How the Bolsheviks established their dictatorship Flashcards
Why did it seem unlikely that the Bolsheviks would hang onto power?
Ø 26th October, Bolsheviks controlled barely anything except Petrograd.
Ø It was a party of only 300,000 members -how would they control the vast expanse of Russia?
Ø Soviets continued to be set up in towns + cities across country but not all had a Bolshevik majority.
The October revolution was seen by citizens as a rising of the Petrograd Soviet and not immediately seen as a Bolshevik take-over.
What was ‘Sovnarkom’?
Ø The new cabinet, the Soviet of People’s Commissars.
Ø Word ‘minister’ was changed to more proletarian ‘People’s Commissars’.
Ø The Sovnarkom was in theory approved by the Congress of Soviets.
Ø Lenin refused to invite other socialist parties into his government, believing that only Bolsheviks were capable of building this new world: This was the time of the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’, Lenin thought that he had to be the ‘vanguard’ of the proletariat- this was no time for’ bourgeois democracy’.
What was ‘political terror’?
Ø A new sort of proto-fascist concept that was seen by Lenin and many of his Marxist comrades (though not all) as an inevitable stage in building socialism.
Ø It was the way in which the Bolsheviks hoped to succeed in inspiring the wider revolutionary movement that was expected to sweep across Europe.
How did the Bolsheviks establish power through the army?
Ø Lenin knew that the officer class was unlikely to support a workers’ government- However, the High Command under General Dukhonin was already weakened by soldiers’ committees (which the troops had elected after the Tsar’s abdication).
Ø What was important to the success of the Bolsheviks was the fact that almost all troops wanted a quick end to WW1 which the Bolsheviks had promised to do.
Ø Dukhonin refused to sign an immediate armistice with the German forces as Lenin had ordered him to. A reliable Bolshevik, Ensign Krylenko was sent to replace him, finding his dead body at the station, murdered by his own troops.
Ø Armistice was quickly signed -many officers either returned to civilian life or became members of non-Bolshevik opposition groups.
Ø Only a small group of 600 Cossacks were willing to fight for Kerensky in October and gave up when Bolshevik agitators arrived.
What was Cheka?
Ø In December 1917, Sovnarkom set up its own form of secret police, Cheka, headed by fanatical Bolshevik Dzerzhinsky who saw ‘no need for justice’ in the consolidation of Bolshevik power.
Ø Lenin expected all opposition to come from class enemies -the Bourgeoisie, who therefore had to be hunted down.
Ø Cheka arrested opponents on left too e.g. Several hundred anarchists in April 1918.
Ø March 1918, Cheka had 120 employees, three years later, at least 143,000- showed the importance of their role in maintaining the Bolsheviks in power.
Ø Not restricted by law, executing supposed enemies -1918 alone, it killed 50,000 people.
The first labour camps were set up for ‘‘political’’ prisoners.
How did the death of the Constituent assembly help the Bolsheviks establish power?
Ø November, elections were held all over Russia.
Ø As the majority of the country consisted of peasants, it was impossible to assume that that the Bolsheviks would win a majority.
Ø Bolsheviks had criticised the Prov. Govt for delaying the elections but now a non-Bolshevik assembly had been produced (40.4% of vote to SRs).
Ø On the first day, 5 Jan 1918, Assembly elected SR leader Chernov as President.
Ø Whilst it approved some of Lenin’s government’s early decrees, Bolshevik sailors prevented it from meeting again.
Ø There were no popular demonstrations in favour of the Assembly.
Ø The closure of the Constituent Assembly was approved by the Third All-Russian Congress of Soviets which of course had a Bolshevik majority.
Ø This body announced the set up of the RSFSR.
Ø In July, Lenin announced a new constitution for the new state.
What were some of the decrees passed in the first few weeks after the October revolution?
- The decree on peace
- Decree on land- abolishing the landlords’ right of property
- Decree on Nationalities -allowing the right of self government to any national group
- Housing in cities to be removed from private owners
- Civil marriage and divorce was introduced and made much easier
- Commissariat of public education took all education out of hands of church
- All titles were abolished ‘only comrade’
- Institute of Protection of Mothers and Children was formed
- Some larger factories were nationalised without compensation
What was the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, March 1918?
Ø Lenin wanted immediate treaty with Germany and its allies- armistice signed on 2nd December.
Ø German demands were so harsh that many in Sovnarkom refused to accept them.
Ø Trotsky, Commissar of Foreign Affairs persuaded central committee to adapt his strategy ‘No peace, no war’ - dragging out the talks to enable Communist soldiers to mix with German so that the German army would be inspired to mutiny and take revolution back to Berlin.
Ø German army grew tired of this tactic quickly, ended armistice + renewed advance towards Petrograd- bombs fell, govt. forced to move capital to Moscow.
Ø Only then was Lenin able to persuade the party to accept German terms- by threatening to resign.
Ø Russia lost 1/3 of European land + 1/2 of industrial capacity.
Ø Many patriotic Russians took up arms to defend the betrayal of ‘Mother Russia’.
What date was the Bolshevik dictatorship in place?
Ø July 1918 - after 9 months of suppressing opposition groups and putting an end to all political parties.
