The Bolshevik dictatorship established after the October Revolution was very quickly faced with numerous monumental crises. The civil war against the various anti-Bolshevik forces, the paralysing economic crisis, and the widespread political discontent were all dangerous crises that had the potential to unseat the newly formed government. Its responses to these crises were fast, drastic, and more often than not, enforced in a way reminiscent of the Tsarist regime it had striven to overthrow. However, these same responses were characteristic of a regime willing to reform and adjust its strategies as circumstances demanded - a trait that the reactionary Tsarist regime had greatly lacked. .
In the months following the Bolshevik coup d"etat opposition forces quickly formed and took arms against what they deemed to be a "Bolshevik dictatorship". Opposition to the regime included enemy socialists (Mensheviks and SR's), Tsarist generals (such as Denikin, Yudenich, and Kolchak), separatist nations, and foreign powers; all rose up in arms against the central administration of the Bolsheviks. By the middle of 1918 these various groups held more than two-thirds of Russian soil, and threatened to take control of the central regions currently under Bolshevik control. .
Faced with this devastating war, the Bolsheviks acted decisively, reforming the Red Army under Trotsky. They increased the levels of conscription from the peasantry and proletariat, and quickly abolished the democratic soldiers committees that had been established during the euphoria of 1917. Desertion was made an offence punishable by death, and old Tsarist officers were enlisted to lead the fresh recruits (albeit under the watchful eye of political commisars). .
These measures, while enforced in a way similar to the coercive instruments of the old regime, are a perfect example of how the Bolshevik regime was able to understand its situation, and respond accordingly.
