Lesson 4-How did Lenin and the Bolsheviks consolidate their power?

Question 1

Define sovnarkom ( the Council of People’s Commissars)

Answer 1

Government of Russia after the October Revolution.
It had a chairman (like our Prime Minister)
The All Russia Congress of Soviets answered to the Sovnarkom

Question 2

Define Constituent Assembly

Answer 2

A body composed of for the purpose of drafting or adopting a constitution (a body of fundamental principles)

Question 3

Who are the Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs)?

Answer 3

A group committed to democratic socialism who believed in the rights of groups to govern themselves.

Question 4

Who were the Mensheviks?

Answer 4

A Communist group. More moderate than the Bolsheviks. They split from the Bolsheviks in 1903 over difference of policy.

Question 5

In 1917 what was Russia provided with an opportunity to become?

Answer 5

A democratic society

Question 6

What did the Bolsheviks claim?

Answer 6

They were going to be a party which would rule on behalf of the people for the people.

Question 7

What Was the reality of the Bolshevik party?

Answer 7

They had established a one party state where other political parties were banned.

Question 8

What Was Communist rule under the bolsheviks to be like?

Answer 8

Authoritarian
Highly centralised
Heavy use of terror

Question 9

Who did the Bolsheviks face opposition from?

Answer 9

-other left wing groups e.g the SRs and the mensheviks
-nationalist groups
-groups on the right (Tsarist supporters) and Liberal groups who represented the interests of the Middle class and who now feared the Bolsheviks would take away their businesses and deny them political freedoms.

Question 10

What did the SRs and the mensheviks want from the Bolsheviks?

Answer 10

Hoped that they would be given a share of power in the new government

Question 11

What did Lenin say in response to other left wing groups asking for a share in power in the new government?

Answer 11

‘You have played out your role. Go where you belong: to the dustbin of history.’

Question 12

What did the Provisional Government promise?

Answer 12

Elections and the opening g of a Constituent Assembly in January 1918 .

Question 13

Why was the Constituent Assembly a good thing for the SRs?

Answer 13

The assembly was democratically elected and the SRs were able to mobilise their support amongst the peasantry.

Question 14

What were the result of the elections of 1918?

Answer 14

Bolsheviks-175 seats and 9 million votes
SRs-410 seats and 21 million votes

Question 15

Because the SRs won the elections what did Lenin do?

Answer 15

Dissolved the Assembly after just one meeting, at gun point.

Question 16

What did Lenin replace the Constituent Assembly with?

Answer 16

All-Russian Congress of Soviets
Where the Bolsheviks had more influence despite though he ensured there was no forum (meeting) of opposition

Question 17

How did Lenin strip the opposition parties of a possible reservoir of support?

Answer 17

There was a removal of vote from ‘bourgeois class’, such as employees and priests.

Question 18

How did left wing SRs lose all influence in the government?

Answer 18

Walked out in protest at the Bolshevik decision to pull out of WW1

Question 19

When did the Bolshevik party rename itself the Communist Party?

Answer 19

March 1918

Question 20

By what year were all other parties banned?

Answer 20

1921

Question 21

What did Lenin say in April 1921?

Answer 21

‘The place for the Mensheviks and the SRs is in prison.’

Question 22

How many mensheviks were arrested in the first 3 months of 1921?

Answer 22

5000

Question 23

By what year did mensheviks and SRs cease to exist?

Answer 23

1922

Question 24

What did the Peace Decree do?

Answer 24

Emphasised that the Bolsheviks were seeking an immediate end to Russia’s role in WW1

Question 25

When was the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed?

Answer 25

March 1918

Question 26

What did the Germans demand from Russia as a part of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?

Answer 26

-The Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia) -Poland -Finland -The Ukraine This meant that Russia would lose 32 percent of arable (land fertile good for farming) land, 26 percent of the railways system, 33 percent of factories, 75 percent of coal or iron ore mines, 60 million Russian Citizens

Question 27

What did Lenin propose at the Tenth Party Congress 1921?

Answer 27

A ban on factions

Question 28

What Was the ban on factions called?

Answer 28

'One-Party Unity.'

Question 29

Why did Lenin want one party unity?

Answer 29

It was an attempt to impose the views of the leadership on the party

Question 30

What Was the punishment for breaking this rule of factions being banned?

Answer 30

Expulsion from the party

Question 31

The ban on factions rule was brought in after a time of uncertainty following what?

Answer 31

Tambour Uprising and the Kronstadt Mutiny

Question 32

Who was at the top of the new government that Lenin formed?

Answer 32

Sovnarkom, which was a Council of People's Commissars

Question 33

What Was Lenin in the sovnarkom?

Answer 33

The chairman and the overall leader of the new government

Question 34

Who was below the Sovnarkom in hierarchy?

Answer 34

All-Russian Congress of Soviets which was dominated by the Bolsheviks

Question 35

Who was at the bottom of the new government organisation?

Answer 35

Representative from cities, villages and local soviets

Question 36

What Was the main of of the Decree on Land?

Answer 36

Redistribute Land to the peasant

Question 37

Talk about how the Decree on land came to be

Answer 37

Written by Vladimir Lenin Passed by the Second Congress of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies on 26 October 1917 It followed the success of the October Revolution

Question 38

What did the Decree on land Decree?

Answer 38

An abolition of private property and the redistribution of the landed estates amongst the peasantry.

Question 39

According the the Decree on land whose land had the peasantry seized?

Answer 39

The nobility Monasteries The Church

Question 40

What Was the only day the elected Constituent Assembly met?

Answer 40

5 January 1918

Question 41

Who was the largest party in the Constituent Assembly an dwith what percentage of the votes?

Answer 41

SRs with 40.4 percent of the votes

Question 42

Who was the second largest party in the Constituent Assembly and with what percentage of the votes?

Answer 42

Bolsheviks with 24 percent of the votes.

Question 43

On the 5th of Jan what did Lenin demand from the Constituent Assembly?

Answer 43

That they be subservient to the Sovnarkom and the Soviet but they were rejected the by 237 votes to 137.

Question 44

What did Lenin do as a result of his rejected command from the Constituent Assembly?

Answer 44

The assembly was then dissolved at gun-point by the Red Guards