Lenin's political and economic policies pg18-25

Question 1

What did the Bolsheviks do once they were in power?

Answer 1

Once they were in power the Bolsheviks changed their name to the Communist Party and began to implement their policies under Lenin’s leadership.

Question 2

What did Marx believe about the classes and how did Lenin contradict this?

Answer 2

Marx had believed that the working classes created by capitalism would eventually overthrow the system themselves.

But Lenin argued that political needed to come first, led by a well-organised working-class party.

Question 3

What did Lenin believe?

Answer 3

Lenin believed that the Party needed to keep control of the state after the revolution, in order to bring about and protect communism. Soviet Russia thus became a totalitarian, one-party state with a hugely powerful leader.

It was Lenin’s version of communism, known as Marxism-Leninism, that was followed by other communist states in the 20th century.

Question 4

How did the elections go for the Bolsheviks?

Answer 4

The Provisional Government had planned to hold elections for a Constituent Assembly (a parliament), and the new Bolshevik government went ahead with these elections. The results were disappointing for the Bolsheviks; they won less than a quarter of the seats. This showed that the Bolshevik position was not secure.

Question 5

How did Lenin believe a group of people should be organised?

Answer 5

Lenin had always believed that a disciplined group of full-time revolutionaries organised into a single political party such as the Bolsheviks should lead the mass of the people to
revolution.

Question 6

At the same time, the government began to introduce long-awaited reforms:

Answer 6

-Peace with Germany: In March 1918, Russia signed a peace treaty with Germany.
The peace terms dictated by the Germans were very harsh, and Russia lost a lot of land and resources in its western areas. But Lenin insisted on peace at any price. He did not want to make the same mistakes that had led to the fall of the Provisional Government, he needed an end to the war so that he could focus on strengthening the position of the Communists in Russia

-Land reforms: The government confiscated large areas of land from the estates of the tsar, the church, the nobles and d other landlords. It redistributed the land among the Peasants.

-Working conditions: The government established an eight hour day work week, and introduced a system of insurance.

-Education: The government introduced free education for all and launched an adult literacy campaign. The government saw education as crucial, and it set up schools so that everyone between the ages of eight and 50 could learn to read and write.

Question 6

How did Lenin believe the party should continue it’s role?

Answer 6

This is why he described the Party as being ‘the vanguard’ of the proletariat. Now that the Communists were in power, he believed that the party should continue this role as the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ meaning that a small group of committed leaders would rule on behalf of the people.

Question 7

What was banned and what secret force did Lenin use?

Answer 7

Opposition parties and newspapers were banned, and no freedom of debate was allowed, even within the Communist Party itself. A ruthless secret police, cheka, was set up to seek out and destroy any opposition

Question 8

Bolshevik power spread from Petrograd until they were in charge of most towns and central Russia. Lenin encouraged the poor and oppressed to take revenge on the rich and all this resulted in the following changes:

Answer 8

-Peasants seized the nobles’ land, livestock and equipment and divided it amongst themselves.

-Private homes were converted into workers’ apartments.

-The bourgeoisie were forced to do menial tasks such as cleaning factories.

-Churches were looted and factories stripped of their machinery.

Question 9

What happened when Lenin withdrew Russia from the war?

Answer 9

Lenin kept his promise to withdraw Russia from the First World War by sending Trotsky to Poland to negotiate a peace treaty with the Germans. The Russian delegation was
horrified by what the Germans demanded but, since Germany could invade Russia, they had no option but to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

Question 10

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk cost Russia a great deal as:

Answer 10

-Much of Russian territory in the west was taken away.

-One-third of Russia’s farmland, 89% of its coal mines, a quarter of the railways and many factories were lost.

-Many Russians were deeply angered, and the losses would further weaken the Russian economy.

Question 11

What other small changes did Lenin make?

Answer 11

-The capital of Russia was moved from Petrograd to Moscow.

-Russia adopted the calendar used in Europe.

-The Bolsheviks were renamed the Communist party.

Question 12

lt was difficult for the Communists to establish their control over Russia because:

Answer 12

-Resistance developed as many Russians were shocked by the harsh terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

-Supporters of the Mensheviks, Social Revolutionaries and the Tsar grouped together to form guerilla bands in order to destroy the Bolsheviks. They were known as the white
Army.

Question 13

How did the communist party respond to the opposition?

Answer 13

In response to the opposition, the Communists strengthened their military force, the Red Army, under the leadership of Trotsky. By the end of the 1918 war had broken out between the Red and White armies. The civil war had a devastating effect on Russia.

The Communists controlled the heartland of Russia which included the cities of Petrograd and the capital, Moscow. Leon Trotsky was given the task of organising the Red army which was made up of peasants and workers. He was able to mould the Red Army into a powerful fighting force by adopting the

Question 14

Why the red army win the war and how were they able to accomplish this?

Answer 14

The White Army did not have one overall leader

The Red Army won the Civil War in 1921 but, to accomplish this, Lenin had to introduce strict communist control of industry and food supplies. This policy was known as War Communism.

Question 15

War Communism 1918-1921

War Communism was put into practice in order to keep the Red Army supplied with food and weapons, The following measures were taken:

Answer 15

-The state controlled all means of production: mines, industries, factories and businesses.

-Private trade was banned.

-Requisitioning squads made up of soldiers were sent to the farms and villages to seize the peasants’ grain, This grain was needed to feed workers in the urban areas.

-All industries were nationalized and workers between the ages of 16 and 50 were forced to work.

Question 16

Most Russians suffered great hardships because of the policy of War Communism.
People were hungry and discontented, The results of the policy were as follows:

Answer 16

-Industrial production fall sharply as managers were inexperienced and there was a shortage of raw materials.

-The workers were given food ration by the government instead of money.

-The government printed masses of paper money which resulted in high inflation. Money became worthless and people were forced to trade on black market in order to survive.

-The peasants received little or no payment for their Grain and resented it being seized. The money they received was worthless and there was nothing to buy.

Question 17

By 1921 the Communists had won the Civil War but Russia was struck by famine. This famine was a result of both the policy of War Communism and environmental
factors:

Answer 17

The peasants were reluctant to plant crops that would be seized by requisitioning
squads. This led to a man made famine as not enough food was produced.

Question 18

What was the NEP?

Answer 18

The New Economic Policy: the adaptation of Marxism.

The new economic policy (NEP) was an adaptation of Marxism because it included capitalist ideas. Lenin introduced NEP in 1921 because Russia was in a state of collapse.

Question 19

The effects of War Communism together with the seven years of war had devastated the economy. This was evident because:

Answer 19

-The area sown with crops was half of what it had been in 1913, The number of livestock and horses had also diminished.

-A famine between 1921 and 1923 killed 5 million people.

-Factories were producing about a third of what they had in 1913.

Question 20

What were the peasants unhappy about and what revolt occured?

Answer 20

Both the peasants and the proletariat were unhappy and revolts against War Communism began in 1920.

The most serious of these revolts was the mutiny at the Kronstadt naval base in March 1921. Lenin realized that he would have to economic policy if he wished to preserve communism in Russia.

Question 21

Why did Lenin introduce the NEP?

Answer 21

Lenin was forced to make these changes in order to give the Russian economy a chance to recover. Once economic stability returned, communist principles could be reintroduced.

Question 22

In order to encourage greater agricultural production, the (following measures were taken):

Answer 22

-The requisitioning of grain was stopped

-Peasants were required to pay an agricultural
proportion of the surplus crops left over after the needs of the peasant family were met.

-Peasants were allowed to sell their produce on the open market, Some peasants, called kulaks, became wealthy enough to hire other peasants.

Question 23

Measures to stimulate Industry included the following:

Answer 23

-While the state retained control over large industries, small industrial and business enterprises were allowed to be privately owned.

-Workers were paid in money and were given incentive bonuses. This encouraged them to work harder.

-Private trade was allowed.

Question 24

The economy recovered under NEP because:

Answer 24

-The peasants grew more grain because they knew they could make a profit selling their grain. The tax they paid was fair and not a burden.

-Industry flourished as workers received wages in money.

-Private enterprises flourished.

Question 25

Womens role in the revolution:

Answer 25

Women also played an active part in the 1917 revolution. Some played leading roles ln the Bolshevik Party. Unlike most of the men, many Bolshevik women came from the upper and middle classes, they were attracted to the radical ideas of the Bolsheviks on social reform.

The new Communist government wanted to change the position of women in society
Propaganda posters and Soviet art portrayed women as powerful and equal to men.

Question 26

How did the government support women and what was never fully implemented?

Answer 26

The government supported the establishment of kindergartens and creches, so that women could work, outside the home and be economically independent.
They planned education programmes and Job training for women. But the high cost of both meant that they were never fully implemented.

Question 27

What happened when Lenin died?

Answer 27

Lenin died in 1924. Before he died, he wrote about his fears of a struggle for control of the Party after his death. After his death, Petrograd was renamed Leningrad in his honor, and the power struggle which he had feared, began.