Following the success of the October Revolution, in which the Bolsheviks has successfully taken control of Petrograd and [?] and closed down the Provisional Government, Lenin realised he had to act swiftly and firmly in order to maintain control. In his famous Finland Station speech, which later was published as the ‘[?]’, Lenin had promised to make key changes to life in Russia; notably through his slogans - ‘[?], bread and land’ and ‘All power to the Soviets’. Lenin knew better than anyone that if he failed to deliver on these promises, his new government would be removed just as quickly as Kerensky’s and the Provisional Government had been.

With the closure of the Provisional Government, Lenin set up a new institution to govern the country and called it the Council of the People’s Commissars - otherwise known as the [?]. Lenin was its chairman, Trotsky was Commissar for War and Stalin was made Commissar for Nationalities. There was only one woman in the new team, Alexandra [?], and she was made Commissar for Social Welfare. There were no Mensheviks in this government or initially any other socialists. It was exclusively Bolshevik!

The Sovnakom quickly began to pass new rulings called decrees. The first of these was issued on 8 November 1917, calling for an end to the war with [?]. Many more decrees followed. That same day, the Sovnakom issued a decree that land belonging to the Tsar, Church and [?] be handed over to peasants for use as farmland. Four days later, the Sovnakom limited the working day to only [?] hours and the number of working hour per week to a maximum of [?]. It also made new rules about overtime and holidays. This was followed shortly afterwards, by a decree making it compulsory for workers to have insurance against illness or accident, so they and their families would have some sort of financial support if they couldn’t work. Some of the decrees were specifically aimed at strengthening Bolshevik power against its opponents. On 1 December all non-Bolshevik newspapers were banned and ten days later, the liberal party (known as the [?]), which had been a major supporter of the Provisional Government was banned and its leaders arrested. On 20 December, a new secret police force to replace the Okhrana was formed and called the [?]. It set about rooting out spies and ‘counter-revolutionaries’ (people suspected of wanting to stop the revolution). On 27 December all factories were put under control of special workers’ [?], who the Bolsheviks thought would be more in tune with the needs of ordinary workers than wealthy, middle-class factory managers. Banks, which had been reluctant to co-operate with the Bolsheviks, were put under Bolshevik control. There were also measures to reform society and traditional social practices. Marriages could take place without a [?] from 31 December and divorce was made much easier for women as well as men.