3.13 New leaders and ideologies, 1917-41 Flashcards
Following an armistice in November, what split the Bolsheviks?
At peace negotiations in Dec 1917, Germans demanded large swathes of Russian territory
- Nikolai Bukharin leading the ‘revolutionary war group - wanted to pursue war
What was Trotsky’s solution to the war?
‘neither peace or war’ - retreating further if necessary, awaiting the revolution in the West
What view did Lenin take over the German’s terms to peace?
argued for acceptance of the German terms - Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
When was Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed?
3 March 1918 - ratified by emergency Party congress
(Only after Lenin twice offered to resign)
What did the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk set the precedent for?
the priority of ‘socialism at home’ over the spread of international revolution
What of its population did Russia lose in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?
1/6 of its population (62 million people)
How much land did Russia lose in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?
2 million km²
What area was taken in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?
The area that produced almost 1/3 of Russia’s agricultural produce
What percentage of its railway lines did Russia lose in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?
26%
What percentage of iron ore and coal supplies did Russia lose in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?
74%
Shortly before the October Revolution, in State and Revolution, what did Lenin write would happen after revolution?
an expansion of democracy, with ‘the people’ managing their own affairs + a reduction of state bureaucracy
In what ways did Lenin have little control over his early decrees in November and December?
peasants were already seizing land, and workers already taking over factories
What happened when civilians demonstrated against the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly?
They were fired on + 12 were killed
What else had Lenin written in State and Revolution, which supported his dispersal of the Constituent Assembly?
he had written of the need for a strong party to provide ‘the dictatorship of the proletariat’ + to crush any bourgeois attitudes or values that remained after revolution
When did the ‘coalition government’ between the Bolsheviks and left-wing SRs break up?
The left-wing SRs walked out of Sovnarkom in protest of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
From when did the Bolsheviks formally adopt the title of …?
From March 1918, the Bolsheviks formally adopted the title of ‘Communist Party’ and governed alone - all others were treated as ‘enemies’.
When was the Cheka created?
December 1917
What was the goal of the Cheka?
the active repression of ‘counter-revolutionary’ enemies, in order to ensure the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’
What could show Lenin’s pragmatism?
- acceptance of Germans’ terms in Brest-Litovsk
- ‘Central planning’, nationalisation, state control, as reaction to crisis
- readiness to ‘change course’ after war in 1921, allowing more capitalist tendencies
What two consequences did Lenin’s apparent change of heart have?
- Lenin refused to admit any errors –> concept that the party could not be wrong
- ‘ban on factions’ in 1921
How did policy on national self-determination change?
all independence movements denounced as counter-revolutionary
- demands of Georgia for greater independence from 1922 - brutally crushed (although against Lenin’s wishes) on orders of Stalin (Georgian himself)
In 1922, what was there, surrounding the SRs?
‘show trial’ of imprisoned SRs - 24 condemned, 11 executed and party outlawed
When did Lenin dictate his ‘Testament’ in the form of a letter to be read to Party congress on his death?
December 1922
What did Lenin say within his Testament?
Gave his critical opinion of other members of Politburo: Grigorii, Lev Kamenev, Bukharin, and Trotsky
Particularly criticised Stalin (who had become Party’s first General Secretary in April 1922) - Georgia + rudeness
