Dissent and revolution 1917 - Unit 1 Flashcards
Pre-1917 Government was
Autocratic
Who had been responsible for industrial change pre 1917?
Witte
Which of the following is true about agriculture before 1917? There had been good harvests in 1914, 15 and 16, a new class of peasants called Kulaks had been created as a result of Stolypin's 'Wager on the Strong'
Agriculture was backward, no peasants wanted change, production was low.
There was poor grain distribution, hoarding, high grain prices and no horses to work the ploughs
There had been good harvests in 1914, 15 and 16, a new class of peasants called Kulaks had been created as a result of Stolypin’s ‘Wager on the Strong’
There was poor grain distribution, hoarding, high grain prices and no horses to work the ploughs
What % of homes had electricity pre-1917?
74%
What % were on mains sewerage?
34%
How many people died from the cholera epidemic?
100,000
How would you describe the living conditions of the Russian people?
Rents were high, poor facilities, mostly wooden homes, overcrowding, improved access to primary education, limited working hours for women and children, 11 hr working day for men
What types of political unrest happened pre-1917?
1905 worker strikes
1906-7 peasant protests
Assassinations of key figures by the SRs
The re-introduction of press censorship in 1905
Stolypin’s neck tie - hanging of opposition
How did the first revolution happen?
Bread rationing
Women’s Day march
Pulitov works join the women’s day march
General strike
Soldiers join the protest
Tsar demands the troops fire on protestors
Soldiers refuse to fire
Rodzianko advised political reform but the Tsar refuses
Tsar attempts to suspend the Duma, they refuse
Russian generals told the Tsar they wouldn’t support him, Nicholas resigns 01/03/1917
Who said ‘popularly accepted but lacked legitimacy of the provisional government?
Westwood (historian)
Who said the ‘greatest feature of the government was inactivity’?
McCauley (historian)
Which was formed first, the Soviet or the Provisional Government?
The Soviet
What was the name of the rule that the Soviet passed that hampered the ability of the Provisional Government to rule without the Soviet?
Order Number 1
What was the name of the list of reforms the provisional government instantly issued?
The 8 point programme
What problems did the provisional government face?
Still fighting the First World War, Land - peasants wanted to own it, minorities, poor economy, the need for social reform
What were the events that happened between the Feb and October revolution?
Order number 1 issued
Lenin returns from Switzerland in a sealed carriage
Lenin issues the ‘April Thesis’ - Peace, bread and Land and All power to the Soviets
The Milyutov telegram
The Kerensky Offensive
The July days
Lenin flees and Kerensky becomes PM
The Kornilov coup and the creation of the MRC
Attempt to shut down the Bolshevik printing presses
Bolsheviks seize control
What is the name of the political body set up by the Bolsheviks after the October coup/revolution?
Sovnarhom
What method did the Bolsheviks use to give the illusion of control?
A series of decrees
The Bolsheviks passed many decrees, land decree, workers control decree, rights of the people of Russia decree. What is another name for the decree on peace?
The treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Who said the following: ‘No Russian government had ever been more responsive to pressure from below or less able to impose its will upon society’
Acton (historian)
When were political parties legally allowed?
1906
Which political paries were prominent by 1917?
Octobrists, Kadets, SRs, Mensheviks and Bolsheviks
Were workers strikes increasing?
Yes in 1912 - 750,000 on strike, by 1914, Jan-July there were 1,450,000
Why had the 1905 revolution not fixed things?
The redical changes didn’t happen. The OCtober Manifesto created a national parliament in the Duma, but it had limited powere. It didn’t have the ultimate law-making power as it was undermined by the Fundamental Laws
Who was Stolypin and what did he do?
He was the Tasr’s head of government.
He attempted to resstore order through cautious reform and brutal repression
Between 1906 and 1910 - his courts founf 37,620 guilty of political crimes, of these 8640 were sent to labour camps and 1,858 were resettled in Siberia.
Russia’s prison population rose from 98,000 in 1905 to 25,000 by 1913.
What was political supression like under Nicholas?
In 1907 Trusevich was the head of the Russian police and he instituted a policy or surveillance and subversion. He infiltrated political parties. By 1913, he had 94 agents in revolutionary groups in St Petersburg alone. HOWevER, he couldn’t stop revolutionary newspapers, like Pravda
Why was there a revolution in February 1917?
- Poor living and working conditions
- Increased disconnent shown by worker strikes
- Repression of the people by the government - Okhrana, censorship
- Discontent at the failure of the October Manifesto - change to the franchise, Tsar’s power to veto with the Fundamental Laws
- Military failures - Tsar as Commander in chief
- Left the Tsarina and Rasputin in charge of St Petersburg
What were the 8 principles, passed by the Provisional Government?
They were bold and liberal compared to the rest of Europe
Included:
- End to the secret police
- Freedom of the press
- Political prisoners released
- Begin to develop the Constituent assembly
What was the April Thesis passed on the 3rd April?
Lenin’s plan to take over Russia
Key slogans were:
‘peace, bread and land’
and
‘All power to the Soviet’
The plan was to get control of the Soviet’s before it happened
What were the key events that led to the October revolution?
July 1917 - the Kerensky offensive - after promising to only fight a defensive war
July days = 700+ killed
Lenin flees
Kerensky becomes PM
Kornilov marches on Petrograd in August
Bolsheviks defend the city with the MRC led by Trotsky
Kerensky attempts to shut down the papers
TheBolsheviks seize control.
What problems did the Provisional Goverment have to address?
FIghting or ending the war
Lan - the peasants were seizing it
Minorities wanting independence
The economy
The need for social reform
What do we call the alliance between the Provisional Government and the Soviets?
The Dual Autority
Coup d’etat versus popular revolution, what does this mean?
Coup d’etat - is that lenin wanted and saw the opportunity to seize control, so just did
A popular revolution is where the population wanted revolution, were on the street calling for it etc
Was the Provisional Governemnt doomed to fail? Was it the author of its own downfall?
No but yes
It lacked legitimacy (not everyone had voted for the DUMA, let alone what was laft of the Provisional Government)
It also passed the 8 principles that gave lots of freedoms to the population that led to opposition growing
It also promised to only fight a defensive war, but the Mylutin telegram was leaked showing this wasn’t their intention. Then the Kerensky offensive was a disaster.
Releasing the Bolsheviks and arming them to defend against Kornilov - didn’t help either!!
What were the causes of the October Revolution?
- Too many problems to cope with, particulalry the land issue
- Lacked any real power - saw itslef as temporary
- Internal divisions
- War = a huge issue - how to get out of it?
- Mistakes by Kerensky
- Lost site of their supporters and what they wanted them
How did the Bolsheviks consolidate their power in the first months?
- Created the Sovnarkom - The Governing body 1917-1941 - The soviet was bypassed
- Passed a series of decrees including:
- Land decree
- Workers control decree
- Rights of the people decree
- Ended press freedms
- Arrested opposition
- Established the Cheka
- Started class warfare - start of the early purges
- Took the left socialists SRs into Sovnarkom
- CA elections took place
How did Lenin end the Consituent assembly?
Elections were held:
Bolsheviks only got 175 seats wereas the SRs got 410
He allowed them to sit for 1 day, closed it, then sent soldiers to surround it and they fired on protestors
What was the decree on peace?
The end to the war
It was the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
‘a shameful peace’
Lots 62m Russians, 27% of farm land, 26% of railway lines, 74% of coal and iron ore reserves.
Why did Lenin pass the decrees?
‘No Russian government had ever been more responsive to pressure from below or less able to impose its will upon society’ Acton
