Lenin and the Bolshevik Government Flashcards
Features of war communism
state capitalism, grain requisitioning, nationalisation of larger enterprises and state monopoly on markets, partial militarisation of labour, requisitioning of agricultural produce
Views on war communism
Requisitioning of grain and produce caused death of 5 mill people= hated system. Hated losing freedom because of state monopolies
Features of the NEP
De-nationalisation and return to private ownership, removed restrictions on the private sales of goods/ services, end to reqisitioning
Was the NEP successful?
Short-term success- industrial output up. However, emergence of NEP-men, scissor crisis as supply increased over demand and NEP betrayed communist ideals
The impact of the First World War
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk: high price for Russia- territories gained independence, Russia lost 1/3 of all agricultural land, railway track and the Soviet Republic’s population, 2/3 coalmines, 1/2 of heavy industry products and nearly all oil and cotton textile products
Consequences of the treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Departure of Bukharin and the left SRs from the soviet government- Bolsheviks in full control
Failures of War Communism
in all areas the economic strength of Russia fell below the 1914 level, peasant farmers only grew for themselves because they knew extra would be taken away.
How many people moved to the countryside because of War Communism?
between 1916 and 1920, the cities of Northern and central Russia lost 33% of their population to the countryside.
Impact of War Communism on productivity rates
by 1920, the average worker had a productivity rate that was 44% less than that their 1913 figure
Example of the impact of War Communism on factory output
Coal production was at 27% of its 1913 figure in 1920
Example of unrest brought on by War Communism
The Krondstadt uprising- ‘the lightning strike that lit up reality’ because the sailors were allies to the Bolsheviks and had helped them gain power
Freedom of expression under the Bolsheviks
More freedom- needed support from intellectuals. However, the secret police kept close supervision on leading intellectuals and some were executed without trial e.g. Gumelev
Education under Lenin
Universal education to achieve cultural transformation. By 1927, education was free and compulsory for all up to the age of 12. By 1927 51% of the population were literate vs. 35% in 1907.
Propaganda under Lenin
Cinemas used especially
Lenin and religion
Marxist view that it was ‘the opium of the masses’- priests targeted by the Cheka and shot
Lenin and Jews
many leading Bolsheviks were Jewish= treated better than under the tsars
What did Lenin say about the arts?
‘the purpose of art and literature is to serve the people’
Constitutions under Lenin
1918- created the RSFSR
1922 Treaty- added the Republics of Ukraine, Belorussia and Transcaucasia to the RSFSR
Organisation of the government
the All Russian Congress of Soviets and the Central Committee. Politburo (policy) and Orgburo (organised party affairs.) Sovnarkom- commisars with specific governmental responsibilities (like ministers)
Failure of NEP
NEPmen and ‘scissor crisis’
Impact of Brest-Litovsk on nationalities
Brest-Litovsk gave nationalities official independence i.e. Poland.
Lenin and Ukraine
Independence after ww1 but Ukraine retaken by the Red Army in the civil war
Lenin and Poland
attempt to retake Poland in the Russo-Polish war
Lenin and Finland
Pork Mutiny: Red Guards invaded Finland and looted property before persuading Finnish workers (with guns and money) to join their Soviet battalion
Nationalities freedom
Lenin decreed in November 1917 that territories were free to leave Russia
WW1 famine
8 million died of starvation between 1918-21
Civil war famine
destruction of transport infastructures WW1 caused famine in 1921 where 5 million died
Housing
The Decree on Land 1917- housing to be taken away from private owners and handed over to the proletariat under the guidance of the soviets
