Part 8/10:
To hold power, Lenin implemented severe measures reminiscent of Tsarist repression, including censorship and the establishment of a secret police, embracing violence as a necessary means to achieve his utopian ends. His regime's reaction to the opposition, particularly the kulaks or wealthy peasants, typified the brutal methods employed under his leadership.
Despite civil strife, the Red Army, under Lenin’s ally Leon Trotsky, ultimately defeated the White Army in the ensuing civil war, albeit at a tremendous cost to the nation. The Bolsheviks then turned to a novel strategy: adopting state capitalism through the New Economic Policy (NEP) to recover the national economy and pacify discontent.