Early Consolidation of Power, 1917 - 18

Question 1

why did the Bolsheviks pass decrees

Answer 1

to live up to their promises

Question 2

when and what was the 1st decree that was passed by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets

Answer 2

Decree on Peace - 8 November 1917

Question 3

what was the aim for the Decree on Peace

Answer 3

• All countries should seek peace
• Peace achieved **‘without annexation (land seized) and indemnities (large fines) ** between country’s

Question 4

how did the decree of peace increase support for the Bolsheviks and what did they hope they would achieve in this decree

Answer 4

• increase support amongst Russian army + civilians
• hope it encourage German soldiers to begin own Boleshevik - style revolution, and spread it across Europe - didn’t happen

Question 5

when and what was the 2nd decree

Answer 5

Decree on Land - 8 November 1917 (same day as Peace)

Question 6

what were the aims for the Decree on Land

Answer 6

• distributed land of wealth landowners to the peasants
  
  • many peasants had already taken land - decree gave this a force of law –> showed Bolsheviks approved land seizures
  • Prov Gov failed to do before –> lost peasant support
• December: Church land nationalised - many Russian churches were damaged / shut

Question 7

when and what was the 3rd decree

Answer 7

Decree on worker’s rights - November - December 1917

Question 8

what were the 3 decrees within the Decree of Worker’s rights

Answer 8

• Decree on Work - 8 hour day / 48 hr a week - less demanding hours
• Decree on Unemployment - unemployment insurance for those unable to work (illness, injury)
• Decree on Workers’ Control - workers committees now ran their own factories

Question 9

when and what was the 4th decree

Answer 9

Decree on Nationalities - November 191

Question 10

what was the Decree of Nationalities

Answer 10

• All different people of the old tsarist Russian empire could have their own government
• these governments still remained under Bolshevik control
• no Russian rule / language would be forced upon different ethnicities (Ukrainians, Georgians, Armenians, Poles etc.)

Question 11

what was the Decree of Nationalities used as a attempt to do what

Answer 11

• attempt the stop nations breaking away and becoming independent
• seemed the decree would give different groups more freedom - reality: Bolshevik control tighter than ever before

Question 12

why was the results from the election of the Constituent Assembly disappointing for the Bolsheviks

Answer 12

November 1917 election :
- Bolsheviks only won 168 seats (24%)
- Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs) won 370 seats (53%)

Question 13

why did the Bolsheviks declare about the Constituent Assembly

Answer 13

• declared that a return to parliamentary democracy was a backward step when Russia already had soviets

Question 14

when did the Constituent Assembly meet again and what did they refuse that the Bolsheviks wanted

Answer 14

5 January 1918
- refused to pass Bolsheviks key decrees or accept the principle of all power to soviets

Question 15

why did the Bolsheviks want to abolish the Constituent Assembly

Answer 15

Bolsheviks had no intention of losing the power they had seized in October 1917

Question 16

how did the Bolsheviks break up the Constituent Assembly and what happened afterwards

Answer 16

Red Guards + sailors from the Baltic Fleet in Kronstadt broke up the assembly
- soon after all political parties apart from Bolsheviks were banned

Question 17

what was the Cheka and when was it set up

Answer 17

7 December 1917
Lenin set up Cheka - the Extraordinary Commission to Combat Counter-Revolution, Sabotage and Speculation

Question 18

which group of people did Lenin say that threatened the revolution

Answer 18

burzhui or bourgeoisie - class enemies of the workers or peasants (the people who were middle/upper class before the October Revolution)

Question 19

after Tsar Nicholas abdicated were they taken to

Answer 19

held captive in Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains

Question 20

why did the Civil war lead to the murder of the Tsar and his family

Answer 20

Bolsheviks feared Nicholas and the royal family were a potential threat to Bolsheviks power.
- anti-Bolshevik forces advancing through Urals area might free tsar
- Monarchists could use them to rally support for a counter-revolution

Question 21

when and how was the Romanov family executed

Answer 21

17 July 1918:
as anti-Bolshevik forces were closing in on Yekaterinburg –> Bolsheviks executed Nicholas, and his entire family, and remaining servants and doctor

Question 22

what were the 3 reasons for the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

Answer 22

1. Many Bolshevik supporters were soldiers + sailors who were desperate for an end to the war as they needed a ‘breathing space’ as Lenin had promised
2. Lenin said “We must make sure of throttling the bourgeoise and for this we need both hands free” - ending the war would mean Bolshevik could concentrate all forces in wiping out political opponents within Russia
3. Lenin + Trotsky were certain that a revolution would soon happen in Europe - and treaty they signed with Germany would no longer have effect

Question 23

the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was used to fulfil which promise the Bolshevik promised to the people

Answer 23

promise to take Russia out of WW1

Question 24

how did Trotsky want to come to peace with Germany but how did this not work out?

Answer 24

• hoped for ‘no peace, no war’ - avoid fighting + avoid surrendering
• Germans continued advancing - Petrograd in danger of being captured
• Russia could do nothing to stop Germans advancing –> Lenin demanded Trotsky get peace deal at any price

Question 25

when was the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed with Germany

Answer 25

3 March 1918

Question 26

who which political group opposed about having peace with Germany, but what did Lenin want, Trotsky want?

Answer 26

Left SRs - wanted to continue war
- Lenin - wanted to accept German terms and peace
- Trotsky - avoid fighting war + avoid surrendering (middle way)
Lenin won

Question 27

what did Russia lose due to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk:

Answer 27

• Russia lost all its Western lands: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, Ukraine and parts of Poland
• lost 74% of Russia’s coalmines + iron ore
• lost 26% of population: 62 million people
• lost 27% of farmlands
• lost 26% of railways

Question 28

how much did the Russian’s have to pay the Germans

Answer 28

300 million gold roubles

Question 29

what were the positive reaction to the treaty

Answer 29

• soldiers pleased that war ended + Russians (and Bolsheviks) were relieved that threat of German invasion was over
• Bolsheviks believed that German workers would be disgusted by treaty terms and rise up in revolution, like Russian workers

Question 30

what were the negative reactions of the treaty

Answer 30

• Left SRs left the government in protest at the treaty –> killed the German ambassador in hopes to re-spark the war
• Nationalists + Conservatives were horrified at the losses to Russia and its empire –> became vitally important for many Russians to fight to stop Bolsheviks to save Russia from humiliation and destruction:
  
  • began to form into armies : ‘White army’ to fight the Bolsheviks ‘Red Army’

Question 31

what was the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk a major cause for

Answer 31

the Civil War