History

Give Brief description of Lenin’s Life.

-Lenin was born in 1870 into well off family but became more radical after brother Alexander death

-Arrested + imprisoned between 1897-1900 were he wrote and planned to create communist party

-Exiled between 1901-1917 were created Bolsheviks and came into power 1917 and died 1924

What were the soviets?

-Established after 1905 revolution

-After Feb revolution Soviets ruled with the provisional government

-After Oct Revolution, succeed by Congress of Soviets

What was Russian congress of Soviets 1917-1930?

-Assembly of representatives of local councils, meet twice a year

-Defined + amended principles of soviet constitution

-Included the Bolsheviks rivals (Mensheviks + social revolutionaries)

What was the Sovnarkom and Politburo?

Sovnarkom- 13 people’s commissars which governed Russian on Day to day basis e.g. Stalin- head of national affairs, Trotsky head of foreign affairs.

Politburo- Operated as ruling body of Soviet Russia + USSR, elected and responsible for central committee with weekly meetings.

Give Brief description of Leon Trotsky.

-Already a revolutionary hero, Him and Lenin had disagreements but worked closely

-First year of USSR helped win civil war as head of red army + foreign sectary

-Seen as arrogant and unreliable and later pushed out of party and killed in 1940

Give brief description of Joseph Stalin.

Born in Gregoria in 1878, trained as priest but turned to revolution work after reading Marx’s.

-One of first members of Georgia RSDLP

-Lenin Respected Stalin though wasn’t seen as intellectual and played small role in civil war + Oct revolution.

Name all Decree’s Lenin brought in.

Decree of Land Oct 1917- Peasants had right to seize land they were on, decreased Bourgeoise power + increased peasants power

Decree of peace Oct 1917- Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed, Russia lost Finland, Estonia and grain land in Poland + Ukraine, Population down 25%, 35% down in grain production, 70% of industry down

Decree for workers November 1917- 8 hour max day + Minimum wage, elect committee which ran factories

Name + Describe minority groups

Mensheviks- created in 1903 after RSDLP, leader Martov #

Social Revolutionaries- Supporters of democratic socialist Russia, leader Alexander Kerensky