Between 1918-1924 the Bolshevik government faced many threats to their leadership, in the end internal factors proved to be more of a danger than factors occurring outside of Russia. It mustn't be forgotten that the October Revolution of 1917 was not a popular uprising by the masses, but a meticulously planned coup that led to Lenin and the Bolsheviks establishing themselves as political leaders of Russia. For this reason there were many groups that actively opposed the Bolsheviks' claim to authority. External threats to the Bolsheviks were mainly due to the First World War and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The allied help to the Whites during the Civil War placed stress on the Bolsheviks. They also faced a number of political threats due to the Civil War and from other parties, both on the left and right of the political spectrum. Internal economic factors, the introduction of War Communism...