Russian History Flashcards

Flashcards about Russian History from 1914-1941

What were the key causes of the Russian Revolutions of 1917?

The Tsarist regime collapsed in February 1917, and the Bolsheviks seized power in October 1917.

What were the aims and consequences of Lenin’s economic policies from 1917–24?

To consolidate Bolshevik rule and deal with the economic crisis.

Why did Stalin emerge as Lenin’s successor by 1929?

By a power vacuum after Lenin's death.

What was Russia like in the early twentieth century?

It was a backward country, both economically and politically with an autocratic monarchy.

What event sparked the 1905 Revolution?

Peaceful demonstrators marched to Tsar Nicholas II’s Winter Palace in St Petersburg to petition him about poor working and living conditions.

What was the October Manifesto?

A series of industrial strikes forced the Tsar to grant some concessions, pledging civil liberties and establishing a parliament (duma).

What were the economic effects of the First World War on Russia?

Food shortages, railway lines disrupted for the war effort, inflation, and declining real wages for workers.

What decision did the Tsar make in August 1915 that affected the war effort?

He decided to dismiss the army commander-in-chief, leave the capital, and take charge from the front, making him directly responsible for military defeats.

What role did the Zemstvo Union play during the First World War?

It stepped in to provide military supplies and medical care for soldiers because the Tsar refused to allow the duma to have a role in running the country.

What was the Progressive Bloc?

Two-thirds of the duma deputies formed themselves into the Progressive Bloc, calling on the Tsar to appoint a new parliamentary government.

Who was Gregori Rasputin?

A controversial friend of Tsarina Alexandra, a Siberian peasant, and faith healer who was mistrusted due to his influence at court.

What happened on February 23 during the February Revolution?

Women in St Petersburg took to the streets demanding bread and calling on factory workers to join them.

What was Order No. 1 issued by the Petrograd Soviet?

It declared that soldiers would recognise only the authority of the Soviet, subjecting the armed forces solely to the Soviet.

What was the Provisional Government's mistake regarding the Constituent Assembly?

Rather than acting quickly to hold elections, they got bogged down in debates about voting systems and electoral boundaries, delaying the process.

Who was Paul Miliukov?

A founding member of the Constitutional Democratic (Kadet) Party and foreign minister in the Provisional Government, but his unpopular policy to stay in the First World War led to his resignation.

What did Lenin call for in his April Theses?

An end to the war, the immediate overthrow of the Provisional Government, and the assumption of power by the Soviets.

What were the July Days?

Workers, soldiers, and sailors took to the streets condemning the ‘capitalist ministers’ of the Provisional Government and demanding that the Soviet take power, but the Bolsheviks were unprepared and the demonstrations were suppressed.

What was the Kornilov affair?

Fears grew that General Kornilov planned to stage a counter-revolutionary coup against the Provisional Government, discrediting Kerensky’s government and boosting Bolshevik support.

Why was the slogan ‘All Power to the Soviets’ effective?

Because workers saw in soviet power the chance to control their own factories.

How did the Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC) gain effective control of Petrograd?

Under the control of Trotsky, the MRC took over the city’s garrison and assumed effective control of the capital a week before the rising, in the name of defending the city from the advancing Germans.

What were the first actions of the Sovnarkom?

To ban the opposition press and pass a decree allowing it the right to pass urgent legislation without approval from the Soviet.

What was the Cheka?

Founded in December 1917 initially to restore law and order to city streets, it soon operated as security police, using the ‘Red Terror’ to suppress opposition.

Who were the Whites in the Russian Civil War?

Opponents of Bolshevism, a large variety of factions and groups.

What weaknesses did the Whites have?

Their armies operated largely independently of each other, without central direction or coordination.

What advantages did the Reds have over the Whites?

Geographical control of industrial centers around Moscow and Petrograd.

What policies were introduced during War Communism?

grain requisitioning and private enterprise banned.

What was the Scissors Crisis?

The Scissors Crisis was an economic imbalance due to agricultural prices lagging behind industrial prices.

What was the Zhenotdel?

The Women’s Department of the Central Committee Secretariat, established in 1919, to change women's values and mobilise them into the workplace and the Communist Party.

How did Lenin attempt to destroy the Orthodox Church's power?

By the Decree on Separation of Church and State in January 1918, which took away the church’s rights to own property and to charge for religious services.

What roles did Kamenev and Zinoviev play in the power struggle?

They positioned themselves against Trotsky and then allied with Stalin, before eventually being outmaneuvered.

What was the Lenin Enrolment?

A deliberate increase the number of proletariats in the membership

What positions did Stalin hold?

Commissar for Nationalities, Liaison Officer, Head of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Inspectorate (Rabkrin) and General Secretary of the Central Committee.

What happened to Kirov?

Kirov was murdered in 1934, and his murder was used as a pretext for the post-Kirov purges.

What were show trials?

Trials where high-status Party members were targeted on bogus charges.

How did collectivization affect food production?

Led to a famine crisis in 1920–21, which claimed approximately five million lives due to famine.

What were the aims of collectivization?

To force the collectivisation of agriculture and modernize the country.A reliable, consistent supply of food from the countryside would ensure that urban workers were fed and that surplus grain could be sold abroad to raise money for industrialization.

What was the OGPU?

Officials stormed the villages and rounded up huge numbers of so-called kulaks, who were either shot or deported. Fear and mass terror began to grip the countryside.