Left SR don't revolt against the Brest-Litovsk Treaty

[neonduke]

The Left SR were one of the few Left Wing groups the Bolesheviks invites to join their Government following the overthrow of the Provisional Government in 1917. They were given some measure of responsibility, with 4 Commissar positions and influence in the Cheka.

However they were bitterly opposed to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and would split with the Bolesheviks over the peace and in July 1918 try to force a general uprising in against it via the assassination of the German ambassador to Russia and a brief uprising within Moscow itself.

This failed and led to the general suppression of the Left SRs (though a number of the rannk and file joined the Bolesheviks), though these events helped lead to Fanny Kaplan's attempt on Lenin's life the next month.

So what if the SR leadership decide that a general revolt isn't possible and try to live with the peace, instead trying to continue to influence the government. I personally think the numbers were against them and that the Bolesheviks would have eventually forced them out of power. However avoiding the uprising (and the assassination attempt on Lenin) provide major butterflies of their own.

 

[napoleon IV]

I think that a confrontation between the Left SRs and the Bolsheviks was inevitable. Even if they decided to accept Brest-Litovsk there are still a number of other issues that they oppose the Bolsheviks on:

1. The death penalty: The Bolsheviks were initially opposed to the death penalty, but due to the pressures of the civil war they considered bringing it back. The Left SRs were entirely opposed to capital punishment (but fine with the extrajudicial execution of political opponents).

2. Agricultural policies: The Bolsheviks wanted to collectivize land under state management, while the Left SRs wanted to divide the land amongst the peasants (this is the big reason why the SRs were way more popular with the peasants than the Bolsheviks were).

3. The lack of freedom for trade unions: While the Bolsheviks preached about "all power to the people's soviets," in practice soviets and other unions were tightly controlled by the Party (this was one of the issues that would later spark the Kronstadt Rebellion). The Left SRs were strongly in favor of genuine people's soviets, and felt the Bolsheviks had reneged on their promise.

At some point the policy of cooperation is going to break down, particularly when it becomes clear that the Bolsheviks have no interest in sharing power. At that point we probably see a similar revolt that happened IOTL, just later.

However, there are some butterflies. Kaplan's attempt to kill Lenin led to bullets being lodged in his collarbone and shoulder. These bullets oxidized and this may have sickened Lenin, this plus surgery to remove them may have been the cause of Lenin's first stroke. Without the assassination attempt Lenin could live longer. The other major butterfly is that the Red Terror would be lessened (although not entirely butterflied away).

 

[neonduke]

It was an article about the Cheka and Red Terror that gave me the idea to post this actually, though given that the Bolesheviks are descending into a particularly vicious civil war I'm not so sure that the Terror wouldn't ramp up anyway. The Left SR members of the Cheka weren't saints either.

Is there any concessions the Bolesheviks could throw the SR to placate them, even in the short term? Enough to keep them from mischief in the first stages of the war at least?

 

[Doctor Sulemain]

They get purged later down the line. The Bolsheviks did not really do dissent.

 

[Creekmench]

I can see them ending up like the other parties in the PRC's United Front.

 

[napoleon IV]

I can see them ending up like the other parties in the PRC's United Front.

That actually happened to a certain extent IOTL. After the Left SR Uprising part of the party broke away and formed the Party of Revolutionary Communism, which was in practice a puppet of the Bolsheviks. In 1920 the Comintern declared that there should only be one Communist party in each country, so the Party of Revolutionary Communism merged with the Bolsheviks.

 

[Creekmench]

That actually happened to a certain extent IOTL. After the Left SR Uprising part of the party broke away and formed the Party of Revolutionary Communism, which was in practice a puppet of the Bolsheviks. In 1920 the Comintern declared that there should only be one Communist party in each country, so the Party of Revolutionary Communism merged with the Bolsheviks.

Huh the more you know.