Bolshevik Consolidation of Power 1917–1921

Seizing power in October 1917 was the easy part. Holding power against a host of enemies — political opponents, White armies, foreign interventionists, peasant insurgents, and even internal dissent — was the supreme challenge. Between 1917 and 1921, the Bolsheviks created the institutions and adopted the methods that would define the Soviet state: the secret police, one-party rule, censorship, terror, and centralised economic control. Understanding how and why these choices were made is essential for evaluating the nature of the Soviet system.

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Initial Decrees and Consolidation

Creating the New State

Institution	Detail
Sovnarkom (Council of People's Commissars)	The new government, with Lenin as chairman; initially included Left SRs as junior partners
Cheka (December 1917)	The secret police, under Felix Dzerzhinsky; tasked with 'combating counter-revolution and sabotage'
Red Guards	Armed workers who served as the regime's initial military force
Soviet structure	Local soviets were initially elected but increasingly came under Bolshevik party control
Press controls	Opposition newspapers were closed within days of the revolution

The Constituent Assembly (5–6 January 1918)