The October Revolution (4) Flashcards
When did Lenin return to Petrograd?
April 3rd
When did Lenin issue his April Theses?
4th April
When were the Bolshevik red guards formed?
20th April 1917
Who led the PG during the dual authority spell?
Prince Lvov?
Who was Prince Lvov?
A large landowner and progressive reformer, who headed the PG from March to July in 1917
What were the two crippling weaknesses of the PG?
- It was not an elected body so lacked legitimate authority and had no claim regarding the loyalty of the Russian people. It would be judged entirely upon how it dealt with the nation’s problems.
- It’s authority was limited by its unofficial partnership with the Petrograd Soviet
Who was a member of both the PG and PS? How?
Alexander Kerensky
He was to be Prime Minister of the PG and chairman of the PS
What was “Soviet Order Number 1”?
The PS restricted the PG’s authority and the state’s military were to only obey orders so to not contradict the orders and decrees of the Soviet
What was the importance of the Order?
Military affairs of the PG could only happen with permission from the PS
Without an army, a government does not hold true power
Between February and April 1917, how did the two bodies in dual authority get along?
There was no serious disputes
How did the people of Petrograd feel following the February revolution?
People were enthusiastic as a new era had dawned, encouraging a genuine feeling that Russia has entered a period of genuine freedom.
What were the early achievements of the PG?
- An amnesty for political prisoners
- Trade unions legally recognised 3. An 8 hour day for industrial workers
- The Tsarist secret police was replaced with a “people’s milita”
- Granting of full civil rights and religious freedoms
- Preparations made for the election of a constituent assembly
What did the PG achievements not benefit?
The critical issues of war and land
Who began the destructive process between the PS and the PG?
Lenin
What did Lenin say regarding the war in his letter while in exile?
He urged turning the war into an international class conflict
What did Lenin say about the PG while in exile?
People were to reject the Provisional Government
What did Lenin say about other parties in his letter while in exile?
There was to be no cooperation with them
Who was Lev Kamenev?
A leading voice in the Bolsheviks who returned with Stalin, and originally took an anti-Lenin line
What was a class war as described by Lenin?
The Bolsheviks should infiltrate the armies of the warring nations and encourage soldiers to turn their weapons against their officers as the first step at overthrowing their governments
Who did Lenin have conflicting policies with when the Bolsheviks returned?
Lev Kamenev and Stalin
What did Kamenev and Stalin believe should happen?
- Acceptance of the situation in Petrograd
- Co-operation with the PG
- Alliance with the other parties
What did Lenin deliver upon his return?
The April Theses
What was the April Theses?
Short simple slogans to attract people to the party
What did Lenin say in the April Theses?
“Peace, bread, land”
What did “Peace, bread, land” mean?
Ending the war with Germany
Solving the chronic food shortage
Solve the crisis with the peasants in the countryside
What did Lenin abandon on his return in April?
Cooperation with other parties
What were the two slogans used on Lenin’s arrival in April?
“Peace, bread, land”
“All power to the Soviets”
What was the PG’s issue with the war?
They had no choice but to fight it
Why did the PG have to continue the war?
It was for financial purposes
Without the war, it would no longer receive the supplies and war credits from the allies that it relied upon
Why did the Provisional Government not stand a chance at solving Russia’s issues?
In order to survive, it had to remain in the war, but in doing so, ruined its own chance of survival
What caused the first issue between the PG and PS?
The war
The PS wanted peace in the war and the PG wanted to continue
Who was Kerensky?
War Minister
What was Kerensky’s view on war?
He was a major influence, campaigning for Russia to embrace the conflict as a struggle to save the revolution
What did Kerensky do high failed badly?
The June Offensive
Why did the June Offensive fail?
Low morale on the front, combined with Bolshevik agitators encouraging them to disobey orders, meant they were no match for the Austrian forces
Who was General Kornilov?
A very brave soldier, who hated Russia’s revolutionaries
Where was Kronstadt?
A naval base 15 miles west of Petrograd
What happened at Kronstadt?
Sailors and workers there defied the central authorities by setting up their own central government
What did the Kronstadt uprising lead to?
It tempted a number of revolutionaries into thinking that the opportunity had come for them to bring down the PG
What was the attempt to bring down the PG following Kronstadt known as?
The July Days
What was clear from the July Days?
The government was no longer in control of events
What were the 4 main signs of a breakdown of order during the July Days?
- The spread of Soviets
- Worker control of factories
- Widespread seizure of land by the peasants
- The creation of breakaway national minority governments, eg. In the Ukraine
What happened to the July Days?
It was a confused, disorderly affair and the demonstrators were disunited, so easily crushed by the PG
What were the 3 main consequences of the July Days?
- Movement from the opposition was disunited
- Bolsheviks were far from being the dominant revolutionary party
- PG still had the strength to put down an uprising
Who did the reaction to the July Days credit?
Kerensky
After becoming PM on the 8th July, what were Kerensky’s main ideas?
He closed down the Bolshevik newspaper Pravda, and arrested many leaders, eg. Trotsky and Kamenev
He branded the Bolsheviks traitors
What were the PG’s two main failures, which allowed the Bolsheviks to survive?
The critical misjudgements regarding the land problem and the Kornilov Affair
What did the peasants want the PG to do?
Carry out a redistribution of land so when they didn’t, they took the law into their own hands and seized it from local landlords
What did Lenin do to overcome the land problem?
Altered his original ideas
Who’s idea towards land did Lenin take? What was it?
The SRs
“Land to the peasants”
What did Lenin’s attitude towards land mean?
There was a considerable swing to the Bolsheviks in the countryside
When was the Kornilov Affair?
August 1917
What did the Kornilov Affair enable the Bolsheviks to do?
Recover from their post - July Days humiliations
What was Kornilov’s political stance?
He believed that before Russia could fulfil its patriotic duty of defeating Germany, it must first destroyed the socialist enemies within
What was Kornilov’s intentions?
To remove the PG and impose military rule
How did Kerensky respond due to fearing Kornilov would attack?
He called on all loyal citizens to take up arms to defend the city
Who returned to gather weapons during the Kornilov Affair?
The Bolsheviks collected the weapons issued by the PG
What was the irony of the Kornilov Affair?
The government had armed the Bolsheviks
Why were the weapons not needed against Kornilov?
The railway workers refused to operate the trains and bring his army to Petrograd
What two ways did the Kornilov Affair benefit the Bolsheviks?
- They could present themselves as the defenders of Petrograd, diverting attention away from their failure in the July Days
- They now had basic weapons supplied by the government
Following the success of the Kornilov Affair, what political success did the Bolsheviks achieve?
A majority in the Petrograd Soviet, on the 25th September 1917
What was Lenin encouraging from his party while exiled in Finland?
Immediate overthrow of Kerensky’s government
Why was Lenin so urgent about assuming power in the September?
- The meeting of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets in late October
- The election for the Constituent Assembly in November
When did Lenin return to Petrograd?
7th October
Who made the first move of a rising in October?
Kerensky
How did Kerensky begin the overthrow of the PG?
He decided to close down the Bolshevik newspapers and round up the leading Bolsheviks- they had no choice but to respond
Who planned the Bolshevik takeover?
Trotsky
What position did Trotsky hold?
Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet
What did Trotsky’s position as chairman of the PS allow him to do?
Set up the Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC) on the 9th October
What did the MRC mean?
It organised the defence of Petrograd
What was the name of the army used by the Bolsheviks?
The Red Guard
What did the Red Guard seize at the beginning of the revolution?
Bridges, banks, telegraph poles
In how long and when did the PG collapse?
25-27 October
Three days
What was remarkable about the October Revolution?
Very little fighting
Only 6 people died
Where were the PG headquarters?
The Winter Palace
What was exaggerated following the Bolshevik takeover of the Winter Palace?
It was made to be a heroic battle which the hugely powerful Bolsheviks won, when in reality, it was only defended by a Women’s Battalion
When was the Winter Palace seized by the Bolsheviks?
25-26 October
What was the pre-arranged signal following the takeover?
The sounding of the guns by the pro-Soviet crew of the cruiser Aurora, convinced the remaining members of the government that their position was hopeless
What did Trotsky believe the main two factors for Bolshevik success were?
The failure of the Provisional garrison to resist
The existence of the MRC
What were the weaknesses of the PG?
It could not gather enthusiasm from the people, and came no where near to solving Russia’s problems
Why did none of the other parties pose a serious challenge to the Bolsheviks for leadership?
They believed February to be a genuine revolution, and it made sense for them to support the PG which claimed to represent the progressive forces in Russia
What were Trotsky and Lenin’s roles in the October revolution?
Trotsky planned the revolution
Lenin controlled the actions of the party
How many members were in the Bolshevik party in February 1917?
24000
How many members were in the Bolshevik party in October 1917?
340000
