Chapter 3 - Developments between the revolutions of 1917

Question 1

What were Lenin’s 4 demands?

Answer 1

• All power to the soviets
• Peace
  
  • The war should be brought to an immediate end
• Bread
  
  • Food shortages should end
• Land
  
  • All land should be taken over by the state and allocated to the peasants

Question 2

How many members did the Bolshevik Party have in Feb/March 1917?

Answer 2

23,000 (relatively small)

Question 3

How many Bolsheviks were there in the PS in Feb/March 1917?

Answer 3

40

Question 4

What was the policy of the PS and who agreed?

Answer 4

To give support to the PG while protecting worker’s rights

the Bolsheviks agreed

Question 5

How did Lenin travel back to Russia?

Answer 5

Travelled from Switzerland to Russia on a sealed train without passport checks, with help from the German government

The German government hoped Lenin and the Bolsheviks could further destabilise Russia, possibly even pulling them out of the war

The train was sealed to prevent him from causing trouble among Germany’s Marxists on his way through the country

Question 6

Marxist theory and the PS:

“A socialist revolution could only happen after a bourgeois revolution”

What did Lenin belive?

Answer 6

The Russian middle classes were too weak to carry through a revolution; the workers, backed by the peasants, needed to do it

Question 7

Marxist theory and the PS:

“The Russian proletariat was still developing. There was still a long wait, maybe decades, before a socialist revolution could happen”

What did Lenin belive?

Answer 7

Russia was different: the soviets were a ready-made socialist government, and Russia was primed for a socialist revolution

Question 8

Marxist theory and the PS:

“There was no quick way to socialism; Marx had identified natural laws that had to be followed”

What did Lenin belive?

Answer 8

The rest of Europe seemed close to socialist revolution; Russia would surely be supported by socialist neighbours

Question 9

Why did Lenin’s proposals not immediately recieve full support?

Answer 9

Some argued that the Bolsheviks were not yet powerful enough to oppose the PG

Others feared that his radical proposals would do more harm than good

Question 10

How did Lenin gain support?

Answer 10

• Through a mixture of persuasion, compromise, threats of resignation and appeals to the rank and file
• He abandoned his call for immediate overthrow of the PG, helping him to convince those afraid of a civil war
• He sought out supporters at Party and factory meetings
• He claimed credit for social changes already happening (e.g peasant land seizures), helped him appear in control of events

Question 11

What was Lenin’s situation at the end of April?

Answer 11

He’d won over most of the Party’s Central Committee but was still struggling to gain wider support

Question 12

What happened on the 3rd of June?

Answer 12

PS passed a vote of confidence in the PG

Question 13

What were the July Days?

Answer 13

An armed demonstration organised by the sailors from the Kronstadt naval based that spread to the centre of Petrograd, with workers and soldiers joining them

Rising prices & unemployment contributed to the unrest

Question 14

Who was blamed when the July Days demonstrations turned violent?

Answer 14

the Bolsheviks

Question 15

How did the July Days end?

Answer 15

the PG brought in troops to crush the demonstrations

the Mensheviks and SRs of the PS supported the PG

Question 16

What happened as a result of the July Days?

Answer 16

• Bolshevik newspapers shut down
• Lenin and Stalin fled (Lenin to Finland)
• Other Bolshevik leaders (e.g Trotsky) were arrested and imprisoned

Question 17

What happened during the summer and autumn of 1917?

Answer 17

The Bolsheviks became more powerful

Question 18

What was there an increase in in June 1917?

Answer 18

Desertations (following heavy war losses)

Question 19

When did the Kornilov coup take place?

Answer 19

August 1917

Question 20

How did the Kornilov coup unfold?

Answer 20

1. Kornilov orders troops to march on Petrograd, presumably in an attempt to establish a military dictatorship
2. Kerensky panics and allows the Bolsheviks to arm workers
3. Kornilov’s march is stopped and coup leaders are arrested

Question 21

How did landowners and businessmen react to Kornilov’s appointment?

Answer 21

Saw him as saving them from socialism

Question 22

How did the PS react to Kornilov’s appointment?

Answer 22

PS critcised his army discipline and right-wing views.

Question 23

Why did Kerensky appoint Kornilov?

Answer 23

To bring back discipline

Question 24

What was the Bolshevik situation in September?

Answer 24

Had majorities in both the Petrograd and Moscow soviets

Trotsky became Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet on 26th Sept

Question 25

How did membership of the Bolshevik Party change Feb-October?

Answer 25

Feb: 23,000 October: 200,000

Question 26

Why did Bolshevik Party membership increase?

Answer 26

Their policies appeased the soldiers, the workers **and** the peasants, something which the PG failed to do

Question 27

How did the Kornilov coup lead to an increase of support for the Bolsheviks?

Answer 27

* Showed that the revolution was under threat from the Right, just as the Bolsheviks had warned * able to play on this and led the PS to allow Trotsky to create the MRC to protect Petrograd * Bolsheviks could portray themselves as the saviours of the revolution * had an armed wing of 10,000 Red Guards as a result * Kerensky weakened by coup (had appointed him himself and relied on Bolsheviks to deal with him)

Question 28

How did land redistribution lead to an increase of support for the Bolsheviks?

Answer 28

* the PG had pushed back land redistribution until a Constituent Assembly could be elected * Bolsheviks promised land for the peasants

Question 29

How did WW1 lead to an increase of support for the Bolsheviks?

Answer 29

* the war was still continuing and the June Offensive had failed * Bolsheviks promised an immediate end to the war

Question 30

How did food supplies lead to an increase in support for the Bolsheviks?

Answer 30

* the PG failed to improve food supplies to cities and prices far higher than wages * Bolsheviks promised to end food shortages

Question 31

What position did Kamenev and Zinoviev hold?

Answer 31

they were leading members of the Bolshevik Central Committee

Question 32

What did Kamenev and Zinoviev think of Lenin's demands that the Bolsheviks get ready to seize power?

Answer 32

they disagreed with him They feared Russia was not economically ready for a revolution and didn't want to act until after a Constituent Assembly had been called

Question 33

What did Trotsky think of Lenin's demands that the Bolsheviks get ready to seize power?

Answer 33

Agreed with Kamenev and Zinoviev Believed an armed uprising could be avoided if the Bolsheviks became the leading socialist party at the Congress of Soviets which was planned for the 26th of October

Question 34

Why did Lenin return to Russia?

Answer 34

He was frustrated by the resistance to his plans

Question 35

When did Lenin return to Russia?

Answer 35

October 1917

Question 36

What did Lenin do when he returned to Russia?

Answer 36

Eventually convinced the Central Committee that 'an armed uprising is the order of the day'

Question 37

How did Kamenev and Zinoviev respond to Lenin's return?

Answer 37

They still refused to support his plan

Question 38

Why did Lenin put Trotsky in charge of organising the seizure of power?

Answer 38

His strong organisational skills

Question 39

How did Trotsky organise the seizure of power?

Answer 39

He gathered the Red Guard militias at Bolshevik headquarters and sent Commissars to get the loyalty of Petrograd's garrisons

Question 40

When was the MRC established?

Answer 40

16th October

Question 41

How many people did the MRC control?

Answer 41

- 200,000 Red Guards - 60,000 Baltic sailors - 150,000 soldiers of the remaining Petrograd garrison units

Question 42

Why was Lenin's return a turning point for the Party?

Answer 42

His April Theses gave the Party a new focus that made it more popular

Question 43

How did grain prices in Petrograd change?

Answer 43

Doubled Feb-June

Question 44

Factories and jobs

Answer 44

Shortages of fuel and raw materials forced the closure of 586 factories and the loss of 100,000 jobs