equally. Land was divided up and given to landless peasants. They took over all the factories and nationalised them (in other words, they were now owned by the people of the country).
4. The Bolshevik Red Army under Leon Trotsky fought any opponents of communism. The Russian Civil War between the Red Army and their opponents (including their old allies of Britain and France as well as Russian supporters of the Tsar) lasted from 1918 until 1921. After millions of deaths, the Red Army defeated their rivals.
5. As a result of the Civil War and the nationalisation of the factories, food production fell. Famine was initially widespread throughout Russia but in 1921 Lenin introduced the New Economic Policy. This gave bonuses to workers to produce more. Furthermore, any surplus produce could be sold by the farmer. Soon food shortages ended and general conditions for ordinary Russians improved.
6. In 1922, the Communist Government changed the name of Russia to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
Fig 13.7 Leon Trotsky, commander of the Red Army. Josef Stalin
After Lenin’s death in 1924, there was a power struggle between Leon Trotsky (the leader of the Red Army) and Josef Stalin (Bolshevik Party Secretary). Stalin used his influence in the Bolshevik Party to gain power and by 1927 he had control over the government. He expelled Trotsky from Russia in 1929 and began to concentrate on industrialising the USSR. He claimed that, ‘We are 50 or 100 years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this gap in 10.’
✣ By the way
After being expelled from Russia, Trotsky continued to criticise Stalin. In August 1940 he was assassinated in Mexico City by a Soviet agent from Spain using an ice pick.
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Fig 13.8 Josef Stalin became General Secretary (i.e. leader) of the USSR after Lenin’s death in 1924.