The Bolsheviks take control (1917-18) Flashcards
In order to strenghten Bolsheviks’ position they had to…
- End the war with Germany and Austria-Hungary, before it destroyed Russia and the new government
- Increase political control over the rest of Russia
- Bring economic stability to Russia
Lenin had no faith in democracy and a non-Bolshevik controlled Constituent Assembly could pose problems. Therefore he decided to…
end it
During the election campaign Lenin spoke against the CA, argued that the existence of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets meant that the Assembly was…
Unnecessary
Lenin also claimed that there was…
widespread corruption during the election, but he had no proof
The CA met in Petrograd on 5th Jan 1918, and the delegates held a debate - tired guards asked them to leave, when they returned the Assembly had been dissolved on the orders of the government and the delegates were…
dispersed at gunpoint
The dissolving of the CA was an early sign that the Bolsheviks weren’t prepared to…
share power with any of the political parties
Lenin had to get Russia out of the war, Russia’s involvement in WWI had been a major factor in both the fall of Tsarism and in the…
overthrow of the PG
Lenin knew that the Bolshevik government had to pull out of the war to …
avoid the same thing happening to them
The first act of the Bolshevik government was to issue the Decree on…
Peace which called for an immediate end to the war
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk meant that Russia lost:
- Vast areas of land in the western part of the country
- 1/3 of its agricultural land, incl. fertile grain-producing areas
- 1/2 of its heavy industry and nearly 90% of its coal mines (mostly in the Donbass region)
Cheka created to keep order in Russia
They were far more efficient than the Okhrana. Its main aims were to:
- Maintain state security
- Ensure the continuation of Bolshevik rule
The Cheka had the power to…
-Arrest, prosecute, imprison and execute any real or suspected enemies of the government
Russian people hated the Cheka for 2 main reasons:
1) Set up concentration camps where people were forced to work as slave labour
2) They formed grain requisition squads to seize grain from the peasants
Many of Lenin’s opponents were persecuted in the Red Terror such as:
1000s of peasants rounded up and executed for ANTI-BOLSHEVIK ACTIVITY (incl. members of opposition parties)
Priests targeted as ‘enemies of the people’
Aristocrats/members of the middle class
In July 1918, the former Tsar Nicholas and his entire family were murded on Lenin’s orders as he feared that the Tsar could become a…
Figurehead for the opposition to rally aorund
