6 Flashcards
what problems were facing the bolsheviks when they seized power?
-peasant land grabbing
-promise of peace
-economic problems as inflation had reached 14% by october 1917
-ukraine wanting independence
- popularity outside of petrograd as they only achieved 26% of the vote in the january elections
what did the bolsheviks power system look like?
a pyramid, sovnarkom at the top with people such as lenin, trotsky, stalin and kollentai in leadership which was largely bolshevik based power system
what was the decree on land?
this recognised essentially what was already happening in the countryside where peasants had seized land from landowners
what was the decree on workers?
authorised the workers being taken over by the workers and instructed workers committees to maintain the strictest order and discipline
why was the vesenkha set up?
“to take charge of all exsisting institutions for the regulation of economic life”
this includes the nationalisation of banks, railways, the cancellation of foreign dembts and making the transport system less chaotic
what was the point of the cheka creation in 1917?
to destroy “counter revolution and sabotage” which stretched to mean anything the bolsheviks didn’t like
who was iron felix?
a person who ran the cheka, he was deeply reactionary and had killed 150000 people by 1921 out of the chekas total death toll of 500000
what was the decree on peace?
the call for immediate negotiations of peace in the war
what was the declaration of the rights of the people of russia
stated that national minorities had the right to decide their own future (this was damaging because the country’s were responsible for a lot of their national resources)
what happened to the constituent assembly?
after lenin had taken power, he realised that because of the srs doing better in the january elections (getting 370 seats), he dissolved the ca at gun point after one day of sitting
when was the treaty of brest litovsk? what did it do?
1918- after the failure of troskys “neither peace nor war” the treaty was signed and russia lost a huge slice of territory amounting to a third of European russia and russia had to pay 3 billion roubles in war reparations
how did people react to the signing of brest litovsk?
left communists apposed the signing as they believed that they should consolidate power by driving the germans out of russia however their argument was eventually proved wrong by the collapse of the germans western front in august 1918
brest litovsk losses?
74% of coal and iron ore
27%fertile land
26% population
we’re now going to split off into a few different areas but what’s important to remember
they’re all going on at the same time
