Russia Topic 4 - Consolidation of Power + Civil War

Question 1

1917 decrees

Answer 1

decree on peace: 1st treaty announced oct 1917, distributed in little booklets, lenin decreed all countries should seek peace, ordered a peace with germany
decree on land: private ownership of rural land was illegal, all belonged to the state - 500 mil acres taken and given to peasants

Question 2

Consolidation of Power

Answer 2

decrees…..
food into cities, banks nationalised and factories placed under control of elected soviets, Okhrana replaced with cheka and all non-bolshevik newspapers banned (censorship)

Question 3

Closure of Constituent assembly

Answer 3

elections in nov 1917, lenin forced as railway workers threatened to shut down railways if not
Bolsheviks got 175 seats, whilst socialist revolutionaries got 410
bolshevik response - results rejected, said CA was threat to revolution, sent red guard to close it down

Question 4

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

Answer 4

dec 1917 trotsky sent, initially tried to stall negotiations and hope for revolutions in europe but didn’t, then said russia would stop fighting but wouldn’t pay land, he then walked out but returned and signed it
The treaty:
Russia lost ukraine and other land like caucuses and Finland
Lost 27% farming land
300 mil gold rubles reperations

Question 5

Reds in Civil Waar

Answer 5

Trotsky appointed commissar for war and created red army
deserters executed, compulsory military service in may 1918, in 1921 5.4 mil men in red army
Battles - june 1919 red army forced retreat of white army into eastern russia, nov 1920, red army defeated white army

Question 6

Whites in Civil War

Answer 6

army made of 4 different groups including socialist revolutionaries and ultra-conservatives, 4 main white armies attacking from each part of russia,
events - foreign powers supported whites, Britain sent £100 mil
may 1918 Czech Legion joined whites and took sections of trans-siberian railway
in oct 1919 white army forces nearly reached petrograd before they were pushed back
nov 1920 defeated

Question 7

Bolshevik Victory of Civil war

Answer 7

Weakness of whites - divided (different groups) - hard to coordinate attacks
supproted by foreign powers - good but portrayed them as traitors which decreased popularity
Strengths of reds - red controlled central area, most of pop - could be conscripted, red army 5 mil compared to 250k for whites
Trotsky good leader and used war train to move to different fronts