October Revolution Flashcards
When did Lenin start bombarding the Central Committee with letters demanding they prepare for revolution?
From mid-September, when Lenin was still hiding in Finland
What did Lenin say about revolution on the 12th September?
‘History will not forgive us if we do not assume power now’
How did Lenin try to get his way with the Central Committee to incite revolution?
Threatened resignation - did not work
Who argued that Russia was not yet ready for revolution?
Kamenev and Zinoviev - they believed that they should not act before the Constituent Assembly elections
Trotsky - suggested that they should work through the Petrograd Soviet and wait for the Congress of Soviets (due to be convened on the 26th October)
What did Lenin do on the 10th October?
Harangued the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party
He finally succeeded, with a vote of ten to two, in persuading the committee that ‘an armed uprising is the order of the day’
What were the responses to Lenin’s victory in persuading the Central Committee?
Trotsky took Lenin’s side but Zinoviev and Kamenev refused to agree and published their own views in the newspaper Novaia Zhin
How did Trotsky prepare for revolution?
He sent Bolshevik speakers around the factories to gain support and he and Dzerzhinsky set up the Military Revolutionary Committee on the 16th October
Who comprised the Military Revolutionary Committee?
66 - 48 of them were Bolsheviks
Since the Mensheviks and SRs refused to cooperate, it became a Bolshevik force made up of militias from the Bolshevik Red Guard, former soldiers and policemen
What did the MRC do to gain support?
Sent commissars to all of Petrograd’s garrison units and 15 of the 18 declared allegiance to the Soviet, rather than the Provisional Government
How many troops in total did the Committee come to control?
200,000 Red Guards, 60,000 Baltic sailors and 150,000 soldiers
When did the Bolshevik revolution officially start?
25th October
When and how did Kerensky act against the Bolsheviks?
23rd Oct - ordered the printers of two Bolshevik newspapers (Pravda and Izvestia) to cease activities and sent troops to the working class area of Petrograd (the Vyborg district) to raise the bridge linking them to the city centre
What happened on the 24-25th October?
Through the night, 5000 soldiers and Kronstadt sailors moved into the city and Bolshevik Red Guards began to take over key government buildings and communications centres.
Did the Bolshevik Red Guard face opposition?
Encountered some resistance at the main telegraph office, but troops on duty generally gave in quickly.
What happened on 25th October?
Kerensky left Petrograd in an attempt to rally military support.
Red Guard soldiers and sailors surrounded the Winter Palace and were able to easily enter the building.
The Second Congress of Soviets convened - some Mensheviks and SRs made a public declaration of protest ‘against the military conspiracy and seizure of power’
What happened on 26th October?
The Congress adopted a resolution to take power into its own hands.
At 9pm, the Congress reopened and Lenin’s decree on peace, to end the war, was adopted unanimously.
What happened on the 27th October?
At 2am, Lenin’s decree on land (acknowledging peasant seizures) was agreed and the Bolshevik faction put forward their proposals for the reorganisation of government. Despite protests from the Mensheviks and SRs, the Congress adopted these proposals by an overwhelming majority.
How was government reorganised after the revolution?
A ‘Soviet of People’s Commissars’ (Sovnarkom) was created to run the government, with Lenin as its Chairman. It included only Bolsheviks.
What other resolutions were adopted on the 27th October?
Abolition of the death penalty, arrest of Kerensky, freeing of those arrested for political action by the Provisional Government, transfer of power in the provinces to the local soviets
How many people did Trotsky claim were actively involved in the October Revolution?
25-30,000 ‘at most’ - around 5% of all workers in the city
How many people do calculations suggest were involved?
There may have been 10-15,000 in the square in front of the Winter Palace (but many of these may have been bystanders)
How many deaths were caused by the October Revolution?
No more than 5 - largely because the PG had hardly any military resources left
What did Trotsky say about the scale of the revolution?
it was a series of ‘small operations, calculated and prepared in advance’
How many members of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets voted in favour of a socialist government (Sovnarkom)?
500 of 670 delegates
How long did it take the new Bolshevik government to persuade the State Bank to hand over its reserves?
10 days (under the threat of armed intervention)
Why did the Bolsheviks have to establish authority outside the capital?
Kerensky had set up a new headquarters at Gatchina and rallied am army comprising 18 Cossack regiments
Quickly established regional power - e.g. 31st Oct, Bolsheviks took control of Baku and 17 other provincial capitals
When did Lenin declare the victory of the revolution?
5th November
What decrees did Lenin issue in October 1917?
Workers’ Decree
Social Insurance Decree
Press Decree
Decree on Peace
Decree on Land
When and what was the Workers’ Decree?
October 1917
Established a maximum 8 hour working day
When and what was the Social insurance Decree?
October 1917
Provided old age, health and unemployment benefits
When and what was the Press Decree?
October 1917
Banned the opposition press
When and what was the Decree on Peace?
October 1917
Promised an end to war ‘without annexation and indemnities’
When and what was the Decree on Land?
October 1917
Abolished private ownership of land and legitimised peasant seizures without compensation to landlords
What decrees did Lenin make in November 1917?
Rights of the people of Russia decree
Nationality decree
Decree on Workers’ Control of Factories
Judicial Decree
Decree to outlaw sex discrimination
When and what was the Rights of the people of Russia decree?
November 1917
Abolished titles and class ranks
When and what was the Nationality decree?
November 1917
Promised self-determination to the peoples of the former Russian empire
When and what was the Decree on Workers’ Control of Factories?
November 1917
Gave workers the right to ‘supervise management’
When and what was the Judicial Decree?
November 1917
Established a new system of elected people’s courts
When and what was the Decree to outlaw sex discrimination?
November 1917
Gave women equality with men and the right to own property
What decrees did Lenin make in December 1917?
Decree to establish the ‘All-Russian Commission for the Suppression of Counter-Revolution, Sabotage and Speculation’
Bank decree
Military decree
Decrees on the Church
When and what was the Decree to establish the ‘All-Russian Commission for the Suppression of Counter-Revolution, Sabotage and Speculation’?
December 1917
Created a secret police force, known as Cheka
When and what was the Bank decree?
December 1917
Nationalised banks and ended the private flow of capital
When and what was the Military decree?
December 1917
Removed class ranks, saluting and military decorations from the army and placed the army under the control of soldiers’ soviets, which would elect officers
When and what were the Decrees on the Church?
December 1917
Nationalised Church land, removed marriage and divorce from Church control and gave women the right to initiate divorce
What was the period in which Lenin made many decrees referred to?
The ‘utopian phase’ of Bolshevik rule
How did Lenin envisage the move towards socialism?
A long transition (as he was wary of moving towards socialism too quickly)
What economic institution was established in December 1917?
Veshenka (the Council of the National Economy)
What steps were taken in the early months to combat opposition?
A propaganda campaign was mounted against class enemies, particularly the bourgeoisie
Anti-Bolshevik newspapers were shut down
There was a purge of the civil service
Cheka established
Leading Kadets, Mensheviks and SRs were rounded up and imprisoned
