Russia Key Vocab

• April Theses- Lenin's outline of policies to be followed by the Bolsheviks after his return from exile in April 1917.
• all-Russian congress of Soviets- a meeting of delegates from soviets throughout Russia to decide on the policies to be adopted
• Armistice- An agreement to stop fighting.
• Attrition Welfare- Where no progress is made by either side during a war but where both sides continue to wear each other down until one gives away.
• Autocracy- Rule by an absolute sovereign using the power inherited from parents- and in the case of tsars, believed to have been granted by god.
• Belligerent Countries- Those countries that had been directly involved in the first world war
• Bloody Sunday-On Jan 1905 a group of demonstrators marching on the winter Palace, led by Father Gapon, were shot at by soldiers. Over 200 people were killed and about 800 injured.
• Bolsheviks- Members of the majority faction of the Russian Social democratic Party.
• Bourgeois- Of, or the characteristics of the middle class (professionals, merchants and business people)
• Cheka- introduced by the Bolsheviks in december 1917. Its main aim was to prevent the growth of counter-revolutionary movements.
• Comintern- Comintern, or the Communist International body, was established in March 1918 to spread Communism overseas.
• Consolidate- to join together resources. In this context, smallholdings were granted that were equivalent to the area of the strips farmed under the old way of farming.
• Constituent assembly- An assembly of politicians who would be elected by the 'people'
• Constitutional Monarchy- A government that is organised and administered according to a set of written rules (constitution) but one that retains a monarch as a figurehead.
• Consumer Industries- Industries that produced goods to improve the standard of living for workers.
• Cossacks- Peoples of southern Russia, Ukraine, and Siberia, renowned for their military prowess and horsemanship.
• Czech Legion- was largely composed of Czechs fighting for the Allied cause on the Eastern front in the First World War. Their attempt to leave via Viadivostock was stopped and they rose up against the Bolsheviks.
• De Facto- Rules as a matter of fact rather than rules gained by legal means.
• Dekulakisation- The process by which the alleged wealthier class of Russian peasants, known as Kulaks were eradicated.
• Democratic Centralism- Under the Bolsheviks, the people agreed to be led by a cadre (group of key personnel) based in Moscow until a genuine workers' government could be put in place.
• Denationalisation- To transfer ownership, usually of industry, from the public (government) sector to the private sector.
• Diktat- An order given by those in power, something that is non-negotiable.
• Dogma- A set of principles set down by an authority that is difficult to challenge.
• Duma- An elected imperial parliament but with a restricted franchise (only a narrow range of people could vote for representatives)
• Economic autarky- When a country can provide all the resources it needs without having to trade.
• Fundamental Laws of 1906- Regulations that reinforceds the position of the tsar.
• Gold standard- The fixing of a country's currency to a specific quantity (and therefore a value) of gold.
• Gosplan- A group set up in 1921 to plan for industrialisation and economic growth.
• Great Powers- Britain, France, Russia, Germany.
• Gulags- Labour camps used mainly to house political dissidents and those suspected of being anti-communist.
• Izvestiia- an official newspaper of the Bolshevik party
• Komintern- The international communist movement founded in Moscow in 1919.
• Kolkhozes- Collective farms established during Stalin's first five year plan.
• Mensheviks- Members of the Russian Social Democratic Worker Party who believed in gradual change rather than revolution.
• 'july days'- A month of protests and strikes against the war and the ineffectual policies of the provisional government.
• Justice of the Peace- Landowners appointed as officials to maintain law and order at a local level
• kulaks- fairly wealthy peasants who employed hired labour or possessed farm machinery.
• Land to the peasants- a propaganda campaign that promised land issue (fairer distribution of land) would be resolved in the favour of peasants
• Land Captains- Landowners, who were appointed from 1889 onwards, mainly to supervise the work of the regional councils, or zemstva
• leading cadres- the top members of the communist party responsible for organising and educating the masses.