Lenin Government Flashcards
When did Lenin extend the power of the politburo making them responsible for all political decisions ?
1919
When did Lenin introduce dual authority and who was it between?
1917
Provisional gov and soviets
Was to test the legitimacy of the provisional gov but they were far less populist than bolsheviks
When was it decided the Politburo would be a collective leadership and what did it mean ?
1924
All decisions would be authorised and discussed prior to being established
When and why did Lenin dissolve the constituent assembly?
They were viewed as an opposition to the bolsheviks and after not winning a majority election in 1918 they were shut down
How did Lenin want his government?
Centralised and militarised
How did war communism win the civil war ?
Diverted funds produced from private farming from grain requisitioning towards the red army with money food and supplies
What are Lenin’s two main phrases ?
“Peace, bread, land
“All power to the soviets “
When was his Land decree ?
1917
What was Lenin’s land decree ?
Redistribution of land from the nobility to the peasants in attempt to restore the long standing land inequalities
When and what was the decree on workers ?
1917
Have workers more power within the workplace by giving them more independence and control within production in industry
When was the treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed ?
1918
What was the treaty of brest litovsk ?
A treaty signed which ended russias involvement in ww1 and was part of Lenin’s consolidation of power
What did Lenin want to accomplish within the state ?
A one party state
( highly centralised and militarised)
When was the Kronstadt uprising ?
1921
When was the Kronstadt uprising crushed ?
1921 by red army led by Trotsky
When and what was the red terror?
1918-20
Elimination of all political opponents
What were some reasons for the whites failure in the civil war ?
They were ‘ ignorant and incompetent’
Funding from Britain stopped
How big was the red army by 1919 ?
1.6 million
What was the ratio of white to reds in the civil war ?
656,000 : 5 million
How much had the Bolshevik party number grown thru the war ?
150,000 to 600,000
When was Lenin in power ?
1917-1924
What is a Figes quote relating to Lenin’s way of running the government?
“ lenin allowed the social revolution to run its own course “
What were the main aspects of Lenin’s gov ?
War communism
Centralising and ministering the single party state
Establishment of power
What were some of Lenin’s methods of establishment?
Popular policies
Popular decrees
Weakness of provisional gov
What were some of Lenin’s methods of consolidation ?
Cheka
Trotsky and red army
Weakness of white army
War communism
Who ran the Cheka
Iron felix
What did the Cheka stand for ?
Organised terror
What legacy did Lenin leave behind ?
Very authoritarian and political legacy which needed to be succeeded
Who did Lenin consider a political opposition?
Counter revolutionaries
Opposing party members
Very powerful senior party members
What and when was Lenin’s great terror ?
1918-20
Period of intense political repression in which the Bolshevik’s party carried out mass imprisonment and persecution
What were the first Lenin policies ?
Land decree
Workers decree
Peace decree
When and what was Lenin’s great terror ?
1918-20
Period if Intense political repression in which the Bolshevik party carried out mass persecution of opponents
Who was responsible for carrying out Lenin’s great terror ?
Iron Felix
What legacy did Lenin leave behind ?
After dying in 1924 he left behind a very authoritarian political legacy after he succeeded in his militarised and central’s single party state
By what year had Lenin manage to achieve his communist dictatorship of a one party state ?
1922
What outcomes did the civil war have on Lenin’s government?
Authoritarian
Centralised
Militarised
What was the role of a authoritarian government system ?
Allowed for significant control over political economic and social affairs through the use of terror and violence to get rid of people
Why was a centralised government effective ?
Lenin believed that it ensured victory in the process of a socialist utopia
And removed threat by having a strong group of followers
What was the sovnarkom ?
Most trusted members of the politburo in the most powerful central committee
Who’s ideology did Lenin follow and how did he achieve it ?
He followed Marxism and replaced capitalism with socialism when he took power as head of government during the October revolution
What were the main reasons Lenin was able to establish the soviet state ?
Civil war
Terror
Popularity
Popular policies
