Consolidation 1918-1924 Flashcards
Problems the Bolsheviks faced upon taking power
Strikes from civil servants War with Germany Limited countryside support Banks refused to supply Bolsheviks with financial support Food shortages in cities Strikes from workers in cities
What did bolsheviks call themselves?
what did the sovnarkom establish in 1917?
what was set up in 1919?
Peoples Commissars
Cheka
politburo
How many employees of the Cheka 1917-1921
how many people had the cheka killed in 1918
120-143,000
50,000
When was the constituent assembly?(month)
what % of the votes did the Bs get? Who were they outvoted by?
What did Lenin demand? What was the response?
What did lenin do instead?when?
November
24%
Socialist revolutionaries
demanded the constituent assembly be subservient to the sovnarkom and the soviets. This was rejected 237-137
ordered the red guard to surround the building where they met on 5th january 1918 and never allowed anyone to enter- ending the ca
why did lenin want to end the war?
war was unpopular
ending the war would give a good chance for the economy to recover
it would give him preparation time in case of a civil war
Russia’s military was exhausted
Name of german russian peace treaty?
When was peace with germany signed?
what did it concede to germany?
treaty of Brest-Litovsk 2nd december 1918 Ukraine parts of poland 32% of arable land 75% of its coal and iron ore mines baltic states
consequences of the treaty
left socialist revolutionaries resigned from government in protest to the treaty
when was the civil war?
what fraction of Russia did the red army occupy?
1918-1921
1/5
geographical advantages of the red army
occupied most densely populated areas- 70 million people- could recruit workers and soldiers
occupied russias most industrialised regions
had control of russias main railway lines-could transport goods and equipment
geographical disadvantages of the whites
20 million people
few factories
forces divided-general yudenich of estonia and admiral kolchak in the north of russia
Role of trotsky
strict discipline and used political officers in the army to maintain loyalty
used an armoured train to visit and support areas under threat
When was the tsar and his family executed?
where?
why?
17 July 1918
cheka detachment in yakaterinburg
they were a source of hope for the nationalists
red strengths overall: how many soldiers by 1920? who's leadership was crucial? how was loyalty ensured? what areas did the reds control?
5 million by 1920
trotsky’s leadership
present war as an ideological conflict and propaganda
most industrialised areas, most railways, most densely populated
weaknesses of white army overall: whos support dried up as ww1 ended? what did the army lack? geographical problems? ideological problems?
allies support dried up as there was little need to change the russian government decision to reopen the eastern front
lacked discipline and had mass desertions
separated- problematic communication
did not have a common goal
what was lenins economic policy in 1918?
who were the national industries run by? what did they do?
state capitalism
vesenkha-
re-establishing worker discipline by offering higher pay to more productive workers
ensuring factories were properly managed by putting them under control of well paid specialists
co ordinate economic production to meet the needs of the new society
when was war communism introduced ?why? what was it?
1918
food prices soared, industrial production shrank, value of the rouble collapsed
included: grain requisitioning-cheka squads take grain without paying
-rationing- workers and soldiers had most rations
-abolition of money, gov printed money to create hyper inflation, destroying its
value
- abolition trade
- complete nationalisation
- conscription- either fought in army or worked in factory
When was there an assassination attempt on lenin?
what did this cause?
how many people were killed by the cheka during this period- official records v actual?
30 august 1918
the red terror
13,000 v500,000
what was the first revolt against the bolsheviks? when? who was it led by? what was their motivation? how many anti communist fighters? what did they attack?
tambov revolt 1920 alksander antov against cheka brutality and grain requisitioning 50,000 grain stores across the volga canal
what uprising was there?
what did they demand?
kronstadt rising
reforms to turn russia into a soviet democracy
NEP: date? what was it: what was reintroduced? peasants could do what? what happened to grain requisitioning? what happened to small factories? what happened to major industries?
1921
- buy and sell and produce freely
- money
- grain requ was replaced by a tax
- small factories were denationalised and allowed to trade freely, some even returned to their former owners
- large factories and major industries remained nationalised
Effects of NEP on agriculture:
was it popular?
what did it encourage?
grain production 1913/1921/1922
very popular free trade encouraged peasants to grow more- ended the famine and farming revived. 1913: 80 million tonnes 1921: 37.61 million tonnes 1922: 50.3 million tonnes
Effects of NEP on industry:
what campaign did lenin authorise?
what was the problem with industry?
1913/1921/1926 industrial production
electrification campaign which revived a dead industry industry took extremely long to recover -10 million roubles -2 million -11 million
Political effects of NEP:
what did lenin couple NEP with?
what 2 things did he introduce?
tighter political control
introduced a ban on factions within the communist party
supported democratic centrism: all other political parties were banned and the decisions made by lenin and the politburo had to be supported by all communists
Foreign relations:
what was established to encourage world wide revolution? what date?
comintern march 1919
russio polish war:
why did the russians invade?
when did they invade?
why did it fail?
they expected the polish working class to support revolt against the government
1920
polish resisted- saw it as traditional russian expansionist threat
what treaty did the russians do with germany?
date?
main terms of agreement?
what did this treaty develop into?
rapallo treaty
1922
cooperation in helping meet the economic needs of both countries
russia provided germany with military training grounds
russia would be allowed special trading rights with germany
treaty of berlin 1926-non aggression pact
english soviet treaty date and name
zinoviev letter date and events
anglo soviet trade agreement march 1921
1924
letter allegedly from zinoviev urged the communist party of britain to infiltrate the labour party to extend leninism
zinoviev claimed the letter to be fake
conservatives won election, were much more hostile to soviet relations
when did lenin die
january 1924
