Russia : Lenin and the Bolsheviks Flashcards
How did the provisional govt. manage Russia after the Tsar abdicated
- The war: wanted to continue in the war but that is not what the public wanted. soldiers deserting. Kerensky became minister for war and launched an offence in June that failed. kornilov marched his troops against the provisional government who had to seek help from the Petrograd soviets and kornilov’s troops refused to fight them. plan collapsed.
lost army’s support - land question: peasants want to take over the land and distribute it among themselves but provisional govt. wanted to wait until elections were over to hand them land out in an orderly manner. peasants ignored orders of govt and were taking control of the countryside. soldiers who were mainly peasants didn’t want to miss out, more abandoned the war
stopped peasants from taking land so lost their support
July days: bolshevik-led protests against war turned into a rebellion. Kerensky produced evidence that Lenin had been helped by the germans and as support for rebellions lessened, Kerensky used troops to crush the rest of them and took over the government.
How did the bolsheviks seize power
1) action: april theses stated ‘peace,land and bread’ and ‘all power to the soviets’, what the people wanted = appealing
peace = end war
land = what peasants wanted
bread = solved food shortage problems
soviet power = didn’t like provisional government so were happy with that
2) impact of WW1: bolsheviks gained support of soviets and soldiers didn’t want to go against soviets and further supported bolsheviks
3) mistakes by Kerensky: he had no support, war failures, stopped peasants from taking land, weren’t using their power well as they were leading the country now but not solving any social or economic problems, used troops to crush rebellion on the end of the war - people wanted end of war and didn’t like this
4) luck: easily got back from exile and at the perfect time - when a war was going on and most people unhappy. can easily attract people to what they want and need
Lenin’s contribution to the November revolution
made bolsheviks oppose provisional govt.
enticed people to join bolsheviks with speeches ‘peace, bread and land’ : gained more supporters
perceived provisional govt. in a bad light = more opposition
strategist of the revolution = organisation
provided discipline and unity = good communication
responsible for the timing of the revolution to ensure its success: Bukharin argued it was too early and they were not ready yet Lenin went with it ,rising of july was too premature
confidence and dominated power = strong leader
Trotsky’s contribution to the November revolution
date if uprising actually suggested by him and he was responsible for the timing
strong public speaker: principle source if inspiration. a sense of familiarity in his words as he would use real-life examples and helped them relate his points to their everyday life, convince them they could fix their problems. popular reputation and seen as ‘one of us’. trusted his ideas
Trotsky was Lenin’s great partner and worked behind the scenes to execute everything perfectly: chairman of petrograd soviets
how did the bolsheviks create dictatorship
- constituent assembly: promised free elections in late 1917. however the bolsheviks did not gain majority of the votes but the social revolutionaries did = biggest party. lenin sent red guards to close down assembly. used congress of soviets to pass his laws: bolshevik majority. dictatorship of the proletariat (working class) which would give way to true communism (marxism).
- withdrawal from WW1: trotsky in charge of negotiating a peace treaty, tried to hold it off for as long as possible and hoped a revolution would break out in germany. by feb 1918, germans began to advance. Lenin had to accept the terms of the treaty of Brest-Litovsk in march. lots of land was lost as well as agriculture and industry, rail ways and coal mines. fine of 300 million gold roubles - lenin’s single-minded leadership
- the cheka: dec 1917, secret police force used to crush opposition like okhrana. crush enemies: army deserters, people hoarding food, political enemies. brutal and operates as the red terror leading to the killing of several people. spread red terror
- red army: oct/nov 1917, the bolsheviks had disciplined red guards who led the actual takeover of petrograd and moscow. lenin needed much larger army, formed in jan 1918 for all citizens over 18. most members = peasants who were keen to protect the new government who represented the working class. 1918, the red army was involved in a struggle to preserve the existence of the new communist republic from all political enemies = civil war
why did bolsheviks win civil war (anti-bolshevik attempt to crush bolsheviks, whites vs red)
reds strengths:
- ruthless and determined
- trotsky created a new red army in a short period of time = true leader
- cheka made sure no bolshevik territories cooperated with the whites
- beated, hung and shot opponents and maintained discipline
- trotsky defeated last foreign intervention in crimea in nov 1920
- propaganda: effective and consistent message: ‘fight to protect worker’s rights’ and ‘fight to get rid of foreign invaders who want to re-establish aristocratic rule’
- trotsky used railway networks to send out propaganda films everywhere
-trotsky also toured around the country and made frequent speeches
- control over heartlands in western russia and majority of the centre: took over factories
- used railway systems for communication and transportation
- effective propaganda made whites’ atrocities hide their own. raised fear if return of tsar and landlords and peasants didn’t want that
- executed Tsar in Ekaterinburg, lenin did not want to risk the return of the tsar as the whites leader
weaknesses of the whites:
- not a strong alliance, not a clear purpose and message between them. all had divided ideas and beliefs of what they wanted so weren’t able to work together well. lacked unity as they didn’t have one inspirational idea and were diverse. lacked good leaders. different aims = some wanted tsar back, some just didn’t like the bolsheviks and the SRs just wanted their rightfully deserved power like mensheviks, supporters of tsar, provisional government, SRs
- were based on the edge of russia so bolsheviks had the territorial advantage and had a lack of communication
- foreign intervention were too weak and the lack of unity caused them to withdraw at the end of 1919
social and economic developments
1918:
1) war communism: harsh economic measures that the bolsheviks adapted during the civil war.
1st aim - communist theories into practice by redistributing wealth among the russian people
2nd aim - help civil war by keeping towns and red army supplied with food and weapons
large factories taken over by govt.
production planned and organised by govt.
discipline for workers was strict - strikers shot
peasants had to hand in surplus food to the government, shot if they didn’t
food was rationed
free enterprise illegal - production and trade all controlled by the government
peasants refused to cooperate in producing more food (didn’t want to hand it over) which led to food shortages. along with the bad weather on top, this caused a famine. 7 million died
2) kronstadt rising:
feb 1921, bolsheviks sparked a mutiny at kronstadt navel base - loyal bolsheviks
important base in gulf of finland
housed russian baltic fleet and guarded approaches to petrograd
sailors on two leading battleships drew up a list of 15 demands
trotsky sent 60,000 troops to put down the uprising
lenin abandoned policies of war communism and it carried out a big effect as the kronstadt sailors were a big support
new economic policy:
march 1921
- brought back capitalism for some of the society
- peasants allowed to sell surplus grain for profit
- pay tax on what they produced
- small factories handed back into private ownership
- private trading of small goods allowed
NEP was temporary
vital heavy industries would still remain in state hand
by 1925, strong evidence of efficiency as food production rose steeply, however conditions didn’t improve
how did the bolsheviks consolidate their power
- terror - kronstadt rising, anti-bolsheviks beaten and killed, fear in peasants over aristocratic rule, cheka enforced it = 200,000, trotsky held tsarist officer’s families captive
- red army - disciplined by trotsky, kolchak = leader of the whites ‘s army destroyed, handled kronstadt rising/ mutiny = 60,000 troops sent, 300,000 men in civil war
- political control - the cheka, took over factories, non-bolshevik newspapers banned, creation of soviet union, red guards to close down constituent assembly - all other political parties banned in 1921, leaders arrested, one-state policy, NEP, production planned by govt.
- measures to win support - execution of the tsar, propaganda, control of information, redistributing land, ruthless and determined, april theses ‘bread, peace and land’, popular decrees
