Lenin Flashcards
When was the Treaty of Brest Litovsk
3 March 1918
What percent of railways and iron supplies were lost in the Treaty of Brest Litovsk?
26% of railways and 74% of iron supplies
What amount of population and land did Russia lose in the Treaty?
1/6 of its population and 2 million square km - an area that produced 1/3 of its agriculture
What was the ideological significance of the Treaty?
It denied ‘permanganate revolution’ and meant Lenin was adopting socialism at home
When was the Constituent Assembly?
Voting began 12 Nov
Assembly commenced 5-6 Jan 1918
What were the initial decrees/policies made?
Ban on opposition press (Oct) Decree of Peace (Oct) Decree of Land (Oct) Cheka established (Nov) Worker control of railways (Jan) Nationalisation of Industry (Feb)
When was the 1918 Constitution?
July 1918
How was the 1918 Constitution undemocratic?
Exploiting classes were exempt from voting
Workers to peasant vote weighed 5:1
The Bolshevik only Sovnarkom rarely met
How did Lenin create one Party Government?
Bolshevik only Sovnarkom that ruled by decree
Dissolve of Consistent Assembly
No coalition government
How did Lenin ensure the preservation of the soviet?
A policy of Terror enforced through centralisation
‘Self determination’ abolished due to counter rev national minority’s
Political opposition arrested, exiled, executed
War communism aggressively repressed peasantry
Was Red Terror inevitable?
Red Terror was not forced upon the Bolsheviks but served as a surrogate for support - the more popularity eroded the more Terror was exerted
When was the Civil War?
1918-1920
How many people died in the Civil War?
An estimated 7-10 million people
What did the Civil War cause?
Political measures were tightened and centralised
What changes to Government were seen after the Civil War?
Ban on Factions ensured in party unity (1921)
Nomenklatura introduces and ensured loyalty (1923)
What did Lenin say about electrification?
“Soviets plus electrification equals communism”
What is a socialist economy?
One with no private ownership and all members of society have an equal share in state resources
What early decrees showed a move towards socialist economy?
Decree on Land nationalised so ‘entire people’ owned land
Workers Decree recognised ‘proletariat’ control as legitimate
Why did War Communism occur?
It existed to ensure the Red Army was supplied with munitions and food
Arguably an ideological move that was in the build up to socialism
What was War Communism?
Grain requisitioning programme to prevent famine
Nationalised industry to lessen inflation and recover the economic depression of war
How was grain requisitioning carried out?
Soldiers and workers were deployed to ensure grain was delivered to state - violence often used - specifically against Kulaks (‘enemies of the state’)
How fast did nationalisation occur?
May - sugar industry industrialised
June - oil industry industrialised
By Nov 2020 all major factories were industrialised
How did workers lose their freedom in War Communism?
Professional managers employed by the state
Working hours extended
Rationing cards were people’s wages
Internal passports stopped workers from moving to the countryside in search of food
How much had War communism caused industrial output to fall by?
By 1921 it had fallen by 20% (since 1918)
How many deaths occurred because of War Communism?
Spread of disease and famine caused 3 million deaths by 1920
What percentage of grain was being made in 1920 compared to 1913?
Only 48% of what was made in 1913 was being made
How much had the population decreased by since 1913 to 1920?
It was 170 million but decreased to 130 million
What was Gosplan?
The State General Planning Commission
What did the NEP institute?
End to grain requisitioning
Small businesses and private ownership was allowed
The state controlled the major industries
What was the scissor crisis?
It began in 1923 and was peasants producing grain at a higher rate than the towns could sell/consume causing prices of grain to drop - it ended in 1926
Who thrived off the NEP?
As a private wealth and money economy NEPmen and Kulaks thrived
How did Lenin defend the NEP?
Socialism could not exist without qualitative modernisation of the economy - capitalism provided this
Was did Lenin say to defend the NEP and Capitalism?
“The development of capitalism, controlled and regulated by the State, is advantageous and necessary in an extremely devastated and backward small peasant country”
What did Lenin say about pragmatism?
“In revolution we advanced along the path of practise and not theory”
What did Bulgarian say in defence of the NEP?
“We are making economic concessions in order to avoid political ones. The NEP is a temporary deviation, a tactical retreat.”
What did Lenin say about the NEP and socialist revolution?
“Only agreement with the peasantry can save the socialist revolution in Russia”
Why did Lenin switch to the NEP?
To save the failing economy when War Communism deprived people
To revive the socialist revolution by appeasing the peasants
As a reaction to the Kronstadt mutineer situation that called for concession
A planned economic shift after civil war
When was the Kronstadt Mutiny?
February- March 1921
How many people were involved in the Kronstadt Mutiny?
16000 soldiers/sailors
30000 civilians
How many people died during and in the aftermath of the Kronstadt mutiny?
4000 in the immediate movement
15000 rebels that broke out in the aftermath
What were the Kronstadt mutineers calling for?
They wanted genuine Soviet democracy of all the working class parties A return to democratically elected soviets The release of all workers from Cheka prisons
How many people died in the famine of 1921-22 and what from?
5 million died from starvation and disease - many forced to cannibalism
How did the government react to the outbreak of disturbances in towns and cities after Civil War?
Martial law was imposed as stricter discipline - later controlled by NEP
What was wrong with War Communism in Bukharins eyes?
It was a rushed jump into socialism - Lenin over nationalised industry in an attempt to save the war effort - small industry should be privately owned
What was a negative impact of NEP?
To reduce costs many jobs were cut and unemployment rose
How much had unemployment risen by 1923?
16% of the industrial workforce was made redundant
What was ‘permanent revolution’ and who believed in it?
It was the theory of international socialist revolution - the Russian revolution would spark off revolutions in other advanced countries
Lenin and Trotsky
What was the Comintern and when was it held?
The Third International - a congress in Moscow in March 1919 with representative from international communist parties to ‘export the revolution’
Why did ‘permanent revolution’ fail?
The revolutionary tide after the First World War has ended and Lenin’s attempts (sending Comintern agents to violently uprise) was deemed as forced revolution - to continue peaceful cooperation with the west he had to concede the ideology
What book did Stalin publish in 1913 and what did he say about national minorities?
Marxism and the Nationalities
That all oppressed people should be allowed the right of self-determination
He gained the image of being an expert of nationalist problems - he was appointed the Commissar for Nationalities
What declaration allowed free self determination?
The Declaration of the Rights of the People of Russia - written by Lenin and Stalin
What occurred in the socialist independence of Finland?
It sparked a civil war between the newly formed SD government and the right wing parties - the rights succeeded and there was a policy of White terror
This sparked Stalin to question self determination
What did Lenin write in State and Revolution about the state?
That it should “wither away” - when freedom existed there would be no need for a state
How did the party state develop?
The government ruling body the Sovnarkom became Bolshevik only but increasingly lost power and influence as the Politburo (the party leading body) became the decision making body
How did Lenin defend ignoring the government and increasing party influence?
The working class (who would elect delegates to the soviet government body) were “exhausted and are naturally weak in a country that is in ruins”
They had no “political culture” and needed advanced workers and leaders to rule - Bolsheviks
Why did Lenin and Stalin fall out in 1923?
On centralisation - Lenin wanted to join the Unions republics together in equal status
Stalin wanted other nationalities to be subordinate to the Russian - autonomisation
When was the 1923 constitution adopted and what did it approve?
31 December 1922
An All Union Congress of Soviets - the USSR
This was against Stalin’s rule
Why did Lenin want Stalin removed from the party in 1923?
Stalin was overbearing in the situation in Georgia - nationality policy in general
What did the 1923 Constitutions policy on nationalities encourage?
It resulted in a flowering of national cultures; stimulated a national pride and patriotism that aimed for independence - Stalin committed to reactionary measures against this
Who was made Commissar for Education in 1917?
Anatoli Lunacharsky
By 1927 how much of the population was literate?
51%
What changed were made to education by Lunacharsky?
Church schools were put under soviet supervision
Hundreds of new schools built
Education made free and compulsory
Student freedom and individualism was allowed
What happened to writers temporarily in 1922?
They were censored - some arrested some killed - The were held responsible for “the growing influence of revitalised bourgeois ideology in the youth soviet republic”
What theatre production was used as Bolshevik propaganda?
In 1920 The Storming of the Winter Palace was performed enacting the ‘approved version’ of the revolution
Who were the Constructive’s?
A group of artists Malevich, Rodchenko and architect Tatlin who designed various important monuments, towns (Magnitogorsk) - were an example of Soviet innovation
How did orchestras become more ‘soviet’?
Played with no conductor to be socialistically correct
Why did Lenin nationalise the cinema?
He felt he could use it for powerful propaganda that would galvanise the masses specifically the illiterate population
What were agit-trains?
Propaganda trains which travelled all over the country to show newsreels, documentaries etc
How many clergy were killed between 1922-23?
7000
How many members were gained through Lenin enrolment?
240,000
How are Stalin and Lenin’s legacy’s compatible in ideology?
Stalin left 22 million dead in his want for power
Lenin left a testament that did not speak of terror but of ideological drive in his successor
How was Stalinism a continuation of Leninism?
Red Terror evolved into the Great Terror
Lenin destroyed the multi party system which Stalin extended into an authoritarian state
Lenin theorised and established collectivisation which Stalin expanded
How was Stalinism different from Leninism?
Lenin believed in social revolution from peasants - Stalin coerced peasants into a virtual civil war
Lenin opposed the cult of the individual - Stalin embodied it
Lenin believed in nationalities forming a republic - Stalin believed in a coercing nationalities into the Russian Soviet
The Great Terror destroyed communism
When did the Soviet Government first launch it’s terror campaign?
2 September 1918
When was the Tenth Party Congress and what did it decide?
8-16 March 1921
Defeat Works Opposition (a faction that wanted shared power)
Ban on Factions
NEP accepted
When did Lenin suffer his first stroke?
26 March 1922
When did Lenin die?
21 January 1924
When did the Politburo form?
1919
When and why was the Nomenklatura introduced?
1923
To ensure loyalty of members - it creates a loyal party elite
What was the Kronstadt Mutiny an example of?
Bolsheviks denying a socialist revolution - sniffed out the dream of egalitarian democracy
What fundamental Marxist doctrine had Lenin betrayed?
That the state would “wither away” - he extended it
What was the burzhui?
A term used against aristocrats, merchants, landowners and anyone considered a hindrance to worker and peasant prosperity
How did the classless society progress?
Initially class hierarchy abolished Nov 1917 Civil war allocated rations depending on work value NEP influence a class battle
What was proletarianisation?
The process of turning the mass population into urban workers - the mass had to be proletariat for it to be a socialist society
When was abortion legalised?
1920
How did Lenin change the position of women in society?
Ended sex discrimination and encouraged paid employment
Abortion legalised
Divorce made easier and less expensive
Free contraceptive advice provided
How many abortions were completed to every birth?
150,000 abortion’s to every 57,000 births
By how much did the number of female industrial workers rise from 1928 to 1940?
From 3 million to 13 million
What did Lenin abolish in schools?
Textbooks and examinations
When was the Russian Youth Communist League formed and what did it change to?
1918
Became the youth division of the Communist Party in 1920s
Then became Komsomol in 1926
How did Marx describe religion?
As the “opium of the people” used to justify the power of the upper classes
How did Lenin view religion?
He did not see it as a threat - he recognised the atheistic Bolsheviks were a minority so did not want to provoke popular outrage
When was the official separation of Church and State?
1918
How did Lenin change religion?
Church land seized (1917)
Church schools taken over by state
Teaching of religion in schools forbidden (1921)
Priests were oppressed and many killed
Desecration during civil war effected church significantly
Christian festivals replaced
When did Finland become an independent state?
Dec 1917
When did Lenin write his Testament?
December 1922
How did Lenin impose Red Terror?
Early decrees (Cheka, ban on opposition press)
1918-1921 Civil War (opposition parties suppressed with violence, ideological enemies eliminated - half a million dead)
Faction and Control (ban on factions)
Who was Felix Dzerzhinsky?
The Head of the Cheka
