By the summer of 1918, the Soviet Republic was in the ring of fire fronts. Three-quarters of its territory was occupied by foreign invaders and internal counter-revolution. The map on display in the hall reflects this situation with merciless clarity.
The peaceful respite gained by the country as a result of the peace of Brest-Litovsk was very short. Already in March 1918, the first detachments of British, American and French troops landed in Murmansk - a Russian city on the Barents sea. In April, Japanese and American troops occupied Vladivostok, a port on the Pacific ocean.
At the end of may, the Volga region, the Urals and much of Siberia were captured by the Czechoslovak corps, formed before the October revolution for the war with Germany from captured Czechs and Slovaks - soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army - and provoked by the Entente with the help of Czech bourgeois leaders to anti-Soviet rebellion. The Baltic States, Belarus, Ukraine captured, violating the Brest Treaty, German troops. The Soviet people were forced to take up arms.
During the civil war (1918-1920) V. I. Lenin acted not only as the head of a new type of state, but also as an outstanding strategist, a deep connoisseur of military science and military art. In his letters, telegrams to the commanders of the fronts and armies, in his speeches at meetings, meetings, various congresses, conferences, he explains the situation in the country, sets urgent tasks, calls for everything to be done for the front, everything for victory.
In autumn, the Red Army won its first victories over the invaders and the white guards.
The deadly threat hanging over the Republic of Soviets was removed. In these circumstances, the Soviet people celebrated the first anniversary of the great October socialist revolution. On the eve of the anniversary opened VI all-Russian Congress of Soviets. In his speech at the Congress on the anniversary of the October revolution, Lenin described the success of workers in building a new life. The next day he made a speech at the opening of the temporary monument To Marx and Engels in the center of Moscow on Voskresenskaya square (now Revolution square). After that Lenin together with demonstrators went to Red square where made the speech at opening of a memorial Board to heroes of October revolution. N. K. Krupskaya later recalled that in those days a smile never left his face, that the days of the first anniversary of the revolution were among the happiest in Lenin's life.
V. I. Lenin repeatedly warned that the war was not over, that the enemies were still strong, that a hard and persistent struggle was ahead. The stage of introduction and implementation of the so-called policy of "war communism"has begun. It consisted in the nationalization of large and medium-sized industry, a significant part of small enterprises, the introduction of universal labor service and a card system of food supply to the population, the prohibition of private trade, the peasants had to hand over to the state all surplus agricultural products at fixed prices. The policy of" war communism " was a severe, extreme measure caused by the war, the devastation, the meager food supplies that the country had. Life has shown that this was the only possible and correct policy in those conditions, which ensured victory in the civil war.
Under the influence of the great October socialist revolution, the revolutionary movement in the capitalist countries grew. Communist parties emerged in a number of countries. Russian Communist party (Bolsheviks). The Soviet government, which consistently carried out the principles of proletarian internationalism, did everything possible to render brotherly, unselfish assistance to the peoples struggling for their liberation.
When the revolution in Germany began in the autumn of 1918, Lenin wrote: "We will all die to help the German workers in moving forward the revolution that has begun in Germany. Conclusion: 1) ten times more effort to extract bread (stocks all clear for us and for the German workers).
For a number of years, Lenin fought for the unity of the left elements in the socialist parties and the creation of III, the Communist international. On his initiative, the first Congress of the Communist international was held in Moscow in early March 1919. It was attended by 52 delegates from 30 countries. This important event opened a new page in the history of the international Communist movement in the context of the growth of the world revolutionary process. In his report "on bourgeois democracy and the dictatorship of the proletariat", which he delivered at the Congress, Vladimir Ilyich convincingly showed that the dictatorship of the proletariat is necessary for the exercise of the power of the workers, the transition from capitalism to socialism.
The Congress constituted the third Communist international, approved Lenin's theses on bourgeois democracy and the dictatorship of the proletariat, and adopted the Manifesto to the proletarians of the whole world. Summing up the work of the Congress, Lenin said that while the first international laid the foundations of the revolutionary movement of the working class, the third international began to carry out the dictatorship of the proletariat.
VIII Congress of the RCP (b) was held in March 1919. The Congress adopted a new program of the party, the main parts of which were written by Lenin. The new Program formulated the tasks of the transition period from capitalism to socialism: the all-round strengthening of Soviet power, the development of the productive forces of the country on the basis of state ownership of the means of production and the state plan for the development of the national economy, increasing productivity, expanding the activity of the masses. In its agrarian part, the Program set the task of socialist restructuring of agriculture by creating cooperative artels and Soviet farms (state farms). Prominent in the Program were the issues of improving the material well-being and cultural level of the workers of the country of the Soviets.