How far do you agree that the Bolsheviks consolidated their hold on power in the years after the October/November revolution mainly through the use of violence against their opponents?
The Bolsheviks consolidated their power after October 1917 however they faced many severe problems which made keeping their power complex. For Lenin and the Bolsheviks winning political power was relatively easy compared with retaining it. The Bolsheviks may have had a temporary majority in the All-Russia soviet in October 1917, but they did not have a majority following in the country as a whole . Russia was in chaos, politically and economically, and normal government had broken down in large areas. . yet lenin was able to overcome these problems and
This act of closing down the constituent assembly marked the end of any hope of democracy under lenin, and began a rule of communist dictatorship. Other marks of violence the Bolsheviks used through repression was the Decrees on religion and press. In the beginning of the USSR, a campaign began to be done to make the state atheist by removing the influence of all religion, and the Russian Orthodox church especially because the Bolsheviks wanted to entirely abolish the tsarist regime, from Soviet society from the earliest days after the revolution in 1917, continuing until the fall of the USSR in 1991. The initial anti-religious campaign after the revolution focused especially against the Orthodox church and it was characterized by brutal terror tactics that killed thousands accompanied by legislation meant to deprive the Church of its capacity to function. The decree on press was instated because the Bolsheviks felt they needed to close down any newpaper that was critical of the government so that they would not lose support from the people. These decrees were acts of holding onto power because it made opposition less likely, and the decree on religion worked to eliminate any tsarist regime in order to begin a communist rule. Furthermore lenin also reinstated the secret police under the name CHEKA. From its founding, the Cheka was an important military