chapter 13 lenin and ideologies Flashcards
what was the significance of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk for showing bolshevik ideology?
- bolsheviks agreed to German terms; lost territory
- showed that bolsheviks prioritised making peace with german gov over rousing revolution in germany
- hence showed that ‘socialism at home’ would take priority over the international spread of revolution / marxism
links to stalin’s later ‘soviet first’ approach
how did views differ within bolshevik party over treaty of brest-litovsk?
- some bolsheviks wanted to pursue war in ordee to defend both socialism and russia, however this meant going against B. promise of ending war
- Lenin on the other hand argued for the acceptance of German terms
when was treaty of brest-litovsk signed?
3 march 1918
what did Russia lose as a result of the treaty of brest-litovsk?
- most of the territory on it’s western border (inc. finland, estonia, latvia and lithuania)
- lost 1/6 of its population
- lost the area that produced almost 1/3 of its agricultural produce
- lost over 70% of coal supplies
+ much more
what was Lenin’s intial plan for government?
- suggested that government should be in the hands of the people - ‘All power to the soviets’
- wanted an expansion of democracy with the people managing their own affairs
- reduction in state beauracracy
did Lenin stick to his intial plan for government?
yes:
- early decrees e.g. those on land (oct) and w
- workers’ control in factories (nov) appear to support it
- however likely he had little choice in this regard; peasants seizing land and workers’ taking over factories (supported by fact decrees didnt create socialist conditions)
No:
- however by november 1917 Lenin created sovnarkom which brought local soviets into Bolshevik power structure
- russia became a one party state
- lenin dispersed consituent assembly in Jan 1918 and asserted that he would favour dictatorship over democracy
when was sovnarkom created?
November 1917
what did the creation / actions of Sovnarkom show about lenin’s view on Petrograd Soviet / non-bolshevik socialists?
- creation of sovnarkom sidelined the Petrograd Soviet (which contained non-bolshevik socialists)
- showed that Lenin had no intention of sharing power with other socialists
- sovnarkom rarely consulted the P. Soviet
- S. met far more regularly than P. Soviet
- hence P. Soviet power was undermined
what was Lenin’s main political commitment?
- lenin determined to prevent any form of powersharing / socialist coalition government
why was Lenin so staunchly anti socialist coalition governement?
- probably because he feared other socialist leaders wouldn’t work with him personally and would dilute his own visions for the future
How did the majority want Russia to be governened? evidence of support?
- wanted a socialist coalition government
- workers and soldiers petitioned for broad socialist government
- railway workers strike in nov. for democratic gov.
- Kamenev and Zinoviev (who supported this) resigned over Lenin’s hostility to ‘power sharing’
When did Lenin disperse the Constituent Assembly?
january 1918
how did lenin justify dispersing the constituent assembly?
- it was a bourgeois parliament and had become the rallying point for the forces of the counter-revolution
- the election results it turned out did not adequately reflect the actual balance of forces within the country
why did Lenin actually disperse the constituent assembly?
- the assembly wouldn’t support lenin’s ‘Declaration of the Rights of the Toiling and Exploited People’ ; (summed up the main decrees of the Soviet government: all power to the Soviets, the decree on land, the decree on peace, workers’ control over production.)
when did the Bolsheviks formally adopt the title ‘Communist Party’?
- march 1918
- from then on they governed alone and one party state became key principle of soviet communism
when was the cheka created?
December 1917
what did the establishment of the cheka signify about lenin’s ideology?
- confimed lenin’s conviction that the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ would require the active repression of ‘counter-revolutionary’ enemies
supported by dismissal of constituent assembly
when was the first period of communist state terror?
1918-1920
- bolsheviks fought against political enemies in the civil war
what was the effect of the Civil War on bolshevik ideology and rule?
- demand for party obediance tightened
- new central controls brought in to manage economy and deal with food shortages (war communism)
- terror used to eradicate opposition and enfore new measures
revealed weakness of B. control - forced centralised system of gov.
How does the adoption of war communism and central planning support the idea that pragmatism was more important to lenin that ideology?
- both can be seen as a pragmatic reaction to crisis
- lenin made the decision to change course and allow more capitalist practices after the war in 1921 and revolts from workers and peasants
when did Lenin ban factions within communist party?
1921
why did Lenin’s ban of factions have a significant impact after his death?
allowed stalin to defeat his rivals
How did the civil war change bolshevik ideology towards minorities and ethnicities?
- previous support for ‘national self-determination’ for ethnic minorities was abandoned
- all independence movements denounced as counter revolutionary
- example; demands for greater independence in Georgia from 1922 were brutually crushed on orders from Stalin (against Lenin’s wishes)
stalin was Georgian himself and People’s commisar for nationalities
when did Lenin die? When did his health start declining and it’s impact?
- Lenin died in January 1924
- suffered three strokes from 1922-1923; second left him unable to speak and partially paralysed; third left him bed-ridden
- as a result his was largely distant from politics from 1923
what stalinist features became well established between 1921-1924?
- attack on the church
- increase in censorship (more systematic)
- powers of secret police extended
fall of Mensheviks in early 1920s
- Martov left the country in 1920
- the arest of 5000 mensheviks for counter revolutionary activity destroyed the group as a political force
fall of the SRs in early 1920s
- 1922 groups of SRs given show trial and accused of plotting against lenin
- resulted in 34 leaders being condemned, 11 executed and the party being banned
