War Communism

Question 1

Why was war communism introduced?

Answer 1

To ensure the Red Army was supplied with munitions and food

Lead country to socialist economy

Overcome failures of state capitalism

Question 2

The economy was to be treated as a single enterprise to avoid what?

Answer 2

Market forces and individual interests

Question 3

Four key features of War Communism?

Answer 3

Grain requisitioning

Nationalisation

Labour discipline

Rationing

Question 4

What was the Red terror?

Answer 4

A time of political repression, coercion and mass killings carried out by the bolsheviks during the civil war

Question 5

When was The Kronstadt Rising?

Answer 5

1921

Question 6

When was the Tambov Revolt?

Answer 6

August 1920 - June 1921

Question 7

By 1921 what had industrial output fallen to?

Answer 7

20% of pre war levels

Question 8

How much grain did the 1921 harvest produce?

1921 Famine

Answer 8

48% of that of 1913

Question 9

Social impact of War Communism

Answer 9

Cannibalism and trade in dead bodies

Disease rife - typhus, cholera, dysentery

Around 500,000 executed by Cheka during civil war

Acute food shortage by 1920 - widespread famine

Question 10

What were wages like in 1919 compared to 1913?

Answer 10

2% of those in 1913

Question 11

Political Impact of war communism?

Answer 11

Divisions within Bolshevik party

Some bols saw it as a permanent measure, representing true communism

Some Russians called for new elections and a recall of the constituent assembly

Question 12

What happened to land and livestock?

Answer 12

1/3 of land abandoned to grass

Cattle/ horses slaughtered in their thousands by hungry peasants

Question 13

How many died from famine?

Answer 13

Around 5 million

Question 14

Population of Petrograd 1914 and 1920?

Answer 14

2. 2 million

0. 6 million

Question 15

What did the assassination attempt on Lenin in August 1918 result in?

Answer 15

Used as an excuse for the Cheka to launch the Red Terror

Question 16

How did the Cheka carry out class warfare?

Answer 16

Intense campaign of arrests, executions and imprisonments targeting the bourgeoisie

However, victims from all levels of society, including children

Overall policy of using arbitrary terror to ensure compliance and submission to regime

Question 17

Extent of Bolshevik concentration and labour camps?

Answer 17

Not as orderly as those in 1930’s under Stalin

No accurate records during Leninist period

Question 18

What was Lenin (and most bolsheviks) view of using ‘terror’?

Answer 18

Not out of economic or military necessary but an integral part of class warfare

Question 19

What was the Tambov revolt?

Answer 19

70,000 peasant army rose up against requisitioning squads

100,000 Red army troops deployed with brutal reprisals (particularly against kulaks)

Red Army destroyed whole villages and used gas against those who hid in forests

Question 20

Who led the Tambov revolt?

Answer 20

Alexander Antonov

Question 21

How many peasant risings did the Cheka report in February 1921?

Answer 21

155

Question 22

What caused the Kronstadt rising?

Answer 22

1921 famine - 1/3 less bread ration in cities

Many Kronstadt sailors of peasant origin and witnessed poor situation when on leave

Question 23

What happened in the Kronstadt rising?

Answer 23

January 1921 - martial law declared

30,000 Kronstadt sailors rebelled, sent manifesto to Lenin with social, economic and political demands

Demanded end to one party rule

Red army (under Marshal Tukhachevsky) sent 5 miles across ice with artillery and Cheka support

Rebel leaders shot, 15,000 prisoner (denounced as ‘white traitors’)

Question 24

What slogan did the Kronstadt sailors use?

Answer 24

Soviets without Bolsheviks

Question 25

What was the significance of the Kronstadt rising?

Answer 25

Previously loyal to bols (key role in Oct rev)

Trotsky had described them as reddest of the Red

Occurred at peak of Tambov rising

Led to divisions within the Bolshevik party

Made clear to Lenin that he needed to relax measures to avoid a revolution/ further uprisings

Question 26

What was the Workers Opposition Group?

Answer 26

Set up by Alexandra Kollontai and Alexander Shlyapknikov

Wanted greater worker control, objected to state appointed trade union leaders

Strongly opposed to continuation of war communism