communist government

• The Bolsheviks


  Established in 1903, seized power in the 1917 October Revolution, became the communist party in 1925.
• The October Revolution


  Disguised as a worker's uprising, overthrew the provisional government.
• How many members did the communist party have in 1917?

  300,000
• Who were the SRs and the Mensheviks?

  Opposing political groups to the Bolsheviks.
• How did the Bolsheviks establish a one-party state by 1921?


  removed the vote from the bourgeoisie class and restricted other party newspapers.
• Which political group walked out of the government in 1918?

  The Mensheviks
• What did Lenin say about the Mensheviks and the SRs in April 1921?

  The place for Mensheviks and SRs is prison
• What was the treaty that pulled Russia out of WWI?

  Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
• What countries did Russia lose control over as a result of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?

  Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Finland and Ukraine
• Which groups opposed the treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918)?


  Conservatives and military officers
• What did Britain, France, USA and Japan do to aid the whites in 1918 and why?

  Sent arms, money and troops to ensure the whites won and Russia rejoined the war.
• Why did the Bolsheviks pull Russia out of WWI?

  Internal conflict had to be sorted
• What were the dates of the Russian Civil War?

  November 1917-October 1922
• Who did the white opposition consist of?

  Tsarists, Liberals, Military leaders, SRs and Mensheviks
• What were the key successes of the Reds in the Civil War?

  -Good political, economic and military organisation

  -Trotsky was an effective Commissar for War

  -Trotsky turned the Bolsheviks into an effective fighting machine

  -Red Guard and old Tsarist forces made up the army

  -Conscription was introduced

  -Reds had 5 million soldiers

  -Bolsheviks controlled economy and allocation of resources

  - Large nationalisation of industry ensured resources

  - War communism

  -Bolsheviks actively believed what they were fighting for

  -Land decree of 1917 held peasant support
• What were the white failures in the Civil war?

  -Only united by a common enemy

  -Cooperation was limited

  -Corruption and inefficiency meant that ally resources were wasted.
• What were the key impacts of the Civil War?

  - Encouraged Bolsheviks to adapt a highly authoritarian approach

  -Bolsheviks became highly centralised

  -Power was firmly in the hands of the Sovarkom and Politburo

  -Bolsheviks used terror against their opponents setting the tone for the development of the party

  -Bolshevik supporters became ruthless and didn't buckle under pressure or think twice about using force or terror
• When was the 10th Party Congress?

  March 1921
• What were the main focuses of the 10th party congress in 1921?

  dealing with divisions in the party and the introduction of 'On Party Unity' as party membership had grown to 730,000 by 1921
• What events had caused unrest in the lead up to the 10th Party congress?

  The Kronstadt Mutiny and the Tambov Rising
• What happened during the Kronstadt mutiny (1921)?


  sailors at a naval base rose up against the government

  it was put down by the red army

  the sailors had previously supported the bolsheviks
• What was the Tambov Rising (1920-21)?


  bolsheviks arrived to requisition grain and spontaneously peasants put together a 'green army'

  50,000 Bolshevik troops were needed to put it down
• What was 'On Party Unity'?

  A ban on the formation of factions within the Party

  the punishment was expulsion
• What were the key apparatus of the Bolshevik government?

  The Sovnarkom, The General Executive committee and the all Russian Congress of Soviets
• What was the Key apparatus of the Party?

  Politburo, Central Committee, Party Congress and Local Party Branches
• What was the Sovnarkom?

  Cabinet of 20 top government ministers who were elected by the central committee

  They met on a daily basis in the civil war
• What was the Central Executive Committee?

  A larger group elected by the Congress of Soviets, its was supposed to oversee the work of the government and its admin
• What was the All Russian Congress of Soviets?

  Supreme law-making body of the state, all laws had to be approved by them
• What was the Politburo?


  7-9 leading members of the Bolshevik party elected by the party central committee

  took over the central committee and met daily under Lenin

  became more important than the Sovnarkom
• What was the Party Central Committee?

  30-40 members chosen by party congress

  was supposed to make key decisions but its power was delegated to the politburo
• What was the Party Congress?

  local representatives of party branches, discussed the party programme and had fierce debates until 'On party unity' was enforced

  declined in influence after the 10th party congress

  met yearly until 1926
• What were local party branches?

  local branches headed by a party secretary, could be very powerful in key cities
• What was Democratic Centralism?

  The Bolshevik idea that decisions in the party should be made by party leaders and passed down to local levels

  This meant that the Bolsheviks didn't need to be responsive to demands of the prolateriat.
• What happened as a result of the growing centralisation of power?

  Apparatus of the state was in party hands, party leadership had rigid control over structure and members.

  During the civil war power was handed upwards to the politburo and the system stayed as people were unwilling to give their power up.
• What was the extent of Lenin's personal power?

  He was officially the chair of the Sovnarkom and a Politburo member

  1919 he dismissed all suggestions of a personal dictatorship as 'utter nonsense'

  He had considerable personal influence and would threaten to resign over key decisions e.g. brest-litovsk
• How many members fif the communist party have in 1924?


  1 Million
• What system developed in 1921 to organise the party and ensure loyalty?

  The Nomenklatura system
• What was the Nomanklatura system?


  involved the drawing up of lists of approved party employees - if people were disloyal to the party they would be removed
• What was the key issue with the Nomenklatura system?

  Administrators began to form their own self serving social class instead of aiming to benefit the industrial prolateriat
• What was the soviet constitution of 1924?


  A document which legally secured the equality of all the USSR nations and was fully dedicated to the principles of building the first socialist union based on the dictatorship of the prolatriat