When there is an established government, there is a certain continuity that may be expected.

Soviet
Russia was hardly an exception. Stalin's regime and the Russian Civil War shared many characteristics,
including ideological control, the unity of the party and state machinery, and the omnipresence of the
secret police. In both eras, espionage psychosis and dread are the most pronounced features. They
launched the mass intimidation program that grew stronger under the Old Bolsheviks and bloomed
under Stalinism. There is a strong case can be made that Stalin was responsible for the Russian Civil
War's outcome.

Examining both historical periods, mass intimidation has been shown to have both positive and negative
consequences on people's lives. Starting with the events leading up to widespread intimidation, it
provides a brief history of the policy. Analysis of why and how this policy was used during the Civil War.
Lastly, the book examines why Stalinist officials decided to implement the strategy, and where it
ultimately ended up. Rather, the essay aims to demonstrate that Stalin's government was based on the
Russian Civil War.

It all began in 1917 when Bolshevik forces supported by the Red Guard seized Petrograd and began
expanding their control over Russia.' Among their supporters were workers and tsarist army defectors.
Anti-Bolshevik forces led by landlords, affluent peasants, and tsarist army generals opposed the
Bolsheviks' control in various areas, such as the Crimea and the Volga Region. A counter-revolution
loomed even in Bolshevik-controlled Central Russia.

The situation had deteriorated by the end of the spring of 1918. Food was requisitioned and grain prices
were established in May 1918 under the policy of produce tyranny. In the absence of grain, A political
drive by the Menshevik and Left SR factions sparked revolts by peasants, workers, and white-collar
workers in industrial and agricultural areas. Bolshevik rule was in jeopardy because of this. It laid the
groundwork for future anti-communist efforts. Tsaritsyn, Nizhny Novgorod, and Penza all yielded
anomalies to Cheka. Arrests were made in Moscow, Petrograd, and Yaroslavl. Czechoslovakian Legion
and White threat intensified domestic counterrevolutionary peril amplified by international
interference. An assassination attempt on August 30, 1918, triggered a major intimidation campaign in
Russia that would last for decades.

Because of the Marxist belief that persons are throwaway material for building Communism3, the
Bolsheviks had to resort to totalitarian tactics in these circumstances. This prompted Lenin to declare
mass terror4 on August 9, 1918, which was ratified on September 2 of the same year. Legalized
deportations, torture, and systemic oppression. The policy of mass intimidation was born as a result of
Cheka investigations and the revealing of non-existent conspiracies. War, Bolshevism and Stalinism were
all factors in the development of this approach.

There was widespread intimidation, but there were two unique parts to each case. Thus, the 'Alexeev
conspiracy' case of 1918 serves as a good example of this. Non-communist railway specialist Alexeev
was accused of anti-communist scheming at Tsaritsyn while traveling to Grozny to purchase fuel for the
railroads.
Combining two crucial elements, the "Alexeiv conspiracy" illustrates the policy of widespread
intimidation. Firstly, there is a paucity of investigation and real proof that casts doubt on the actual
plotting. An informant who had anti-Soviet conspiracy materials found on him was not compared to
Alexeev's non-Party tsarist background in making the accusations. Another way to show how pervasive
this fear is is by the number of people executed. The Cheka killed Alexeev, his two children, local Party
activists, and the head of a consumer co-op in the city. The total number of executions attributed to the
purported plot cannot be estimated.

It is possible to identify the following outcomes after examining both its context and its causes.
Enforcing this injunction, for starters, led to widespread chaos across the country. Chaos led to
insubordination of local authorities to the Center, power abuses at all levels, the dominance of Cheka,
and violation of basic human rights. As a second point, the Russian Bolsheviks made terrorism a
governmental policy. This led to widespread belief in their legitimacy. As a result, the Bolsheviks gained
more authority and gained public support for killing political opponents. 7 This allowed them to carry
out their plans without restraint. Terror and murder ran rampant in the area. We don't know exactly
how many people were put to death, but the number could be as high as one million. 8 Finally, the
economic recession was produced through mass intimidation. The GDP has fallen by 31% during 1917 by
1924. 9 Due to a lack of qualified specialists accused of sabotage, this happened. Additionally, workers
and farmers were attacked. Despite its shortcomings, Stalinist leadership completely adopted the idea.

Early Stalinist Russia resembled pre-Civil War Russia in terms of economic deterioration and political
instability. Stalin was able to carry on Lenin's campaign of mass intimidation thanks to its historical
legacies. In spite of its seeming simplicity, the reasons for its establishment under Stalinism were far
more profound.

The first reason for the policy's continuation was the resulting unrest in society. In the early 1930s,
Soviet officials were aware of the country's economic woes. Pollution, price rises, and a lack of supplies
were all consequences of rapid industrialization... Dekulakization in the Volga area of Siberia and forcible
collectivization in 1932-1933 hampered farming. Peasants' movements were unrestricted, leading to
unplanned urbanization. The privileges enjoyed by the political elite may spark social unrest if the
working and peasant classes become aware of them. So a strict policy had to be implemented.

Ideological reasons were also a factor. Old Bolsheviks like Trotsky and Bukharin, with their Marxist left
and right leanings, threatened the new Party structure because they were the only organs distributing
communist theory. Political centralism was undermined by these party divisions. Party stability
depended on eliminating Marxists who disagreed with the Stalinists' political ideas or spread foreign
ideology.
The final goal of Stalin's plan was to create an elite group of 'personal agents' 'selected for their lack of
scruples and utterly dependent on and loyal to himself.'

11 When Stalin's rule began to be threatened, the Soviet Union needed to replace Leninist cadres and
remaining tzarist specialists.

Mass intimidation was used in Russia during the Civil War for similar reasons as during Stalin's reign, but
with some important historical distinctions. Both of these policies have comparable rationales for their
implementation. Soviet leader Vladimir Putin utilized the assassination of Vladimir Kirov in 1934 to
launch the Great Purge, which culminated the campaign of mass intimidation. All social groupings were
subjected to massive social repression during the two decades. These purges were carried out through a
ritualized process of denunciation, arrest, and questioning. 13 A major distinction is that under Soviet
times victims were not selected based on any political or criminal deed or socioeconomic status, but
rather at random. 14 As the policy's scope grows, so does its reach.

The 1937 "Tukhachevsky Affair" is instructive in this sense. A German agent was alleged to have been
working under Tukhachevsky's nose in 1928 to take over the Volga Military District and gain power in
Soviet Russia. According to Yezhov, the NKVD carried out his death sentence.