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.)
