1 Communist government in the USSR, 1917–85

Question 1

Proletariat

Answer 1

a term used by Marx to denote the industrial workers, a new class that emerged as a result of the industrial revolution.

Question 2

Bourgeoisie

Answer 2

owners of factories, industries and shops - those who own the means of production.

Question 3

who were the bolsheviks?

Answer 3

• a faction of RSDLP (party), led by Lenin.
• Lenin’s followers who liked the idea of, peace, land and bread’ & an immediate end to ww1

Question 4

what was the government system established by the bolsheviks like?

Answer 4

The government system established by the Bolsheviks was authoritarian, highly centralised and based on use of terror to reinforce the dominant position of the party.

Question 5

Who took over from the Tsar?

Answer 5

The Provisional Government (he abdicated)

Question 6

How was the Provisional Government weak? **

Answer 6

• There were divisions between socialists and liberals leading to a lack of clear policies.
• They saw themselves as a temporary body and left important decisions to be made by the Constituent Assembly.
• The decision to continue the war and launch a new offensive in June created large amounts of opposition.
• Real power was held by the Soviet.
• They did nothing about the deterioration of the economy.
• They refused to give national minorities a degree of autonomy.
• They underestimated the strength of the Bolsheviks.

Question 7

How were the Bolsheviks powerful?

Answer 7

• They were the only party that opposed the continuation of the war.
• Lenin provided strong and determined leadership.
• Trotsky persuaded Lenin to postpone the date of the uprising.
• They secured the support of the peasants with the promise of land redistribution.
• The Bolsheviks had the majority of their supporters in Moscow and Petrograd, important places in the revolution.
• Their slogan of ‘Peace, Bread and All Power to the Soviets’ appealed to workers and soldiers.

Question 8

When was the October Revolution?

Answer 8

oct 1917

Question 9

What happened at the October Revolution?

Answer 9

• The Provisional Government were forced from power.
• Well planned and executed revolt, as the party still had a limited base of support.
• The Provisional Government didn’t resist

Question 10

why did lenin seize power?

Answer 10

Lenin seized power because he believed that a global revolution was necessary to replace capitalism and imperialism with socialism: a new social system that would allow all people to be genuinely free and equal

Question 11

what were the bolsheviks view of the world?

Answer 11

the bolshevik view of the world was based on writings of Karl Marx who saw history as a series of sturggle by one class against another to obtain material goods, which led to change. Marx argued historical change progressed through a series of stages driven by class

Question 12

What did the Bolsheviks want to do after they seized power?

Answer 12

Get rid of the middle and upper classes that exploited the workers and peasants under capitalism

Question 13

What system did they implement to achieve this?

Answer 13

The Bolsheviks implemented a socialist government that represented the workers in order to improve living and working conditions. They believed this would evolve into communism, where people would gain control over their own lives.

Question 14

What is Karl Marx’s view of historical change?

Answer 14

That history is a series of struggles by one class against another to obtain material goods, which led to change

Question 15

what were the bolsheviks view of the world?

Answer 15

the bolshevik view of the world was based on writings of Karl Marx who saw history as a series of sturggle by one class against another to obtain material goods, which led to change. Marx argued historical change progressed through a series of stages driven by class

Question 16

What are the five stages of Karl Marx’s view of historical change?

Answer 16

1. Primitive Communism:
   
   • No classes or property
   • seen in Stone Age: collective living, teamwork
2. Feudalism:
   
   • Society controlled by land-owning aristocracy
   • Power from land ownership, exercised over peasantry
3. Capitalism:
   
   • growth of trade and industry emerged twp new classes: Bourgeoisie (owners, merchants) and proletariat (workers)
   • Bourgeoisie, seen as powerful bc owns production, distribution, exchange
   • Proletariat relied on selling themsleves as labor, to burogeise, Marx saw this as exploited
     Marx envisions proletariat rising up to eliminate bourgeoisie
4. Socialism:
   
   • Dictatorship formed of proletariat
   • Fair distribution of goods and services
5. Communism:
   
   • Abundance reduces need for regulation, no shortage of goods
   • Government fades (become unnecessary) classless, stateless society
   • classless, stateless society based on Principle: ‘From each according to ability, to each according to needs’ (Marx, 1875)