Consolidation of Bolshevik Power Flashcards
Key chronology of Bolshevik consolidation
Jan 1918 - Constituent Assembly meets and is dispersed; Decree on workers; control of the railways; creation of the Red Army; Separation of Church and State
Feb - Decree of nationalisation of industry
March - Treaty of Brest-Litovsk; Bolsheviks became the Communist Party
July - Constitution of Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic adopted
What did historian John Reed say about the reason behind Bolshevik success in the OctRev?
‘The only reason for Bolshevik success lay in their accomplishing the vast and simple desires of the most profound strata of the people’
What did Lenin consider to be the first step to true socialism and what was the necessary by-product of this?
A ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ was, according to Marxist theory, the first step to true socialism and this would require the active repression of counter-revolutionary elements.
What did Lenin argue in his book ‘State and Revolution’?
‘Revolutionary morality’ justified strong action (i.e. the removal of political opponents)
When did Lenin permit Constituent Assembly elections to go ahead?
November 1917
How many votes were cast in the Constituent Assembly elections?
Over 41 million
What % of the vote did the Bolsheviks win?
24% (175 seats)
What % of the vote did the Socialist Revolutionaries win?
53% (410 seats)
How do some historians justify the Bolshevik losses in the election?
The election was held in a crisis situation and it is likely that those who lived outside of Moscow and Petrograd knew little about the Bolsheviks and what was going on in the capital.
What did Lenin declare after the election?
‘We must not be deceived by the election figures. Elections prove nothing.’
When did the Constituent Assembly meet for the first (and only) time?
5th January 1918
Which party had already been banned ahead of the first Constituent Assembly meeting?
The Kadets (who had won 17 seats), because they expressed approval for Alexei Kaledin, a Cossack general who had begun a counter-revolutionary rebellion in the Don region.
Who did the Bolsheviks want to chair the meeting?
Left-wing Social Revolutionary Maria Spiridonova
Who did the SRs chose as chairman?
Viktor Chernov (right-wing)
What happened to the Constituent Assembly almost immediately?
It was forcibly closed
What did some civilians do after the Constituent Assembly was disbanded?
Some civilians demonstrated against this action, but were fired on and 12 were killed.
How might Lenin justify the disbandment of the Constituent Assembly?
In ‘State and Revolution’, he wrote of the need for a strong party to provide for the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’
What did Lenin say about the Constituent Assembly in 1919?
‘The dissolution of the Constituent Assembly means the complete and open repudiation of democracy in favour of dictatorship. This will be a valuable lesson’
What did Trotsky refer to the Constituent Assembly as?
‘The cumbersome mechanism’
What did Rosa Luxemburg (German socialist) say about the Bolshevik’s treatment of democracy?
‘The remedy which Trotsky and Lenin have found, the elimination of democracy as such, is worse than the disease it is supposed to cure’
Shows concerns of foreign socialists about Lenin’s actions
Who lost the right to vote in July 1918?
The bourgeoisie - including employers, priests and anyone regarded as middle class.
When were all other political parties banned?
1921
What were the differences in opinion between Lenin and Trotsky about making peace with the Germans?
Trotsky - hated the idea of making a peace that involved harsh terms for Russia
Lenin - less concerned on ideological (thought that the revolution would soon engulf Germany and thus the peace agreement would be temporary) and practical grounds (knew a compromise with the enemy would be the only way forward)
When had Trotsky signed an armistice with the Germans?
December 1917
How did Bukharin divide the Bolsheviks over the issue of peace with Germany?
Led the ‘revolutionary war group’ of those who believed that Russia should fight on
When was the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed?
3rd March 1918
What territories did Russia lose in the Treaty?
Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Bessarabia, Georgia, Belarus and Ukraine
How much of Russia’s population was lost because of the Treaty?
1/6 of the Russian population (62 million people)
How much land did Russia lose in the Treaty?
2 million square kilometres (including the area that produced almost a third of Russia’s agricultural produce)
How much of Russia’s railway lines were lost in the Treaty?
26%
How much of Russia’s iron ore and coal supplies were lost?
74%
How much money did Russia have to pay Germany in reparations?
3 billion roubles
What did Lenin say about the Treaty of B-L?
It was a ‘robber peace’, but Russia had to accept the ‘naked truth’.
Who on the Central Committee eventually supported Lenin about passing the treaty?
Trotsky, Stalin, Zinoviev
Who voted against the peace?
Bukharin, Kamenev and Dzerzhinsky
By how many votes did the treaty pass?
Only by a majority of one (even after Lenin had threatened twice to resign)
How did the Treaty of B-L confirm that Russia would be a one-party state?
The left-wing Social Revolutionaries walked out of Sovnarkom in protest
When did the Bolsheviks adopt the title of the ‘Communist party’?
March 1918
How did the Bolsheviks remove the appeal of the Social Revolutionaries?
Enacted the ‘socialisation of land’, which had long been the major appeal of the SRs.
When was the first Soviet Constitution proclaimed?
July 1918
What did the 1918 Constitution declare?
Power rested with the All-Russian Congress of Soviets and the central committee of that congress was to be the ‘supreme organ of power’. The congress was also made responsible for electing Sovnarkom.
What were the limitations of the constitution?
The vote was reserved for the ‘toiling masses’ - members of the former ‘exploiting classes’ (e.g. businessmen, clergy and tsarist officials) were excluded from voting or holding public office
The workers’ vote was weighted in the proportion of five to one against that of the peasants in elections to the All-Russian Congress of Soviets
The Congress was only to meet at intervals - so executive authority rested in the hands of the Sovnarkom
When was the USSR officially established?
End of 1922
Evidence of atrocities during the Red Terror
During the Red Terror (September 1918 to February 1919) between 50,000 and 140,000 people were executed and concentration camps were established on the Solovetsky islands.
