1.+The+use+of+terror+tactics+in+the+establishing+the+new+regime+–+the+CHEKA,+RED+TERROR

The Re d Terror emerged in Russia, late in the revolutionary year of 1917. It was a form of political repression, which saw the constituent assembly and opposing political groups completely dissolved. Harsh practises including censorship, torture and mass executions, ensured that the ‘internal opposition to the government’ was eliminated.
 * [[file:Group Presentation.pptx]]The Red Terror**** : **

Historian Richard Pipes summaries the ‘Red Terror’ as **“**//**a measure designed to nip in the bud any thoughts of resistance to the dictatorship.”**// Despite the bad connotations attached to the word ‘terror’, Felix Dzerzhinsky (Commissar for Internal Affairs, and head of the Cheka) openly stated that ‘We stand for organised terror’. For Dzerzhinsky, Lenin, and even Stalin (who had begun to have influence on Russia's political scene) this regime of fear was a necessary measure when Russia was struggling against the threat of counter-revolutionaries.


 * //‘We will turn our hearts into steel, which we will temper in the fire of suffering and the blood of the fighters for freedom. We will make our hearts cruel, hard and immovable, so that no mercy will enter them, and so that they will not quiver at the sight of a sea of enemy blood. We will not let loose the floodgates of the sea. Without mercy, without sparing, we will kill our enemies in scores of hundreds. Let them be thousands; let them drown themselves in their own blood. For the blood of Lenin and Uritsky, Zinovief and Volodarski, let there be floods of the blood of the bourgeois- more blood, as much as possible.’– From Bolshevik newspaper Krasnaya Gazeta // **
 * //1st September 1918. //**

The Cheka wereessentially seen as an efficient and organised form of the Okrana, and their expected purpose can be somewhat understood by their full title: ‘The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Fighting Counter-Revolution, Sabotage and Speculation”. Lenin knew that all history was driven by class struggle, and thus expected opposition to the new government, from its class enemies, the Bourgeoisie. He wanted to hunt them down. It was established in December of 1917 and headed by the Polish intellectual, Bolshevik, Felix Dzerzhinsky. Lenin decided upon him as the ideal choice to lead the fight, because Dzerzhinsky ‘never allowed finer feelings or a sense of compassion to deter him from the task of destroying the real or potential opponents of the Bolshevik regime’. Felix said, “This is not time for speech-making. Our revolution is in serious danger… we have no need for justice now. Now we have a battle to the death”. The Cheka was Lenin’s backing, which set about spreading a network of terror across Russia. And, the growing size of the organisation showed its importance of mainting the Bolsheviks in power; in March of 1918 there were 120 employees, but by 1921 they were estimated to have risen to a group of 143, 000. The law did not restrict them; they could arrest and execute supposed enemies without a trial.
 * Cheka: **

The White’s were still supportive of the autocratic regime and wanted the Romanov’s to regain control in order to suppress and stabilise the continuous revolutionary fever in Russia. The Red Army were obviously worried about the remaining support for the Royal Family and therefore saw them as a possible threat to their power. On the 17th July 1918, Tsar Nicholas II and his family were executed by Cheka authorities in the basement of the house in which they were imprisoned. The death of the Romanov family symbolised that no mercy would be given to enemies of the new regime. Trotsky stated that, ** // “the execution of the Tsar and his family was needed not only to frighten, horrify and in still a sense of hopelessness in the enemy, but also shake up out own ranks, to show that there was no retreating, that ahead lay total victory or total doom." // **
 * Execution of the Tsar:**

Torturous executions were inflicted on people who opposed the Bolsheviks and their new regime. The mental state of the Chekists was questioned due the torture they inflicted on people. One executioner like to shoot his victims bit by bit, starting at the wrist and ending at the head, taking a sniff of cocaine between each shot. Others preferred to put the prisoners hand in boiling water until the skin peeled off. Some were rolled in barrels, which were studded internally with spikes. Others were knawed to death by rats. Some Cheka authorities preferred to inflict psychological torture by firing empty pistols at their heads. The sickening and extravagant ways that torture was inflicted also had brutalising effects of the Chekists themselves. Alcohol and cocaine abuse was high and a delivery of alcohol to Cheka headquarters was seen as a sign of upcoming executions. Kylenko stated **//“We must execute not only the guilty. Execution of the innocent will impress the masses even more.”//** This further shows the skewed mental state that the terror played. The methods that the Cheka authorities used to kill prisoners terrified the public to oppose the Bolsheviks and in this way it was a successful, bu t brutal tactic on the Bolsheviks behalf. Although the Red’s were much more effective about their terror tactics, the reaction of the white’s is often overlooked. The whites were relentless and nailed suspected communists to tree’s with nail spikes. Red soldiers had stars carved into their backs, their limbs hacked off and were buried neck deep and run over by cattle. On hearing that Bolsheviks killed those with clean fingernails and smooth hands, White commanders captured and factory and executed any employee with caloused or dirty hands. Pogroms against Jews were another reaction of the White soldiers. Over 100,000 Jews in the Ukraine were murdered and tousands more were beaten or raped. The Jews were used as a scapegoat for all perceived wrongs and the White soldiers went on these pogroms to merely ‘let off steam’. It is clear that the White’s were equally as brutal with inflicting terror on the opposition, but the sheer relentlessness and organisation of the Bolsheviks concluded in them being more widely supported.
 * Methods of Terror:**
 * Reaction - The White Terror:**

The terror ultimately gained momentum after two ‘tragic’ counter-revolutionary initiated events of 1918: 1. The assassination of Chief of Petrograd Police (Uritsky) 2. Assassination attempt on Lenin (shot twice by student Fanya Kaplan)
 * Was Terror Justifiable?**

From this (and the way the Bolsheviks were unable to win the majority of seats in the Constituent Assembly of the previous year) it’s obvious that the Communist regime was not an entirely popular one. The revolution **was** under real threat in a Russia so destabilised. The questions that we must ask are: //-Were the terror tactics a justifiable measure in order to protect the revolution?// - // Were such harsh actions necessary to keep the revolution alive, or just a cruel way for the new Communist party to assert their dominance? //

The Red Terror in Soviet Russia is referred to as a movement of mass killings, torture, and methodical oppression conducted by the Bolsheviks, to sustain power. Historian Richard Pipes summaries the Red Terror as “a measure designed to nip in the bud any thoughts of resistance to the dictatorship.” Anti-communist historians, such as Stephane Court, have argued that the Bolsheviks lacked popular support, which drove them to using terror to stay in power. The Cheka were the people who conducted the oppression, with ruthless terror tactics. According to Richard Pipes, violence was implicit in Marxism itself. He argued that terror inevitably resulted from what he saw was a Marxist belief that human lives are expendable in the cause of building communism. Where, Robert Conquest, argued that “unprecedented terror must seem necessary to ideologically motivated attempts to transform society massively and speedily, against its natural possibilities.” However, Orlando Figes argued that “The terror erupted from below. It was an integral element of the social revolution from the start. The Bolsheviks encouraged but did not create this mass terror”.
 * Historiography: **

(Youtube Video)
 * [|Lenins Red Terror]**

[Offers quotes from important figure of the time- suggesting to us what their mindsets and opinions were.] [Very detailed and informative information. Published by an educational publishing company; offers credibility. Shows how the Cheka and Lenin justified their harsh actions] [Good overview of the Bolshevik rule and how power was consolidated.]
 * Useful Resources:**
 * **Author Unknown, January 2013. //The Red Terror//, History Learning Site, accessed 28th May 2013. **
 * [**Offers a good overview of the Red Terror. It also seems reliable as it's from an educational site that we often use in class.]
 * **Lynch, M. //Reaction and Revolutions: Russia 1881 - 1924//, Hodder & Stroughton, pages 118 - 121. **
 * [**Sophisticated and detailed information on the Bolshevik rule. It's easily understood as it's in chronological order]
 * **Russel Tarr, 2013. //Lenin's Red Terror//, 20 April, Accessed 28th May 2013. **
 *  [ **Informative video featuring historical footage of the time. (visual understanding of events)]
 * **Spartacus Educational (2013) //Red Terror// from http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSterror.htm**
 * [**Contains an informative overview of the terror, and many primary sources (such as from newspapers and speeches from the time)]
 * **Author Unknown. (Date Unknown). //Lenin and the Use of Terror- Important Quotations//. Retrieved 2013, from World Future Fund: http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/Reading/Quotes/leninkeyquotes.htm **
 * **Perfect, Lauren. Ryan, Tom. Sweeny, Scott. (2008). //Reinventing Russia//. Victoria: History Teachers' Assosation of Victoria. **
 * **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; line-height: 1.5;">Waugh, Steve. Wright, John. (2006). //The Russian Revolution and Soviet Union 1910-1991//. Hodder Education. **