5 - Bolshevik Early Consolidation Of Power Flashcards
What were the three crucial decrees introduced by the Bolsheviks?
Land Decree: 540 million acres of land were taken from the Tsar, the nobles and churches, and peasants were to set up committees to split it fairly.
Peace decree: Intended to make immediate peace with opponents at war
Work decree: 8 hour working day and 40 hour week introduced for all industrial workers. There were restrictions on overtime and all workers were entitled to holidays
What was the Constituent Assembly?
The Constituent Assembly had been arranged by Kerensky to elect a new government. The Bolsheviks only had a quarter of the votes, the Socialist Revolutionaries had the majority.
What did Lenin do with the Constituent Assembly?
When the Assembly denied Lenin’s proposal for its limited power, Lenin ordered for it to be dissolved. Elected Deputies were prevented from entering the Assembly and demonstrators were killed and wounded outside the palace. The Bolsheviks ‘assumed’ complete control.
What was the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?
As part of gaining peace with Germany in the war, which would provide the Bolsheviks with breathing space to deal with their consolidation of power and internal problems, the Bolsheviks would have to give up large amounts of land from the Black Sea to the Baltic, and would have to pay reparations summing up to 3 billion roubles.
Lenin was forced to seal the treaty when the Germans started to make advances in Russian territory.
What were the reactions in Russia to the treaty?
Many objected due to:
- The dictated nature of the peace
- The way in which Lenin and Trotsky were prepared to sacrifice national interest to secure peace
- The amount of land and population lost
- The amount of reparations that needed to be paid
Why did the Treaty become meaningless, but what was its significance nevertheless?
The war ended in autumn 1918 after the failure of the German Spring Offensive, which gave the Treaty of Brest Litovsk no legality, as the Germans now held no power.
However the treaty was still significant in giving Lenin’s government breathing space to consolidate itself.
