AS FP1 : October Revolution Flashcards
How many people did Trotsky claim were involved in the revolution?
25,000 to 30,000 (at most)
- 5 % of workers in Petrograd
What is the estimate for the number of soldiers in front of the Winter Palace?
10,000 to 15,000
What did Fiehn say about the number of people surrounding the palace during the revolution?
That many were just “bystanders”.
How long did it take for the Bolsheviks to gain control of Petrograd?
3 days
(25-27th October)
How many people died?
5 people died.
How did Trotsky describe the revolution?
That the revolution was essentially a series of “small operations, calculated and prepared in advance”.
How long did Tsereteli, leader of the Mensheviks, predict that the Bolsheviks would last?
3 weeks
How many delegates were in the All Russian Congress of Soviets?
670 Delegates, 500 of whom voted for a socialist government.
How often did Sovnarkom meet?
Once or twice a day - meaning that the soviet met less frequently and became obsolete.
How did Fiehn describe the Bolshevik state?
A state which was “Inherently tyrnanical and dictorial.”
How did historian Pomomarev describe the proletariat?
He described the proletariat as the “prime motive force of the entire social and political development of the country”.
How many garrison units of the PG’s army joined Trotsky’s Military Revolutionary Council?
15 out of 18
How many Red Guards were in the MRC?
20,000
How many supporters did the Bolsheviks have at the start and end of 1917?
20,000 at the start, 200,000 at the end but this was still only a minority.
Why did the Bolsheviks win in the October Revolution?
- Kerensky was not a strong leader, he gave a fine “impression of energy” (Catherine Merridale).
- The Provisional Government was disorganised.
- Other parties not as organised as the Bolsheviks.
- Bolsheviks composed of professional revolutionaries dedicated to their goals and capable of carrying them out.
