Russia Topic 4: Bolshevik Consolidation of Power and the Civil War Flashcards
(16 cards)
Communist Government of 1917
- 15 B
- 1922 became USSR
- Lenin made Cheka (secret police) under Dzerzhinsky
- 1918 50k opponents executed
Decree on Peace
Consolidation - Promises made by Lenin
- announced 26th October
- promised end to war
- wanted peace with G without giving up territory or paying compensation
- eventually Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed
When was the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?
3rd March 1918
Terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Russia withdrew from war, but they lost:
- 62m people
- Ukraine, Polish and Baltic territories, Caucasus and FInland
- lost 26% of railway mileage
- 27% of farming land
- 74% of iron and coal industries
- forced to pay 300m gold rubles
Decree on Land
Consolidation - Promises made by Lenin
- announced 26th Oct
- made private ownership of land illegal
- all land (including that owned Tsar, private landlords and the Church) belonged to the state
- 500m acres of land redistributed to peasants
Workers’ Rights
Consolidation - Promises made by Lenin
- Decree on Work: 8hr working day and max of 48 hours per week
- Decree on Unemployment: employment insurance for injuries, illness and unemployment, pensions introduced
- Decree on Workers’ Control: all factories controlled by workers’ soviets
Other measures
Consolidation
- food supply to cities prioritised
- Church lost all land and power
- marriage was a civil not religious matter
- divorce and abortion legalised
- non-B newspapers banned, Cheka formed
Constituent Assembly: Events and Results
- Nov 1917
- forced into by railway workers threatening to shut down railway system
- B got 175 but SRs got 410 (majority of pop. were peasants)
Constituent Assembly: Response to the Results
- met in Jan 1918
- CPC proposed that CA pass all their decrees
- rejected by a majority of >100 votes
- L sent in Red Guard to close CA down
- L dissolved CA
- all opposition parties banned
- leaders of opposition parties arrested
- no more democratic elections until collapse of communism in 1991
Response to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
- shameful
- food shortages worsened
- June 1918 1m left Petrograd, workeres reduced 60%
- major cause of CW
Opposition within Russia as a cause of Civil War
- political opposition like SRs, Mensheviks, and supporters of the Tsar
- anger at Brest-Litovsk
- opposition became Whites
- wanted a western style government
Opposition outside Russia / abroad as a cause of Civil War
- Allies angry about Brest-Litovsk
- West worried about communism spreading
- Japan sent 70k troops to Siberia
- Britain sent £100m to Whites
Why were the Allies angry about the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?
- angry Russia made peace with Germany
- hoped Whites would overthrow Bolsheviks to get Russia back into the war
Trotsky’s Miltiary Genius
Why were the Reds victorious in the Civil War?
- March 1918 Commissar for War
- brilliant organiser
- used 50k formers Tsarist officers
- kept a register of wives and families to ensure loyalty incase of treachery
- harsh military discipline
- armoured train to go between battlezones to raise morale by putting himself in danger
Weaknesses of the Whites
Why were the Reds victorious in the Civil War?
- consisted of all groups opposing Reds, including ultra-conservative, SRs, etc
- no clear goals
- 4 main White armies led by competing leaders lacked communication and coordination; mutual distrust
- from Siberia: ADM Kolchak
- Estonia: GEN Yudenich
- South: GEN Deniken
- Samara: People’s Army of Komuch
- only controlled fringes of the Russian Empire with different nationalities and different loyalties
- supported by foreign powers, viewed as traitors inviting foreigners to Russia
Reds
Why were the Reds victorious in the Civil War?
- controlled central areas
- more people, railway, industry and weapons
- May 1918 compulsory mil. service
- at any time Red Army was 10x White army
- in 1921 had 5.4m in Red Army
- Whites never had 250k altogether
