Government and Control During Civil War

Question 1

Did the Civil War contribute to or negatively affect the Bolsheviks’ centralisation of power?

Answer 1

It greatly increased the Bolshevik centralisation of power because every aspect of a country had to rigorously controlled during wartime (industrial production, rations, military).

Question 2

What did Orlando Figes argue about the Civil War?

Answer 2

Figes argues that the totalitarian state had its origins in the Civil War.

Question 3

Why was the switch from Petrograd being capital to Moscow being capital important?

Answer 3

Moscow was far more central than Petrograd, meaning a military style of fighting emerged. ‘Battles’ on ‘fronts.’

Question 4

What happened to the Soviet Bureaucracy during the Civil War?

Answer 4

It grew enormously because all aspects of the country had to be controlled. It created a ‘dictatorship of bureaucracy’.

Question 5

What was the driving force of decision making behind the Civil War?

Answer 5

The Bolshevik Party’s Central Committee originally, but the Politburo was developed in March 1919 which consisted of 8 prominent members. They controlled state affairs.

Question 6

What was used all across Russia to frighten people into obeying?

Answer 6

Central Control and TERROR.

Question 7

Which year did Russia become the USSR?

Answer 7

1922.