Terror and Opposition under Lenin Flashcards
What were the 3 types of opposition the Bolsheviks initially faced?
- other political groups
- opponents throughout the empire e.g. peasants/former tsarist officers
- perceived ideological opponents, the burzhui
What happened with their political opposition in Petrograd in October 1917?
Mensh & SR opposition walked out of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, leaving a Bolshevik monopoly
What happened on the 27th October 1917?
The sovnarkom banned opposition press and ordered the arrest of Cadet/Mensh/Sr leaders
What happened in December 1917?
The cheka was established under Dzerzhinsky
What, alongside the creation of the cheka, did the Bolsheviks use to consolidate power?
The dismissal of the constituent assembly in Jan 1918 and the extension of the Red Army to deal with rebellion
What happened in regards to class warfare in the early years of Bolshevism?
Bourgeois property confiscated, social privilege ended and discriminatory taxes levied on burzhui, as well as ideological opponents being arrested/exiled/executed.
What happened during the Civil War (1918-1920)
The Red Terror
What sparked the Red Terror?
An attempt on Lenin’s life was an excuse for the cheka to round of thousands of bourgeoise people, with confessions & names of accomplices stained by torture
What did the Sovnarkom give the cheka permission to do in September 1918?
the authority to find, question, arrest and destroy the families of all suspected traitors - commonly these were SRs/Mensh who were all branded traitors
How many SR/Mensh party members were shot in Petrograd for being ‘traitors’?
500
Why did the Red Terror escalate?
Because zealous local cheka agents sought incriminations and discovered hidden (imaginary) opponents
When was Tsar Nicholas II and his family murdered?
17th July 1918
What groups of people suffered particularly badly during the Red Terror?
Merchants, professors, prostitutes, peasants (especially kulaks), as well as priests, Jews, Catholics and Muslims
How many priests were executed in 1921?
8,000
What was the official death figure of the Red Terror, and what is the realistic one?
official records say 13,000; more likely around 500,000
What percentage of Moscow prisons did children make up in 1920?
5%
What did the Bolsheviks set up to house all dissident workers & peasants etc.?
labour camps
How many people deserted the Red Army in:
- 1918
- 1919
- 1921
- 1 million
- 2 million
- 4 million
When did political opposition and Red Terror come to an end?
1921 - 34 SRs were given show trials & made to admit crimes/denounce others
What year were the SRs and the Mensheviks outlawed, and what happened to members of the parties?
- Outlawed in 1921
- some executed immediately (500,000 - 1m shot between 1918 and 1921)
- others tortured or sent to labour camps
What did Lenin’s concerns turn to by 1921?
Opposition within the Bolshevik party
Who led the ‘Workers’ Opposition’ Group and what did they demand?
- Kollontai and Shlyapnikov
- demanded more workers control over their own affairs
What did Lenin introduce in 1921?
The ‘ban on factions’ to restore party unity
What did the ‘ban on factions’ mean?
All party members had to accept the decisions of the central committee - anyone who opposed was threatened with expulsion
What was the status of Russia by 1924?
Highly centralised, authoritarian, one party state
