Russia Topic 3 - October Revolution and Consolidation of Communist Dictatorship Flashcards
What are the causes for the October revolution?
– Failure of provisional government
– February revolution
– Tsar impact (mistakes)
– Weakness of dual authority
– Failure of World War I
– Strengths of bolsheviks
what happened on October 25, 1917?
Kerensky left Petrograd in attempt to tally military support while in disguise as a nurse.
At 9:40pm, the Warsaw aurora fires on the Winter Palace and the attack begins.
At 10:40pm, the second Congress of Soviet convened. The palace was only defended by kadets and a woman’s unit.
By 2 am at the Palace was captured.
What happened on October 26, 1917?
at 5 am, the Congress adopted a resolution to take power into their own hands.
At 9 pm, Lenin’s decree on peace to end the world was adopted
What happened on October 27, 1917?
at 2 am, Lenin’s decree land was agreed and the Bolshevik faction put forward their proposals for the recognition of the government They were opposed by the mensheviks and social revolutionaries.
This resulted in a new ‘All Russian central executive committee’ (ARCOS) 101 members - 62 Bolshevik and 29 social revolutionaries
A soviet of people’s commissars (sovnarkom) to run the government and Lenin was elected chairman
what does ARCOS stand for?
All Russian Congress of Soviets
what was sovnarkom?
a cabinet for the Council of peoples commissars
Who were the sovnarkom elected by?
ARCOS
why was sovnarkom created?
to issue the decrees
what were the decrees in October 1917?
– Decree on land = peasants had the opportunity to land and no one had authority over it anymore and legitimise peasant seizure without compensation (abolished private ownership
– decree and peace = promised an end to war without ‘annexation and indemnities’
– workers decree = established a maximum of 8 hour days
– Social insurance decree = provided old age, health, and unemployment benefits
– Press decree = band the opposition
what were the decrees in November 1917?
– Judicial decree = established a new judicial/legal system of elected peoples court
– Rights of the people of Russia decree = abolished titles and class ranks
– Nationality decree = promised self determination to the people of the farmer Russian Empire
– Decree on Workers control of factories = give workers the right to ‘supervise management’
– Decree to outlaw sex discrimination = gave women equality with men and could own property
what were the decrees in December 1917?
– Bank decree = nationalised banks and ended the private flow of capital
– Military decree = removed class ranks, saluting and military decorations from the army and place army under control of the soldiers Soviet
– Decree on the church equal sign nationalised church land, removed marriages and divorce from church control and gave women the right initiate divorce
Who are the members in sovnarkom and their role?
Lenin = chairman
Trotsky = commissar for foreign affairs
Stalin = commissar for nationalities
Kollontai = commissar for social welfare
What was the extent of the October revolution across Russia?
- revolution was the small-scale affair as Trotsky claimed there were 25,000 to 35,000 actively involved ( 5% of all soldiers and workers )
- It took three days to assume control of the city with little fighting involved and there were no more than five deaths
- Lifestyle and industries to operate as normal
when and what is Veshenka?
December 1917
The council of the National economy was established to supervise and control economic development
when was the treaty of brest-litovsk signed?
3 March 1918
why was the treaty of brest-litovsk signed?
end russian involvement with Germany in World War I
what was the treaty of brest-litovsk?
- Russia lost western land (Finland, Latvia, Georgia, Lithuania, Estonia) this meant Germany took 1/3 of population (64 million)
(26% of russias population) - 27% of farming land, 74% of iron core resources, 26% of railways and 1/6 land was taken
- Russia had to pay Germany 300 million gold rubles in reparations
how many votes did the bolsheviks receive in constituent assembly election?
24%
how many votes did the socialist revolutionaries receive in the constituent assembly election?
53%
how did the Bolshevik close the constituent assembly?
in the latest election of the Bolshevik lost to the social revolutionaries so they possibly closed down the constituent assembly. This meant completing open repudiation of democracy in favour of dictatorship
it was closed down by red guards
The removal of the constituent assembly made challenging for social revolutionaries and mensheviks to exist. Bourgeoisie lost their rights of vote in the new Soviet instructor government in July 1918.
how did the bolsheviks use the cheka to consolidate power?
– Civil servants and banks refused to provide finance and accept civic authority. It took 10 days to persuade the state bank turned over reserves under the threat of armed intervention
– The finalised ARCOS introduced the cheka, secret police force to root out opposition that would be a threat to the bolsheviks
- In 1919, the politburo was formed and sovnarkom was not used
– Imprisonment of kadets, right wing social revolutionaries and Mensheviks
– mensheviks and social revolutionaries walk out of Congress causing it a ‘Bolshevik coup’ there was no clear leader of the group to oppose. trotsky refers to them: “get out of here to where you belong in the dustbin of history”
What was the 1918 constitution?
The transition to socialism introduced the ‘Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic’ (RSFSR) which was proclaimed in July 1918. This stated that supreme power arrested with the all Russian Congress of Soviets. It was also responsible for electing sovnarkom for the purpose of the general administration of the affairs of the state.
The limitations of the Constitution included:
– vote was reserved for businessmen
– Workers:peasants for = 5:1
– Centralised structure = focused on the power of the party
how did the Bolshevik consolidate a one party state?
– Sovnarkom continued to introduce decrees at the start of 1918
– January 1918 = workers were put in charge of the railway
– The old red guards were demolished and a army formed which consisted of workers and peasants – to protect the regime
– Moscow became the capital for centralisation intros became head of the army in March 1918
What is the significance of the hammer and sickle?
poletarian solidarity between agriculture and industrial workers
