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Lenin was the acting leader as soon as the Bolsheviks established a government in November, 1917. However, the Bolsheviks still felt accountable to their followers and thus negotiated with other parties, peasants and workers. Lenin's government was very unstable from 1917-1920 during the Russian Civil War. So when you ask how Lenin consolidated (meaning, strengthen to the point of no opposition) his power in 1917, the answer is that Lenin did NOT consolidate his power in 1917.

After he was shot by an opponent, and after feeling helpless to keep power (during the civil war) after the demanding terms of 1918's Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Lenin started ordering dissidents executed and banned all political power.

Lenin's power can be said to have been fully consolidated anytime between August of 1920 and throughout 1921. Lenin was only able to "enjoy" absolute authority, however, for little more than a year. After a stroke in May of 1922, Lenin was crippled and partially retired. After making a brief comeback in late 1922 and early 1923, it was clear that Lenin was already being overshadowed by influential party members such as General Secretary Joseph Stalin, Politburo Chairman Lev Kamenev, and Comintern Chairman Grigory Zinoviev. A few months into 1923, Lenin's fourth and final stroke left him paralyzed and mute. For the rest of 1923 until his death in January of 1924, Lenin was nothing more than the official Chairman of the Russian Communist Party, leader of the Bolsheviks. In the last year of Lenin's life, Joseph Stalin (having been party secretary April, 1922) began to emerge as the most powerful person in the party. Although Stalin would not be undisputed dictator of the Soviet Union until at least 1927, party members who followed Lenin's belief that Stalin should be removed as General Secretary were powerless to stop his rise to power. Leon Trotsky's denouncement, and attempted removal, of Stalin in 1923 led to Trotsky becoming one of the most unpopular party members.

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14y ago

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