Chapter 4 and 5

• By 1917, peasants, town workers and the urban middle classes were discontented with the way that Russia was governed by the tsarist regime (authoritarian rule).
• The purges had a significant impact on Soviet society, leading to the loss of many talented individuals and contributing to the decline of the country.
• The loss of military leadership and experience due to the purges significantly weakened the armed forces and was a significant setback when Germany invaded Russia in 1941.
• The Provisional Government was also determined to continue with the war.
• The February Revolution of 1917 succeeded in forcing the abdication of the tsar.
• After the abdication, Russia became a republic.
• The Provisional Government’s first acts included releasing political and religious prisoners, promising full democratic freedom, ending the death penalty, taking over land belonging to the tsar, and transferring power to zemstvos.
• The abdication of the tsar marked the end of the Russian Empire, which had no real functioning government.
• The Provisional Government was set up with the approval of the Petrograd Soviet.
• The Petrograd Soviet agreed to support the Provisional Government if eight principles were followed: amnesty for all political prisoners, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, right to strike, no privileges of class, religion or nationality, elections for a Constituent Assembly, elected people’s militia to replace all police units, local government to be elected, military units that took part in the revolution to stay together, keep weapons and not be sent to the front, off-duty soldiers to have same rights as citizens.
• The Duma Committee, formed by Duma deputies, set up the Provisional Government.
• The Provisional Government was made up of politicians from a mix of parties, but most were either liberals or radical SRs.
• Labour was conscripted under War Communism, meaning the government forced people to work.
• War Communism was introduced in 1918 and put the Russian economy under government control.
• Opposition to War Communism continued and increased, for example, the Kronstadt Mutiny.
• Industrial production was targeted at meeting military needs under War Communism, meaning production for consumers was not a priority.
• War Communism meant that everything in the economy was geared to meeting the needs of the military first.
• The sailors were sick of War Communism, the way the Bolsheviks requisitioned food, the Red Terror and the lack of political freedom.
• People’s rights and freedoms were restricted under War Communism: strikes were banned and any suspected political opposition was dealt with by the Cheka, which is known as the Red Terror.
• The Kronstadt sailors rebelled against the Soviet government on 28 February 1921.
• The sailors of Kronstadt fought in the February Revolution, the July Days and the October Revolution.
• Peasants were not allowed to sell their crops under War Communism and the Cheka requisitioned their crops for a fixed low price, leaving the peasants a small amount for their own needs.
• Money was abolished and people were paid in kind under War Communism, meaning they were paid in goods and services rather than in cash.
• Industries were nationalised and given production targets by the government under War Communism.
• As a result of War Communism, peasants tried to hide their grain and those suspected of hoarding grain were shot.
• The Cheka helped the Bolsheviks keep hold of power in Russia by arresting and executing opponents.
• The experience of civil war transformed the Bolsheviks’ attitude to ruling Russia.
• War Communism: introduced by Lenin to tackle the economic crisis, the Red Army – conscription built the army up to a powerful fighting force of over 5 million soldiers, Trotsky led the Red Army and reintroduced discipline, making it an effective and unified fighting force, control of most of Russia’s industries (for weapons) and railways, and tactical alliances that meant not having to fight everyone at once.
• The Civil War, 1918–21, was a result of the Bolsheviks’ territorial losses from the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, nationalists and conservatives’ opposition to the Bolsheviks’ plans for a workers’ and peasants’ Russia, former moderates, Mensheviks and some SRs’ opposition to the Bolshevik dictatorship, the Bolsheviks’ enemies, the ‘Czech Legion’, nationalities within the old Russian Empire wanting to break away from Russian control, monarchists wanting to reinstate the tsar, and the Bolsheviks’ increasing control through Sovnarkom, the Council of People’s Commissars.
• The reasons for the Bolshevik victory in the Civil War included the strength of the Bolsheviks, the role of Trotsky, lack of foreign intervention and the weaknesses of the Whites.
• The Bolsheviks formed the Red Army and were opposed by the Whites, an alliance of anti-Bolshevik groups.
• The Bolsheviks used terror tactics to ensure control, harsh discipline to ensure obedience, ideological victory, centralised control, and feared foreign invasion.
• The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a major cause of the Civil War.
• Admiral Kolchak led a White army from the east but was beaten by the Red Army in 1919, General Yudenich led a White army from the west, nearly capturing Petrograd, but was defeated by the Red Army in October 1919, and the Red Army also fought a Green army made up of peasants and others looking for freedom from government control.
• The Provisional Government failed to provide more land for the peasants.
• Zemstvos: local councils.
• Alexander Kerensky was a member of both the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet and liaised between them.
• Kerensky was War Minister when the Provisional Government decided to attack German and Austrian forces in June 1917, which became known as the June Offensive and was a disaster, with 200 000 Russian casualties and further losses of Russian territory.
• The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk consolidated Bolshevik power, as it gave them control over a large area of former Russian territory.
• General Kornilov attempted to seize power during the time of unrest.