22a: Unite and Take Over!

The Bolshevik Party had seized the reins of power in Russia. But they were not yet out of the First World War; moreover, potential enemies were everywhere. The world revolution Marx had promised was becoming less and less likely. The Bolsheviks would therefore have to create a Soviet Russian state, literally out of scratch. The tensions between building this Russian Soviet state and working toward world revolution would create big problems.

In segment 22b: The Uncivilized Wars, we will trace the various classes of adversaries faced by the infant Bolshevik (now calling itself "Communist") regime: the foreign nations with established armies, the so-called "White Russian" armies which appeared during this time period, and the liberation movements which sprang up in non-Russian parts of the former Russian empire. Ultimately, the Soviet Red Army prevailed, but at a tremendous price. Millions of civilians died and the nation's infrastructure was all but destroyed.

In segment 22c: War Communism, Lenin and his Communists are forced to put their dreams of world revolution on a back burner. Once the smoke from the civil wars cleared, Communist Russia is now envisioned as the homeland of world revolution, but even the homeland of world revolution needs a functioning economy. To get Communist Russia back on its feet, Lenin invents a ruthless economic policy called "War Communism."So what the government wants, the government takes. One result is revolution against the Communists, which the Communists rename counterrevolution.

Segment 22d: The Soviet Union Is Created covers the conversion of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic into the Soviet Union. Although the Commissar for Nationalities, Iosif Stalin, wanted to absorb all of the nationalities into a huge Russian state. Lenin insisted on a union of Soviet republics in which Russia was first among equals, and Lenin won. To strengthen the new Soviet Union, the New Economic Policy (NEP) is created to heal the wounds of "War Communism." To assist the world revolution predicted by Marx, the Communist International, or "Comintern," was created. In fact, however, the Comintern very quickly became a tool of Soviet foreign policy.