5) Changes under the Bolsheviks 1918-24

Question 1

What did the Decree on Press ban?

Answer 1

All non-Bolshevik newspapers

Question 2

What did the Decree on Political Parties ban?

Answer 2

The Kadets

Question 3

What did Lenin remove in January 1918?

Answer 3

The Constituent Assembly

Question 4

The banning of other political parties made Russia a what?

Answer 4

Autocracy

Question 5

What did Lenin replace courts of law with?

Answer 5

Revolutionary tribunals (that were often brutal and unjust)

Question 6

What was set up in December 1917?

Answer 6

The Cheka

Question 7

What was so special about a decree on workers passed by the Bolsheviks in February 1918?

Answer 7

They could force anyone they wanted to do forced labor. If people didn’t work they could be arrested and/or executed as enemies of the revolution

Question 8

What were the camps ran by Bolsheviks known as?

Answer 8

Gulags

Question 9

Who led the Red Terror?

Answer 9

Felix Dzerzhinsky

Question 10

How many people had been executed by the end of the Red Terror?

Answer 10

Between 50,000 and 140,000 people (many of whom were innocent)

Question 11

Why was the Kronstadt mutiny so important?

Answer 11

It showed Lenin that even the most loyal of followers could turn their backs on the Bolsheviks.

Question 12

What was the Politburo?

Answer 12

A leading decision-making body within the Bolshevik (Communist) party

Question 13

When was the Politburo set up?

Answer 13

1919

Question 14

Who were the original members of the Politburo?

Answer 14

Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, Zinoviev, Kamenev

Question 15

Why was the Politburo set up?

Answer 15

Some decisions were seen as too important to be debated by the Communist central committee.

Question 16

What did the 1924 constitution do?

Answer 16

Reorganise land of the Old Russian Empire meaning the Red army could enforce their power over all of Russia.

Question 17

Who controlled all of the decisions of the All Union Congress of Soviets?

Answer 17

The Communist Party

Question 18

How did War Communism move away from capitalism?

Answer 18

1) nationalisation of factories
2) banning of private sale of grain
3) abolition of money

Question 19

Who was the Vesenka?

Answer 19

A Bolshevik group who decided what industrial products to produce and how much should be produced.

Question 20

What was established that meant that money and private trading was never totally removed?

Answer 20

The black market

Question 21

How did peasants react to War Communism?

Answer 21

1) they hoarded grain
2) they destroyed grain
3) they grew less and bred fewer animals

Question 22

What was a consequence of the peasant reaction to War Communism?

Answer 22

Famine (millions died) and in some places; cannibalism

Question 23

What was set up in place of War Communism?

Answer 23

The N.E.P

Question 24

What does N.E.P stand for ?

Answer 24

New Economic Policy

Question 25

What greater freedoms did peasants experience under the N.E.P?

Answer 25

Once they had met their quota of grain produced they could sell the surplus (the grain left over).

Question 26

What happened to factories with under 20 workers under the N.E.P?

Answer 26

They were returned to their owners.

Question 27

What specific types of factories stayed under Communist control under the N.E.P.?

Answer 27

Coal, Steel and those with over 20 workers.

Question 28

How did the N.E.P. modernise Russia?

Answer 28

It gave more people electricity as a network of power stations were built after 1921.

Question 29

Why did many Communist leaders dislike the N.E.P?

Answer 29

They thought it was a step backwards from their Communist philosophy.

Question 30

Who flourished (did well) as a result of the N.E.P.?

Answer 30

NEPmen (private traders - there were 25,000 in Moscow alone) and Kulaks (wealthier peasants)

Question 31

What didn’t the N.E.P tackle?

Answer 31

1) Agriculture - this was still primitive

2) Industry - this was still growing slowly

Question 32

What positives did women experience under the Communists?

Answer 32

1) Paid maternity leave (2 months before and after birth)
2) Legalised abortion
3) New divorce laws made it easier to get a divorce

Question 33

What positives did youth experience under the Communists?

Answer 33

1) Youth organisations such as Pioneer and komsomol were set up and captured the hearts and minds of many youth.
2) Schools were placed under the Commissariat for Enlightenment - it was compulsory to learn about the history of revolution and Communsim
3) There was more practical education (including trips to power stations, state farms, etc.)

Question 34

What was the Proletkino?

Answer 34

A special group in place to make political films (such as Oktober)

Question 35

What was Heroic Realism/Socialist Realism?

Answer 35

A type of art adopted by many artists whereby loyal communists, workers and peasants were pictured as heroes.

Question 36

Who was in charge of the Commissariat for Enlightenment?

Answer 36

Andrology Lunacharsky

Question 37

What was the Proletkult?

Answer 37

The culture ‘made by the people, for the people’

Question 38

What negatives did women experience under the Communists?

Answer 38

1) After the Civil War women were replaced by men in skilled jobs
2) Many pregnant women were divorced in accordance with the new divorce laws
3) Male chauvinism limited women politically

Question 39

What negatives did education experience under the Communists?

Answer 39

1) The authority of teachers was reduced - homework was banned and they were not able to discipline students
2) Because of the financial pressures of the N.E.P universal schooling was abandoned.