Developments Between the Revolutions

Question 1

At which location was ‘The July Day’s based?

Answer 1

Kronstadt Naval Base

Question 2

How many soldiers were involved in the July Days from the Kronstadt Naval Base?

Answer 2

20,000 and they were all armed

Question 3

When did ‘The July Days’ take place?

Answer 3

3rd-5th of July

Question 4

What did the soldiers at the Kronstadt Naval Base actually do?

Answer 4

Organised their own armed demonstrations. They used Bolshevik slogans.

Question 5

What was Lenin’s response to the July Days?

Answer 5

He sent Bolshevik soldiers to ensure the demonstrations were peaceful.

Question 6

What happened when Lenin sent Bolshevik soldiers to calm the protestors?

Answer 6

The Bolshevik soldiers fired shots into the crowd and this undermined Lenin’s credibility.

Question 7

How did the July Days demonstration come to an end?

Answer 7

The Provisional Government, supported by Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries, used reinforcements to crush the demonstrations.

Question 8

What were the four main outcomes of the July Days?

Answer 8

• Lenin and Stalin fled, but Trotsky and Kamenev were
  imprisoned.
• Bolshevik newspaper ‘Pravda’ was forcibly closed down.
• Bolshevik propaganda was burned.
• Kerensky became Prime Minister of the Provisional
  Government.

Question 9

Why was Kornilov appointed as Commander in Chief of the Army?

Answer 9

Because the Brusilov Offensive (June 1917) was beaten back with heavy losses and desertions, so Kornilov was hired to restore order and discipline. He was a right-wing prick.

Question 10

What did the Bolsheviks think of Kornliov?

Answer 10

They hated him because he was right-wing and spoke out against his reinstatement of the death penalty.

Question 11

Which area of society supported Kornilov?

Answer 11

Businessmen and Landowners saw Kornilov as their savour because they felt that the Provisional Government had done little to protect their land and businesses.

Question 12

When was the Kornilov Affair?

Answer 12

End of August 1917

Question 13

What did Kornilov organise?

Answer 13

6 regiments of troops to march on Petrograd to crush the Soviet and establish a military dictatorship.

Question 14

What did Kerensky do when Kornilov refused to stop his attack?

Answer 14

Released all imprisoned Bolsheviks and armed them with weapons to crush Kornilov’s troops. Bolsheviks succeeded.

Question 15

How did the Bolsheviks benefit from the Kornilov Affair?

Answer 15

They saved the day! They cut off Kornilov’s supply lines and ensured that the leaders were arrested.
The Red Guards were given a lot of credibility.
They used propaganda to insult Kerensky’s government.

Question 16

How did Bolshevik membership differ after the Kornilov Affair?

Answer 16

It was 23,000 in February and stood at 200,000 by October 1917.

Question 17

How large was the ‘Red Guards’ in October 1917?

Answer 17

10,000

Question 18

What did Lenin start doing after he heard about the Kornilov Affair? (Bear in mind Lenin was still in exile in Finland).

Answer 18

Lenin began bombarding the Central Committee with letters, claiming that ‘History will not forgive us if we do not assume power now.’

Question 19

Which two members of the Central Committee in particular opposed the Bolsheviks’ seizure of power?

Answer 19

Zinoviev and Kamenev. They even burnt some of Lenin’s letters.

Question 20

Why did Kamenev and Zinoviev feel that Lenin was being too bold in wanting a revolution now?

Answer 20

They felt that Russia wasn’t economically ready for revolution and that they should instead wait for the Constituent Assembly Elections.

Question 21

Lenin became frustrated after he received opposition from within the Central Committee, so what did he do?

Answer 21

Slipped back into Russia in disguise on October 10th and harangued the Central Committee all night.

Question 22

What was the outcome of the vote to assume power in October 1917?

Answer 22

10 to 2. Lenin had won.

Question 23

What was Trotsky’s ‘Military Revolutionary Committee’?

Answer 23

66 members (48 were Bolsheviks) who were given the task of planning the revolution. Trotsky was the head boyo.

Question 24

How many Petrograd garrisons out of 18 declared their loyalty to the Soviet rather than the Provisional Government?

Answer 24

15/18.

Question 25

On the eve of the October Revolution, how many people did Trotsky command?

Answer 25

200,000 Red Guards, 60,000 Baltic Sailors and 150,000 soldiers from the Petrograd Garrisons.