★ Consolidation of Power Flashcards
What treaty led to peace between Germany and Russia?
★ Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
What was the Bolshevik tactic during the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
★ Confuse and infuriate Germans, Field-Marshal Paul Von Hindenburg said they acted more like victors
What were the terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?
★ Huge slice of territory, amounting to 1/3 of European Russia was ceded to Germany
★ Contained a population of 45 million people
★ Required to pay 3 billion roubles as war reparations
What was the Cheka?
★ The Bolshevik’s Secret Police
When was the Cheka created?
★ 20 December 1917
How did the Bolsheviks stay in power?
★ Weak Opposition
★ Political Misjudgements
★ Collapse of Army
★ Workers & Peasants distracted
★ Attacks on Opposition
★ Use of Class Warfare
★ Concessions to urban workers and peasants
Weak opposition
★ The opposition was unable to co-ordinate action against the government. The power of the Soviet ha declined, so there was no serious contender on the left to challenge Bolshevik power
Attacks on opposition
★ Bolsheviks closed down the opposition press, arrested key figures in other political parties and set up the Cheka
Political Misjudgements
★ The Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks did not take action because they thought the Bolshevik government would collapse on its own and the Constitutional Assembly would triumph
Collapse of the Army
★ Officers and conservative forces could not count on any loyal troops to attack the Bolsheviks
Use of class warfare
★ This tactic was effective in deflecting antagonism onto the bougeoisie. It brought support from large sections of the working class who revelled in turning the tables on the rich and wealthy
What were some early Bolshevik decrees issued by the Sovnarkom?
★ Maximum eight-hour work day for workers
★ Decree on Peace and Land
★ Abolition of titles and class distinctions
★ Workers’ control of railways and the creation of Red Army
What was Democratic Centralism?
★ A form of Democracy instated by Lenin in which all political decisions reached by voting processes are binding upon all members of the political party
What was State Capitalism?
★ Late 1917, Lenin created State Capitalism that would facilitate economic recovery and serve as a transitional phase before the implementation of Socialist policies due the Russian economy needing to recover
What was the significant of Lenin’s decrees?
★ Helped to secure popular support
[Historian Views]
★ Liberal Historians see the decrees as opportunistic
★ Revisionist Historians see the decrees as circumstantial, that the Bolsheviks were not opportunistic but benevolent idealists
