The October/ November 1917 Revolution (textbook pg. 26)

Question 1

When did the Bolshevik Revolution begin?

Answer 1

25th October 1917

Question 2

What actions did Kerensky take on the 23rd of October to stop the Bolshevik’s rise?

Answer 2

He ordered the printer of two Bolshevik newspapers (Pravda and Izvestia) to cease, attempted to restrict the power of the Military Revolutionary Committee, and he sent troops to raise the bridges linking working class areas of Petrograd to the city centre

Question 3

Why was Kerensky unable to act against the Bolshevik’s?

Answer 3

Troops loyal to the Bolsheviks claimed that his actions were a betrayal of the Soviet and the principles of the February Revolution

Question 4

What were the first actions of the Bolsheviks in the revolution throughout the night of the 24th - 25th of October?

Answer 4

5000 soldiers and sailors from Kronstadt moved into the city, and Bolshevik Red Guards began to take over key government buildings: telephone exchange, post office, railway stations etc. without much resistance.

Question 5

What occurred during the storming of the Winter Palace on the 25th of October?

Answer 5

Kerensky left Petrograd disguised as a nurse in a car from the American embassy to rally military support

Red Guard soldiers and sailors surrounded the Palace, they threatened to fire artillery from the St Peter and Paul fortress and from the Aurora Battleship (the crew declared their support for the revolution).

At 9:40pm the Aurora fired a blank to signal the beginning of the attack. The Red Guards easily infiltrated the building and members of the government fled by a back entrance

At 10:40pm the Second Congress of Soviets convened without Lenin or the Bolsheviks as they were still fighting. At midnight Bolshevik deputies arrived, some Mensheviks and right wing SRs protested

Question 6

What occurred on the 26th of October in the Congress?

Answer 6

In the early hours, the Congress of Soviets greeted an announcement of the capture of the Winter Palace and arrest of Provisional Government members

At 9pm the second session of the Congress opened and Lenin’s “Decree on Peace” (to end War) was unanimously adopted

Question 7

What occurred in the Second Congress of Soviets on the 27th of October?

Answer 7

Lenin’s “Decree on Land” which acknowledged peasant seizures of land was agreed at 2am and the Bolsheviks proposed a reorganisation of the government.

The Mensheviks and left wing SRs opposed this but it was adopted.

Question 8

What was the government reorganisation that the Bolsheviks proposed on the 27th of October?

Answer 8

This elected a new “All-Russian Central Executive Committee” of 101 members, 62 were Bolsheviks and 29 were left wing SRs

Question 9

What was created on the 27th of October to run the government?

Answer 9

A “Soviet of People’s Commissars” (called Sovnarkom) was created including only Bolsheviks as left wing SRs refused to join, Lenin made chairman

Question 10

How many people did Trotsky claim were actively involved in the November Revolution? (number and percentage)

Answer 10

25,000 to 30,000, this is around 5% of all workers and soldiers in the city

Question 11

Was the October/ November Revolution small scale?

Answer 11

Yes, Petrograd was taken by the Bolsheviks with only 5 deaths and no disturbance to daily life - trams, taxis, restaurants etc operated as normal

Question 12

What arguments can be made about Trotsky’s role and Lenin’s role in the October Revolution?

Answer 12

Trotsky = he organised the Red Guard and directed the actual seizure of power

Lenin = he was the central directing force and it was his preparations and drive that forced action in October

Question 13

How can it be argued that external events allowed for a Bolshevik takeover more than Lenin did?

Answer 13

British historian Robert Service argued Russia was heading for a socialist takeover anyway, Lenin just made it a Bolshevik one.

Lenin was absent for most of 1917, and when he was in Russia he stayed in Petrograd - therefore it can be argued the failures of the Provisional Government were more important

Question 14

Which groups and people in the second ‘All-Russian Congress of Soviets’ were against the Bolshevik takeover?

Answer 14

• Zinoviev and Kamenev (Bolsheviks) spoke out against it
• Tsereteli, Menshevik leader
• Right wing Social Revolutionaries

Question 15

Why did the Mensheviks and right wing Social Revolutionaries walk out of the Congress?

Answer 15

Because the majority of the seats for the new executive committee to lead a socialist government were held by Bolsheviks and extreme left wing Social Revolutionaries

Question 16

Give an example of Sovnarkom (the Soviet of People’s Commissars) not sharing power with the Soviets

Answer 16

Lenin initiated peace talks with Germany without consulting the Soviets first

Question 17

How many days did it take to convince the state bank to hand over its reserves?

Answer 17

10 days under the threat of armed intervention

Question 18

Where did Kerensky set up his new headquarters and how many Cossack regiments did he have?

Answer 18

He set up headquarters in Gatchina with 18 regiments

Question 19

Did Lenin have a strong fighting force in the early days of the Bolshevik takeover?

Answer 19

No, he had no direct contact with soldiers at the front and soldiers from the Petrograd garrison returned to their countryside homes

Question 20

What was ‘The Declaration of Rights of the Peoples of Russia’/ the ‘Rights of the people of Russia decree’?

Answer 20

This permitted the nationalities of Russia to break away and have full independence if they chose to do so - Finland and Ukraine did at the end of 1917

Question 21

What does the Executive Committee of Railwaymen’s strike demonstrate?

Answer 21

The strike was made to demand a ‘united socialist government’ - they were against a single party state with the Bolsheviks in control

Question 22

What is the period of time between the seizure of power and the end of 1917 sometimes called?

Answer 22

The ‘utopian phase’ where optimism was high and Lenin was convinced of the ability to create a new social order

Question 23

What was the Decree on Land?

Answer 23

It abolished private ownership of land and legitimised peasant seizures of land without landlord compensation - thus reducing peasant support for the SR

Question 24

What was Veshenka and when was it established?

Answer 24

The Council of the National Economy in December 1917 to supervise and control economic development