The First World War And The Revolutions Of 1917

Question 1

Economic problems caused by WW1

Answer 1

• country struggled to maintain financial cost
• costs rose from 1500mil Roubles - 14,500mil 1914-18
• industrial capacity = lost to Germans
• Baltic Sea & Black Sea trade ended

Question 2

Political problems caused by WW1

Answer 2

Political opponents use as excuse to attack Tsar
• Zemstva and Duma accused Government of incompetence
• Zemstva provided more medical relief than gov.
• ‘Progressive Bloc’ formed Aug 1915 - political parties call for constitutional reform

Question 3

Incompetence of the Tsar caused by WW1

Answer 3

Military defeat demonstrated incompetence
• Tsar = commander in chief of armed forces from 5 Sept 1915 (Brusilov offensive Jun-Aug 1915
• Aug 1914: 3,000,000 troops died in Battle of Tannenburg
• Sept 1914: Russian troops retreated after Battle of Masurian
• Inadequate clothing/ammunition/food

Question 4

Social resentment caused by WW1

Answer 4

• Conscription reintroduced = resented
• mass strikes
• 300% rise in cost of living
• fuel of food shortages

Question 5

Causes of the abdication of the Tsar

Answer 5

LT: fuelled public anger - factory closures, rising bread prices
MT: Nik II’s character not suited to Tsardom
Trigger: failure of war undermined Tsar’s authority

Question 6

What went wrong in WW1?

Answer 6

Economic problems
Political problems
Incompetence of Tsar
Social resentment

Question 7

What happened in early 1917 before the February Revolution?

Answer 7

Unrest - demonstration on anniversary of Bloody Sunday

Question 8

14th February 1917

Answer 8

• 100,000 workers went on strike & Duma reassembled - call for Tsar to abdicate
• News of bread rationing scheme -> panic buying -> shortages -> violence
• Strike at Putilov works

Question 9

23rd February 1917

Answer 9

• March of Women in Petrograd joined by workers/students
• Police try to restore order - more “condemnation of the Tsar”
• Cossacks refuse to act against protestors

Question 10

26th February 1917

Answer 10

• Nicholas caused for closure of Duma - refused

* Rodzianko asked for new gov. - Nik ignored

Question 11

27th February 1917

Answer 11

• Petrograd Garrison mutinied
• Provisional Government set up by Duma
• The Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ Deputies = created

Question 12

28th February 1917

Answer 12

• sailors mutiny in Kronstadt
• Nik tried to return to capital from Germany
• train diverted and halted
• Petrograd Soviet issued ‘Order No.1’

Question 13

What was ‘Order No.1’?

Answer 13

Soviet authority over army

Question 14

1st March 1917

Answer 14

Duma and Soviet support Provisional Government

Question 15

When did the Tsar abdicate?

Answer 15

2nd March 1917
• abdicated for brother who rejected
• END OF ROMANOV DYNASTY
• PG and PS in charge

Question 16

Provisional Government set up

Answer 16

• Dual authority with Petrograd Soviets
• Prince Lvov = Prime Minister
• Alexander Kerensky = only socialist in government
• imprisoned Tsarist officials
• promised amnesty, freedom of speech

Question 17

Challenges facing the Provisional Government

Answer 17

Immediate
Lenin’s return
The July Days
The Kornilov Affair

Question 18

Immediate challenges facing Provisional Government

Answer 18

• Dual power
• Soldiers could ignore PG - orders approved by Soviets
• Soviets elected => moral superiority (control factories etc.)
• war drains resources
• agitators encouraged peasant resistance (land distribution)

Question 19

How many desertions were there in the war between ________ & ____

Answer 19

365,000

Between March and May

Question 20

Lenin’s return

Answer 20

• Arrived 3rd April 1917
• gave April Theses speech
• non-cooperation with government
• wanted to unite Bolsheviks
• failure of PG’s June offensive helped odds

Question 21

The July Days

Answer 21

• July: Trotsky returned from exile to join Lenin
• 3-4 July: aimed insurrection
• PG respond with force
• Provada = closed down
• Lenin fled
BAD FOR BOLSHEVIKS

Question 22

The Kornilov affair

Answer 22

• July: General Kornilov = commander in chief 
• Restore strong government
• planned for loyal troops to Petrograd
• PS defend city (Red Guard)
GOOD FOR BOLSHEVIKS

Question 23

The October Revolution

Answer 23

• Petrograd Soviet set up Military Revolutionary Committee
• 10th Oct: Lenin won Central Committee vote - replace PG with PS
• 24th Oct: Kerensky ordered arrest of leaders + closure
• 25th Oct: Red Guards surround winter palace + battleship Aurora
• 26th Oct: broke into Winter Palace; arrest PG members

Question 24

How could the October Revolution happen?

Answer 24

• Bolshevik popularity increasing - refuse to co-op with PG
• Dominated Moscow and Petrograd Soviets
• PS led by Trotsky - set up Military revolutionary committee - defend Petrograd. Controlled 200,000 Red Guards, 60,000 Baltic Sailors, 150,000 soldiers of Petrograd Garrison

Question 25

Sovnarkdom =

Answer 25

Lenin led government

Had power to rule by decree - no need for Soviet approval

Question 26

The establishment of Sovnarkdom

Answer 26

• Only Bolshevik commissars - others leave
• 29th October - Kerensky’s returning forces = beaten
• end of year - all ranks and titles abolished
• Cheka set up

Question 27

When was the decree issued to end Russia’s participation in the war?

Answer 27

26th October 1917

Question 28

Zemgor establishment

Answer 28

• June 1915
• = Zemstva + Dumas
• -= All Russian Union of Zemstva and Cities

Question 29

Progressive bloc

Answer 29

• August 1915
• some of deputies from 4th Duma formed
• Tsar should change ministers and establish a ‘government of public confidence’
• asking for constitutional monarchy