The New Regime Flashcards
How did Leon Trotsky and Alexandra Kollontai face difficulties after they gained power?
Civil servants went on strike, walk out, records destroyed, keys hidden. State Bank employees refuse to hand over money to Sovnarkom officials.
When did Bolsheviks gain access to money from the Stat Bank with the help of the Red Guards?
20 November 1917
What issues did the Bolsheviks face in consolidating power?
Bolsheviks had little experience in administrative matters. Much looting occurred, ‘drink pogroms’ were common, mobs raid the cellars of rich people, fighting breaks out, alcohol poisoning occurs. Members of the bourgeoisie murdered.
What was a dualism in early Bolshevik thought?
Authoritarianism and libertarianism; strong centralised government necessary for the survival of the regime, also believe masses should be encouraged to participate in the revolutionary process.
Lenin: “It is essential to imbue the oppressed
and the working people with confidence in their own strength.”
Lenin: “You are the power: do all you want, take all you want.
WE shall support you, but take care of production, see that production is useful.
When was the Cheka formed?
7 December 1917
What was the initial goal of Cheka?
Temporary and investigative (non-judicial) measure for political suspects; confiscation of ration cards is the most severe punishment. Authorised to conduct search and make inquiries.
What caused an expansion of the political police in January 1918?
Assassination attempt on Lenin
What was released on 21 February 1918? What did this entail?
Germany’s invasion prompts release of ‘The Socialist Fatherland is in Danger.’ Drafted by Lenin, entailed punitive measures against “enemy agents, profiteers, marauders, hooligans, counter-revolutionary agitators, and German spies.”
on early Sovnarkom Decrees: Bolsheviks are “the only people in Russia
who had a definite program of action while the others talked for eight long months.” John Reed
How was an element of conservatism reflected in early Bolshevik decrees?
Russian royal palaces carefully guarded; Anatoli Lunacharsy offered to resign upon hearing St. Basil’s Cathedral had been damaged.
What was passed on 27 October 1917?
Land Decree: Decree allowing peasants to seize the land of the gentry and distribute it themselves (This had already been occurring).
When was the Decree on the Eight-Hour Working Day released?
11 November 1917
What was the Workers’ Control Decree and when was it released?
14 November 1917. Gave industrial labourers the right to apply to the government to form self-management committees in their factories.
What was released on 2 November 1917?
Decree promising the right to self-determination for various ethnic groups.
When did Finland declare independence?
17 November 1917
When was the Decree on Peace?
8 November 1917
What was reformed on 24 November 1917? In what way?
Old judiciary courts were scrapped and replaced by People’s courts.
Women were guaranteed equal property rights, marriage made a civil and not a church affair.
Economic: Nationalisation of all banks, stock companies, and financial institutions.
Russian alphabet reformed.
When was an armistice with Germany signed as a prelude to a peace treaty?
December 1917
How was the army reformed?
Democratisation; officers elected by troops.
16 December 1917: Formal ranks and saluting abolished.
When was the Gregorian calendar adopted?
1 February 1918
When was State Capitalism proposed and by whom?
April 1918, Lenin
What were the capitalist and socialist elements of state capitalism?
Capitalist: Businesses and industries retain old managers, bosses are ‘bourgeois experts’ structures and technique of free market remains.
Socialist: Government control and ownership of some industries, centralised banking, economy overseen by economic department (Vesenkha), Workers control supervised management.
What occurred on 2 December 1917?
Vesenkha (Supreme Council of the National Economy) is set up to coordinate economic activity, manage workers committees and company management boards.
What did the Bolsheviks hope State Capitalism would drive workers to do?
Encourage supervision of their own production, learn to manage economic affairs as well as capitalist factory owners so they can take over.
What were ‘nationalisations from below’? How many factories were seized without government permission for everyone formally nationalised by Workers Control?
Workers take control of their workplaces and dispossessed the former owners without seeking official approval.
For every officially nationalised factory, four more were unofficially nationalised; workers push Lenin towards full socialism.
When did voting for the Constituent Assembly begin?
12 November 1917
When was voting completed and tallied in 1917 for the Constituent Assembly?
Completed on 15 November. Tallied by December.
When was the Constituent Assembly opened?
5 January 1918
How much did the Bolsheviks win of the vote? How much did the SRs win?
24% (175, majority of the towns and cities and troops at the front) seats. 52% (370 seats, mainly from peasant votes).
How did Lenin protest his lack of authority at the Constituent Assembly due to lack of peasant votes?
‘the town cannot be equal to the country…the town inevitably leads the country.’
What did the Left SRs do on 12 December?
Agree to support Bolsheviks and join Sovnarkom government. Bolsheviks argue some SR votes belong to them.
How did Lenin argue against the existence of a Constituent Assembly?
The toiling masses have become convinced by their experience that bourgeois parliamentarianism is outdated; that it is completely incompatible with the construction of Socialism.’
What occurred on 5 January 1918?
Martial law is declared in Petrograd and Sovnarkom authorities issue ban on large public gatherings. Pro-Bolshevik troops brought into the city.
Who protested on 5 January 1918?
Protest in favour of the Constituent Assembly attending by mostly white-collar employees, dispersed by machine guns fire.
What did Sverdlov read out at the Constituent Assembly on 5 January 1918? How was it received?
Bolshevik’s Declaration of the Rights of Toilers and Exploited People, drafted by Lenin, had called for Constituent Assembly to approve the new decrees given by Sovnarkom since October. Mensheviks and Right SR delegates disapproved.
How did Bolsheviks and Left SRs respond to opposition of the Constituent Assembly on 6 January? Who remained behind.
Staged a walkout. Red Guards and Kronstadt soldiers remained behind, intimidating remaining delegates.
When did the guard of Tauride Palace order Chernov to close proceedings of the Constituent Assembly?
4:40 am, 6 January.
When did delegates of the Constituent Assembly find the Tauride Palace locked?
5:00pm, 6 January
Why did Lenin dissolve the Constituent Assembly?
Saw it as illogical to relent to the pressure of a non-representative election after he had already taken power.
What do historians say of the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly?
"This dissolution of the Constituent Assembly made a great sensation abroad. In Russia, it passed almost unnoticed." Victor Serge Figes says workers were preoccupied with securing food and fuel, and peasants took no interest in political disputes. Democracy to the working class was socialist political authority that excluded bourgeoisie from power.
When did the Third All-Russian Congress of Soviets convene and what was on the agenda.?
8 January 1918. Drafted new constitution, structure of Soviet state, rights of citizens.
When was a final version of a constitution accepted? What did this formally result in?
19 July 1918. Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic formally comes into being.
What did a historian say of the Bolshevik seizure of power in 1918 in reference to Engels?
“Engels had warned that a socialist party taking power prematurely might find itself isolated and forced into repressive dictatorship. Clearly the Bolshevik leaders, and Lenin in particular, were willing to take that risk.” Sheila Fitzpatrick
