Extra detail: The October/November 1917 revolution

Question 1

Which two Bolshevik newspapers did Kerensky close down?

Answer 1

Pravda and Izvestia

Question 2

How did Kerensky cut a Bolshevik area of the city from the centre?

Answer 2

Troops raised the bridges linking the Vyborg district (a Bolshevik stronghold) to the centre

Question 3

Was Kerensky successful in cutting off the Bolshevik area from the centre?

Answer 3

No

Troops loyal to the Bolsheviks who claimed his actions were a betrayal of the Soviet and an abandonment of the principles of the Feb/March revolution prevented his troops

Question 4

How many soldiers and Kronstadt sailors moved into the city on the 24th?

Answer 4

5000

Question 5

What key government positions and buildings did they take over?

Answer 5

The telephone exchange, post office, railways stations, news agency, state bank, bridges and power stations

Question 6

Did the soldiers encounter resistance on the 24th?

Answer 6

Barely

Some resistance at the main telegraph office but the troops on duty generally just gave in

Question 7

When did Lenin come out of hiding?

Answer 7

The evening of the 24th
He travelled to Smolny by tram to take charge

Question 8

When was the blank shot from the Aurora fired?

Answer 8

9:40pm

Question 9

When did the Second Congress of Soviets meet on the 25th?

Answer 9

10:40pm

Question 10

How many members did the ‘All-Russian Central Executive Committee’ have and what was their political make up?

Answer 10

101
62 Bolsheviks, 29 left-wing SRs

Question 11

Why did Sovnarkom only include Bolsheviks?

Answer 11

The left-wing SRs refused to join

Question 12

Who was elected chairman of Sovnarkom?

Answer 12

Lenin

Question 13

What other resolutions were adopted on the 27th?

Answer 13

• the transfer of power in the provinces to the local soviets
• the freeing of those arrested for political action by the PG
• the abolition of the death penalty at the front
• the immediate arrest of Kerensky
• etc

Question 14

Who were the Cossacks loyal to?

Answer 14

The PG

Question 15

Who did the Congress appeal to?

Answer 15

• The Cossacks, to switch sides
• The railway workers, to maintain order on the railways

Question 16

What was a major reason for the low death count of the revolution?

Answer 16

The PG had hardly any military resources left with which to fight back

Question 17

Give examples of how life in Petrograd remained unchanged

Answer 17

• Trams and taxis ran as normal
• Restaurants, cinemas & theatres stayed open

Question 18

Which Bolsheviks spoke out against the revolution?

Answer 18

Zinoviev and Kamenev called it a ‘coup’

Question 19

Why was the title ‘People’s Commissar’ chosen for members of Sovnarkom?

Answer 19

To distinguish the new officials from the old bourgeois ‘ministers’

Question 20

What role did Lenin have in the original Sovnarkom?

Answer 20

Chairman

Question 21

What role did Trotsky have in the original Sovnarkom?

Answer 21

Commissar for Foreign Affairs

Question 22

What role did Rykov have in the original Sovnarkom?

Answer 22

Commissar for Interior Affairs

Question 23

What role did Stalin have in the original Sovnarkom?

Answer 23

Commissar for Nationalities

Question 24

Where had Kerensky set up a new headquarters?

Answer 24

At Gatchina

Question 25

Who was Kerensky’s army made up of?

Answer 25

18 Cossack regiments and a small force of SR cadets and officers

Question 26

Who was The Executive Committee of Railwaymen composed of?

Answer 26

Mensheviks, SRs and Bolsheviks

Question 27

What did the Committee of Railwaymen do on the 29th?

Answer 27

Demanded ‘a united socialist government’ and refused to transport food

Question 28

How did Lenin deal with the Committee of Railwaymen?

Answer 28

He ignored them and the protest gradually died out

Question 29

What did the Government proclaim on the 2nd of November?

Answer 29

‘The Declaration of Rights of the Peoples of Russia’ permitting the nationalities of Russia to break away and have full independence

Question 30

Which nationalities had broken away by the end of 1917?

Answer 30

The Ukraine and Finland

Question 31

Who replaced Kamenev as Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on the 3rd?

Answer 31

Sverdlov

Question 32

What was the Rights of people of Russia decree and when was it announced?

Answer 32

Abolished titles and class ranks
November 1917

Question 33

What was the Nationality decree and when was it announced?

Answer 33

Promised self-determination to the people of the former Russian Empire
November 1917

Question 34

What was the Bank decree and when was it announced?

Answer 34

Nationalised banks and ended the private flow of capital
December 1917

Question 35

What was the Military decree and when was it announced?

Answer 35

Removed class ranks, saluting and military decorations from the army and placed it under the control of soldiers’ soviets which would elect officers
December 1917

Question 36

How did Lenin use propaganda to combat opposition?

Answer 36

Mounted a campaign against political and ‘class enemies’, particularly the bourgeois

Question 37

What was decreed in November?

Answer 37

Everyone had to be addressed as a ‘Citizen’ and party members as ‘Comrade’

Question 38

What was there a purge of in the early months of Bolshevik rule?

Answer 38

The civil service