Interactive timeline of Bolshevik consolidation of power from October 1917 to March 1921, showing the pressure on the regime at each moment and its response, with a toggle between Bolshevik ideology in theory and in practice
The Bolsheviks held power by knowing when to retreat
October 1917 was the easy part. For the next three and a half years Lenin's Sovnarkom faced an elected assembly it did not control, a German army, White generals, assassins, famine and a revolt by its own sailors, and each pressure changed what the regime became. Move forward through the dates and watch what happens to the economy marker at the last one.
Bolshevik consolidation, 1917 to 1921
Oct 1917 · 1 of 8
Step through the dates. Watch the amber pressure above the line, the response below it, and the economy marker at the bottom.
Sovnarkom's first decrees
MomentOct 1917
10/1701/1803/1804/1805/1809/1801/1903/21
Date
Oct 1917
Challenge in play
Officials
Bolshevik ideology
Know This
Consolidation was pressure and response: the Bolsheviks met each challenge, from the Constituent Assembly to Kronstadt, by narrowing who held power and, when forced, by stepping back.