1.1 Lenin Flashcards
(21 cards)
April - July 1917
‘April Theses’ published in Pravda
slogans appealed to peasants ‘Peace, Land & Bread’
Constant attempts to overthrow PG, most Bolsheviks in prison, rev. seemed impossible
Bolshevik Strengths
strong political & econ centre in Petrograd soviet
own armed forces - ‘Red Guards’
Inspiring leaders (Trotsky…), practical & organised
PG was weak & inefficient
Opposition & Problems of Bolsheviks
not enough support, opposed by SRs, Mensheviks, nationalist groups & conservatives in Constituent assembly
shortage of resources; grain supply 13M tonnes short, production 2/3 of 1914 value in 1917
Russia in WW1
September -> October 1917
Kornilov affair: Bolsheviks free
Major cities under B control, mutiny against Kerensky when ordered to WW1 frontline
Military Revolutionary Committee to control it
Lenin returns & takes control
November 1917
MRC controls mutiny, Kerensky flees city, PG lock themselves in Winter Palace
6-7th: Red Guards occupy gov buildings, open fire against Palace, enter & arrest ministries
All-Russian Congress meets, opposition leaves & Bolshevik government announced
Lenin’s One-Party State
1917->20 membership increased by 35% to 5.4 million
Constituent Assembly shut down Jan 1918 after 47/80M electorate voted & produced non-B majority
Dictatorship of Bureaucracy
Nomenklatura
bureaucracy
administrative apparatus of gov from local to national level
Orgburo (1919) supervised work of local committees
New gov system
All-Russian Congress of Soviets: supreme law making body, elected by other soviets
Sovnarkom: top tier of gov, 15-20 members issued decrees
Politburo: top tier of Communist Party, 7-9 members met daily & directed Party policy
Civil War: CAUSES
Political opposition to Bs
Allies wanted to reopen eastern front: supported ‘Whites’
Collapse of Russia due to self-determination
Food requisitioning, inflation, shortage…
Breakdown of law & order
Civil War: Bolshevik Win & white weaknesses
home ground in industrial zones, support of peasants, economic planning
lack of home ground & unity in whites
international support for conservatives was undermined by corruption
Civil War: CONSEQUENCES
highly centralised Bolshevik state
use of terror: tone set
‘Cult of sacrifice’, ‘Heroic period’, formative experience
fear of foreigners & ‘kulaks’
nearly 10M deaths (5M Volga famine 1921-22)
Political centralisation
lower tiers in gov = irrelevant (lack of frequent meetings & inefficient)
illusion of democracy: votes could not contradict higher tiers
Lenin had all power as Politburo leader (party>gov)
Polit>Central Committee>Party Congress
Sovnarkom>Central Executive Committee>All-Russian C. of Soviets
1918 Constitution
All-Russian Congrerss theoretically supreme, but Polit controlled party which controlled gov
exec power with Sovnarkom
only working class could vote. workers’ vote 5:1 peasants’
Destruction of Opposition
Removal of vote from ‘bourgeois’ classes
Restrictions on Mensheviks & SRs in media
By 1921, all other parties officially banned
DECREES: social
Abolition of Titles, Nov 1917: ‘comrade’ new formal manner
Self-Determination, Nov 1917: still a part of USSR but now “states” with more independence
Women’s equality , Nov 1917: equal to men, right to earn money & own property
DECREES: opposition
Opposition Press Ban, Oct 1917: Only Comm. newspapers allowed
CHEKA Dec 1917: Suppression of Counter-Revolution
Separation of Church & State, Jan 1918
On Party Unity, 1921: ban of factions in Party Congress
DECREES: Workers & Economy
Decree on Workers’ Control, Nov 1917: allowed takeover of factories, cancelled foreign debt, nationalised banks, Veshenka
Nationalisation of Industry, Feb 1918: takeover of large industrial concerns by state
By 1920 all major enterprises in Russia were under Central gov control”
“Peace, Land & Bread”
Decree on Peace, Oct 1917: Immediate ceasefire & negotiations for treaty WW1, soldiers to stop fighting Germany
Decree on Land (Agricultural), Oct 1917: Abolishment of private ownership, all land confiscated (cannot be sold) and ‘lent’ to farmers
gained support of peasants
Lenin’s Consolidation of Power (overall)
economic control
Civil War victory
new Govt & Party system
removal of opposition
terror
Soviet Constitution 1924
control of Communist Party in the state
USSR theoretically federal state
IN REALITY: authority based in Moscow Comm. Party, ethnic Russians had advantages (Russia 90% of area and 72% of population, so 3/4 of Party was Russian)
Lenin’s Legacy
soviet democracy destroyed and replaced with a one-party state (bureaucratic gov)
political centralisation
violence was justified to preserve revolution
