Lenin

Question 1

Women

Answer 1

Middle-class women asked for more political power the peasant women asked for peace and bread which meant the peasant women were not too involved into the emancipation of women.
Tried to connect his ideals and the ideas of socialism and communism because this would mean he would be supported by women.
Tried to give them more rights.
He criticised prostitution and legalised abortion.
By 1920 about 50 000 to 70 000 women were part of the Red Army which made up 2% of the whole army.
Mariage Laws -> made divorce easier as well as opening up the possibility of women being married at the age of 16.
Invented an abortion law, decriminalised homosexuality and created reforms to make women more equal to men.
Women were moved to the urban industry forces.

Question 2

Slogans

Answer 2

All power to the soviets

Peace, War and Land

Question 3

Police state & terror

Answer 3

The Cheka -> torturing and executing all the opponents of the Bolshevik regime -> known as the Red terror (ended in 1922) and during this period about 50 000 people died.
Aimed to stop anti-communists and to have no more revolutionary groups + establish terror in the country to keep control and make the Russian people scared of the new government + but the government continued to kill anti-communists.

Censorship in schools, libraries and books + media.
Media had to speak about Lenin and the fact that he was the best.
All anti-communist books were destroyed.
Lenin wanted to keep control of the country; he wanted to install communism everywhere.

The Cheka was a success because Lenin kept control of the people and he prevented another revolution. However, it was also a failure because the Russian people were scared of Lenin.
Lost confidence in government

Censorship -> was a success because it prevented more communication between the revolutionary groups and the Russian people so he could control the situation.
Prevented Russia from developing.

Question 4

War Communism

Answer 4

Severe rules were introduced:
Larger factories would be taken over by the government
Military discipline in factories (strikers shot)
Rationing
To help the civil war (feed the soldiers)
Gave peasants & workers control over their own labour, which was a disaster.
Lenin decided to demand grain from peasants to feed the Bolshevik soldiers. The requisition squads were ordered (though some volunteered) to seize the peasant’s grain and they were permitted to take other things with them as well, which lead to many people from the squads stealing important resources such as horses. Additionally, all members would share what they managed to collect. This caused a centralised command economy which meant that everything was controlled by the government.

Question 5

Brest-Litovsk Lenin/Trotsky

Answer 5

Trotsky:
After the November Revolution, Lenin made Trotsky Commissar for Foreign Affairs.
Trotsky did not conduct foreign affairs in the old way. He was very blunt he closed down the French Information Bureau because of its anti-Soviet propaganda, and arrested all Englishmen in Russia until the English released a Soviet journalist they had detained.
The Politburo decided that they had to have peace with Germany, and ordered a ceasefire November 7th.
Trotsky had to accept the very harsh terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk - but he told the Germans that he would destroy them as soon as Germany lost the war.

Lenin:
The passing of the Decree on Peace was one of the first acts by the Bolsheviks and it was calling for the war with Germany to end. This Treaty gave Russia’s best agricultural and industrial land to Germany.

Question 6

Terror Trotsky

Answer 6

Trotsky opposed Terror. But there were so many groups trying to destroy the Bolsheviks that on December 20 1917, Lenin created a secret police force. Trotsky was put in command and began ruthlessly eliminating all the enemies of the Revolution.
When the ‘Whites’ attacked the Bolsheviks and started the Civil War, Lenin made Trotsky Commissar for War and President of the Supreme War Council. As such, he won the Civil War.
He rebuilt the Russian army based on the Red Guards. He raised troops increasing numbers from 7,000 in March 1918 to 5 million in September 1920. He recruited and trained the army officers which was very difficult. When the Kronstadt sailors revolted in Mar 1921, Trotsky forced the Red Guards to attack across the melting ice, and ruthlessly put down the revolt.

Question 7

Trotsky NEP

Answer 7

Trotsky knew that the Russian people were starving and might go against the Bolsheviks so he proposed a New Economic Policy.
Trotsky was used to give Stalin power
After Lenin’s death, he lost the power struggle against Stalin. He got exiled in 1929 and was murdered in 1940. During this time he wrote a book called “the history of the Russian Revolution” attacking Stalin

Question 8

WW1

Answer 8

26 October 1917: decree on peace
▹ This brought no response from the major powers fighting the war so separate peace had to be made with Germany.
February 1918: Bolshevik cancellation of foreign debts
▹ France was upset that the new communist regime had cancelled tsarist debts. 3rd March 1918: Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
▸ Aim: exit the war
Acute distress in the cities (Petrograd & Moscow)

Question 9

Civil War

Answer 9

April 1918: Chicherin replaced Trotsky as Commissar for foreign affairs
▸ Aim: peaceful co-existence with Western Capitalists April-September 1918: foreign intervention in the civil war
▹ Western countries supported the Whites. The Reds used this as propaganda.
March 1919: Lenin set up the Comintern (Third Communist International)
▹ This was set up to guide, co-ordinate and promote the Communist parties around the
world.
▸ Aim: spread communism around the world.
“The basic underlying condition of our victory is to propagate communist uprisings.“
April-October 1920: Russo-Polish war
▸ Aim: attempt to spread world revolution through weapons. July 1920: Second congress of Comintern
▹ Gave other communist parties the duty to protect the USSR.

Question 10

Recovery & peace

Answer 10

1921: Secret discussions with Germany (on military and economic co-operation) Anglo-Soviet trade agreement
1922: Rapallo agreement with Germany and secret military cooperation.
▹ The two countries recognised each other diplomatically, cancelled all debts and
developed their trade relations.
1923: Soviets agree to the Curzon ultimatum (Curzon was British Foreign Secretary) 1924: Official recognition of USSR by Britain, France and Italy

Question 11

Successes Foreign Policy

Answer 11

Diplomacy
Diplomatic relationships were gradually gained, Russia was finally recognised by other countries. From 1920, USSR started to achieve technological assistance and links with firms (from America and Western countries).

Peace
 like he had promised to the Russian people he brought peace back.

Security
The Treaty of Rapallo decreased security concerns as it was signed with Germany, agreeing to recognise each other, cancel all debts and work on their trade relations. This also decreased tension created by the failed communist uprisings between 1921 and 1924.

The trade treaty with Britain in 1921 helped the economy.

Question 12

Failures Foreign Policy

Answer 12

Permanent revolution
The Comintern set up by Lenin was meant to spread communist revolutions abroad. However, this only made the West more anti-communist. The aim of initiating a revolution in Germany failed as well as their plans regarding Poland (goal was to take Warsaw and let the revolution expand to Germany).
By cancelling tsarist debts and propagating revolution, Western capitalists started to get suspicious of Russia. Their secret war aims regarding territorial ambitions were exposed.

Question 13

Propaganda Aims

Answer 13

Lenin wanted communism to spread all over the country. This is why he spread his ideas of wanting an egalitarian society. Through propaganda, these ideas could spread all over Russia or even the world. The posters are the objects that portray the notion of power. They intended to persuade the population, to influence and mobilise public opinion. Lenin wanted people to join the revolution. They portrayed it as a glorious fight for equality. This worked as the workers had poor working conditions at the time; it inspired them. In propaganda, the rights of the individual were emphasised. Propaganda glorified Lenin. Posters with Lenin during his speeches were used so the workers could relate to him. But he was also represented as a strong leader. Then propaganda was intended to demonise non-communists. Sometimes posters even showed capitalists being harmed or their wealth being eliminated.

Question 14

Propaganda Policies

Answer 14

The propaganda started after the 1917 revolution when the Bolsheviks came to power under Lenin. Propaganda became very popular. Bolsheviks used it all the time to attract people by putting different “leaflets, slogans, songs and speeches”. They were very invested in it. Propaganda was giving them a reason to live as revolutionaries. Their propaganda made people understand what they did in the regime they created. During the Civil War, Lenin gave Russians propaganda to show them that he was able to bring freedom, rights and to strengthen the Bolsheviks; to govern over publicity. To do this, he knew that Russia had a really bad democracy, so he wanted to transform society into a better one.

Question 15

Successes Propaganda

Answer 15

Workers agreed with Lenin because they felt his ideas were fair, they inspired them and united them in their movement. Their working conditions were horrible and Lenin offered them a way to change that. Nicholas II was demonised in Bolshevik propaganda which influenced the people to think that Lenin was better. Lenin was a good orator and had powerful impact and power, breaking down complicated systems into the simplest and most generally accessible forms. In his speeches, he had simple slogans such as “Bread, Peace and Land” which inspired the population and allowed an uprising of workers and military forces.

Question 16

Failures Propaganda

Answer 16

Propaganda was used a lot in Russia, it was supposed to communicate the truth to people. However, people started to post propaganda that was aimed at women, children and soldiers, which wasn’t a good thing. The Russians mostly disliked propaganda. The messages in Bolshevik propaganda did not require immediate action which made it much harder to assess its success. They also didn’t know how many people saw these images and on what side they were. They used the terms ‘Russian comrades’ or ‘citizens of Russia’ but this felt impersonal to the population, hence they most likely missed their direct target. Their propaganda had a lack of positive messages, they criticised the enemy with less success than their opponents.

Question 17

Minorities aims/policies

Answer 17

• By 1918, there were 33 sovereign governments in Russia
• The Whites had made their slogan “Russia, one and indivisible”, so Lenin cynically promoted the idea of national self-determination
• Lenin foolishly believed that the Bolshevik seizure of power would lead to a world socialist revolution which would make such concepts as “nationalism” and “self-determination” redundant ( did not immediately happen, so the Bolsheviks had to back-peddle.)
• Joseph Stalin (left, with Lenin) formulated a doctrine of “proletarian self-determination” stating that national independence would be recognized only upon the demand of the working population” which only included those Bolsheviks subject to control by Moscow
  When it became clear that the national minorities would not be persuaded into supporting Bolshevism, Lenin was persuaded by Stalin and others that they would have to be beaten into submission instead.

Question 18

Minorities successes

Answer 18

Culture:
* Young people wrote about the revolution to promote the idea of an equal society.
* Writers such as Attaxim Gorky and Vladimir Mayakovsky celebrated the feats of the Communists.
* Mayakovsky wrote epic poems and plays about the Revolution, staged pageants, decorated propaganda trains, and invented new art forms.
* The pioneering art work of Lissitzky praised the revolution’s achievements.
The Russian film industry also developed during this time, helping to spread the propaganda and promoting the revolution and the role of Lenin ( movies like October and Potemkin were among the most innovative in the world at that time)

Minorities:
Ukraine
After the Central Powers withdrew from the Ukraine at the end of 1918, this fertile area (Russia’s “bread basket”) was fought over by the White and Red Armies. Baron Wrangel, who succeeded Denikin as the leader of the White armies, carried out land reforms which won peasant support. Nevertheless, his resistance was smashed in late 1920, when 150,000 Whites fled to Constantinople.

Black Sea Regions :
In 1920, the Red Army attacked the three Transcaucasian Republics: in the spring, they conquered Azerbaijan; Armenia surrendered in the Winter; and early in 1921 the Mensheviks were driven out of Georgia despite strong resistance. In Central Asia, the Bolsheviks conquered the khanates of Khiva and Bukhara and set up puppet governments there.

Question 19

Minorities Failures

Answer 19

Culture:
* That being said, in such a short space of time, it was difficult for these changes to have that great an impact.
In later years, many artists left Russia due to the tightening of censorship rules.

Minorities
Finland and the Baltic States:
Anti-Communist Finns defeated Bolshevik-supported Red Finns to create an independent Finland in late 1917. The Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, assisted by German occupiers, declared independence and, despite attacks from Red forces, ultimately retained it until 1940.

Poland:
To recreate a Greater Poland, Marshal Pilsudski attacked Russia and captured Kiev in May 1920. A Soviet counteroffensive led by General Tukhachevsky almost succeeded in conquering the Poles, they eventually rallied, however, drove out the Red Army, and forced Soviet Russia to accept an armistice and later the unfavourable Treaty of Riga in March 1921.

Question 20

NEP

Answer 20

NEW ECONOMIC POLICY (NEP)
AIMS
This was a tactical retreat to lower the discontent caused by war communism.

MEASURES
Money was reintroduced into the economy and grain requisitioning was abolished and replaced by the “tax in kind” (Peasants gave a fixed proportion of their grain to the state (much less amounts than before). Lenin accepted private ownership in agriculture, light industry and trade again. Peasants were allowed to own land which was revolutionary. Small businesses were allowed to reopen and he removed the ban on private trade. He also imposed a state control on heavy industry.

FAILURES (short-term)
The progress due to the policy was uneven, sometimes it went well other times it was catastrophic. Peasants were reluctant to supply food as they had excessive amounts of food for themselves and the prices they could sell things for had dropped. Additionally, the prices of industrial goods were still high because there still wasn’t enough supply.

SUCCESSES
Peasants made a profit from the surplus of grain so some became wealthy, this gave an incentive for other peasants to produce, this meant food was back in the markets. Reopening of cafes, restaurants, clothes and shoe shops put life back into the cities. The cereal production increased by 23% and industrial production increased by 200% because of increasing demand.

This new policy therefore reintroduced stability to the economy, and allowed the soviet people to recover from war, and to bring popularity to the bolsheviks.

Question 21

Ideology

Answer 21

Marxism/Leninism
Worker’s control of the means of production
Dictatorship of the proletariat
Idea of an elite party
Democratic centralism/single party rule
No need for a capitalist period before the masses seized power
Peasantry could be a revolutionary class

Question 22

Rise to power

Answer 22

Enemies attempted to destroy the government, as a consequence, the government had to fight a Civil War in 1918-1921.

Question 23

War communism successes

Answer 23

Managed to fulfil his original aim which was to feed the Bolshevik soldiers during the Civil War.
Helped him win the civil war.
Managed to take control over the economy for a period of time.

Question 24

War communism failures

Answer 24

When Lenin had originally given peasants & workers control over their own labour they stole factory materials, gave themselves pay rises, became disorganised and their output shrank by -20%.
Supply of raw materials disappeared so money was replaced by ration tokens.
Caused acute inflation and money became worthless.
Grain supplies fell to dangerous levels, this caused food riots due to shortages of food (most people lived on 50g of bread a day). Due to this many people started leaving for the countryside. By this point workers’ opposition groups were growing rapidly and there was an increase in the demand for change.
This led to the need for a different tactic, the New Economic Policy.