Russian Civil War and the Birth of the USSR #
After the October Revolution, Russia plunged into a terrible civil war (1918-1921) between the Reds (Bolsheviks) and the Whites (anti-Bolsheviks). The Bolshevik victory led to the creation of the USSR in 1922.
1. The Civil War #
The Red Army (led by Trotsky) was more compact and motivated. The White Army was divided and without a common program. The Reds won by 1921.
2. War Communism (1918-1921) #
Emergency measures: nationalization of industry, forced grain requisition, compulsory labor, Red Terror through the Cheka secret police.
3. The NEP (1921-1928) #
Lenin’s New Economic Policy: peasants could sell freely, small private businesses were allowed. A partial return to the free market that saved the economy.
4. Birth of the USSR (1922) #
On 30 December 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was born — a single-party state with planned economy and Marxist-Leninist ideology.
5. After Lenin’s Death (1924) #
The power struggle between Trotsky (permanent revolution) and Stalin (socialism in one country). Stalin won and became absolute dictator.
Conclusion #
The civil war cost millions of lives. Revolutionary hopes soon turned into dictatorship. Lenin built the foundations; Stalin would transform the USSR into a machine of terror.
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