Opposition and how it was dealt with

Lenin

• The Red Army were crucial in ensuring the defeat with the White Army who opposed Bolshevik rule
• Both Lenin and Stalin realised the importance of the keeping the military on board if they were to remain in power

Stalin

• The five year plans were mostly designed to equip the armed forces with the resources needed to deal with external threats
• Success at the Battle of Stalingrad and Russia’s defeat of Nazi Germany in WWII
• Clearly displays that with regards to using the army as a tool to deal opposition the communists more effectively maintained discipline and loyalty from the military which was used to deal with internal and external forces

Censorship during the first world war and the Bolsheviks

• Russian people, especially troops were subject to censorship
• When the Bolsheviks seized power they abolished press freedom
• By 1905 all reporting was done by the Bolsheviks
• In 1921 the agitation and propaganda department (Agitprop) was founded with the main aim of creating an idealistic view of Russia
• School and radios were under constant surveillance

Censorship under Stalin (Second World war and New Soviet Man)

• By 1932, all literacy groups were closed down
• Anyone wanting to write or publish had to join the Soviet Union
• Everything had to be written in the language the most of Russia would understand and was to be approved by the party
• Anyone who rebelled was executed, arrested or sent to exile (labour camps), some commit suicide
• Writers were highly valued as the engineer of men’s souls, but only if promoting the concept of the New Soviet Man

Censorship under Khrushchev

• Censorship was eased
• By 1959, 135,000 libraries contained 8000 million books
• The Lenin library alone had 19 million texts
• News was still distorted
• Newspaper sales flourished 

Censorship under Alexander II

• He relaxed censorship
• Newspapers were printed without being changed, government also produced publications
• Increase of circulation of books, 1020 books in 1855, 1836 books in 1864
• Policy of Glasnost
• Ineffective, he was assassinated

Censorship under Alexander III

• Clamp down on publications
• Officials censored written material before publication and closed down certain newspapers and educational institutes

Censorship under Nicholas II

• A reversion happened.
• The penny paper aimed at the proles reached 25,000 after 2 years
• The number of periodicals in circulation increased 3 fold from 1900-1914
• Pre-publication censorship disappeared although publishers could still be fired or closed down for writing subversive material

Alexander III

• In 1905 the army shot dead over 200 protestors who marched onto winter palace
• Led to being called Bloody Sunday, led to more discontent and opposition groups wanted to overthrow the Tsar.
• They did not abandon him

Nicholas II

• Abandoned him in 1917 leading to his abdication and thus failure to deal with opposition
• Can be argued that the army was used more effectively under communist rule

Alexander III

• Fully utilised the Okhrana who were certainly the harshest police force under the Tsars
• Used as a tool for spying, imprisoning and exiling opposition
• Successful due to the lack of open political opposition, especially from groups such as the Peoples Will whose leaders were executed

Lenin

• Cheka were even more ruthless
• Vital in Lenin’s Red Terror which effectively dealt with opposition to the Bolsheviks rule
• Different to AIII police as they were used to victimise people not just for their actions but for who they were
• This shows Lenin was more effective at dealing with opposition as they instilled a fear into people which stopped opposition from growing

Stalin

• Even harsher
• NKVD became crucial to the purges and shows trials until the 1940s
• Included collecting evidence against communists who had been held in high esteem including Trotsky
• NKVD helped administer prisoner camps (Gulags) where over 40 million were sent
• Stalin more successful at dealing with opposition than any ruler including Lenin and AIII