CHP4.1October/November revolution 1917 Flashcards
when did the Bolshevik revolution begin?
25th October 1917
What 3 things did Kerensky do on 23rd October in attempt to decrease the power of the Bolshevik party after releasing them to stop the Kornilov affair ?
1) Ordered the printers of 2 Bolshevik newspapers (Pravda &Izvestia) to cease activities
2) to restrict the power of the Military Revolutionary Committee
3) sent troops to raise the bridges linking the working class area of Petrograd, The Vyborg district, (a Bolshevik stronghold ) to the city centre
Briefly what happened on the night of the 24th October / early 25th October morning?
(3)
- 5,000 soldiers and sailors from Kronstadt moved in the city
- Red Guards began to take over government buildings in Petrograd
- Lenin remained in hiding
What kind of government buildings were taken over on the 24th October?
name 3
(6)
- post office
- telephone exchange
- railway stations
- news agency
- state bank
- power stations
When taking over government buildings, where did the Red Guard and sailors find difficulty?
resistance at the main telegraph office however the troops on duty generally gave in without resistance
Briefly what happened on the 25th October?
6
- Kerensky left Petrograd to rally military support
- At 9.40pm a blank shot was fired from the Aurora
- Only 1 of the shots fired hit the Palace, most went into the river
- 10.40pm the Second Congress of Soviets convened
- It was midnight when the first Bolshevik deputies arrived
- Mensheviks and SR’s made public declarations against the Bolsheviks
On the 25th October who/what surrounded the Winter palace?
4
- artillery from St.Peter and Paul fortress across the river
- guns of the battleship Aurora on the River Neva
- Sailors
- Red Guards
What did the Menshevik and right wing SR’s publicly declare in protest?
‘against the military conspiracy and seizure of power’
Briefly, what happened on the 26th October?
3
- early hours of the morning, Congress greeted the announcement of the capture of the Winter palace
- PG members were arrested
- 9pm Lenin’s “Decree on Peace” to end war
briefly, what happened on the 27th October?
6
- 2am Lenin’s “Decree on Land”
- new elected “All-Russian Central Executive Committee”
- “Soviet of Peoples Commissars” established
- Political prisoners of PG freed
- Abolition of the death penalty at the front
- immediate arrest of Kerensky
Who were the members of the “All-Russian Central Executive Committee”?
- 101 members
- 62 Bolshevik
- 29 left wing SR’s
What was the “Soviet of Peoples Commissars”?
created to run the government
-Only Bolshevik because the left wing SR’s refused to join
Lenin was elected Chairman
What was the Soviet of Peoples Commissars also known as?
Sovnarkom
What was the guard of the Winter Palace made up of ?
4
- some cadets
- part of the Engineering school
- 2 companies of Cossacks
- small number of the Women’s battalion
How many did Trotsky claim to be involved in the October/November revolution?
- 25,000 to 30,000 ‘at the most’
- about 5% of the workers and soldiers in the city
What do records suggest about the amount of people who died in the October rev and why?
about 5 because the PG had hardly any military resources left to combat the assault
What did Trotsky summarise the revolution as?
“small operations, calculated and prepared in advance”
How is it evident that much of Petrograd were unaffected by the 3 day revolution?
(5)
- trams, taxis ran as normal
- restaurants, theatres and cinemas remained open
What did British historian Robert Service writing c2000 argue in regards to Lenin’s involvement in creating the October revolution?
Robert Service argued that Russia was heading for a socialist takeover anyways and that Lenin merely ensured that it was a Bolshevik takeover
Which 2 Bolshevik newspapers did Kerensky order to cease activities on the 23rd October 1917?
Pravda and Izvestia
Which committee did Kerensky attempt to cease the power of on the 23rd October?
the Military Revolutionary Committee
Where did Kerensky send troops to do on the 23rd October?
to raise the bridges linking the working class area of Petrograd to the city centre
Why did Kerensky send troops on the 23rd October to raise the bridges in the Vyborg district?
as this bridge linked the working class area of Petrograd to the city centre which was a Bolshevik stronghold
How was Kerensky’s attempt to send troops to raise the bridges linking the working class area of Petrograd to the city centre stopped?
troops loyal to the Bolsheviks claimed that his actions were a betrayal of the Soviet and an abandonment of the principles of the revolution
