Pre-March 1918 Bolshevik Consolidation Flashcards
Creation of the New Government
- Abandoned the title ‘Ministers’ and replaced it with ‘People’s Commissars’
- The Sovnarkom replaced the Cabinet
- 1919 - The Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party is renamed to the Politburo - decides all the party policy
Transition to a Socialist Society
- Jul 1918 - The first Soviet constitution for the ‘Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic’ (RSFSR) is proclaimed
- States that the power rested with the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which was made up of deputies from elected local Soviets
Downside of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets
While it seemed democratic, but the Congress was to only meet in intervals - executive authority remained in the hands of Sovnarkom
Number of Cheka Employees
- Mar 1918 - 120
- 1921 - 143,000
Methods of Bolshevik Opression
- Labour camps were introduced to imprison political prisoners
- In 1918 alone the Cheka killed 50,000 people
- 1921 - All other political parties banned
Result of the November 1918 Election
- Over 41 million votes cast
- The Social Revolutionaries= 53% of the vote
- The Bolsheviks = 24% of the vote - this shocked Lenin
- The Kadets = 5% of the vote
Removal of the Constituent Assembly
- 5 Jan 1918 - First meeting of the Assembly. By this point the Kadet Party had already been banned
- The Constituent Assembly was forcibly closed and never met again. When civilians demonstrated against this, they were fired on and 12 were killed
Reasons for the Closure of the Constituent Assembly
- Lenin demanded that the Assembly should be subservient to the Sovnarkom and the Soviets
- Rejected by a vote of 237 to 137
- Lenin ordered the Red Guards to surround the building where they met and deny anyone belonging to an opposition party entry
Removal of Free Speech
- Oct 1917- All newspapers of the right and centre-wing are banned
- Nov 1917- All remaining newspapers not run by the Bolsheviks are also banned
- The Kadet Party is banned even before the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly. Its leaders are arrested and two are executed - other party members are branded as “former people”
- The SRs and Mensheviks are branded as right-wing groups and many members are imprisoned by the end of the year
Decrees on the Church
- Gives women the right to divorce
- All private Church land is nationalised
- Control over marriage and divorce is removed from the Church’s power
Workers Control Decree
- Nov 1917
- Factory Committees are given the right to control production and “supervise” management
- Maximum eight-hour day established
- Unemployment and sickness benefits are introduced
Rights of the People of Russia
- Many national groups wanted independence from Russia (eg. Ukraine and Finland)
- Gives the right of self-determination to many minorities within the Russian Empire
- “Paper measure” - Lenin has very little control over these areas anyway
- Abolishes titles and class ranks - everyone is now referred to as “comrade” (similar to the Military Decree)
Decree to Outlaw Sex Discrimination
Women are given equal status to men and the right to own property
Bank Decree
- Dec 1917
- Nationalises banks and ends the private flow of the capital
Reasons for Lenin Wanting to End Involvement In WW1
- He believed that the end of the war would give the government more time to stabilise
- There were still major food shortages in the cities and countryside
- The Bolsheviks had encouraged opposition against Milyukov and Kerensky’s policy of continuing involvement - refusing to leave would make them look like hypocrites and they would lose support
