C - Nature of Government (old)

Question 1

What was the Measure for the Protection of state stability (Alexander III)?

Answer 1

gave the government far reaching powers to interfere with civil liberties

Question 2

What were Land Captains (Alexander III)?

Answer 2

officers that enforced local laws, members of the zemtsvo

Question 3

What acts did Alexander III pass in regards to local government?

Answer 3

1890 Zemstva act: changed the way that members were elected (dominated by nobility and landowners)
1892 Municipal government act: resitrcited the electorate in the towns to owners of property over a certain value

Question 4

What was the influence of Pobedonostev on Alexander III and his rule?

Answer 4

commitment to autocracy, orthodoxy and nationality, Russian Nationalist, supporter of total tsardom

Question 5

What was Nicholas II’s character like?

Answer 5

helpless, incapable of exercising power, cruel. only understood the significance of isolated fact

Question 6

What were the causes of 1905 Revolution?

Answer 6

Russo-Japanese war (humiliation and lack of food + fuel), Bloody Sunday (tsarist guards firing at peaceful workers), Peasant unrest (1891 famine and revolts)

Question 7

What was the October manifestio?

Answer 7

as a result of the 1905 revolution, Nicholas was forced to create an elected legislative Duma

Question 8

What was the difference. between the First/Second and Third/Fourth Duma and what was the distinction between the two?

Answer 8

First/Second were mostly democratic and somewhat anti-tsarist parties and thus frequently criticised the tsar, but after 1907 electoral law limited voting and membership to favour pro-tsarist parties

Question 9

Short term significance of the Duma + October Manifesto?

Answer 9

huge step away from autocracy (political parties, legislative powers), pleased opposition

Question 10

Long term significance of the Duma + October Manifesto?

Answer 10

not as democratic as claimed, limited voting

Question 11

Stolypin’s reforms?

Answer 11

objectives were to feed the growing population and create a strong conservative peasantry, refused to work with Dumas

Question 12

Why did WW1 lead to Nicholas II’s abdication?

Answer 12

didn’t incorporate the Duma into government and was at the front line of battle so all responsibility fell on him, tsarist economy led to 300x inflation, scandals of Tsarina and Rasputin

Question 13

How did the 1917 February revolution progress?

Answer 13

started as a march for International Women’s day, joined by factory workers, strikes around Petrograd, military ordered to restore order , Petrograd garrison supported demonstrators, Nicholas abdicated

Question 14

What were the aims of the Provisional government?

Answer 14

create a government of national unity (but all upper class members), very liberal in ideology, built on the eight principles which gave the people freedoms

Question 15

What were some early problems of the Provisional government?

Answer 15

nature of gov itself: lack of legitimacy and stood on minority views
context of the new gov: lack of control outside the capital, economic decline, peasant land seizures, demands of independence

Question 16

What was Dual Authority?

Answer 16

partnership between Petrograd Soviet and the prov. gov.
it meant that the soviet got power and the prov. gov. some legitimact

Question 17

How was Lenin significant in the 1917 October revolution?

Answer 17

April Thesis, slogan of ‘work, bread and land’

Question 18

What was the June offensive, and what did it lead to?

Answer 18

last attempt to attack Germany, it was a disaster and so ended in workers’ uprising and Kerenksy as prime minister

Question 19

What was the Kornilov affair?

Answer 19

Kornilov went against Kerensky by sending troops to fight in Petrograd and get help from Soviets

Question 20

What was the 1917 October revolution like?

Answer 20

organised and pre-planned (takeover of railways and telephone lines)

Question 21

What was the early Soviet State like?

Answer 21

Sovnarkom - made up of oly Bolsheviks, Democratic Centralism, not a one party state yet

Question 22

Who did and didn’t support the early Soviet State?

Answer 22

both Petrograd Trades Union Council and Female Factory Workers gave full support, resistance from other Socialist parties

Question 23

What were some early decrees?

Answer 23

Decree on Land (confiscated land of the Orthodox church), Decree on Workers’ control, Decree on Peace

Question 24

What happened at the Constituent Assembly?

Answer 24

first proper election -> Bolsheviks won 175/715 seats. and then Lenin declared Bourgeouis parliamentary democracy by arguing that the Congress of Soviets represented a higher stage of democracy

Question 25

What was the July 1918 Constitution?

Answer 25

supreme power resided within the Congress of Soviets, move towards a one party state and centralised power

Question 26

What are the causes of the Russian civil war?

Answer 26

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, political opposition to the Bolsheviks and allied opposition against them

Question 27

How did the Russian civil war impact the Nature of government?

Answer 27

structure became increasingly centralised to ensure victory, reliance on the Politburo over the Sovnarkom (gov in 1920), other parties were increasingly excluded from government, Ban on Fanctions, party as a large part of the government

Question 28

Centralisation as a result of the Russian Civil war?

Answer 28

due to the collapse of industry, mixture of ideology and pragmatism -> although considered War Communism, it was also necessary for strategic reasons to win the civil war - accelerated)

Question 29

How did the party became a large part of the government after the Russian Civil war?

Answer 29

Politburo took over key decision making, Communist organisations took control of Soviets across Russua, change of membership, ban of other parties

Question 30

What were some issues that divided the committee after Lenin’s death?

Answer 30

Bureaucracy vs Rule of the Proletariat, Permanent revolution vs Socialism in one country

Question 31

How dod Stalin win the power struggle?

Answer 31

broad power base (because he was the secretary), underestimated by opponents, ban on factions (difficult to challenge him), popular policies (rapid industrialisation + One country policy)

Question 32

What was the nature of government like by 1928?

Answer 32

establishment of an ideological orthodoxy (committed to socialism in one country, collectivisation and industrialisation), destroyed authority of other contenders, changed the nature of party membership (Lenin enrolment), created a patronage system

Question 33

Impacts of WW2 on nature of government?

Answer 33

the losses of 1918 were restored to Russia, projected a modern and powerful influence to the West, Stalin’s cult of personality was reaffirmed, 27 million soviet citizens dead

Question 34

What did Khrushchev believe about the Communist party?

Answer 34

that it had a leading ideological role in constructing Socialism

Question 35

What were some of Khrushchev’s early reforms?

Answer 35

replacing Stalin’s supporters with his own, bureaucracy campaign , De-stalinisation (to humanise communism and rejection of the cult of personality)

Question 36

How did the Cold War impact on the nature of government?

Answer 36

questioning of its basic values (due to the strain of war), arrests and purges, called for a change in politics and the economy but also limited change to uphold an image

Question 37

How did Khrushchev fall?

Answer 37

reforms created discontent and economy slowed, concern over his ‘rash and dangerous’ foreign policy, criticised for mishandling economy