Developments between revolutions

Question 1

What was the Petrograd Soviet?

Answer 1

Group of soldiers, sailors and workers

Question 2

How many members did the Petrograd Soviet have?

Answer 2

27th Feb - 250
3rd Mar - 1,300
10th Mar - 3,000 (2,200 military, 800 workers)

Question 3

What were the practical powers of the Petrograd Soviet?

Answer 3

Control of the post, weapons, factories and railways

Question 4

What were the ideological powers of the Petrograd Soviet?

Answer 4

The idea of representation allowed people to feel empowered and gave them hope for the future

Question 5

Beliefs of the Petrograd Soviet

Answer 5

Russia should have a Constituent Assembly to represent every political party, believed in universal suffrage and very left wing, communist beliefs.

Question 6

Why did the PS have limited political power?

Answer 6

Only Kerensky had a role in the Provisional Government

Question 7

What was Order No. 1?

Answer 7

Instructed soldiers to obey the instructions of the Provisional Government, but ONLY when the Soviet agreed

Question 8

What was the Provisional Government?

Answer 8

12 men who refused to leave when the Tsar dissolved the Duma

Question 9

Who led the Provisional Government?

Answer 9

Prince Lvov until July 1917, then Kerensky took over

Question 10

What laws were passed by the PG?

Answer 10

Abolished the death penalty and the Okhrana as well as granting political amnesty to revolutionary leaders like Lenin and Trotsky

Question 11

What did the Provisional Government want to do about the war?

Answer 11

PG wanted to continue the war out of a sense of duty to the triple entente (Russia, UK, France) - did not want to jeopardise positive trade relations for the future. They were also motivated by nationalism and a fear of German domination of Europe

Question 12

What did the Petrograd Soviet want to do about the war?

Answer 12

PS wanted revolutionary defencism - only wanted to fight in self defence

Question 13

What was the Milyukov announcement?

Answer 13

Milyukov announced in April 1917 that the government would continue fighting until a ‘just peace’ had been won - this unleashed a storm of protest where Milyukov (Foreign Minister) and Guchov (War Minister) had to temporarily resign.

Question 14

What was the consequence of the Milyukov announcement?

Answer 14

Milyukov and Guchov were replaced by socialists from the Soviet - Viktor Chernov became Minister of Agriculture, Aleksandr Kerensky became Minister of War and two further Mensheviks were added to the cabinet.

Question 15

Reason why PG failed: opposition growing stronger

Answer 15

Lenin returned to Russia and released his April Thesis which detailed his demands for peace with Germany, land redistribution and Soviet control of banks, products and distribution

Lenin used memorable slogans like ‘peace, bread and land’ and ‘all power to the Soviets’

Question 16

Was Lenin’s personality a key factor for failure of the PG?

Answer 16

He won over the majority of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party by force of personality (most Bolsheviks had been initially taken aback by his opposition to the PG) - however, he also used threats of resignation to get his way, so personality may not have been key

Question 17

Evidence that Lenin was struggling to gain wider support in the Bolshevik Party?

Answer 17

On 3rd June, the Petrograd Soviet passed a vote of confidence in the PG by 543 votes to 126.

Question 18

Reason for failure of PG: WW1

Answer 18

War = deeply unpopular

Had been around 8 million casualties in the war so far. It was causing shortages in major cities (Petrograd was still only receiving 1/3 of the food and 1/2 of the fuel it needed)

Causing economic issues (inflation) and agricultural issues (conscription left too few people to maintain crops)

Kerensky ordered one last offensive on 16th June 1917 - out of 16 days of fighting, the first 3 were good but the others failed - this failure caused the July Days

Question 19

What were the July Days?

Answer 19

3-7 July, workers, sailors and soldiers staged armed demonstrations against the PG

20,000 Kronstadt sailors join on 4th July

Rioters march to the Tauride Palace and call for power to the Soviets - fails, crushed by loyal soldiers

Question 20

How did the July Days impact Bolshevik attempts to seize power?

Answer 20

Did not make the Bolsheviks look like a united front - Lenin called for calm because he was away

Showed PG had enough loyal support to put down an armed revolution

Pravda closed down, Trotsky arrested, Lenin forced to go to Finland

Question 21

Reasons for failure of PG: the land question

Answer 21

Peasants were disappointed that there was no land distribution after the FebRev - some took land by force or refused to pay rent

Kerensky set up a commission to investigate land reform, but this was unlikely to lead anywhere as PG were friends with landowners (PG = old Duma members so likely to be middle/upper class)

Bolsheviks adopted policy of land redistribution, so they gain support of the peasants

Question 22

Reasons for failure of PG: Kornilov affair

Answer 22

Kerensky relied on Kornilov to restore law and order in cities and discipline in the army - however, Kornilov turned against him and marched on Petrograd, possibly to take control and establish military control

Kerensky called on the Soviet to save Petrograd - Bolshevik Red Guard given weapons by Kerensky

Red Guard put a halt to the coup - looked far better than the PG

Question 23

Evidence that the Bolsheviks gained support after the Kornilov affair?

Answer 23

September - Bolsheviks gained control of the PS, took control of the Moscow Soviet shortly afterwards
25th September - Trotsky became President of the PS

Question 24

When did Lenin start organising a seizure of power?

Answer 24

From mid-September onwards, Lenin ordered the Bolsheviks to get ready to seize power.

Question 25

What opposition was there to Lenin’s call to seize power?

Answer 25

Kamenev and Zinoviev argued that Russia was not economically ready for a revolution and did not want to act until after the Constituent Assembly had been called.

Trotsky thought an armed uprising could be avoided if the Bolsheviks became the leading socialist party in the Congress of Soviets (planned for 26th of October)

Question 26

How did Lenin prepare for revolution?

Answer 26

Lenin put Trotsky in charge of organising the seizure of power - he gathered Red Guard militias at Bolshevik HQ and sent Commissars to get the loyalty of Petrograd’s garrisons

Trotsky and Dzerzhinsky established Military Revolutionary Committee on 16th October

Overall Trotsky gathered 200,000 Red Guard soldiers, 60,000 Baltic soldiers and 150,000 soldiers of remaining garrison units

Question 27

When did the October Revolution officially begin?

Answer 27

25th October

Question 28

How much did Bolshevik membership increase?

Answer 28

23,000 in Februray –> 200,000 in October

Question 29

Who helped Lenin return to Russia?

Answer 29

The Germans, who enabled him to travel through Germany from this exile in Switzerland

Question 30

When did Lenin return to Russia?

Answer 30

April 1917

Question 31

Consequences of the July Days

Answer 31

Prince Lvov resigned, leaving Kerensky to rule. The government launched a propaganda campaign against Lenin causing him to flee to Finland