political authority under lenin (1917)

Question 1

constituent assembly

Answer 1

-SRs: 21.8 mil votes, 410 seats
-Bolsheviks: 10 mil votes, 175 seats
-Kadets: 2.1 mil votes, 18 seats
-Other: 6.3 mil votes, 62 seats
-assembly met 5th Jan 1918, but doors were locked and deputies told to go home, forcibly dissolved

Question 2

bolsheviks dealing with threats and opposition

Answer 2

-overcame protests from working class using the red guard
-prevented power sharing by closing opposition press, and having a bolshevik dominated sovnarkom
-Dec 1917, creation of Cheka bringing red guard and army under its control
-opposition uncoordinated and weak

Question 3

weaknesses of bolsheviks

Answer 3

-treasury and state bank refused to provide finance to commissars
-civil servants refused to work for them
-Kerensky assembled an army outnumbering Lenin’s forces
-fighting between supporters of the provisional government and bolshevik revolutionaries
-railway and communication workers went on strike in protest of one party government
-Bolsheviks only held power in cities

Question 4

sovnarkom decrees oct-jan

Answer 4

-Oct:maximum eight hour work day,social insurance providing benefits,ban on opposition press,decree on peace,decree on land
-Nov:self determination to minorities,abolition of titles and class ranks,workers control,abolition of old legal system,women equal to men and have right to own property
-Dec:cheka established,banks nationalised,army under control of soviets,marriage and divorce out of churches’ hands,church land nationalised
-Jan:workers control of railways,creation of Red Army,Church and State separated

Question 5

commissars of the sovnarkom

Answer 5

-chairman:Lenin
-Commissar for Foreign Affairs:Trotsky
-Commissar for Internal Affairs:Rykov
-Commissar for Nationalities:Stalin
-Commissar for Social Welfare:Kollantai
-Commissar for Popular Enlightenment:Lunacharsky

Question 6

all-russian congress of the soviets

Answer 6

-meeting for all elected chairmen of each soviet, consisting of left wing political parties
-chairman (Kamenev) informed the delegates they were now the supreme authority in Russia
-14 members were to form the Sovnarkom (had legislative power) these were all Bolsheviks or their sympathisers

Question 7

causes of october revolution: opposition

Answer 7

-Bolshevik’s support on the rise, workers becoming more radicalised
-Lenin able to convince some of those unsure about the revolt
-support gained after the Kornilov coup
-Lenin strong leader, gained a lot of support after April Thesis

Question 8

causes of october revolution: N2

Answer 8

-‘reluctant tsar’:’Bread,Peace,Land’ Lenin able to deliver on simple issues, failure to deliver on October manifesto
-unable to learn from his mistakes (Russo-Japanese War 1905, then going to frontline in 1915)
-too easily influenced by Pobedonostev and Rasputin
-didn’t cooperate with those that wanted change e.g. Stolypin
-disasterous Commander-in-Chief, due to lack of military experience, caused army to become more radicalised and mutinous

Question 9

causes of october revolution: government failures

Answer 9

-PG had lack of authority, unable to control peasants
-continuing war
-Rasputin and Alexandra’s appointment of several ministers causing confusion
-failed to hold elections for a constituent assembly, disillusioned peasants, no land promises fulfilled
-Kerensky and Kornilov coup showed he did not have trust in his army
-dual power increased lack of authority

Question 10

causes of october revolution: ‘people’s revolution’

Answer 10

-economic situation becoming worse, and people becoming disenfranchised with the government
-control breaking down in the countryside
-Khodynka, really showed people they could revolt

Question 11

causes of oct revolution: ww1

Answer 11

-Provisional government’s decision to carry on the war was unpopular, made them seem out of touch
-workers were becoming more aggravated with price rises and rationing
-june offensive decreased morale

Question 12

portrayal of october revolution

Answer 12

-portrayed by Bolsheviks, for propaganda purposes, as though they were mertyrs and deserving of respect due to the hardships they faced during revolution
-in reality, after the blank shot from Aurora, the Bolsheviks ‘stormed’ the winter palace and the only damage really caused was one broken window and the Bolsheviks could arrest the provisional government with little to no resistance, due to the room they were having their meeting in being unguarded

Question 13

timeline of october revolution

Answer 13

-10/10:Bolshevik Central Committee declares ‘an armed uprising is inevitable’,Petrograd Soviet creates MRC
-10/10-23/10:motions passed for seizure of power and how to achieve this
-24/10:Provisional Government groups attempt to close Bolshevik print press,prompts MRC to act,taking key communication points in Petrograd
-25/10:Lenin announces seizure of power
-26/10:MRC arrests Provisional Government members in Winter Palace, except Kerensky who has fled

Question 14

Kerensky’s response to bolshevik plans

Answer 14

-moved armed units from the capital to prevent mutiny and reduce MRC’s power
-attempted to close down Bolshevik newspapers and raised bridges in Petrograd to prevent workers reaching the centre of the city
-Bolsheviks portrayed this as a betrayal of the Soviet and used it as an excuse to act
-Kerensky knew he could not rely on Petrograd troops to defend provisional government, borrowed car from american embassy dressed as a nurse and escaped

Question 15

planning of october revolution

Answer 15

-12/09 Lenin writes ‘history will not forgive us if we do not take power now’
-Trotsky wanted to wait until after Congress of Soviets (26/10)
-Trotsky,unlike Lenin,could work with other socialist parties to bring about revolution
-Trotsky&Dzerzhinsky set up Military Revolutionary Committee(09/10)consists of 200,000 Red Guards(loyal volunteer soldiers recruited from factory workers) sailors and soldiers
-Lenin returns to Petrograd 07/10

Question 16

marxism-leninism

Answer 16

1)Revolution Now! Do not wait for capitalism to develop further/to educate workers
2)Peasants are oppressed too.His use of proletariat included the peasantry,so Bolshevik propaganda targeted them too
3)Bolshevik party is vanguard of revolution.Organised intellectuals leading proletariat.
4)Russia(despite lack of industrialisation)could have Marxist revolution.Russia had not exploited its foreign territories;its workers more oppressed.
5)Dictatorship of the proletariat.Bolshevik party seize power on behalf of the workers and take over the economy.