The Supremacy of the Soviets: Lenin's Power Play

In this episode of The Russian Revolution: How the Tsars Lost Everything, Lucas and Luna explore the Bolshevik consolidation of power through the doctrine of 'supremacy of the soviets.' They trace the rise of the soviets from 1905 to 1917 and examine how Lenin, through the slogan 'Vsya vlast' sovetam!' (All Power to the Soviets!), outmaneuvered rivals like the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. The conversation delves into the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly in January 1918, a pivotal moment when the Bolsheviks chose soviets over democracy. They discuss the alliance and subsequent betrayal of the Left SRs and the role of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) in legitimizing Bolshevik rule. The episode also covers the Third All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which declared the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), and the disbanding of Petrograd's city council. Through these events, Lucas and Luna reveal how a small, disciplined party subverted the very institutions that brought them to power.

#History #FexingoHistory #RussianRevolution #Bolsheviks #Lenin #Soviets #ConstituentAssembly #VTsIK #LeftSRs #RSFSR #1905Revolution #1917 #PetrogradSoviet #AllPowerToTheSoviets #Mensheviks #SocialistRevolutionaries #Democracy #EasternEurope

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