Consolidating Bolshevik power

Question 1

What problems did Lenin’s government face which threatened the end of Bolshevik rule?

Answer 1

• Continuing war with Germany
• Limited support in the countryside
• Major food shortages in the cities
• A large proportion of Russian workers were on strike

Question 2

Why was the Constituent Assembly a threat to Lenin’s government?

Answer 2

• Lenin knew that the SRs had won the largest number of seats in the November elections
• This created problems for Lenin as the SRs would use the election result to try to establish a rival government

Question 3

When demand, from Lenin, did the Constituent Assembly reject at the start of 1918? What date? What did Lenin do in response to the Assembly’s answer?

Answer 3

5th January 1918 - they rejected his demand the the Assembly be subservient to the Sovnarkom - Lenin ordered the Red Guards to close the Assembly after a single day.

Question 4

What was the impact of the closure of the Constituent Assembly?

Answer 4

• Most Russians had hoped that the Constituent Assembly would begin to rebuild Russia
• Therefore, while many radical workers supported the closure, Lenin’s action was unpopular with the majority of Russia

Question 5

What was the workers response to the closure of theConstituent Assembly?

Answer 5

Many accepted it - they believed that the new government genuinely represented their interests because Sovnarkom:

• Issued the Decree on Worker’s Control, which gave them the right to control all aspects of production
• Decreed a maximum eight-hour day

Question 6

Lenin was determined to end Russia involvement in…

Answer 6

the First World War - he knew it had been one of the key reasons for the collapse of the Tsar’s regime and the Provisional Government

Question 7

Why did Lenin believe that the ending of the war was essential?

Answer 7

• For the survival of the new government
• He hoped that ending the war would give the economy a chance to recover, which would create a ‘breathing space’ for the new government
• He believed that a civil war was inevitable - ending Russia’s involvement in WWI would allow his government to recall troops, ready to fight the Bolsheviks’ opponents when civil war broke out

Question 8

Who did Lenin appoint to conduct the peace negotiations with Germany in the town of Brest-Litovsk?

Answer 8

Trotsky.

Question 9

What were the Germans’ demands at Brest-Litovsk?

Answer 9

They demanded:

• The Baltic states, which included Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia
• Poland
• the Ukraine, an important agricultural region

Question 10

As a result of the Germans’ demands, how much would Russia lose?

Answer 10

• 32% of its arable land
• 26% of its railway system
• 33% of its factories
• 75% of its coal and iron ore mines

Question 11

How did the Bolsheviks disagree on the peace agreement?

Answer 11

• Bukharin advocated fighting a revolutionary war against capitalism and imperialist nations to spread the revolution across Europe
• Trotsky advocated a policy of ‘neither peace not war; - he argued that the truce should continue without a formal peace treaty

Question 12

What did Lenin threaten to do if senior Bolsheviks didn’t back the peace agreement?

Answer 12

Resign from the government - this threat forced Lenin’s opponents to back down.

Question 13

When did Trotsky sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?

Answer 13

3rd March 1918.

Question 14

What was the consequence of peace?

Answer 14

• The closure of the Constituent Assembly had been controversial
• However, ending the war created an even greater crisis
• Together these two actions turned public opinion away from the new government

Question 15

The Left SRs, who had supported the government and participated in Sovnarkom,…

Answer 15

resigned from government in protest at the treaty - due to the massive losses of land.