How the Bolsheviks got into Power Flashcards
What did Trotsky say the key factors in the Bolsheviks success of October 1917?
The failure of the Petrograd garrison to resist.
The existence of the MRC.
What help the Bolsheviks gain strength from the start?
The weakness of the Provisional Government.
What did the Russian people think of the Provisional Government?
The Russian people bitterly rejected the Provisional Government. It didn’t show enough enthusiasm to stimulate the Russians.
Why was the PG not considered to save?
They were economically incompetent and military incapable.
What was the initial point of the PG? Were they made to last?
The Provisional Government was not made to last. It was only in place until the new election.
Why was none of the other parties able to challenge the Bolsheviks?
This was because the Bolsheviks were able to accept February as a genuine revolution, which therefore meant that they were able to promise the Russian people they were going to make the changes that they were protesting for.
What made the war important for the Bolsheviks standing out to other parties?
The other parties were weakened by their support of the war. None of them opposed to the continuation of the struggle against Germany. They regarded it as Russia’s duty to defeat the enemy.
What was the Menshevik’s position?
They cooperated with the Provisional Government rather than opposing to them.
Why did the party-political tradition of Russia’s Government change?
The fall of the tsardom made parties in Russia think that they could advance their views. But there was no accepted rules of political conduct that they could follow.
Who would power at this time mostly go to?
The power would mostly go to the most flexible and the most ruthless party- the Bolsheviks happened to fit this requirement under Lenin.
What was the policy of the Bolsheviks?
There policy was mostly land, but they never lost sight of their basic goal which was the seizure of power.
Was the takeover of the Bolsheviks inevitable?
There take over only depended on the weakness and mistakes of their opponents as upon their own resolution.
A member of the Petrograd Soviet said what about the domination of the Bolsheviks?
They said that Bolshevism was logical about revolution and true to its essence and therefore in the revolution it conquered.
What was a Kadet leaders view of the Bolsheviks?
They said that the Bolsheviks knew where they were going and went in the direction which they had chosen once and for all toward a goal which came nearer to every new, unsuccessful, experiment or compromise.
What were Lenin’s Bolsheviks described as?
They were described as a new breed of politician: utterly self confident, scornful of all other parties and ideas and totally loyal to their leader. They were an unstoppable force.
