establishment of the bolshevik state

Question 1

intro

Answer 1

• lenin taken power in name of soviet
• soon clear it was one party in control when lenin announced council of people’s commissars/sovnarkom as main instrument of gov
• sovnarkom made up exclusively of bolsheviks

Question 2

sovnarkom

Answer 2

• council of people’s commissars: top bolshevik gov body
• operated till 1941 but less influential after politburo formed 1919

Question 3

what about soviet

Answer 3

• soviet became increasingly irrelevant as power moved over sovnarkom
• socialist leaders of soviet should’ve been consulted on important policies/decisions but lenin no intention of seeking approval

Question 4

reaction to lenin’s new gov

Answer 4

• foundations shaky
• in capital, civil servants mounted protest strikes & state banks refused to hand money over, took 10 days & armed forces to make bank staff open vaults
• outside capital, bolshevik power more limited
• great opposition to one party rule
• hundreds of petitiond flooded in demanding co-op between parties to avoid factional strife
• railway men’s unions threatened to cut communications if bolshevik didn’t hold talks with other parties
• forced lenin to send representatives to talks with other parties on power-sharing
• kamenev & zinoviev in favour of socialist coalition as believed an isolated bolshevik party would have to maintain itself by terror & wouldn’t survive a civil war
• brought left srs into sovnarkom as he would be able to represent interests of peasantry
• also intended bolsheviks rule alone

Question 5

first measures

Answer 5

• to servive first months, lenin gave workers/peasants what they wanted
• power thrown to local soviets to manage own affairs
• sovnarkom passed decrees to keep support of people

Question 6

decrees

Answer 6

• decree on peace: immediate truce & just peace with no indemnities, aimed to pull russia out war
• decree on land: gave peasants right to take estates of gentry without compensation & decide how to divide it
• decree on workers’ control: factory committees given right to control production & finance in workplaces
• decree on rights of people of russia: gave right of self-determination to national minorities but purely paper measure since bolsheviks didn’t have control of these areas

Question 7

ideology

Answer 7

• lenin suggested general will of people would support revolutionary gov
• thought people could run own affairs so less need for bureaucracy

Question 8

early decrees issued by sovnarkom

Answer 8

• oct 1917: max 8hr day for workers, social insurance introduced, oppositon press banned
• nov 1917: right of self-determination to all parts of former russian empire, abolition of titles, workers control factories
• dec 1917: cheka set up, banks nationalised, marriage/divorce civil matters
• jan 1918: creation of red army

Question 9

out of control

Answer 9

• bolsheviks little control of events in cities
• in petrograd tsar’s alcohol found & crowds got drunk & people only stopped when black out
• houses/sshops plundered and people out of control
• criminal eliment joined in which degenerated into violence/lawlessness
• long time till brought under control

Question 10

dealing with threats & opposition

Answer 10

• bolsheviks closed opposition press, first newspapers of centre/right & later socialist press
• turned on opposition political parties, kadets denounced and outlaws & leading kadets arrested
• engine of political terror cranked up
• 7th dec cheka set up which provided dependable security bringing units of red guard & military units under its control
• civil service thoroughly purged where junior officials willing to support bolsheviks promoted

Question 11

how well did bolsheviks deal with threats/opposition

Answer 11

• some opposition & there were demonstrations
• but opposition weak & unco-ordinated
• mensheviks & right wing sr didn’t want to get involved in organised violence as still aware of dangers of civil war
• still had hope for constituent assembly & all-socialist gov as didn’t expect bolsheviks to survive

Question 12

class warfare

Answer 12

• actively used this as means of intimidating middle class & keeping control
• bolshevik press identified burzhooi as enemies of people & condemned as parasites
• state encouraged plundering of middle class houses
• legal system abolished & replaced by revolutionary justice which was violent in character
• anyone accused of being a burzhooi liable to be arrested
• workers & soldiers became more cocky & assertive to their ‘social betters’

Question 13

constituent assembly

Answer 13

• posed bigger threat to bolshevis
• lenin forced to allow elections nov 1917 which gave assembly a mandate as legitimate body to decide make up of future gov
• bolsheviks found they won 175 seats against 410 for sr
• lenin asserted his soviet gov represented higher stage of democracy than an elected assembly containing different political parties
• assembly allowed to meet for one day then doors closed
• crowd which demonstrated in favour of assembly fired on by soldiers loyal to sovnarkom

Question 14

peace

Answer 14

• promise that brought so many to bolsheviks was pledge to end war
• decree on peace was a plea to other nations for immediate truce
• practical resolution proved more difficult as russian army disintegrating as soldiers wanted to get home
• good news was russian generals couldn’t use army against then
• bad news was german army free to walk into russia
• western allies ignored decree on peace & lenin faced huge problem that wasn’t resolved till march 1918