The Consolidation of the Communist Dictatorship Flashcards
What would the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ require? And how was it justified?
The repression of ‘counter-revolutionary elements, justified by ‘revolutionary morality’ and the idea that the Bolshevik rising was popular
What did Lenin think of democracy?
He believed that it belonged to an old, class-ridden world
Why did the Bolsheviks permit elections for the Constituent Assembly to go ahead?
They had previously attacked Kerensky for postponing
Why did the SRs win the elections
They had more support among the peasantry
Who chaired the meeting of the Constituent Assembly?
Viktor Chernov
Why was the meeting of the Constituent Assembly ineffective
Chernov was constantly hounded by Bolshevik delegates, and was proposing legislation already enacted by Bolshevik decree
Why did the Bolsheviks feel they could disregard the elections?
The October revolution was a popular rising
The peasantry did not know what was going on and so their votes did not prove anything
Ballots did not differentiate between Left and Right SRs
How many civilians were killed in the demonstrations after the Constituent Assembly was dissolved at gunpoint?
12
What were the differences that emerged as a result of the truce in December 1917?
Lenin believed a peace treaty would be temporary, and that Russia did not have adequate forces to continue war
Trotsky did not agree with harsh terms
Bukharin led the ‘revolutionary war group’
- Some saw Bukharin’s faction as betraying promises
What strategy did Trotsky opt for at Brest-Litovsk?
‘Neither Peace nor War’ - He aimed to drag the truce out until revolution arose in Europe
He behaved more like victor than vanquished
What were the terms of the treaty?
Russia would lose:
Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bessarabia, Poland, Georgia and the Ukraine
What were the political implications of the Brest-Litovsk treaty
The Left SRs walked out of Sovnarkom, making the country a one-party state
Led the Bolsheviks to adopt the title of the ‘Communist party’
Why was Brest-Litovsk signed? And by what majority was it agreed upon?
It was signed because the Germans renewed their advance, and Lenin threatened resignation
It passed by a majority of one vote
When was the Red Army formed? And when was Trotsky made its leader?
Jan 1918 and March 1918
When was the capital transferred to Moscow? And why?
The capital was moved from Petrograd to Moscow in March, 1918
- It was more centralised
- It was symbolic: open vs. closed
- It was further from the borders
