The Red Terror's Blueprint: Lenin's First Decree

In the chaotic autumn of 1917, the Bolsheviks seized power in Petrograd—but their grip on Russia was anything but secure. Within weeks, Lenin signed a series of decrees that would reshape the nation: the Decree on Land, the Decree on Peace, and, most chillingly, the establishment of the Cheka, the secret police that would enforce the new order with ruthless efficiency. This episode of Fexingo History follows the birth of the Cheka from its first headquarters at 2 Gorokhovaya Street to its role in the Red Terror of 1918. Through the eyes of its founder, Felix Dzerzhinsky, and the harrowing stories of early arrests and executions, we trace how a temporary 'extraordinary commission' became a permanent instrument of state violence. Join Lucas and Luna as they untangle the decrees, the personalities, and the pivotal decisions that turned a coup into a regime—and ask whether the Terror was a tragic necessity or an original sin of the Soviet state.

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