the origins of the cold war-> russian revolution

Question 1

what happened in 1917?

Answer 1

The Bolsheviks (soviets) seized power in Russia in 1917, under the leadership of Vladmir Ilich Lenin, known as the Bolshevik Revolution. They ended the war by signing a peace treaty with Germany, ‘The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk’

Question 2

what did the Soviet flag represent?

Answer 2

The red star represents the Communist Party, and its position over the hammer and sickle symbolises its leading role in socialist society to unify and enlighten the workers and peasants in the building of communism.

Question 3

what were the key policies of the Bolshevik Revolution?

Answer 3

• nationalisation of key assets
• universal suffrage
• secularisation (e.g. ban on religious teaching in schools)
• granting of full civic equality to women and members of national and religious minorities
• workers’ granted control over enterprises

Question 4

why could you argue that the cold war started in 1917 (and why not) ?

Answer 4

The Soviet Union and the United States stepped into the mainstream of history to proclaim two rival world ideologies however the full impact of these events was not to be felt until after 1945.

Question 5

WWI and the Russian Civil War

Answer 5

• the USA and Russia were allies during WWI until Russia made a separate peace with Germany
  -The Bolsheviks argued that the overthrow of capitalism would pave the way for the building of a society in which prosperity and self-realisation would be guaranteed by the abolition of the market, production for need rather than profit and Soviet democracy.
• in 1918, counter-revolutionists - the Whites who were backed up by foreign powers such as Britain, France, the USA, initiated a civil war.