“The Bolshevik state under Lenin between 1918 and 1924 was a ruthless dictatorship, caring little the Russian people.” To what extent do you agree with this statement?

After having overthrown the weak Provisional Government in the October Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks had seized power in Russia. Although they were a quite small party, that at first only had power in Petrograd, they managed to gain support and power throughout the whole country, turning it into a Bolshevik dictatorship. (Oxford 113) This was only possible because of their driven leader, Lenin, their equally motivated military leader Trotsky and the promises they made to the soviet people. Some of these are: the most famous phrase: “Peace, Bread, Land”, which captured the needs of the people in three simple words, the promise of “Soviet Power” above all and the abolition of private property and redistribution of said property. (Oxford 115) Even though this seemed very promising and beneficial for the Russian people, the methods of the Bolsheviks were less than ethical and, even though promising that it was all for the people, very controversial.
The first thing to be determined, is whether Russia under the Bolsheviks was a dictatorship, and if so, a dictatorship of a single person, in this case Lenin, or the dictatorship of the whole party, Lenin’s role not being as important as historians have played it out to be. (Oxford 136) The Bolsheviks have not concealed the idea of making the country a dictatorship, but had said it to be a “dictatorship of the proletariat” (Oxford 114), meaning peasants would run the country, represented by the Bolsheviks. To do this, the Sovnarkom (Soviet of People’s Commissars) which was an organization of Bolshevik ministers, was put together. These ministers were to be elected, but were appointed by above over time. The Bolsheviks further played out their plan of