2. Aims and membership of the Petrograd Soviet Flashcards
What were the aims of the Petrograd Soviet?
To defend the rights of the workers under the new ‘bourgeois government’.
How did the Soviets spread?
They began to emerge across Russia after the Tsar’s government broke down. In each town the Soviet and the local government had to work together.
How did all the Soviets collaborate with each other?
In June 1917, representatives from Soviets across all of Russia assembled for the 1st All-Russian Congress of Soviets. Of all the 1,090 delegates that met at the Congress, most were SRs and Mensheviks.
What did Lenin think about the Soviets?
Lenin believed that the Soviets should takeover the government of Russia, replacing the PG. Lenin’s 1917 book ‘State and Revolution’ won the Bolsheviks lots of support as its vision was a democratic Russia where peasants and workers ruled themselves.
What reforms were introduced?
. Universal suffrage including women
. Freedom of assembly
. Freedom of expression
. Equal legal and political rights no matter your nationality or ethnicity
. Abolition of the death penalty
. Abolition of the Okhrana
. Amnesty for political prisoners
The PS wanted more reforms, e.g land reform and limit to an 8-hour working day. But the PG said that these reforms should wait for the Constituent assembly as then there would be a mandate.
What were the impact of these reforms?
Radical political leaders could return to Russia due to the eradication of the Okhrana and the guarantee of political rights. Stalin, Lenin, Martov, Dzerzhinky and Bukharin all returned. Returning revolutionaries were now free to organise against the PG. From March, Bolsheviks campaigned for an end to WW1 and from April they campaigned for another Revolution.
