lenin + bolsheviks

• what power did the provisional government have

  • only seen as temporary until elections
  • formed from duma representatives
  • dominated by liberals + revolutionaries
• what power did petrograd soviet have

  • made order 1 (PG and PS had to agree)
  • had support of workers and soldiers
  • controlled railways, power + factories
  • didn't feel russia was ready for a revolution
• provisional gov + the war

  • continued the war (avoid high reparations)
  • "kerensky offensive" - june 1917, disaster
  • summer 1917: 2 million soldiers ran away
  • 568 factories closed, 100,000 jobs lost
• provisional gov + land

  • put off decision about land redistribution until after elections
  • peasants start seizing land
  • soldiers using force to take from nobles
  • government looks weak as can't control
• provisional gov + unrest

  • food shortages, unemployment, high prices
  • grain seizures continued, price increased 100%
  • peasants unhappy
  • famine, wanted to end war
• what was the april theses

  • all power to the soviets
  • no cooperation with PG
  • 2nd revolution needed to destroy capitalism
  • "peace, bread, land"
  • increased support for bolsheviks among army and peasants
  • published after lenin returns from exile in switzerland, sent by germans
• what was july days

  • failure of kerensky offensive caused riots
  • workers, sailors, soldiers took to streets
  • troops from PG sent
  • Lenin accused of being bribed by Germany
  • Lenin flees to Finland
• what was the kornilov affair

  • kerensky makes kornilov army leader
  • kornilov attempts a coup and marches to moscow
  • kerensky gives weapons to bolsheviks to help
  • kornilov's troops refuse to fight soviet, red guards keep guns
  • bolsheviks gained popularity for 'saving' the city
  • PG looks very weak
• november 1917 revolution

  • bolsheviks control petrograd soviet
  • nov 6 - trotsky, red guards, Kronstadt sailors take control of post offices, bridges, banks
  • nov 7 - winter palace stormed (women's death battalion - very little resistance) + kerensky escapes
  • nov 8 - bolsheviks announce PG overthrown
• why were bolsheviks able to seize power in 1917?

  1. provisional government were weak (needed support of PS, temporary, middle class)
  2. provisional governments made mistakes (war, land, armed red guard)
  3. bolsheviks very well organised (april theses, trotsky good leader, soldier + sailors support)
  4. bolsheviks helped by events out of their control (war went bad, kornilov affair, bad living conditions)
• bolsheviks and the war

  • lenin negotiates treaty of brest-litovsk with germany (lost 34% population, 54% industry, 89% coal mines)
• bolsheviks and the land

  • land taken from tsar, church + nobles and given to peasants
• bolsheviks and people

  • 8h day, 48h week
  • accident + illness insurance
  • women declared equal
• bolsheviks and opponents

  • cheka (secret police) arrested and killed
  • non-bolshevik papers banned
  • constituent assembly abolished
• bolsheviks won civil war due to their strengths

  • held central areas + moscow + petrograd railways
  • had one aim - keep bolsheviks in power
  • Trotsky was very strong leader
  • conscription
  • 50,000 tsarist officers
  • peasants fought for them
• bolsheviks won civil war due to white weaknesses

  • 3 armies scattered over large area
  • different aims (tsar, liberal, revoutionaries)
  • lacked a leader, no trust, no coordination
  • received help from GB and US (seen as puppets of west)
  • peasants didn't support
• why was war communism unpopular (1918-1921)

  • factories taken over by gov
  • food rationed
  • free enterprise illegal
  • peasants had to hand over grain surplus
  • cheka seized grain
  • opposition shot
  • food shortages = 7 million deaths
• what was kronstadt uprising (1921)

  • sailors demanded 15 changes, new elections + civil liberties
  • trotsky sent red guards
  • thousands died or in labour camps
  • lenin realises war communism needs to change
• main features of NEP

  • stopped grain requisitioning
  • peasants could sell surplus for profit
  • small factories returned to owners (large industries remain state controlled)
  • foreign trade allowed
• successes of NEP:

  • people more happy with wages, culture and economy
  • by 1926, production levels returned to 1913 levels
  • nepmen made huge profits
  • electrification modernised Soviet Union
• failures of NEP

  • kulaks did really well, but most remained poor
  • manufactured good made too expensive for peasants
  • many communists annoyed about capitalistic features
  • resentment of nepmen