Dissolution of the Constituent Assembly Flashcards
What were the results of the elections to the Constituent assembly?
SRs winning with 52%, Bolsheviks losing with 24%
What demographics supported both parties?
SRs - peasants, Bolsheviks - proletarians (major cities and armies)
When was martial law declared, and why?
5 Jan 1917 to place an immediate ban on public gatherings. This was in response to pro-Constituent Assembly protestors that supported the SRs, rather than the Bolsheviks.
How was the constituent assembly dissolved?
Lenin and Bolsheviks walk out, leaving drunken Kronstadt sailors and the Red guards to threaten the politicians. The order was given to allow them to leave, but never return for negotiations the next day. Once the politicians attempted to return on 6 Jan 1917, they were handed a decree stating the dissolution of the assembly.
Why was the use of violence significan?
Clear that the use of force and violent intimidation works well against political opponents, and that the Bolsheviks could use force to solve their problems.
Why was the dissolution significant?
Bolsheviks believed that because they seized power by violence in the revolution, they should not lose it by elections (‘We will not exchange our rifles for a ballot!’ - Lenin).
The Bolsheviks did not gain the political vote not because they were unpopular, but rather because peasants voted in mirs, not by secret ballot, meaning that they often voted as a bloc for the same party, instead of by individual beliefs.
There had been no resistance from the Russians, not quite because nobody cared (indicated by the unhappy notes that Lenin received), but rather that they had been too occupied by the search for food and peasant land seizures. Not all believed that elections for a new political body would resolve their issues.
