politburo in 1919 marked the real shift in power within the Communist Party, with this small group of seven to nine members (including Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin) becoming the actual decision-making centre despite the theoretical democracy of Party congresses.
- 'Democratic centralism' operated as a façade; whilst the system appeared to allow popular participation through local soviet elections, power flowed downward from the centre, with the Party selecting key positions rather than allowing genuine bottom-up democracy.
- The Soviet bureaucracy expanded massively during the Civil War, with officials outnumbering workers two to one by the early 1920s, creating what some historians describe as a dictatorship of bureaucrats rather than a workers' state.
- The move from Petrograd to Moscow symbolised more than military strategy; it represented the regime's turn inward and adoption of military-style governance based on 'battles', 'campaigns', and 'fronts', establishing patterns that would define Soviet governance for decades.