AS FP1 : First Decrees of Sovnarkom

Question 1

What did Lenin do upon coming to power??

Answer 1

• Immediately proposed an end to WW1
• Proposed the distribution of all land to the peasants, landowners would not be paid for land taken from them.

These proposals were adopted.

Question 2

When were the Cheka established?

Answer 2

20th December 1917

Question 3

Were the Bolsheviks supported throughout russia?

Answer 3

No, they encountered resistance in cities like Kiev, as well as coutnries like Siveria, Georgia, Armenia, and Central Asia.

They were stongest in Central Russia and in large cities where many workers lived.

Question 4

What did Sovnarkom stand for?

Answer 4

Council of People’s Commissars

Question 5

Who was in Sovnarkom?

Answer 5

All the commissars were Bolsheviks, a new Soviet Central Executive Committee was voted in, made up of 29 Left SRs, 6 Mensheviks and 62 Bolsheviks.
Lenin declared all power to the Soviets but on the night of the revolution many other parties walked out - “confining themselves to the dustbin of history” (Trotsky)

Question 6

What did Lenin promise to appease the masses?

Answer 6

As many were unhappy with “all power to the Bolsheviks” Lenin claimed that Sovnarkom would only lead until the Constituent Assembly convened in early 1918.

Question 7

What happened at the Constituent Assembly and when?

Answer 7

25th November elections held.
Socialist Revolutionary Party got twice the votes of the Bolshevik Party.

When the Constituent Assembly met on January 18, 1918, Bolsheviks posted their soldiers at the entrances preventing many Socialist Revolutionaries from entering. Crowds were fired at when they protested.
Bolsheviks succeeded in closing down the assembly and they remained in power.

Question 8

When were the Decree on Land and Decree on Peace passed?

Answer 8

26th October 1917

Question 9

When did Lenin write State and Revolution and what did he argue in it?

Answer 9

1917. He argued that in order to establish the dictatorship of the Proletariat, active repression of counter-revolutionary elements was essential.

Question 10

How many votes were cast in the Constituent Assembly election?

Answer 10

Over 41 million.

Question 11

What % of votes did the Bolsheviks win in the Constituent Assembly Elections?

Answer 11

24%

Question 12

What % of votes did the Socialist Revolutionaries win in the constituent assembly elections?

Answer 12

53%

Question 13

When was the Decree of Press issued, which curbed the ability of groups like the Mensheviks to publish their own newspapers?

Answer 13

October 27th 1917

Question 14

When did the bourgeoisie lose their right to vote when there was a restructure of soviet government?

Answer 14

July 1918.