The Bolsheviks first months in power- Unit 3

Question 1

What was the belief when the Bolsheviks came into power?

Answer 1

Trotsky, ‘all we need to do is issue a few decrees then shut up and go home’, but circumstances wouldn’t allow this.

Question 2

Distribution of power:

Answer 2

• Bolshevik’s ruled de facto, not by de jure (legitimate legal right). Made own rules.
• Democratic centralism (power from top down).

Question 3

Government of Soviet Russia components:

Answer 3

• Sovnarkom (Council of People’s Commissars), created gov policies.
• Secretariat (Civil Service), carried out policies.

Both controlled by Bolsheviks.

Question 4

What immediate problems did the Bolsheviks face?

Answer 4

• Many wanted immediate revolutionary policy, but Lenin said new regime did not have enough power.
• War against Germany and Austria= economic collapse. Industrial production 2/3 of 1914 level. Hunger- grain supplies 13 million tons short.
• Decree on Land and Decree on Workers Control.

Question 5

What were Lenin’s decrees?

Answer 5

• ‘Private ownership of land shall be abolished forever’–> Decree on Land.
• Decree on Workers Control–> accepted workers taking over factories but instructed ‘order and discipline’ in the workplace’.
• Difficult, majority of committees not dominated by Bolsheviks, so difficult to impose.

Question 6

What two things did the Bolsheviks set up?

Answer 6

• Vesenkha
• Cheka

Question 7

Vesenkha:

Answer 7

• Dec 1917, set up to ‘take charge of all existing institutions for the regulation of economic life’.
• Supreme council of national economy.
  Important developments:
• Banks and railways nationalised.
• Foreign debts nationalised.
• Foreign debts cancelled.
• Transport system improved.

Question 8

Cheka:

Answer 8

• Dec 1917.
• Suppress political opposition.
• Better organised Okhrana (tsarist secret police).
• Aimed to destroy counter-revolution.