Politics in the USSR (lenin)

Question 1

When was the provisional government established?

Answer 1

Following the February revolution in 1917

Question 2

Which main policy of the provisional government made it extremely unpopular with the Russian people?

Answer 2

Made Russia stay in WW1

Question 3

When was the provisional government overthrown and when the Bolshevik party consequently came into power?

Answer 3

Following the October revolution in 1917

Question 4

Which building was stormed in order for the Bolsheviks to take control in the October revolution?

Answer 4

The Winter palace in Petrograd (St Petersberg)

Question 5

What were the three decrees Lenin introduced almost immediately after taking power?

Answer 5

• The Decree on Peace - promise for immediate withdrawal from ww1
• The Decree on Land - redistribution of land to the peasants and abolishing land ownership
• The Decree on worker’s rights - giving workers the 8 hour working day and a minimum wage

Question 6

What were the outcomes of the Jan 1918 Constituent assembly elections?

Answer 6

Socialist Revolutionaries won the vote and the Bolsheviks lost.
Lenin responded by having the police shut down the constituent assembly for good.

Question 7

What was the Brest-Litovsk treaty and why was it significant?

Answer 7

Was a treaty with the Germans that took the Russians out of the war in exchange for a large portion of Russian land - made the Bolsheviks fairly unpopular among some groups.

Question 8

When was the Russian Civil War?

Answer 8

1918-1921

Question 9

What was the outcome of the May 1918 soviet elections?

Answer 9

Bolshevik defeat which Lenin just ignored the results.

Question 10

Who were the four main opposition groups to the Bolsheviks in the Civil War (1918-1921)

Answer 10

• The Previous Military Generals from Tsarist Russia
• The SR’s & Anarchists
• The Whites (sponsored by UK, USA & Japan)
• The Greens (peasants)

Question 11

What political system replaced the Sovnarkom during the civil war?

Answer 11

The Politburo which was created in order to have an only-Bolshevik war council that could quickly make decisions and pass laws.

Question 12

What aspect of the Civil war was politically significant in the way that it set the precedent for the Communist Party’s continuous rule?

Answer 12

Lenin / The Bolsheviks banned all other political parties at the start of the civil war in 1918 and had their respective leaders arrested by the Cheka.

Question 13

What aspect of the Civil War started the Greens rebellion?

Answer 13

Grain requisitioning - the oppressive nature of which was what ignited the peasants (the greens) rebellion in the Civil War.

Question 14

Which economic policy was introduced by Lenin in order to appease the peasants?

Answer 14

NEP - new economic policy.

Resulted in the stopping of grain requisitioning to appease the peasants.

Question 15

What was the political significance of NEP?

Answer 15

Due to its capitalist-esque nature, NEP wasnt very popular among some members of the Bolshevik party and so Lenin introduced the resolution on party unity aka the ban on factions along with the policy in 1921.

Question 16

When was NEP introduced and when was it subsequently abolished?

Answer 16

Introduced by Lenin in 1921 and abolished in 1928 by Stalin.

Question 17

When was the Kronstadt mutiny/ rebellion

Answer 17

March 1921

Question 18

Who were the ones rebelling in the Kronstadt rebellion and why was this significant?

Answer 18

Sailors living on the island which was significant as they were key players in helping the Bolsheviks come into power in 1917

Question 19

Why did the sailors in Kronstadt rebel?

Answer 19

They heard news of strikes in Petrograd in Feburary and subsequently went on strike themselves and came up with a list of demands for the Bolsheviks - including things like free elections.

Question 20

What was the outcome of the Kronstadt rebellion?

Answer 20

The Red Army was sent in over the ice to retake the island - over 1000 Soldiers were killed and over 2000 defendants were executed following the capture of the island.