Attacks on Opponents of the Government, 1917–28 (Edexcel A-Level History): Revision Notes
Attacks on Opponents of the Government, 1917–28
Introduction: Lenin's approach to terror
Terror was a fundamental component of Lenin's strategy for maintaining power from the very beginning of Communist rule. Lenin demonstrated his willingness to use terror against political opponents from the earliest phase of the revolution.
Lenin and other Communist leaders had studied the French Revolution and recognised that terror had been used by revolutionary governments against the old ruling classes. In this context, Lenin believed that revolutionary terror was a legitimate weapon in the revolutionary process. Importantly, Lenin repeatedly stated that he hoped the Red Terror would be less severe than the terror used during the French Revolution. Furthermore, Lenin viewed political terror as a temporary measure that should be abandoned once the revolution became secure and stable.
Lenin's vision of terror contained a fundamental contradiction: whilst he theoretically viewed it as a temporary emergency measure, the practical implementation created institutional structures and precedents that would outlast his leadership and become permanent features of the Soviet state.
However, despite Lenin's initial vision of terror as temporary, by 1924 it had become clear that the secret police had evolved into a permanent feature of the Communist regime.
The Cheka and the Red Terror
Establishment of the Cheka
The Cheka, Lenin's first secret police force, embodied his views on revolutionary violence. Established in December 1917, the Cheka's full name was the Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage. They functioned as a political police force whose primary targets were the counter-revolutionaries: individuals and groups attempting to overthrow the revolution.
The Cheka was led by Felix Dzerzhinsky, who served as head of the secret police from 1917 to 1926. Dzerzhinsky was born into an aristocratic Polish family and had the right to call himself Prince before the revolution. He quickly gained a reputation for efficiency and was ideologically committed to using terror against counter-revolutionaries. Dzerzhinsky advocated for swift and harsh revolutionary justice. During the 1920s, he continued to head the political police and sided with the Duumvirate against Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev. He died of heart failure in 1926.
The role of the Cheka, 1917–21
During the Civil War (1917-21), the Cheka's role was to protect Communist rule in areas controlled by the Communists. This differed from the Red Army's role, which focused on defending and expanding Communist-held territory through military means.
From the earliest days of the revolution, the Cheka attacked not only the Communists' capitalist enemies but also other socialists. A significant example occurred in January 1918 when the Cheka and the Red Army forcibly closed down the Constituent Assembly, a democratically elected parliament dominated by the Socialist Revolutionaries, who were the Communists' socialist rivals.
The Cheka operated outside the legal system entirely
The Cheka did not enforce laws, nor were they bound by laws. Instead, they dispensed revolutionary justice, which allowed them to act arbitrarily without legal constraints or oversight. This meant there were no checks on their power and no legal protections for their victims.
Activities of the Cheka during the Civil War
Between 1917 and 1921, Lenin's secret police employed terror in various ways:
Economic enforcement: The Cheka assisted the Red Army in requisitioning grain from peasants as part of War Communism, the economic policy that banned private trade and requisitioned food supplies.
Political repression: They closed down opposition newspapers and imprisoned, tortured and executed socialist opponents of the new government, not just capitalist enemies.
The Cheka used extreme violence as an instrument of control
The Cheka employed brutal methods against enemies of the Communist Party in recently captured areas. This included extreme acts of violence such as crucifying priests, allowing members of the White Army to freeze to death, scalping and burying people alive. These acts were designed to intimidate potential opponents and establish Communist authority through fear.
Military support: During the Red Army's attack on the Kronstadt Naval base, Cheka agents with machine guns were positioned behind Red Army soldiers with orders to shoot any soldiers who retreated or refused to fight. This demonstrated how the Cheka enforced discipline within Communist forces.
Concentration camps: The Cheka ran concentration camps that housed the Communists' enemies, establishing a precedent for later Gulag systems.
Trade enforcement: They stopped private trading, which was outlawed under War Communism, ensuring the economic policy was enforced.
The secret police and the NEP
The end of the Red Terror
The end of the Civil War in 1921 led to a significant change in Lenin's policy. The Red Terror was officially brought to an end. However, Lenin still believed that a political police force was necessary because socialism had not been completely victorious. During the period of the New Economic Policy (NEP), the Cheka (later reorganised as the GPU in 1922) continued to attack the government's political opponents. Nevertheless, terror operated on a much smaller scale than during the Civil War.
The phrase 'secret police' is somewhat misleading when applied to Lenin's era. Under Lenin, there was little secret about the political police. Arrests and executions were often carried out publicly to intimidate potential opponents and create an atmosphere of fear throughout Soviet society.
Surveillance and deportations
In 1922, Lenin instructed Dzerzhinsky to establish an agency within the GPU to monitor the press. The GPU also kept former Tsarist officers, who now served in the Red Army, under constant surveillance to ensure their loyalty.
Lenin remained deeply suspicious of intellectuals and experts who did not fully support the government. In 1922, he instructed Dzerzhinsky to supervise the deportation of professors and engineers suspected of anti-Communist sympathies. This demonstrated Lenin's profound insecurity about the future of the revolution and his fear that the economic compromises of the NEP might lead to political overthrow.
The GPU maintained close scrutiny of public opinion throughout the 1920s. They had the power to intercept post and other forms of communication. Intellectuals and students received particularly close monitoring because the GPU feared these groups were unlikely to support the government due to their privileged, almost bourgeois position in Soviet society. GPU surveillance reports were sent directly to the Central Committee, ensuring the Party leadership remained informed about public sentiment.
The GPU also reported to the Central Committee about moral problems developing during the NEP period, such as drunkenness, gambling and other signs of inequality. This demonstrated how the secret police's role extended beyond political control into enforcing Communist social values.
Political trials
Lenin's profound insecurity about the revolution's future led him to fear that the economic compromise of the NEP would result in political overthrow. Therefore, he ordered Dzerzhinsky to organise political trials of leading socialist opponents.
In 1922, Dzerzhinsky organised the trial of Socialist Revolutionary leaders. They were accused of treason, sabotage and plotting to overthrow the Soviet state. At the end of the trial in August 1922, all defendants were sentenced to death. However, most were imprisoned rather than immediately executed, and many were only executed during Stalin's terror in the mid-1930s. These trials served to intimidate potential opponents and demonstrate the consequences of challenging Communist rule.
Religious, moral and economic crimes
The GPU also policed the semi-capitalist marketplace established by the NEP, targeting various groups and behaviours:
Economic targets: The GPU imprisoned Nepmen (private traders and businessmen) who had grown too rich under the NEP's limited capitalism. This reflected Communist concerns about the development of a new capitalist class.
Moral and cultural enforcement: The GPU harassed women who dressed in Western styles and persecuted young people who danced to jazz music. These activities were seen as threatening Communist values and promoting Western decadence.
Religious persecution: The GPU continued persecuting priests and religious figures, reflecting the Communist Party's atheist ideology and desire to eliminate religious influence.
Revolutionary justice continued under the NEP
Significantly, there were no laws against these activities. However, the GPU defended what they considered the interests of the revolution and could therefore act arbitrarily against perceived class enemies. This demonstrated the continuation of revolutionary justice principles from the Civil War period, even as the scale of terror decreased.
Changes in the role of the secret police over time
The role of the secret police evolved significantly between 1917 and 1928. Initially, during the Civil War, the Cheka fought organised political groups who opposed Lenin's government through extreme violence and terror. However, a decade later, under the NEP, the secret police were employed to enforce a Communist moral code on various groups: people who had become too rich under the NEP, experts who disagreed with the government, and young people who enjoyed Western culture like jazz music.
This shift reflected changing priorities from defeating armed opposition to controlling social and cultural developments that threatened Communist ideology. Despite the reduction in scale, terror remained a permanent feature of the Soviet system, contrary to Lenin's initial vision of it as temporary.
Key Points to Remember:
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Lenin viewed terror as legitimate and temporary: He studied the French Revolution and believed revolutionary terror was a necessary tool, though he hoped it would be less severe than in France and would end once the revolution was secure.
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The Cheka operated outside the law: Established in December 1917 under Felix Dzerzhinsky, the Cheka dispensed 'revolutionary justice', meaning they could act arbitrarily without being bound by laws, targeting both capitalist enemies and rival socialists.
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Terror evolved from military to social control: During the Civil War (1917-21), the Cheka used extreme violence against political opponents, enforced War Communism, and ran concentration camps. After 1921, terror reduced in scale but continued through surveillance, deportations and political trials.
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The GPU enforced Communist ideology during the NEP: In the 1920s, the secret police (renamed GPU in 1922) monitored intellectuals, deported experts, conducted political trials, and enforced Communist moral codes by targeting Nepmen, Western cultural influences and religious figures.
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Terror became permanent despite Lenin's intentions: Although Lenin initially presented the secret police as a temporary emergency measure, by 1924 they had clearly become a permanent feature of the Communist regime, establishing a precedent for future Soviet governments.