How did the Bolsheviks create a one party state between 1917 to 1924?

Question 1

When were the Bolshevik’s formed?

Answer 1

They were formed in 1903 as one of the several revolutionary groups that wanted to bring about change to Russia. Their leader was Vladimir Lenin.

Question 2

Who was the Tsar at the time of the Bolsheviks?

Answer 2

Nicholas the second.

Question 3

What happened in 1905?

Answer 3

Russian Revolution of 1905, uprising that was instrumental in convincing Tsar Nicholas II to attempt the transformation of the Russian government from an autocracy into a constitutional monarchy.

Question 4

What did the 1905 revolution lead to?

Answer 4

It led to the formation of the national assembly, Duma. It did not affect the Tsar at all and it gave no restrictions to the Tsars decisions. The provisional government(set up by the national assembly) under Alexander Kerensky was no good either.

Question 5

What was the Provisional Government?

Answer 5

It was the political government set up by the Duma(national assembly). It was largely made up of leading figures of various liberal parties. The Duma was set up because of the “Bloody Sunday” and in time the provisional government under Alexander Kerensky was also set up.

Question 6

What was “Bloody Sunday”?

Answer 6

A peaceful protest led by a priest named Father Gapon to show the Tsar Nicholas a petition turned horribly wrong as the official army of the Tsar shot through the protesters leaving hundreds dead and injured.

Question 7

What was the October Revolution?

Answer 7

What is October Revolution in short?
On November 6 and 7, 1917 (or October 24 and 25 on the Julian calendar, which is why the event is often referred to as the October Revolution), leftist revolutionaries led by Bolshevik Party leader Vladimir Lenin launched a nearly bloodless coup d’état against the Duma’s provisional government. The Bolsheviks also took control of the Winter Palace, the last remaining holdout of the Provisional Government.

Question 8

Why was there a Revolution and what was the Outcome?

Answer 8

The revolution occurred due to economic difficulties such as food and fuel shortages caused by the First World War. It led to the Bolsheviks seizing power and setting up a Communist System.

Question 9

What provided the Bolsheviks an opportunity to take over in 1917?

Answer 9

The collapse of the Tsarist regime in February 1917 under the strains of the First World War.

Question 10

What were the aims of the Bolshevik’s during the October Revolution?

Answer 10

To get rid of the upper and middle classes, who were exploiting the peasants and the workers under the capitalist system that had arose from the industrial revolution.
Set up a dictatorship until Russia was modernised.
Make Russia more powerful both militarily and Economically.
Gain a way out of the First World War.
Replace the Capitalist system with a Socialist system, and through this it would create a government that represented the workers which would improve living and working conditions of people as a whole.

Question 11

Who was Karl Marx and why was his view so important in terms of the Bolshevik ideology?

Answer 11

Karl Heinrich Marx (5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, critic of political economy, economist, historian, political theorist, journalist and socialist revolutionary. His theory of communism was the ideology that the Bolsheviks adopted. His theory’s basis was that for a process of Historical change that lead from Capitalism to Communism was not possible but the change from one ideology to another would be a time consuming process and was not to be rushed, however Lenin believed that the process could be sped up with a little help.

Question 12

Who did the Bolsheviks face oppositions from when they first came to power?

Answer 12

Left and Right Wing groups. Soon became the loosely allied forces known as the White Army

Question 13

Why did the Bolsheviks face heavy oppositions from these groups?

Answer 13

In 1919 to end their involvement in the First world War the treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed. Although it took Russia out of the war at a great cost. Russia lost control over the Baltic states(Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia), Ukraine, Finland and parts of the Caucasus region. It was national humiliation, especially for the Tsarist officials in the army that fought in the war, it was “a humiliation that could not be tolerated”

Question 14

Who did the White Army consist of?

Answer 14

Monarchists.
Tsarist Officials from the Army(during WW1).
Nationalists.
Socialist Revolutionaries.
Allies- France, UK, and USA.

Question 15

Who was the Red Army?

Answer 15

The red army was the Bolsheviks armed forces that went up against the White Army in the Civil War.

Question 16

How did the Bolshevik Party get out of the First World War?

Answer 16

They signed the peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany. This did happened at a great cost. The party lost the Baltic states(Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia), Ukraine, Finland and a part of the Caucasus Region.

Question 17

When and Why did the Civil War occur? State all the reasons with precise details e.g individuals and places.

Answer 17

The civil war started in 1918. It happened because:
1. There as very high levels of anger towards the party for signing the treaty. however most of it was point towards Trotsky as he was the one who negotiated it.
2. There was great anger towards the treaty which caused numerous attacks/attempts to overthrow the Bolshevik Party. For example, The SR’s attempted to take over the Moscow Soviet. Additionally, 50,000 Czech prisoners took over the Trans-Siberian railway.
3. Poor harvests and increasing food prices meant that there was growing opposition from the poor towards the party.
4. Opponent groups against the Bolsheviks form the “Whites” who were led by generals and military leaders from the Tsar’s armed forces.
5. National minorities such as Finland. Ukraine, and Poland saw this as a opportunity to seize independence and so they supported the whites in an attempt to break free from the control of Russia.

Question 18

Why did the Bolsheviks win the Civil War?

Answer 18

1. The Red Army was more organised in terms of military, economy and politics. Whereas in comparison white army minister of war said that the “ignorance and incompetence” of the whites was the main reason for their loss. Additionally, they were not cooperative with one another’s choice of leader as they were a mix of nationalists, socialists and monarchists.
2. The Whites failed to use foreign support effectively due to corruption and lack of proper strategy.
3. The red army was made an effective fighting machine by Leon Trotsky during 1918.
4. The Red Army was situated in a more industrial area than the Whites which gave them the upper hand of more highly developed weaponry and armour.
5. The Red Army had the peasants support, the peasants made up at least 80% of Russia’s population(Land decree of 1917 gave the peasants the upper hand in owning lands), this was crucial support that the Whites lacked due to them portraying the idea that Russia was “indivisible”(strong on its own) but this was seen as comical due to the fact that they themselves were using foreign aid from the Allies.
6. Slowly the allies also stopped supplying sufficient aid to the white army which hindered their attacks significantly. For example, Britain’s prime minister David Lloyd George said: “their cause is not worth one soldiers life”.
7. By the end of the 1920 the whites had lost a lot of Land to the red’s as they failed to cooperate with countries that wanted independence from Russia. The red’s only recognised the countries as independent of Russia if they did not support the whites and let them take place in their countries.

Question 19

What was the outcome of the Civil War?

Answer 19

1. The Bolshevik state had become highly centralized due to the demands of the civil war.
2. Fighting a war required quick decision-making and direction of sources by the government and so power was completely in the hands of the Sovnarkom and the party leadership, Politburo, based in Moscow.
3. Terror became the go to technique the Bolsheviks used to maintain power throughout the civil war to put down counter revolutions and sabotage. Additionally, to stop their opponents when they finally established a proper government and party body.

Question 20

What happened in the Tenth Party Congress?

Answer 20

Done in March 1921, the Tenth Party congress saw the ban on party factions in the Bolshevik party after the civil war saw the growth of the party from 300,000 to 730,000 members this was done due to the huge growth posing a threat to party stability. This measure was known as “On Party Unity”. The penalty for breaking this rule was expulsion from the party. Despite the victory in the civil war this political tightening of power within the party came at a time of growing Bolshevik anxiety over their hold over Russia.

Question 21

What was the Kronstadt Mutiny?

Answer 21

The 1921 mutiny of sailors at the Kronstadt naval base against the imposition of orders of the local soviet from the Bolshevik government. Their slogan was “Soviets without Bolsheviks” this was a huge blow to the Bolsheviks regime as the sailors had previously been strong supporters of the Bolshevik revolution.

Question 22

What was the Tambov rising?

Answer 22

A peasant uprising in 1921 in the Tambov region of Central Russia that sparked up due to the arrival of Bolshevik units to order grain for use in cities and the army. Despite being a rather spontaneous uprising in the beginning the peasants were able to form a green army and established control over a large area. It took over 50,000 Bolshevik troops to put down the revolt.

Question 23

What was the Sovnarkom?

Answer 23

It was the council of commissars, its officials were elected by the Central Executive Committee or by local soviets, with its main role being quick decision making.

Question 24

What was the Central Executive Committee?

Answer 24

It is a larger party, elected by the All Russia Congress of Soviets. It was the coordinator of the law-making process on behalf of the congress.

Question 25

What was the All-Russia Congress Of Soviets?

Answer 25

It was the head of the state law making. It passed all the laws. They are elected by local soviets and they could raise issues that they felt were to be addressed more properly. By 1920, all the representatives had to be a member of the communist party.

Question 26

What was the Politburo?

Answer 26

The key decision making body, made up of an inner group of party leaders e.g Lenin, Grigory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev, Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. And for implementation all laws were passed on to the Sovnarkom. The Cheka, secret police, was brought under the watchful eye of the Politburo.

Question 27

What was the Central Committee?

Answer 27

In theory it was supposed to be the key decision making committee built up of 30-40 members. However, it became unmanageable due to its size and this function was taken by the Politburo.

Question 28

What was the Party Congress?

Answer 28

Representatives of local party branches discussed general programs of the party. Heated debates until “On party Unity” in 1921. IT met yearly from 1921-1926. Some representatives could be very powerful in their areas. For example, party secretary in Leningrad, he appointed the key roles through the Nomenklatura system.

Question 29

Lenin’s personal powers

Answer 29

He was the chair of the Sovnarkom and a member of the Politburo. He preferred collective leadership where issues were discussed before decisions were made. In 1919, he dismissed the idea of a “personal dictatorship” as “Nonsense”. Many Bolsheviks saw Lenin as an inspiration and wanted him to provide strong leadership. He used this as leverage during decision making, he used to threaten to resign to bring order to the party during heated debates. However, his influence on the party started hindering due to the series of strokes that occurred from 1922 onward’s. And from March 1923 he could only speak in Monosyllables.

Question 30

Democratic Centralism.

Answer 30

Democratic centralism was the new structure of the party and state that gave the appearance of Democracy, and it became easier for party leadership to exercise control. However, it actually undermined the power of the soviets.

Question 31

Limits to Centralism

Answer 31

The “On party unity” measure did not always take effect in a strong way. e.g The introduction of the NEP, in 1921 caused the formation of left and right wing factions within the party.
Due to the large size of Russia center centralization was hard to cover in rural areas.
It is wrong to assume that all debate was stifled within the party. e.g There was fierce debate within the party over the signing of the Brest-Litovsk treaty in 1918.
Due to the chaotic government local mafia of Bolsheviks and black marketers would often be able to defy the orders from the state in Moscow.