Theme One Flashcards
When did Lenin and the Bolsheviks come to power?
October 1917
What was the All-Russian Congress of Soviets?
A body elected by the soviets to represent their individual needs and desires.
Where was the All-Russian Congress of Soviets?
Petrograd
What was the Sovnarkom?
A cabinet elected by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets to formulate laws which the Congress could then vote on.
Who was elected as head of the Sovnarkom?
Lenin
What were the three main decrees Lenin’s government passed early on?
- The Decree on Land
- The Decree of Peace
- The Workers’ Decrees
What did the Decree on Land do?
It gave the peasants the right to seize land from the nobility and the church.
What did the Decree of Peace do?
It ended Russia’s involvement in World War One.
What did the Workers’ Decrees do?
They established an 8 hour working day and a minimum wage.
How did the initial decrees help Lenin’s government?
They consolidated support amongst the workers and gave the government “breathing space” to start rebuilding and restructuring.
Why was Lenin still weak in 1918?
- He really only had power over Petrograd where the revolution took place
- The revolution hadn’t spread to the countryside
- The Sovnarkom was highly disorganised
What are the arguments in favour of Lenin’s pre-Civil War state being democratic?
+ The first decrees were very popular
+ There was potential for a coalition government
+ The All-Russian Congress of Soviets contained representatives from the Mensheviks and the Socialist Revolutionaries
What are the arguments against Lenin’s pre-Civil War state being democratic>
- In January 1918, he closed the Constituent Assembly with force after one meeting because the Bolsheviks weren’t the largest party
- Lenin signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk giving away swaths of land in return for Russia’s withdrawal from WW1 despite popular opposition
- After he lost the soviet elections, he forcibly expelled the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries
Who were the three sides in the Civil War?
The Reds, Whites and Greens.
Who were the Reds in the Civil War?
The Communists
Who were the whites in the civil war?
Liberals, tsarists and those wanting a military dictatorship.
Who were the greens in the civil war?
The SRs and anarchists
What were the three main ways that civil war changed Lenin’s system of government?
- Lenin introduced the Politburo to bypass the Sovnarkom
- The Bureaucracy became stronger as the communists relied on skilled administrators to run the economy and army
- In 1921, Lenin introduced the Cheka
Why did Lenin want to bypass the Sovnarkom?
Because it was too large, too inefficient and was accountable to the All Russian Congress of Soviets.
What did the Sovnarkom become during the civil war?
A rubber stamp for the decisions made by the Politburo.
Why did Lenin call the Party Congress of 1921?
To deal with the famine created by War Communism and the growling backlash towards the party.
When was the Tambov uprising?
January 1921
What did the peasants in the Tambov region revolt against?
Grain requisitioning and the Cheka’s use of force
How many peasants partook in the Tambov uprising?
50,000
How did the Party deal with the Tambov uprising?
The Red Army were deployed. They sent 100,000 people to labour camps and used poison gas on villages.
What happened in cities like Petrograd in 1921?
People went on strike against War Communism.
How did the Party respond to the strikes in Petrograd in 1921?
The Red Army started to attack unarmed protestors.
What was the Kronstadt mutiny?
A rebellion by sailors in Kronstadt who called for a return to democracy.
What was the problem with the way Lenin’s government dealt with uprisings?
It made them seem unreasonable and thus started to turn people against them.
What two things were introduced in the Party Congress of 1921?
The NEP and “On Party Unity”
What was On Party Unity?
A resolution that banned factions and threatened expulsion for anyone who tried to form one.
By what year were all opposition parties eradicated?
1921
What was Lenin’s lasting political legacy for Stalin?
- The Politburo eclipsed the Sovnarkom by 1920
- Opposition was banned from 1921 onwards
- A new elite was established of party members
