lenin 1917-1924 Flashcards
what were the 3 methods of Bolshevik rule?
•police state
•propaganda
•communism
what month did Lenin seize power?
October
what did Lenin immediately establish after coming into power?
Sovnarkom
•the soviet people’s commissars
what was the first Sovnarkom composed of?
13 commissioners
they were Bolshevik cabinet members who were selected by the party’s central committee
how did lenin assert control between nov 1917 and jan 1918?
•closed down the opposition press
•they turned on oppositional political parties
•he used the Cheka as a main instrument of terror
what was war communism?
the economic and political structure which existed during the civil war. including:
•grain requisitioning
•nationalisation of industry
•banning on private trade
•rationing
who was the civil war fought between?
the reds (Bolsheviks)
and the whites (Anti- Bolsheviks)
what problems did the civil war cause?
•food shortages
•poor economy
•transportation system collapsed
•grain production fell
what was the NEP?
a policy which said:
•grain requisitioning abolished
•ban on private trade removed
•small buisnesses reopened
•state control of the commanding heights of the economy
how had industrial production declined after the civil war?
it had declined by two-thirds
when was war communism introduced?
june 1918
what did the government do to trade in november 1918?
they nationalised trade
what was industrial production like in 1920 compared to 1913?
industrial production had declined at an alarming rate, by 1920 it was about 13% of the 1913 level
when did Lenin die?
January 1924
what did the constitution of 1918 do?
it guaranteed the vote to all except the bourgeoise
how did Lenin regard Trotsky?
as too self confident and too interested in the ‘purely administrative side of affairs’
what did Lenin say about Stalin’s personality?
that he was too concerned with ‘amassing power’, which he did not use wisely
also ‘too rude’
why did Zinoviev and Kamenev form an alliance with Stalin?
not because they favoured his rise to power, but because they wished to stop Trotsky from attaining the top post in the Party
what did Trotsky resign from in 1925?
he resigned from his position as commissar of war
how is the difference in Lenin and Stalin emphasised by Lenin’s fiftieth birthday celebrations?
•Lenin insisted on a relatively modest celebration of his birthday, he also did not want to be portrayed as an icon in propaganda
•Stalin wanted an elaborate celebration of him becoming the new party leader, he also wanted to be portrayed as an icon through propaganda
what were concessions made to in 1921?
the concessions of 1921 to Capitalism, which made socialism seem like a distant dream
