B’viks Consolidating Control Flashcards
How did B’viks consolidate their control?
-economic action
-political action
-actions to change society
-actions to maintain control
What economic actions did Lenin take to consolidate his control over Russia?
-27th Oct land decree - abolished priv ownership + legitimised peasant seizures without compensation to landlords
-dec nationalisation of banks ended private flow of capital to state
-Nov workers decree - workers right ‘supervise management’ + workers unions control factories
What political actions did Lenin make?
-peace decree - promised end war - armistice followed Nov + national demobilisation process
-new legal system of elected people’s courts
-decree on land reduced peasants support for SRs + moderates walked out of congress in protest
What actions did Lenin make to maintain control?
-nationality control - self-determination to national minorities to prevent uprisings for independence
-state bank forced hand over reserves with threat of armed intervention from B’viks
-decree peace, workers + peasants
What was the sovnarkom?
-soviet council of people’s commissars
Who was in the sovnarkom?
-Lenin - chairman
-Dzerzkinsky - Cheka secret political police
-Stalin - nationalists
-Trotsky - foreign affairs
How did B’viks consolidate control through combating opposition?
-est ‘all Russian commission for suppression of counter rev, sabotage + speculation’ dec 1917 (Cheka)
-leading kadets, right wing SRs + Mensheviks imprisoned Dec 1917
-purge of the civil service
How did Lenin consolidate control through propaganda campaigns?
-campaign against political + ‘class’ enemies - the Burzhui
-closure of anti-B’vik newspapers - these were only form of mass media in Russia
What was the constituent assembly?
-democratically elected socialist gov
-elections for this began Nov with 41.7 million turnout
-SRs win most seats but many votes cast without fuller understand political situation in Petrograd
How did Lenin react to the elections to the constituent assembly?
-appalled + declared ‘mustn’t be deceived by elections’ (they mean nothing)
-thought of it as a remnant of bourgeoisie parl democracy
How did Lenins dissolution of the constituent assembly help consolidate control?
-met once 5th Jan 1918 + then dissolved
-Lenin beloved understood needs of proletariat better than they knew themselves
How did Lenin justify this decisions to dissolve C.A?
-public demonstration against dissolving it but fired on + 12 killed
-Lenin blamed Burzhui for this
-Lenin emph need for dictatorship of proletariat to crush class enemies
