Dr Platts Stuff Flashcards
What groups made up the Reds?
Workers and Bolshevik peasants including Red Guard and Kronstadt Sailors
What groups made up the Whites?
Everyone anti-Bolshevik including liberals, former Tsarists, nationalists, separatists and SRs
What groups made up the Greens?
Peasant armies and deserters
Who were the Czech Legion?
A group of Czech nationalists formed in WW1 who fought against the Bolsheviks in the civil war
What was the Siberian Anabasis?
The fighting between the Czech legion and Bolsheviks along the Trans-Siberian railway and resulted in successful resistance and evacuation of the legion
What did Britain supply the Whites with?
£100 million worth of supplies however they did not send troops in order to maintain support for Labour and recency of WW1
What did France supply the Whites with?
Millions of Francs in Russian industries and a small number of troops
How did Japan intervene in the war?
They seized land in Russia so the US had to send in troops
When did the Polish capture Kiev?
May 1920
How did the attacks from the Polish effect the war?
It weakened the Whites through the Treaty of Riga
Who was Commissar for War in Russia?
Trotsky
What did Trotsky achieve for Russia?
Reorganised the strict hierarchy and brought back tsarist officers, soldiers committees were banned, established harsh discipline
Why was hierarchy in the army controversial?
It went against Communism
Why was White leadership unsuccessful?
They were weak and cruel, soldiers were ill-disciplined, officers lived in brothels doing drunks and drinking
When was conscription introduced?
May 1918
What was the size of the Red army in 1919 and 1920?
3 million in 1919, 5 million in 1920
How many deserted in 1918 and 1920?
1 million in 1918, 4 million in 1920
Why did White support from peasants fall?
Kolchak handed out land to those who were not previously landowners driving away peasants
How did Bolsheviks have advantageous geography?
They held the industrial heartland around Moscow and Petrograd as well as having their base in the railway heartland
How did the Whites have disadvantageous geography?
They held areas scattered around the centre making communication and coordination difficult
How were the Reds better unified?
Trotsky organised the army and there was a single, clear structure
Who was Admiral Kolchak?
White General who led white forces who used to command Russia’s Black Sea Fleet
How large was Kolchak’s army?
150,000 men
When was Kolchak’s army crushed?
1919
When was Kolchak captured and executed?
1920
Who was General Denikin?
Took control of Russia’s southern troops
How large was Denikin’s army?
150,000 men but 40,000 were Don Cossacks so were only focused on protecting the Don region not Russia as a whole
When was Denikin’s army defeated?
November 1920
How was Denikin’s army defeated?
The Red Army defeated them in a counter attack so Allied warships had to facilitate he evacuation of 150,000 men
Who was General Yudenich?
He led the smallest of the White Forces
How large was Yudenich’s army?
15,000 men
How was Yudenich’s army defeated?
After coming in sight of Petrograd they were crushed by a much larger Bolshevik force
When was Yudenich’s army defeated?
October 1919
What was controversial about Bolshevik economic policy in the first few years after coming to power?
It was pragmatic over ideological
What were the attempted economic reforms the Bolsheviks made?
Banned private trade
Control labour
Nationalise all large scale industry
Replace the money system with a system of rationing
What was the rationing system built upon?
The grain monopoly
When was the grain monopoly introduced?
9th May 1918
What was the main consequence of the grain monopoly?
Northern industrial cities lost half their population between 1918 and 1920
How did the grain monopoly work?
The Bolshevik forces seized harvest surplus by beating and torturing peasants until the required amount was handed over
What is a kulak?
The term created by Bolsheviks to describe the capitalist peasants hiding their grain
When was the grain monopoly expanded to a general food levy?
January 1919
What was the problem with the functionality of the grain monopoly?
It took seeds that peasants would need to plant for next years harvest
Who did the rationing system favour?
The working class who received a lot more coupons than previous members of the upper classes
When was the Decree on Food Procurement?
May 1918
What did the Decree on Food Procurement?
Made kulaks enemies of the state and put grain requestioning into standard law
What was the consequence of banning private trade?
A huge black market developed
How much of the urban diet came through state rations in 1918 to 1921?
Less than 1/3
Who were bag-men?
People travelling between villages selling food for belongings or stolen goods
Why was the railway system clogged in the civil war?
The Cheka were sending trains to arrest bag men
What percentage of the population did Petrograd lose to War communism?
70%
What percentage of the population did Moscow lose to War communism?
50%
What percentage of prostitutes in Moscow were former Bourgeoisie?
42%
How many members of the intelligentsia fled Russia?
2-3 million
How many Bolshevik families lived at the Kremlin and best hotels?
5000
What percentage of trains needed repairs by 1921?
70%
What was the coal production in 1913 and 1920?
31 million in 1913 to 9 million in 1920
What was grain production between 1913 and 1920?
80 million in 1913 to 46 million in 1920
How many died in the famine of 1921 to 1922?
5 million
How big was the Tambov Uprising?
40,000
Who led the Tambov uprising?
Alexander Antonov who had been imprisoned for terrorism prior to it
When was Tambov uprising?
1920-1922
How did the Bolsheviks combat the Tambov uprising?
Poison gas and opening fire on the masses
When was the Kronstadt Mutiny?
March 1921
How large was the Kronstadt mutiny?
10,000 men
What was Soviet electrical policy?
Wanted to put in a lightbulb in every home and a network of power stations
When was the Anglo-Soviet Trade Agreement?
1921
What ideological problems came with the NEP?
It brought back some elements of capitalism
What type of divisions did the NEP cause?
Class warfare
When were party factions banned?
1921 at the 10th Party Congress
What did the party membership of the Bolsheviks change to between 1921 to 1923?
730,000 in 1921 to 500,000 in 1923
How did workers initially react to the NEP?
They disliked the one man management system and the smaller influence of trade unions
Did the NEP lead to agricultural results with examples?
No, agricultural production became stagnant throughout 1921 and led to the Great Famine
What was Russian grain production in 1913, 1921 and 1925?
80 million in 1913, 50 million in 1921 and 72.5 million in 1925
What happened for wages of industrial workers between 1921 to 1924?
They doubled
What was the main aim of NEP and was it achieved?
To restore food in cities and it was achieved
What did the NEP do for Lenin?
It gave him complete control over the party and thus over the country
What was the Scissor Crisis?
When the value of agricultural goods fell and the value of the manufactured goods rose significantly as predicted by Trotsky
What percentage of prices where agricultural products compared to 1913 in 1923?
89%
What percentage of prices where industrial products compared to 1913 in 1923?
290%
What was the consequence of the Scissor Crisis?
Peasants kept grain and waited for a good time to sell
What industries did Lenin maintain control over?
The commanding heights
