russia 2 Flashcards
Explain why the PG failed to deal with the challenges it faced in 1917.
Challenge it faced: gaining support/power
PG = temporary (lacked legitimacy)
Competed with petrograd soviet for power/control (dual power undermined authority)
Petrograd - controlled railway system postal and telegraph services (out of PG’s control)
order number 1 prevented full military control →could not impose their own law without Petrograd Soviet (final say on all military matters)
Challenge it faced: competing with other parties
Failure to get out of war (needed western allies)
Bolsheviks promised this since April (became more popular)
June Offensive soldiers became more receptive to Bolshevik propaganda → loyalty to PG became uncertain
War slowed down reforms for reducing shortages (Bolsheviks - ‘peace, land, bread’)
War crippled economy - low living standards & resentment
Challenge it faced: resisting takeover/ rebellion
Kornilov Revolt failure (attempt to seize power by invading Petrograd w brute force & destroy Petrograd Soviet)
Failed as soldiers were persuaded to commit mutiny
Railway workers disrupted trains carrying soldiers to prevent Kornilov reaching city
Kerensky panicked & released important Bloshevik prisoners & gave Red Guard guns
Bolsheviks gained army and <popularity for protecting revolution
Explain why Stalin introduced changes to industry.
NEP problems:
industrialisation too slow; scissors crisis 1923 - agricultural production rapidly increased = food prices fell; shortages of industrial / manufactured goods = prices rose
War Scare 1927:
caused concern about industry / agriculture - needed sector (coal mining, factories, steel-making) to produce weapons, bombs, planes, tanks. necessary for national security
Power Struggle:
Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamanev criticised slow pace. Stalin wanted to drive USSR forwawrd himself to weaken rivals’ support and guarantee their followers would fall under him once he defeats them
Explain why Stalin was able to increase industrial output by 1939.
Explain how the Bolsheviks were able to secure their hold on power from 1917 to 1918.
Explain why the Reds were able to win the Civil War by 1921.
Explain why the Bolsheviks were able to establish total control by 1924.
constituent assembly: supposed to be new parliament - Nov 1917. Dissolved - results went against Bolsheviks. SRs won more seats than all other parties put together (370). SRs then tried to get rid of earlier Bolshevik decrees & limit power of Assembly. Lenin worried ethnic minorities, (e.g Finns & Estonians) were using vote to break away & disintegrate Russia. Lenin used Red Guard to dissolve it. 100+ people killed & wounded outside Tauride Palace. Leaders of opposition parties killed. Red Guard stopped elected Deputies entering.
red terror: Cheka - unlimited powers to target potential ‘counter-revolutionaries’. After assassination attempt on Lenin (fanny kaplan) Aug 1918, Dzerzhinsky began ‘Red Terror’. By 1918 ending, Cheka removed 50,000 + people - creating fear across Russia. Some criticised Lenin & Trotsky for allowing Red Terror, but realised was necessary to keep power
kronstadt mutiny: March 1921- crews of battleships mutinied & declared Provisional Revolutionary Committee. Were angry at effects of War Communism & communists taking power from soviets. Trotsky had to use Red Army to put down rebellion (20,000 men killed / wounded in fighting; surviving rebels executed by Cheka or sent to gulags)
Explain why the role and status of women changed from 1917 to 1939.
Stalin wanted < population
- 1936 abortions banned
- women forced into domestic roles
- set back progress (lower social status)
Five Year Plan needed < workers
- 1937 = 40% of industrial workers, 1940 = 13m female workers
- increased economic role
- treated with more equality
NEP
- cutbacks in gov. spending so no daycare areas in factories
- > job opportunities
- rights not prioritised, > promotion
Explain why the use of propaganda and censorship increased under Stalin.
Stalin needed to appear closer to Lenin: photos/images were doctored
To increase industrialisation: Stakhanovites (Alexander mined 102 tonnes in 1 shift)
official culture: art, music etc used to push ideology. e.g Stalin with children of different ethnic minorities; father of nation
