How did Lenin establish power after the October Revolution

Question 1

How did Lenin form a new government?

Answer 1

He formed a new body called the Sovnarkom which was exclusively made up of Bolsheviks.

Question 2

What did Lenin do about the elections for the Constituent Assembly?

Answer 2

He allowed them to go ahead in November 1917

Question 3

What was the outcome of the elections?

Answer 3

The Bolsheviks only won 175 seats against the 475 SR seats (only 24% of the vote). The assembly was allowed to meet for one day-5th January 1918- then it was closed down and the deputies were told to go home

Question 4

What did Lenin claim about his government?

Answer 4

That it represented a higher stage of democracy than an elected assembly who supported the Bourgeois views and only let the people vote once in every 4 years

Question 5

What view did the assembly reject when it met?

Answer 5

That the assembly should have to be subservient to the Sovnarkom

Question 6

What did Lenin order after the assembly held their vote?

Answer 6

The Red Guards to surround the building and refuse entry to the elected representatives, effectively bringing the assembly to an end after a single day

Question 7

What did Lenin do about the problem of the press?

Answer 7

Lenin decided that he could not allow opposition press to publish so it was banned in October 1917

Question 8

What did the Bolsheviks do about opposing political parties?

Answer 8

The Kadet party were outlawed, leading Kadets were arrested and 2 were brutally put to death by Bolshevik sailors. Leading right wing SR and Mensheviks were also put in prison. At this point other socialist parties were not banned outright although their future was uncertain

Question 9

What problems did Lenin’s government face?

Answer 9

A war was still being fought with Germany
Support was big within cities but this was not the case in country sides
They faced strikes with civil servants who refused to co-operate
The state bank refused to provide financial backing
Food shortages

Question 10

What did Lenin when the idea of a coalition government was proposed?

Answer 10

He made sure that talks with other socialist parties collapsed. He did make an alliance with the left SR as brought them in as junior partners of the Sovanarkom. This allowed him to claim he was supporting the peasants

Question 11

Why did Lenin not want a coalition government?

Answer 11

He wanted the Bolsheviks to rule alone. He feared he may be side lined in a coalition government. He was not prepared to see his vision diluted by other socialist parties

Question 12

Why did Lenin agree to hold talks with other socialist parties?

Answer 12

The railway union threatened to cut off communication if this did not happen. Quite a few leading Bolsheviks e.g. Kamenev and Zinoviev were in favour of a coalition

Question 13

What is the Sovnarkom?

Answer 13

The council of People’s commissars- the Bolshevik governing body set up after the October Revolution

Question 14

Who was the chairman of the Sovnarkom?

Answer 14

Lenin

Question 15

What was the problem Lenin had with land?

Answer 15

Lenin had built up his support by promising land to the peasants something which caused popular opposition towards the PG however immediately handing land over to the peasants could lead to an economic crisis, violence and lawlessness in the countryside

Question 16

How did Lenin solve the land crisis?

Answer 16

In October 1917 the Sovnarkom passed the “land decree” giving peasants the right to take over the land of the gentry without compensation and decide themselves the best way to divide it up

Question 17

How did Lenin deal with the problem of running industry?

Answer 17

In November 1917 the Bolsheviks passed the ‘Workers Control Decree’ where factory committees were given the right to control production and to ‘supervise’ management

Question 18

What did the Bolsheviks agree to regarding the workers in October 1917?

Answer 18

Agreed to a maximum 8 hour day for workers as well as social insurance (unemployment and sickness benefits)

Question 19

What had the factory committees been demanded before Bolsheviks came into power?

Answer 19

An eight hour day, better working conditions and better pay

Question 20

How did the Bolsheviks deal with the problem of national minorities?

Answer 20

In November 1917 the ‘Rights of the people of Russia’ decree was introduced which gave the right of self determination

Question 21

What was the limitation of the people decree?

Answer 21

The Bolsheviks did not have control over the areas in which most of the people lived so this was nothing more than a paper measure