Key topic 2: The Bolsheviks in power, 1917–24 - 1 Early consolidation of…

The idea

Upon seizing power, the Bolsheviks urgently needed to consolidate control and win popular support. Between November and December 1917, Lenin's government issued a series of early decrees designed to deliver on their promise of 'Peace, Bread, Land'. The Decree on Land abolished private ownership, legitimising peasant land seizures. The Decree on Peace called for an immediate end to Russia's involvement in the First World War. Other significant measures included the Decree on Workers' Control, giving factory committees the right to supervise management, and decrees establishing the eight-hour working day, setting up the Cheka, and banning opposition press. These decrees were crucial for securing the immediate survival of the new regime.

What earns the marks

• Identify the Decree on Land and explain how it won peasant support by legitimising land seizures.
• Describe the Decree on Peace and its role in addressing the army's demand to end the war.
• Explain the Decree on Workers' Control and the introduction of the eight-hour working day to satisfy the urban proletariat.
• Analyse how decrees establishing the Cheka and banning opposition press helped the Bolsheviks suppress political rivals.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Confusing the Decree on Land with later collectivisation policies.

  Put it right: State that the 1917 Decree on Land allowed peasants to take and divide privately owned estates themselves, rather than forcing them into state farms.

• Assuming the Decree on Peace immediately ended the war.

  Put it right: Clarify that it was only a declaration of intent to seek peace; the actual end to fighting came later with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

• Believing the Bolsheviks had complete control over Russia when issuing these decrees.

  Put it right: Emphasise that these decrees were partly propaganda tools to win support because Bolshevik control was initially limited to Petrograd and Moscow.

Exam tips

• Link specific decrees to the social groups they were designed to appease, such as peasants, workers, or soldiers.
• Use the decrees as evidence when explaining how the Bolsheviks survived their first few months in power.
• Remember to mention the coercive decrees, like the creation of the Cheka, alongside the popular ones to show a balanced understanding of Bolshevik consolidation.