The consolidation of the Communist dictatorship

what were the november constituent assembly results?

in the november 1917 constituent assembly elections, the S'R’s won a majority of 53%, while the bolsheviks only won 24% of the vote.

what did lenin declare in response to the november election results?

- “we must not be deceived by the election figures. elections prove nothing”

why were the kadets outlawed?

Lenin was able to outlaw the Kadets as they expressed support for Alexei Kaledin, a don cossack counter revolutionary.

what happened to the constituent assembly and how did the people react?

the constituent assembly met once on the 5th january 1918, it was then shut down. 12 protestors outside the assembly were killed.

what was lenins stance on the war?

-he believed that he had to have peace no matter the cost to ensure survival of the revolution.

-he feared that germans might move onto petrograd to throw the bolshevik out.

what was bukharin/the lefts stance on the war?

-they wanted to turn the war into a revolutionary war to encourage a european socialist revolution.

-he also believed that even if this failed, it would rouse the proletariat to revolution in the west.

hat did trotsky do in terms of the war?

Trotsky dragged out peace negotions, waiting for revolution in germany. he called this “neither peace of war.” german negotiators were angered - they realised what he was doing.

when was the treaty of brest litovsk signed ?

-signed on 3rd march 1918

what were the harsh terms of the march 3rd 1918 treaty of brest litovsk?

March 3rd 1918, Russia lost 62 million people, 2 million square km of land, 26% of railway lines, 74% of iron/coal supplies and had to pay 3 billion roubles in war reperations to germany.

what were the political consequences of the brest litovsk treaty?

following the treaty of brest litvosk, left wing SR;s resigned from the sovnarkom. in july the asssinated a german ambassador, and captured dzerzhinsky, head of the cheka.

-this allowed Lenin to lead mass arrests and crush the party.

following the brest litovsk treaty, how did the Bolsheviks change?

-in 1918 they adopted the title of the “communist party”

-they governed alone now and former opponents/allies were treated as enemies.

when was the cheka established?

-7th december 1917

how did lenin use class warfare?

-attacks on kadets as “leaders of the bourgeois counter revolution”

-the legal system was abolished and replaced by “revolutionary justice” which allowed anyone accused of being bourgeois to be arrested.

-any well dressed person were at risk of being arrested, beaten and robbed.

-the state licensed people to plunder the houses of the middle classes “loot the looters”

-the civil service was purged.

how did society embrace the new political ideology?

-the abolition of titles and use of “comrade” as a new form of adress

-workers and soldiers became more cocky and assertive.

what are examples of pressure from the people for the bolsheviks to form a democratic government?

-100s of petitions flooded in from factories, army units and towns demanding cooperation between parties to avoid a civil war.

-the railwaymen’s union threatened to cut off communications if the bolsheviks did not hold talks with other parties

-this forced lenin to allow power sharing/november elections to go through

what was the separation decree?

the february 1918 seperation decree removed the judicial powers of the church, and its property rights. assets were seized, religious press closed down.
-clergy left disenfranchised and without civil rights.

what was the new constitution and when was it established ?

-the first soviet constitution was established in July 1918.
-it stated that supreme power rested with the all Russian congress of soviets.

what was the central executive committee?

—the central executive committee was to be the “supreme organ of power” it was responsible for electing sovnarkom.

what were the limitations to the new russian constiution in 1918?

-the vote was reserved for the proletariat, former bourgeoise could not vote

-workers vote was weighted in the proportion of 5 to 1 to the peasants in the election of congress

-congress could only meet at intervals, authority remained with the sovnarkom

-the structure was centralised and power was really held with the party.