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| Frage | Antworten |
| Describe the long-term and short-term causes of the Russian Revolution (1917). | LONG-TERM: A. Poverty of the peasantry. B. Living conditions for workers in the cities. C. Undemocratic government = the rule of the Tsar. SHORT-TERM: A. The impact of WWI. B. The fragility of the autocracy = the rule of the Tsar. C. The "monk-factor" - Rasputin. |
| Describe important events during 1917-1918. | 1. The revolution in February 1917 and the abdication of the Tsar (March 1917). 2. The creation of the Provisional Government (PG) and the Soviets. 3. Lenin's return in April (April Thesis). 4. Bolshevik attempt to seize power in June 1917. 5. General Kornilov's attack in August 1917. 6. The October revolution. 7. The Bolshevik government and the new laws. 8. November elections. 9. January 1918: The elected Constituent Assembly was dissolved by Red Guards. 10. March 1918: The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. |
| Describe the reasons for the success of the Bolshevik coup d'etat in October 1917 ("Weaknesses of Kerensky", "Strengths of the Bolsheviks" and "Other factors"). | * Weaknesses of Kerensky: - Continued the war (WWI), - Put off reforms, - Soldiers deserting, - Attacked by Tsarist generals. * Strengths of Bolsheviks: - Lenin's leadership, - Armed Red Guards, - Support of Soviets, - Promises of "bread, peace and land", - "Clean hands". * Other factors: - Law and order collapsing, - Peasants seizing land, - Strikes, - Food prices high. |
| How did people in Russia react to the declaration of war? Why was St. Petersburg renamed? | The people accepted the Tsar and he gained more popularity than at any other time in his reign. The students were patriotic. St. Petersburg was renamed to Petrograd because the former sounded "too German" and the Germans were now the enemy. |
| "Three interrelating factors... contributing to the last collapse of Tsarist prestige." Describe the first one. | War and autocracy: Failures in the war. Different political parties wanted a political dialog with the government. The Duma vs. government (the Tsar's regime). |
| "Three interrelating factors... contributing to the last collapse of Tsarist prestige." Describe the second one. | Nicholas II made himself Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. He was then responsible for all future military disasters. In 1915 he left the hands of the government to Rasputin and the Tsarinna Alexandra. |
| "Three interrelating factors... contributing to the last collapse of Tsarist prestige." Describe the third one. | The "monk factor" = Rasputin. When Nicholas was gone, Rasputin was the main influence upon the deeply religious Empress. The "ministerial leapfrog" took place, in which 16 ministers in 16 months were exchanged, and 4 of which were prime ministers (political instability while Russia was fighting WWI!). |
| How did the war affect the army? (Impact of the war is perhaps the most important factor to the revolution). | Deep effect on the army. 5.3. million Russians were mobilized, but that was the only advantage. There were only two rifles for every three soldiers. In total: 16 million men saw war. It was a disaster and catastrophe for the army! They fought an impossible war. Early 1917: 1.6 million dead, 3.9 million wounded and 2.4 million taken war prisoner --> total of 7.9 million Russians! |
| How did the war affect the daily life of the Russian population? | Locomotive production was halved between 1913 and 1916. Only 67 new engines were completed in 1916. Fuel shortages was another problem and there was constant railway interference. The communication and distribution of railway didn't work. There were rations on the food and food shortages in the big cities. |
| Account for the strikes between 1910-1914 (up to July) in Russia. | 1910: 222 strikes. 1911: 466 strikes. 1912: 2032 strikes. 1913: 2404 strikes. 1914 (up to July): 4098 strikes. (--> Russia heading to revolution WITHOUT war impact). |
| Account for the men mobilized in the army (in millions) between 1914-1917. | 1914: 5 million. 1915: 10 million. 1916: 15 million. 1917: 35 million. |
| What did the Tsar answer to the Progressive Bloc and their demands in 1915? | He dismissed the Duma on September 15, 1915 (this was the 3rd Duma). The Duma had, consisting of the Progressive Block (Kadets, Octobrists and Progressists) had a bitter reaction to the war, and the army suffering. They were also mad that there was not enough food. |
| How did the revolution start (notice the words of the historian Chamberlain)? What can we say about the importance of the army (notice how the difference between 1905 and 1917 is described)? | "The collapse of the Romanov autocracy was one of the most leaderless, spontaneous, anonymous revolutions of all time." - Chamberlain. The decisive anti-Tsarist factor was the armed forces. The major difference between the events of 1917 and those of 1905 lay in the attitude of the Petrograd garrison. |
| Why did the Tsar finally abdicate (March 1917)? | * His generals in the army gave up the support for him and encouraged him to resign. They no longer had any faith in him. * The Duma demanded more reforms, which Nicholas refused. "Curse the Duma" was Nicholas attitude towards the national assembly. |
| The problem was now that Russia had two political bodies which governed the country: the Soviets and the Provisional Government. What was each body responsible for? This has been referred to as "Dual power". | Soviets: Most of the practical power (post, railway and telegraph services), i.e. local power. Provisional Government: "The P.G. possesses no real power and its orders are executed only if these were permitted by the Soviet and Soldiers Deputies." - Guchkov. The P.G. held national powers, in national policies. The P.G. were not elected. |
| How was the Provisional Government created? | Formed by the Provisional Committee of the State Duma - first led by Prince Georg Lvov and then by Alexander Kerensky. |
| How were the Soviets created? | By a spontaneous action of workers and soldiers on March 12, 1917 in Petrograd. |
| Which political groups controlled these two bodies? | Provisional Government: Kadets and Octobrists. Soviets: Trudovnik, Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries (not yet Bolsheviks). |
| Name the most important points in the new policy of the government. | - Complete amnesty for all political prisoners. - Total political and religious freedom. - The promise of elections to a constituent assembly (postponed elections)! - Poland's right to independence. - Capital punishment abolished. - Satisfying the peasants' age-old demand for land! --> Postponed land reform due to the war. Questions arose: "Where should we take the land from?" "What land?" "Should we register the land?" --> Complicated and difficult to solve. - They decided to continue the war! |
| What happened in Galicia (Poland) in July 1917? | The Kerensky Offensive, the last Russian offensive in World War I, trying to win over Germany. It was aimed at proving the government's worth to allies and Russians alike, ended in the retreat of demoralized and under-equipped forces over a large area. It led to a collapse of the Russian army. |
| What happened at Kronstadt in July 1917? (Was it a rising led by the Bolsheviks?) | Different historians claim different things: - Soviet writers: Events were spontaneous and not a Bolshevik coup. - Western commentators + Daniel Shub: It was a planned coup from Bolsheviks leaders. It was a revolt in Kronstadt (Finland today), some argue that it was the first Bolshevik attempt to seize power (the sailors were Bolsheviks), while some argue that the sailors picked up Bolshevik policies. The government thought it was a coup d' etat by the Bolsheviks. It was a major unsuccessful uprising. |
| Account for the Kornilov revolt in August 1917? Why did the Bolsheviks become popular after this revolt? | In August 1917, a Russian General, Lavr Kornilov, made an attempt to seize power for himself. His army advanced on Petrograd, with the Provisional Government under the leadership of Alexander Kerensky, seemingly powerless to stop him. This gave an opportunity for the Bolsheviks to take the lead in the saving of Petrograd from Kornilov. The Bolsheviks also organized strikes by railway workers which led to chaos to Kornilov's supplies and communications (they did this when they/the Bolsheviks were freed from prison). The Kornilov revolt collapsed and the Bolsheviks were credited as "saving the revolution from happening". The government decided to arm the Bolsheviks and 4000 rifles were handed out to the Bolshevik Red Guards. |
| What was Lenin's contribution before 1917? (Notice what happened in 1903). | In 1903, the Social Democrats Party split, and the Bolsheviks were born. The Bolshevik's leader was Lenin. He lived in Switzerland, in exile, and was in opposition to the government. |
| When Lenin had returned in April 1917, he found the Bolsheviks in Russia, in a "sad state" - why? | They were only 26.000 members and were in a minority in the Petrograd government. They were divided in how they should support the Provisional Government. |
| Using your own knowledge of Marxism, can you see any reason for Marxists to support the Provisional Government? (What did Marx think about the historical development?). | Marx: Towards a socialist society, there has to be a period of capitalism, which there was, until the revolution of the urban proletariat took place. The Marxists didn't like the Provisional Government and capitalism, but they had to be there for a period according to Marx and thus, they had to rule for a while. Lenin believed in a revolution before the one that Marx predicted. |
| In what way did the Germans "support" the Bolsheviks? | Lenin disrupted the Russian war effort, which was beneficial for Germany as they were fighting a war on two fronts. The Germans allegedly supported the Bolsheviks with money for Lenin's trip to Russia, which led to a substantial economic advantage over their revolutionary rivals. Lenin was smuggled into Russia through Germany using secret trains. |
| Account for Lenin's "April Theses". | "Bread, peace and land". Bread = workers. Peace = soldiers. Land = peasants. The "April Theses" was a complete rejection of the cooperation between the Soviet and the Provisional Government. The ten points included: - an appeal for an immediate end to the war, - total withdrawal of support from the government, - socialization of the economy, - the transfer of all state power to the Soviets. |
| What did the Bolshevik leaders do after the July revolt? | After the July revolt, Bolshevik support grew for both negative and positive reasons. Among the negative reasons were the collapse of the government's military offensive, the reaction of Petrograd workers to the Kornilov Affair, and the suspicion that Kerensky might be willing to abandon Petrograd to the advancing Germans. The government attempted to arrested leaders such as Lenin, Zinoviev and Kamenev. They had to hide, live in exile, else they would be killed. |
| How did the support for the Bolsheviks change in 1917? Give some reasons which explain this change. | By August 1917, the party had 200.000 members. When the Petrograd Soviet was re-elected in September 1917, the Bolsheviks held a majority of seats for the first time - a success repeated in Moscow and elsewhere. A reason for this success were the Bolshevik promises to tackle the questions of land and of peace and the growing support for the party among the Petrograd factory Soviets. |
| Describe the October coup. (Both Zinoviev and Kamenev, two famous Bolshevik leaders who helped Stalin later to outmaneuver Trotsky as a successor of Lenin, but were killed by Stalin during the purges, opposed Lenin's plan for a coup in October. What was Lenin's argument for a coup d'état in October?) | It took over a month for Lenin to convince the party as a whole that the circumstances to bid for power was right. The revolution was an extremely skillful military coup d'etat directed predominately by Trotsky. Key positions such as railway stations, telephone exchanges, banks and post offices were seized by "Red Guards" with a distinct lack of opposition from their opponents. |
| What's the main difference between the coup in February and October, 1917? | February: - Spontaneous discontent. - Against the Tsar, Nicholas II. "Spontaneous, leaderless revolution from below." October: - Deliberate actions of a tightly-knit group of revolutionary leaders. - Lenin decided that it was time for a revolution (against the society). |
| Who was it formally, according to Lenin, who seized power in October 1917? | According to Lenin, it was the Soviets, which consisted of Mensheviks, Social revolutionaries, and, of course, Bolsheviks. |
| The Coup was Lenin's idea, but who was the "director"? Why wasn't it Lenin? | The "director" was predominately Trotsky. It wasn't Lenin because he was in Finland, hiding. He came back right before the coup. |
| Explain different interpretations about the "main explanation" to the Bolshevik seizure of power. | Karensky, the last Prime Minister of the Provisional Government, accused those who "betrayed" the government, most notably Kornilov. The official Soviet explanation is the party's mastery of Marxist theory (normally Marxists don't pay attention to individuals and their importance for historical change. It's the economy, which is the basis, and it's the economy which determines what kind of system you have in the society. So, ideologically, the importance of Lenin must be played down even though a cult of personality developed around Lenin after the revolution...) In the West, it's easier to say or to see how important individuals can be in history. According to E. H. Carr: "the triumph of the party [...] was due to Lenin!" |
| In October 1917, the communists seized power and Lenin was the new ruler. What problems did they did with? | - Industrial production was badly disrupted. - Some industrial plants closed. - Inflation. - The army came closer to disintegration --> major social and economic problems. - How to get out of the war. - How to establish political control. - How to implement a planned economy. |
| In the fall (November) of 1917, there were, for the first time, free elections in Russia. What was the result? How did the Bolshevik regime deal with this problem? (Notice: The Constituent Assembly = a parliament was the first and last democratically elected assembly in Russia before the 1990s! They met for two days!) | The result of the free elections in Russia was the skillful military coup d'tat by Trotsky. They (the Congress of Soviets, including Mensheviks and the Social Revolutionaries) were overthrown by a number of seats. Trotsky told them: "You have played our your role. Go where you belong: to the dust heap of history." The Red Guards closed the meeting. |
| Define "dictatorship of the proletariat". | The assumption of political power by the proletariat with concomitant repression of previously controlling or governing classes that in Marxist philosophy is considered an essential preliminary to the establishment of the classless state. |
| What was the CHEKA? What was its aim? | The CHEKA (extraordinary commission) was a secret police force. It's aim was to combat "counter-revolution" by means of terror. One of its' leaders claimed "the CHEKA does not judge, it strikes." |
| What did the CHEKA do? (From decrees and declarations issued by the new Bolshevik government from November 1917-February 1918). | "The CHEKA asks all local soviets to seek out, arrest and shoot immediately all agents of enemy spies, speculators, organizers of revolts and buyers and sellers of arms." If we have in mind that they also issued laws which said that "Private property in land is hereby abolished", "transforming the factories", "into the property of the workers" and "the passing of all banks into the possession of the workers". We can assume that there were a lot "organizers of revolts". By giving the CHEKA this power, we can clearly see that Lenin from the beginning advocated a policy of terror against opponents. But, was he, thereby, also responsible for Stalin's excesses? |
| Account for the founding of the Red Army. | The Red Army (NOT the same as the Red Guards) was formed in January 1918, open to all "class-conscious" workers of 18 years or more. The bourgeois was banned from membership, but 50.000 former Tsarist officers were retained to train the new force. The Bolsheviks needed an army. In August 1919, there were 300.000 men in the army, alter there were 5.000.000 million men. |
| Describe the new Russian or Soviet constitution from July 10, 1918. (From 1919, the country is called the USSR). | It proclaimed itself a classless society, with freedom of worship, no private ownership of property, and based upon the economic principle of "he who does not work, neither shall he eat." The electoral system was based upon the unit of the village and city soviets. Election was by universal suffrage, with the exception of former members or agents of the Tsarist government. |
| What was the "Decree on Peace" and the "Decree on Land"? | * Decree on Peace: Called upon all participants in the war to begin immediate peace negotiations. * Decree on Land: Abolished all landed ownership, but encouraged the peasantry to continue the process of carving up the great estates themselves. State-owned, accepted land. |
| Account for the terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk from March 1918. | - Russia lost 26% of its population, 32% of its arable land (Georgia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Estonia), 33% of its manufacturing industry, and 75% of its coal and iron resources. Bolshevik sacrifice: Why sign? 1. To save the revolution 2. They believed in a world revolution, harsh peace treaty didn't matter 3. Germany only a "friend" and the harsh peace didn't really matter |
| Account for the policy of "War Communism". What was the result? | The policy was a strict centralized control of all private trade, near destruction of the currency by printing vast quantities of bank notes. |
| What three main groups were the Whites composed by? (Russian Civil War, 1918-1922) | - Those attached to other revolutionary groups, hostile to or rejected by the Bolsheviks (radicals). - Former officers of the Imperial army, usually resentful of the "betrayal" at Brest-Litovsk (tsarist). - Nationalist groups seeking independence for their particular minority. |
| How did different nationalist groups respond to the collapse of the central power? | They pushed for individual independence. Other republics had already declared themselves independent (Ukraine, Transcaucasia, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, Poland). |
| Account for the origin of the Czech Legion. | The Legion had been formed in 1917 from Czech and Slovak residents in Russia, and from prisoners of war. It was dedicated to the fight for independence from the crumbling Austro-Hungarian empire. They were later to become enemies of the Bolsheviks. |
| Describe the situation of the civil war in the summer of 1918. | Foreign powers intervened, such as British forces landing in Murmansk (March 1918) for raw materials available to them under the Brest-Litovsk treaty. British and Japanese forces were also concentrated on the distant port of Vladivostok (April 1918). No one believed in the Bolsheviks. |
| Account for the reasons for the Bolshevik victory in the civil war. | - The Bolsheviks controlled the industrial areas of Russia. - Trotsky organized the Red Army brilliantly. - The enemies were divided in their intentions. - The war ended in Europe - why continue a war in the East, argued a lot of people from the West. - The behavior of the White armies - they were ill-disciplined. - The Bolsheviks could claim that they defended the homeland against foreign imperialism. - The policy of "War communism" provided the Reds with enough supplies. - Bolsheviks accepted that peasants took land. |
| Provide information about the civil war and the policy of war communism. | Diseases and casualties in the civil war, and most importantly famine, probably killed 9 million Russians between 1917 and 1921 (and more was to come, during Stalin's purges, mostly because of the famine, 12-20 million Russians were killed and no people suffered as much as the Russians did in WWII. More than 20 million Russians were killed and Stalin called WWII "The Great Patriotic War" (the Soviets defeated Germany). War communism in our textbook is described as a disaster. In other textbooks this policy is described a little bit differently: war communism made it possible for the Bolsheviks to get food during the difficulties in the civil war (peasants had to hand in surpluses of grain to the state or the policy made confiscation of surplus production possible). |
| What was the "Kronstadt Rebellion"? Why was this very dangerous to the Bolsheviks? | In 1921, there was a second revolt at Kronstadt, it was directed against the Bolshevik regime and its' "War communism". Kronstadt was considered a strong hold for the Bolsheviks and according to Lenin it "illuminated reality", that is, they had to change policy. |
| What was the NEP-policy? (Notice how many enterprises that were privately run and how many percent of the workforce who were employed in these firms). | NEW ECONOMIC POLICY 1921: 1. New currency was introduced. 2. Private trade was allowed. 3. End of food-requisitioning. 4. Smaller companies were allowed, especially in service- and agricultural production. Larger industries and bank still state controlled. 5. A new proportional tax was introduce to stimulate increased production. This policy was "small scale" capitalism, and Lenin thus went against his own ideology. |
| Shortly describe the difference between Lenin and Stalin in terms of thinking. | * Pragmatism: If you believe in one thing but "life exposes your errors" as Lenin said, you are prepared to accept another solution. Lenin, who devoted his life to the ideas of Marx, was prepared to accept capitalism for a while. That's a pragmatic way of being, that's the "pragmatism" of Lenin. Stalin was less pragmatic. If millions of people died during the collectivization, ideological purity was more important! |
| Account for the result of the NEP. | Soon production recovered in Russia and in 1922, 88% of all enterprises (companies) were privately run, but they employed only 12% of the workforce. |
| What happened to Lenin between 1922-1924? | 1922: Lenin got his first stroke. In late January 1923 he couldn't talk any longer and he passed away in January 1924. |
| How do many Soviet historians differ both at various times, as well as against Western historians (on the October revolution)? | * Soviet: The coup was carried out by the party and the masses supported it. Lenin was a brilliant leader, some don't emphasize Lenin. * Western: The coup was brilliantly organized by Lenin, but had no support by the masses. Lenin, who was important, was able to seize power after Russia was in ruins. Support for this: elections in November 1917: Social revolutionaries 53% and Bolsheviks 24%. * Revisionist Western view: The key explanation was that the people of Russia wanted a new government, so the Bolsheviks rode to power on wave of "we want a new government". The leadership of Lenin was not important, rather, it was the wish for change! |
| Why did the Russian civil war (1918-22) START? | 1. An attempt to re-open the Eastern front (allies wanted the Eastern front). 2. To crush communism (perhaps the most important point, because the civil war continued after the end of WWI). 3. After the treaty of Bresk-Litovsk (March 1918) Germany could use raw material from Poland and the Ukraine. 4. The Bolsheviks had nationalized the Russian industry without compensation to the French who had invested large sums of money in the Russian industry, which was not linked by France or Russia (now!). 5. Nationalities fighting for their independence. 6. War communism and the treaty of Brest-Litovsk had alienated large sections of the Russian population. |
| In what ways did the West INTERVENE in the Russian civil war? | 1. The number of foreign troops in Russia was very limited: a) The Czech legion in central Russia about 40.000 men. b) In the north - Murmansk - there were 15.000 American and British troops, in total the maximum was 150.000 men. c) In 1920, the Ukraine was invaded by Polish and French troops. d) In Vladivostok, far away in Siberia, the Japanese had sent troops - but as mentioned earlier, the number of soldiers was quite limited. 2. It was much more important with the substantial sums of money and supplies that were sent to the White forces. It has been estimated that France and Britain contributed with 20 million pounds to the White forces. |
| What can we say about the WHITE FORCES in the Russian civil war? | There were nationalities who fought the central power and advocated national self determination (the Poles, Finns, etc.) there were socialists who fought communism, there were aristocrats who fought the restoration of Tsardom, the undemocratic nature of some White commanders made both the Americans and French unwilling to cooperate = the Whites were very divided in their intentions. |
| Why did the BOLSHEVIKS WIN the civil war in Russia? | 1. The Bolsheviks controlled industrial areas of Russia. 2. Trotsky organized the Red Army brilliantly (the Red had a single command - Trotsky). 3. The enemies (Duma people, left-wingers, different nationalities, Tsarist people, foreigners) were divided in their intentions. 4. The war had ended in Europe - why continue a civil war in the East, argued a lot of people from the West. 5. The behavior of the White armies - they were ill disciplined. 6. The Bolsheviks could claim that they defeated the homeland against foreign imperialism. 7. The policy of "war communism" provided the Reds with enough food supplies. 8. The Bolshevik regime accepted that peasants seized land. |
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