The Ending of Involvement in WW1

Question 1

What two events turned public opinion against the Government?

Answer 1

The closure of the Constituent Assembly and ending the war - it created an even bigger crisis

Question 2

What were two of the key reasons for ending involvement in war?

Answer 2

Most Russians expected an end to war and it had been a key factor in the failure of the PG
Lenin believed that ending war was essential to the survival of the new government - hoped ending war would give economy chance to recover

Question 3

Why was Lenin’s belief that civil war was inevitable a contributing factor to ending involvement in war?

Answer 3

It would allow the government to recall troops and get ready to fight the Bolshevik opponents when civil war broke out

Question 4

What were the two other reasons for ending Russia’s involvement in war?

Answer 4

Russia’s military was exhausted and could not continue to fight
Germany continued to finance Lenin and the Bolsheviks

Question 5

When was an armistice signed?

Answer 5

Lenin wanted immediate peace with Germany and its allies - Trotsky negotiated an armistice that was signed on 2nd of December

Question 6

Where did the peace negotiations take place and who did Lenin appoint to conduct them?

Answer 6

In the town of Brest-Litovsk

Trotsky

Question 7

What land demands did Germany make at the peace talk?

Answer 7

The Baltic States (included Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia)
The parts of Poland under Russian control
The Ukraine (an important agricultural region)
Finland, Georgia and Belarus
Germany intended to make these countries economic and political dependencies

Question 8

What did the land demands mean that Russia would lose?

Answer 8

32% of its arable land
26% of its railway system
33% of its factories
75% of its coal and iron ore mines
62 million Russian citizens (1/6th population)
2 million square km of land
Pay 3 billion roubles to Germany in war reparations

Question 9

What are two examples of Bolsheviks opposing the peace agreement?

Answer 9

Bukharin advocated fighting a revolutionary war in order to spread the revolution to Austria and Germany
Trotsky advocated a policy of ‘neither peace nor war’ he argued a truce should continue without a formal peace treaty so therefore dragged out proceedings, hoping that the Germans would experience their own revolution before an agreement was signed (especially if the German war effort in France and Belgium failed)

Question 10

What was Lenin convinced of?

Answer 10

That a peace treaty was the only way to save the revolution

Question 11

What did Lenin threaten to do unless senior Bolsheviks backed the policy?

Answer 11

Resign from the Government (twice) - this convinced Lenin’s comrades to support Lenin (Trotsky, Stalin and Zinoviev on the party CC supported Lenin although T spoke of sacrificing his deepest convictions for Bolshevik unity

Question 12

When was the treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed and who by?

Answer 12

3rd of March 1918 by representatives of the Bolsheviks as Trotsky refused to go- high price for peace but Lenin knew it would help him secure power
Ratified by an emergency Party Congress

Question 13

What consequence did the signing of the treaty have on the left SR’s?

Answer 13

The treaty was extremely unpopular due to the massive loss of land and the left SR’s who had supported the government and participated in the Sovnarkom resigned from the government in protest of the treaty - had wanted to fight a revolutionary war like left Bolsheviks (also struggled to persuade other Bolsheviks of his viewpoint)

Question 14

What affect did the signing of the treaty have on support?

Answer 14

Led to significant decline in support for the Bolsheviks and Lenin’s government - support for the SR’s and Mensheviks who opposed the treaty increased and consequently Bolsheviks lost elections to the soviet across Russia in April/May 1918
Caused more split in Bolshevik party

Question 15

What was Trotsky’s response to the demands of the treaty and why didn’t this work?

Answer 15

Withdrew from negotiations claiming Russia wouldn’t fight the Germans or sign the treaty
Germany began to advance into Ukraine and Russia didn’t have an army to fight with

Question 16

Why did the Bolsheviks need to end involvement in war and what was the problem with this?

Answer 16

They had come to power promising peace
Difficult as the Russian had been pushed back by the Germans and Germany was already occupying large area of Russian territory so would demand major concessions as the price of a cease-fire
Further complicated by differences of opinion between Lenin and Trotsky

Question 17

Despite Trotsky being unwilling to accept peace that would involve harsh terms for Russia why was Lenin convinced peace was the right option?

Answer 17

Ideologically Lenin believed the revolution would soon engulf Germany and that German workers would join their comrades in Russia creating a new world, rather than continuing to fight them and therefore any peace agreement would only be ‘temporary’
Lenin knew the Russian army couldn’t stop the Germans so practically a compromise with the enemy was the only way forward and a price worth paying to preserve what the Bolsheviks had already accomplished

Question 18

In what way were the Bolsheviks divided?

Answer 18

Bukharin led the ‘revolutionary war group’ of those who believed that the Russians should fight on in order to defend Socialism and Russia but others saw this as a betrayal the promises the Bolsheviks mad made on seizing power

Question 19

Why did Trotsky delaying anger the German negotiators?

Answer 19

They knew the Bolsheviks were using propaganda to try and stir up mutiny in the German army
Field Marshal Hidenburg complained that Trotsky behaved as if the Russians were the victors rather than the defeated party seeking peace

Question 20

Who voted against peace even after Lenin’s threat ro resign?

Answer 20

Bukharin, Kamenev and Dzerzhinsky voted against the peace and the terms were only agreed by a majority of one

Question 21

Why was the decision of peace important for the future direction of the Soviet state?

Answer 21

It set a precedent for future action by establishing that ‘socialism at home’ would take priority over the spread of international revolution
Confirmed Russia would be a one party states at left SRs had walked out of Sovnarkom in protest of the treaty (The Bolsheviks who in March 1918v formally adopted the title of the ‘communist party’ governed alone with all other groupings treated as enemies

Question 22

What is a more controversial explanation for Lenin’s willingness to sign a peace treaty with Germany?

Answer 22

That he was dependent financially on the Germans as the government shows the German government continued to finance the Bolsheviks even after the October rev