Editing October Revolution (section)

===Governmental reforms===
On 10 November 1917 (23 November, N.S.), the government applied the term "citizens of the Russian Republic" to Russians, whom they sought to make equal in all possible respects, by the nullification of all "legal designations of civil inequality, such as estates, titles, and ranks."<ref name="Steinberg 2001 257">{{Harvnb|Steinberg|2001|page=257}}</ref>

The long-awaited [[Russian Constituent Assembly|Constituent Assembly]] [[1917 Russian Constituent Assembly election|elections]] were held on 12 November (O.S., 25 November, N.S.) 1917. In contrast to their majority in the Soviets, the Bolsheviks only won 175 seats in the 715-seat legislative body, coming in second behind the [[Socialist Revolutionary Party]], which won 370 seats, although the SR Party no longer existed as a whole party by that time, as the Left SRs had gone into coalition with the Bolsheviks from October 1917 to March 1918 (a cause of dispute of the legitimacy of the returned seating of the Constituent Assembly, as the old lists, were drawn up by the old SR Party leadership, and thus represented mostly Right SRs, whereas the peasant soviet deputies had returned majorities for the pro-Bolshevik Left SRs). The Constituent Assembly was to first meet on 28 November (O.S.) 1917, but its convocation was delayed until 5 January (O.S.; 18 January, N.S.) 1918 by the Bolsheviks. On its first and only day in session, the Constituent Assembly came into conflict with the Soviets, and it rejected Soviet decrees on peace and land, resulting in the Constituent Assembly being dissolved the next day by order of the Congress of Soviets.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Llewellyn |first=Jennifer |last2=Rae |first2=John |last3=Thompson |first3=Steve |date=2014 |title=The Constituent Assembly |url=http://alphahistory.com/russianrevolution/constituent-assembly |access-date=7 March 2022 |publisher=Alpha History}}</ref>

On 16 December 1917 (29 December, N.S.), the government ventured to eliminate hierarchy in the army, removing all titles, ranks, and uniform decorations. The tradition of saluting was also eliminated.<ref name="Steinberg 2001 257"/>

On 20 December 1917 (2 January 1918, N.S.), the [[Cheka]] was created by Lenin's decree.{{Sfn|Figes|1996}} These were the beginnings of the Bolsheviks' consolidation of power over their political opponents. The [[Red Terror]] began in September 1918, following a failed assassination attempt on Lenin. The French [[Reign of Terror|Jacobin Terror]] was an example for the Soviet Bolsheviks. Trotsky had compared Lenin to [[Maximilien Robespierre]] as early as 1904, when Trotsky was a critic of Lenin and his political opponent within the Marxist movement.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pipes |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Pipes |title=The Russian Revolution |date=2011 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday |isbn=978-0-3077-8857-3 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XtE54LuhFzEC&pg=PA789 789]}}</ref> In his book, ''[[Terrorism and Communism: A Reply to Karl Kautsky]],'' Trotsky argued that the reign of terror began with the [[White Terror (Russia)|White Terror]] under the [[White movement|White Guard]] forces and the Bolsheviks responded with the [[Red Terror]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kline |first=George L. |title=The Trotsky reappraisal |date=1992 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-7486-0317-6 |editor-last=Brotherstone |editor-first=Terence |page=158 |translator-last=Drummond |translator-first=Andrew |chapter=In Defence of Terrorism |editor-last2=Dukes |editor-first2=Paul |translator-last2=Pearce |translator-first2=Brian |translator-last3=Brine |translator-first3=J. J.}}</ref>

The Decree on Land ratified the actions of the peasants who throughout Russia had taken private land and redistributed it among themselves. The Bolsheviks viewed themselves as representing an alliance of workers and peasants signified by the [[Hammer and Sickle]] on the [[Flag of the Soviet Union|flag]] and the [[Coat of Arms of the Soviet Union|coat of arms of the Soviet Union]].
Other decrees:
*All [[private property]] was [[nationalized]] by the government.
*All [[Banking in Russia|Russian banks]] were nationalized.
*Private [[bank account]]s were expropriated.
*The properties of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] (including bank accounts) were expropriated.
*All [[External debt|foreign debts]] were repudiated.
*Control of the factories was given to the soviets.
*Wages were fixed at higher rates than during the war, and a shorter, [[Eight-hour day|eight-hour working day]] was introduced.