Topic 2 - Bolshevik Takeover 1917-24

Question 1

Why couldn’t the provisional government make any real changes

Answer 1

Needed the help of the Petrograd Soviet to get laws passed and acted on since it was they - not the government - who controlled the workers and army

Local landowners still controlled the countryside and wouldn’t give land up

Saw itself as temporary (until the November elections), so they didn’t want to make any major changes

Question 2

What changes did people hope the provisional government would make

Answer 2

Take Russia out of the war
Improve working conditions
End shortages
Re-distribute land

Question 3

What did the provisional government do about the war

Answer 3

Nothing

Question 4

Why support for the Bolsheviks grew

Answer 4

The first Provisional government did not last, and the second (5th May 1917) had members from all the main political groups EXCEPT the Bolsheviks. Since the provisional government was not making reforms, people began to see the Bolsheviks as the only real supporters of radical change and ending the war
“Peace, land, bread”

Question 5

Who was in the provisional government

Answer 5

On March 2nd 1917, 12 Duma deputies agreed with the Petrograd Soviet to for a Provisional Government to run things ‘unofficially’ until a new government was elected in November

Question 6

What effect Kornikov’s Revolt had on the provisional government

Answer 6

It made Kerensky (leader of the provisional government) less popular and the people began to see the Bolsheviks as the true saviours of the revolution. Because of this, the Bolsheviks ended up winning most seats in the Petrograd soviet election where before they had none

Question 7

When was the October Revolution

Answer 7

October 21st - 26th 1917

Question 8

What happened in the October Revolution

Answer 8

Oct 21st: most army’s promise loyalty to Trotsky and the military revolutionary committee (MRC)
Oct 23rd: solider’s in Petrograd join MRC
Oct 24: Kerensky shuts Bolshevik news offices and orders the arrest of the MRC. The MRC then take over offices, the main river, canal bridges, the army headquarters, and the telegraph station
Oct 25: congress of soviets disagree over the Bolshevik takeover, MRC troops take over the winter palace
Oct 26: the winter palace is captured and the provisional government is arrested. A new Bolshevik government is announced

Question 9

Why were the Bolsheviks able to seize power

Answer 9

Lenin insisted the revolution be only Bolshevik, so they could have full power afterwards
Provisional government did not shut down the red army and weren’t bothered by threats
The takeover was well planned and organised by Trotsky

Question 10

What were the first decrees passed by the Bolsheviks

Answer 10

Their slogan was peace, land, (bread)
Peace decree : get Russia out of the war
Land decree : all land privately owned must be given to the peasants and run by committees

The Bolsheviks were the WORKERS party
Workers decree: 8 hour working day, workers had control over the factory

Question 11

What the Bolsheviks did about the war

Answer 11

Lenin negotiated peace with Germany.
In the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (3rd March 1918), Russia gave a large portion of its land away losing almost all coal mines, half of its industry, and a third of its railways and people
Many did not agree with this

Question 12

Who won the most seats in the Constituent assembly

Answer 12

The social revolutionary party won by a VAST majority

Question 13

When was the constituent assembly elections

Answer 13

12th November 1917

Question 14

When was the civil war

Answer 14

October 1917 - October 1922

Question 15

Who won the civil war and why

Answer 15

The Bolsheviks won
The red army was well organised by Trotsky
The Cheka made opposition to the state impossible
They made sure the Red Army troops believed in what they were fighting for
The whites were just bad

Question 16

What was the Bolshevik secret police called

Answer 16

The Cheka

Question 17

What was war communism

Answer 17

1918-1921
Bolsheviks took control over all food supplies, distributing it to the Red Army first
They also took over any factory with more than 10 workers to make war supplies

Question 18

What was the NEP

Answer 18

The New Economic Policy was a reluctant step away from war communism towards capitalism

Question 19

What did the NEP allow

Answer 19

Money was re-introduced
Peasants could sell crops for profit, but 10% of excess food had to be given to the state
Factories of under 20 workers could be owned independently
Anyone could own a shop and sell/hire goods for a profit (NEPmen)

Question 20

What effect did the NEP have

Answer 20

Agricultural and industrial production went up massively between 1922 and 1924
Small scale trading helped the economy

77. 7 million hectares of grain in 1922
78. 1 million hectares of grain in 1924

Question 21

What were the July days

Answer 21

In July 1917, there was another unplanned uprising in Petrograd. The July rising was smaller than the February revolution, but now people were chanting soviets slogans. The provisional government acted like the Tsar and sent out troops to clear the streets. Trotsky and several other leaders were arrested by Lenin escaped

Question 22

What caused the July uprising

Answer 22

People were reacting to the provisional governments lack of reforms, the war, and bread rationing

Question 23

What were the Bolsheviks 2 slogans

Answer 23

“Peace, land, bread”

“More power to the soviets”

Question 24

When were the July Days

Answer 24

July 16th - July 20th 1917

Question 25

What was Kornilovs revolt and what happened

Answer 25

Kornilov was disturbed by the growing unrest in the towns and countryside. Kornilov pushed Kerensky to impose martial law and break the power of the soviets. He encouraged Kornilov to advance troops into Petrograd to “save the revolution”. Then, claiming Kornilov was leading a coup against the revolution, Kerensky armed the Bolshevik Red Guards and sent them to stop him. Kornilov heard of this before, so there was no fighting. However Kornilov and 7000 followers were arrested

Question 26

Who fought in the civil war

Answer 26

The Bolsheviks (known as the Reds)
And a culmination of groups known as the whites, who's only shared goal was to get rid of the Bolsheviks

Question 27

Who was in the ‘Whites’ and what were their goals

Answer 27

Kerensky and his troops - restore the provisional government
Monarchists - fighting for the Tsar
Troops from the allies - Russia back in the war, anti-communist
Troops lead by Kolchak
The Czech Legion

Question 28

The Kronstadt mutiny

Answer 28

Kronstadt was a naval base near Petrograd. The sailors had previously sided with the revolutionaries, however in March 1921 they were so horrified by how the Red Army crushed a strike in Petrograd that the mutinied, calling for a third revolutions. The red army troops crushed the mutiny.

Question 29

What was the outcome of the Kronstadt mutiny

Answer 29

The congress of soviets decided the policies of War Communism had to change. Lenin decided to create the NEP

Question 30

What were the demands of the Kronstadt mutiny

Answer 30

Re-elections by secret ballot
Freedom of speech
Ending the Red Terror
Freedom for political prisoners

Question 31

Who was Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

Answer 31

He was the Bolshevik leader. He was a great speaker and thinker who held the Marxist view that communism could only come after a revolution lead by the workers.

Question 32

When did Lenin die

Answer 32

January 21st 1924

Question 33

What was the council of people’s commissars (CPC)

Answer 33

When the Bolsheviks took over, Lenin announced that there would still be an election in November. Until then, the CPC would rule by decree (unchallenged).
The CPC and CEC both had Bolshevik majorities