The Unspeakable Things The Bolsheviks Did During Their Reign

The Bolsheviks, a splinter group from the Russian Social Democratic labor party, became a separate entity in 1912. They were committed Marxists and revolutionaries who led the Russian Revolution in 1917, resulting in the fall of the tsar and the birth of the Soviet Union. Initially called the Russian Communist Party, they later became known as the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Their rule was marked by ideological fervor, leading to the Russian Civil War and the Red Terror, which saw the execution of the royal family and the deaths of millions. The Bolsheviks' commitment to Marxism led to the collectivization of agriculture and the persecution of the kulaks, or wealthy peasants, contributing to widespread famine. Their rule was characterized by repression, with the establishment of the secret police and the use of propaganda to control the narrative.

The Bolsheviks pursued the collectivization of agricultural land, transferring private farmland to state control with the aim of eliminating profit-seeking and ensuring equitable food distribution. However, this policy led to significant resistance from peasants, particularly the kulaks, who were labeled as class enemies. The resistance was met with force, resulting in the destruction of rural social structures, imprisonment, and execution of many. The collectivization and the subsequent famine, particularly in Ukraine known as the Holodomor, led to the deaths of millions. The famine was not only a direct outcome of Bolshevik policy but was also intentionally worsened by the state to eliminate Ukrainian nationalists and kulaks. The Holodomor is recognized by the European Parliament and the Ukrainian government as a genocide, with an estimated death toll ranging from 3.5 to 7 million people over two years.

Stalin's regime utilized the infamous gulags, a network of prisons and forced labor camps, to instill fear and suppress opposition. The gulags held not only criminals but also political prisoners, including those suspected of opposing the regime with little to no evidence. This system fostered a pervasive climate of fear and suspicion, turning Soviet citizens into informants against each other. The conditions within the gulags were akin to slavery, with prisoners subjected to forced labor, sexual abuse, and starvation. The withholding of food was a common punishment, and the poor quality of food often led to malnutrition and disease. The death toll from the gulags is estimated to be around 1.5 million, with many more survivors carrying the physical and psychological scars of their experiences for life.

The Bolshevik regime was responsible for a multitude of atrocities, including the cotton massacres, the invasion of Finland, and the forced deportations to Siberia. The scale of the crimes committed by the Bolsheviks is immense, with historians estimating tens of millions of deaths directly or indirectly attributable to the Soviet regime. The regime's ideological possession led to the prioritization of its goals over the lives of its citizens, resulting in widespread cruelty and suffering. The experiences of individuals like Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who documented the horrors of the gulags in his book 'The Gulag Archipelago,' provide a glimpse into the inhumanity of the system. The legacy of the Bolsheviks serves as a stark reminder of the potential for evil within every human heart and the importance of learning from history to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.