The Establishment of Bolshevik Authority Flashcards
What happened during the evening of the 24th of October?
The MCR began there attack on the PG
Why did the PG have little defence?
Soldiers who had previously served the PG offered little resistance and the Petrograd Garrison in fact backed the uprising
Winter Palace was defended by small number of female troops who were outnumbered by MCR
How did the MCR prevent the PG from summoning help?
They occupied the post and telegraph offices as well as the railway stations (control over cities infrastructure = prevents help coming)
Where was the PG bases?
The winter palace
What did the MCR fire and why?
A blank shot from the battleship ‘Aurora’ to signal the beginning of the attack
What did Trotsky and the Red Guard do when they entered the Winter Palace?
Successfully arrest the majority of the PG
What was announced on October the 25th and who fled?
That the PG had been deposed and Kerensky fled with the help of the American Embassy
What had Lenin always promised and what was his real intention?
Always promised ‘power to the soviets’ but soviets were multi-party organisation (didn’t want to share power with SR’s and Mensheviks) - he gave impression soviets were taking power was actually creating a situation where he could begin a communist dictatorship ending real soviet power
Who was pleased at the news of Lenin’s and Trotsky’s seizure of power and when did it meet?
The Second All - Russian Congress - met on the 25th of October
What happened when congress met and what did it allow Lenin to do?
Some Mensheviks and SR’s walked out in protest - this reduced SR and Menshevik representation and gave Bolsheviks the majority at the Congress - Lenin was therefore able to get support for new Bolshevik- dominated Government
The Congress of Soviets voted to create a new constitution , what was at the top of the new government?
The Sovnarkom ( Council of Peoples Commisars) - exclusively made up from Bolsheviks unlike soviet Lenin acted as chairman of the Sovnarkom and was overall leader of government
What was Below the Sovnarkom and then at the bottom of the government?
Below Sovnarkom = All-Russia Congress of Soviets which the Bolsheviks dominated
Bottom = representatives of cities, villages and local soviets
Why was the nature of Bolshevik control fragile?
The Bolshevik influence was limited to two cities and the surrounding countryside and not much else - Bolshevik government was expected to collapse after a few days
Protests broke out and the State bank even refused to hand over money - took 10 days
Did the Bolsheviks have majority support at the Second Congress of Soviets?
No - only 300/670 delegates supported the Bolsheviks but there was a majority of support for Lenin’s major policies so Congress passed a number of radical but largely popular measures.
What was the Decree on Peace?
This ended Russia’s fighting in WW1 and committed the new revolutionary government to seek peace (without annexation)
What was the Land Decree?
This Authorised peasants to seize the land of the gentry without compensation, land could no longer be bought, sold or rented, it belonged to everyone (not what Bolsheviks wanted - privately owned land not part of socialist vision
Abolished private ownership of land (reducing peasant support for SRs)
What is the Workers Control of Factories Decree?
Factory committees given the right to control production and finance in the workplace - didn’t give direct powers to workers but many committees took it like that
Giving workers right to supervise management
What was the Nationality decree?
Gave the right of self-determination to the national minorities in the former Russian empire (Bolsheviks didn’t have control of places where many of these lived anyway so just a paper measure), Finland became an independent state
How did the Soviet begin to lose power under the Bolsheviks?
Lenin passed decrees by the Sovnarkom not seeking approval from Soviets (e.g. initiating peace talks with Germany without consulting soviets) - the soviet executive began to meet less and the Sovnarkom met once or twice a day
It was never dissolved but its power became negligible
Local soviets kept importance but they were brought into a new Bolshevik dominated power structure
What happened on the 24th October?
5000 soldiers and sailors from the Kronstadt base moved into the city and Bolshevik red guards began to take over key government buildings and positions in Petrograd e.g. telephone exchange, railways, banks etc (despite some resistance, troops on duty generally gave in with no resistance)
Lenin remained in hiding until the evening
What happened on October 25th?
Kerensky left Petrograd in an attempt to rally military support
Reg guard soldiers and sailors surrounded the winter palace which was threatened by artillery and the Battle ship Aurora
Blank shot was fired at 9:40 signalling the start of the Bolshevik attack - red guard easily able to enter
10:40 Second Congress of Soviets met (Lenin and the Bolsheviks still out fighting on the street) - mid day when first Bolsheviks arrived
Some Mensheviks and SRs made a public declaration of protest against ‘the military conspiracy and power seizure’
What happened on October 26th?
In early hours of the morning, Congress greeted the announcement of the capture of the Winter Palace and arrest of the remaining members of the PG
5 AM congress adopted a revolution to take power into its own hands
Day spent sorting out the streets
9 PM the second session of the Congress opened and Lenin’s Decree on Peace (to end the war) was adopted unanimously
What happened on 27th October?
At 2 am Lenin’s decree on Land was agreed and Bolsheviks put forward their proposals for the reorganisation of the government
They were opposed by the Mensheviks and left-wing SRs
Congress adopted the proposals with a massive majority and elected a new all Russian central executive committee of 101 Bolsheviks (62 Bolsheviks, 29 left-wing SRs)
Soviet of Peoples Commissars (Sovnarkom) was created to run the government (left SR’s refused to join so included only Bolsheviks and Lenin elected chairman
What other resolutions were put forward on 27th October?
Abolition of death penalty, immediate arrest of Kerensky, transfer of power in the provinces to the local soviets and congress issued an appeal to the Cossacks to switch sides, to the railway workers to maintain order on a railway