“ Learning to Lead our Lives ”

1. “Learning to Lead our Lives” Impact of the Civil War? Skill: Problem Solving NGfL: Russia 1900-1924

2. What is happening in this picture? Picture used with the kind permission of the David King Collection, London

3. Think: what were the aims of Communism? Peasants work together to farm land Give workers control of factories Workers to work together and control the factories Give peasants control of land How could Lenin achieve this?

4. But Lenin and the Bolsheviks have extra problems to deal with… Will the following problems make it easier or harder to install Communism?

5. Money was worthless and people used to barter to buy and sell goods(barter: exchange). The government had to feed the workers living in the cities that they controlled. People were leaving and there had been food riots because they were starving. Towns Black Markets (markets selling hard to come by products) sprung up where people could barter. People exchanged expensive possessions, such as jewellery, for food… People used books and furniture for firewood, because there was no coal. Many workers started to think that Bolshevik rule was worse than the Tsars! They did not believe Socialism would improve their lives. Lenin had to make sure that factories and industries produced weapons that the Reds could use in the Civil War.

6. Will these problems make it easier or harder to install Communism? Peasants didn’t want to sell their grain for money which had no value, so many peasants hoarded supplies. Many peasants decided they would not harvest as much grain anymore, so it couldn’t be taken away from them. One commissar was killed by peasants and his belly stuffed with grain. This showed how much peasants were not prepared to share.

7. Will these problems make it easier or harder to install Communism? The Civil War The Bolsheviks went to war with the Tsar's forces from 1918-1921 The Bolshevik Army needed weapons and other supplies. What would happen if the workers couldn't provide them? The Bolshevik Army (Red Army) needed food. What would happen if the peasants didn’t give it to them?

8. What problems should Lenin deal with first? Countryside The Civil War Towns

9. The aims of Communism The problems in the towns, cities and the civil War The November and December Decrees The Solution: War Communism!

10. The November and December Decrees 1917 • Factories put under control of Workers’ Committees • Land taken away from landlords and given to peasants Which problems in Russia will be solved? Which problems remain?

11. War Communism From 1918 the Bolsheviks called themselves Communists. The Communist Government took control of industry, and told factories what to produce. Trade unions were banned and workers were not allowed to leave the cities. The communists had a secret police force called the Cheka. They forced peasants to give them grain. If they thought peasants were hoarding grain, they would brutally punish them.. The Communists banned private trading. Apart from the Government, no-one could buy or sell anything.

12. Exam practice: using this source and your own knowledge answer the following question: COPRU Picture used with the kind permission of the David King Collection, London How useful is this source to an historian studying the problems facing Lenin in 1917?

13. War Communism Hangman… The words you choose must be to do with today’s lesson!