Establishing communist control Flashcards
What were the two outcomes of 2 revolutions in 1917
Feb Revolution overthrow of Tsar
Oct Revolution creation of new radical communist gov under Lenin
How did Lenin create a one party state?
Promised a radical democratic government where soldiers and peasants governed themselves through soviets
Lenin calls for ‘Peace, Land and Bread’ a rallying cry for radical change
The Cheka, the Bolsheviks’ secret police, was tasked with silencing ‘counter-revolutionary’ political opponents and therefore proved instrumental in the consolidation of Lenin’s control over Russia.
Why did Lenin create a communist dictatorship?
Failed to win a majority in the elections for a Constituent Assembly in November 1917
Decided to dissolve the Constituent Assembly and establish a ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ under Bolshevik rule, bringing all pre-revolutionary hopes of democracy to an end.
what was Lenin’s ideology?
Wanted to replace Capitalism with socialism allow all people to be truly free and equal
Lenin was a Marxist
believed that history evolved through a sequence of stages
Lenin believed Socialism can only be built in an advanced industrial economy and Russia was only beginning to industrialise
How did Lenin create his ‘Soviet State’?
Oct 1917 Lenin seized power on behalf of the Soviets
Oct revolution handed power to the ‘ All Russian Congress of Soviets’ - met in Petrograd 1917
Created Sovnarkom to replace the provisional government
Lenin elected as head of new government
What popular decrees did Lenin produce?
Decree on Land - gave rights to peasants to seize land from nobility & church
Decree of Peace - Withdrawing from WW1
Workers Decree (Nov 1917) established 8hr maximum working day and a minimum wage
What was the civil war 1918 - 21
What were the different groups?
Sovnarkom had little power outside Petrograd and Moscow
The Reds - Communist forces
The Whites - Liberals, Tsarists wanted military dictatorship
The ‘Greens’ - associated with SR’s fought for autonomy of peasants
Communists won - led to creation of authoritarian, centralised and bureaucratic regime
What is Political centralisation?
Was Lenin prime method of ensuring victory
There was a shift of power from the ‘Soviet-controlled’ Sovnarkom to the Politburo which was the most powerful committee of the extremely-unified Communist Party.
Nomenklatura
What did the introduction the bureaucratic regime help Lenin consolidate his power
government became increasingly bureaucratic
gov relied on skills of administrators to run the economy and army during civil war
the communist Nomenklatura were educated members who were former economists, statisticians and engineers who had previously worked for the Tsar
How did Lenin use Authoritarianism
Lenin and communists had promised a radically democratic regime
They used terror and repression against their opponents
Feb 1921 Lenin used Cheka to destroy remaining opposition political parties
