Did the Bolshevik party create a totalitarian society?

Answer 1

Eventually, yes. For the last few months of 1917, the soviets (workers' councils) dominated the economy. After the Red Terror of 1918, the Bolshevik government began repressing workers and making economic decisions for the soviets. While Lenin's reign was authoritarian, Russia and the USSR did not become totalitarian states until about 1936, when the Great Terrorinstilled fear into all Soviet citizens, and there began to be widespread paranoia about your neighbors and family members throughout the country. By 1938, the USSR was a complete totalitarian society and continued to be until the mid-50s, when Khrushchev began to liberalize the political and economic system. Throughout it's existence the system was authoritarian, but "totalitarian" means every aspect of citizens' lives are controlled by a central power, and after Khrushchev and his successors, Soviet society was never quite "totalitarian".