RUSSIA UNIT 4 AOS 2 - EXAM QUIZLET

Sovnarkom

a government institution formed shorty after 1917 October revolution on the 27th October
- leader was Lenin
- Trotsky was Commissar of Public Affairs
- all ministers were Bolsheviks

Bolshevik slogans

"Peace, Bread and Land"
"All Power to the Soviets"

Sovnarkom

a government institution formed shorty after 1917 October revolution on the 27th October
- leader was Lenin
- Trotsky was Commissar of Public Affairs
- all ministers were Bolsheviks

Bolshevik slogans

"Peace, Bread and Land"
"All Power to the Soviets"

Sovnarkom problems

- Lenin and Trotsky had no experience in actually governing
- Bolshevik ideals hadnt spread throughout the country
- Drink Pogroms were rampant, law and order was non existent

quote about the Drink Progroms

"the whole city was infected by the drinking madness" (Vladimir Antanov-Ovseenko)

Service about the Sovnarkom decrees

"Designed to inspire, excite and instigate"

how many decrees were passed

116

Decree on Land (27th October 1917)

peasants had the right to take over land from their noble landowners and divide the land between the workers

Decree on Press (27th October 1917)

all newspapers belonging to rival political parties such as the Kadets were outlawed

Decree on Peace (27th October 1917)

officially ended Russias involvment in WW1

Armistice signed with Germany

2nd December 1917, but Germany continued to advance into Russia in February of 1918 -->, resulting in the need for the treaty of Brest Litovsk

Workers Control Decree (14th November 1917)

gave industrial labourers ability to apply to become members of self management committees to regulate pay, hiring and dismissals

Rights of the Peoples of Russia to Self Determination (2nd November 1917)

minorities had the right to decide whether they wanted to be independent to the state or not

historians perspective on Russia lacking cohesion

"lacked a sense of national cohesion capable of inspiring the population to give up immediate and personal interest for the sake of the common good" (Pipes)

Finland becomes independent as a result of the Right of Peoples of Russia to Self Determination

7 November 1917

other decrees from Sovnarkom

gave rights to women and decriminalized homosexuality

state capitalism

a system in which the government was held in control by the Sovnarkom in charge of industry beneficial to the Soviet citizens (trade and banking), but bourgeoisie specialists remained in charge of their private business

The Treaty of Brest Litovsk (3rd March 1918)

was a peace agreement between Germany, and Soviet Russia, following Russia's withdrawal from World War
- Russia lost substantial territory to the Germans
- lost Ukraine, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus and Georgia
- ended Russian participation in the war
- Russia had to pay 3 million roubles in reparations
- Russia lost 89% of its iron ore and coal reserves

historian perspective on the Treaty of Brest Litovsk

"the most ferocious peace treaty of modern times"

The Russian Civil War

1918-1920: conflict in which the Red Army successfully defended the newly formed Bolshevik government against various Russian and interventionist anti-Bolshevik armies. Red vs. White Army.

The Red Army foundation

23rd February 1918, founded by Commissar Trotsky, the Workers and Peasants Red Army

Red Army

- controlled the central area of Russia, a collective group with collective morals
- conditions of the army were terrible

Trotsky quote about Red Army desertion

"Every scoundrel who incites anyone to retreat, to desert, or to not fulfil a military order will be shot , and every soldier who throws away his rifle or sells part of his equipment will be shot"

Trotsky as an "agitational leader"

travelled on a train around central Russia to speak to Red Armies, covering 65,000 miles

how many Red Army members had deserted the field in 1921?

nearly 4 million Red Army members had deserted the field in 1921 (Perfect, Ryan and Sweeney)

White Armies

- a range of unorganised parties united in their hatred of the Bolshviks, but all having different ideologies
--> some were nationalists who resented the losses of the Treaty of Brest Litovsk
--> some were monarchists

The Greens

peasant armies

Foreign country Civil War interference

Britain, America, Japan, France, Germany

Britain and the US in the civil War

gave extensive financial support to the Whites, to take down the Bolsheviks and stop the communist regime

statistic about Red Army militants in 1920

end of 1920 had 5 million troops

Why the Reds won

Geographical
Ideology
Trotsky leadership
White Armies weakness

Geographical

- controlled central areas of Russia, central cities like Moscow and Petrograd
- 70 million people in their areas compared to 8-10 million in White Army areas
- could communicate better, and had access to supplies and the Russian railway system

Ideology

- the Bolsheviks shared a sense of united purpose and political vision, through use of propaganda and the Trotsky propaganda train and speeches

Trotsky's leadership

- Trotsky organised the red Army to go from 500,000 to 5 million
- persuasive and used propaganda
- all Red Army soldiers swore on the 'Soviet Oath'

the Soviet Oath

Red Army soldiers were pledged to follow the Soviet way or else "may the strong hand of revolutionary law punish me"

White Army Weakness

- lack of coordinated strategy, under different disciplines, and under different troops with different commanders
- leaders were often drunk and harsh, found it hard to control their armies "i can do nothing with my army" (Denikin)

General Denikin quote about the seperation in ideology of the White armies

"If I raise the republican flag, I lose half of my volunteers, and if i raise the monarchist flag, I lose the other half. But we have to save Russia"

effect of the Civil War

- the Red won so the Bolsheviks were in main government
- devastated the economy

quote about the affect of the civil war

"It polarised the society, leaving lasting resentment and scars; and the foreign intervention created a permanent Soviet fear of 'capitalist encirclement'.."

what was the civil war quote?

"a baptism by fire and thereby influenced its future development"

consequences of the civil war

- The Red Terror
- War Communism

the Russo Polish War

Polish leaders invaded Ukraine in April 1920, the Red Army then invaded into Poland believing it would start a revolution in Germany

The Treaty of Riga

forced to sign in March 1921, gave away parts of Ukraine, 6 million Russians and Ukrainians came under Polish control

What did Lenin think about the Treaty of Riga

Did not worry about it as he believed a Soviet communist revolution would come soon and the Treaty would be irradiated (made nationalist angry though)

War Communism

The application of centralised state control during the Russian civil war, in which the Bolsheviks seized grain from peasants, introduced rationing, nationalised all banks and industry, and required everyone to work.

The Decree on Nationalism

28th June 1918
- the state would take full control of textile, metallurgical, electrical, mining, cement and tanning industry

By 29th November 1920

Sovnarkom had nationalised all factories with more than 10 workers

effective militarisation of the workforce

- working conditions worsened under state control
- workers were sent without consent to factories they were needed in
- subbotniki was introduced, working on weekend

consequence of lack of grain

by 1920, Petrograd's population fell by 70% as peasants fled to the countryside

quote from Lenin about labour desertion

"a deserter from labour is as contemptible and despicable as a deserter from the battlefield"

class warfare

- members of bourgeoisie or higher class were forced to do labour
- called 'former people'
- forced to work in gangs and shovel snow, dig graves and clear streets of rubbish
- required to give their details to the Cheka so they could be recorded

abolition of money

purposefully induced hyperinflation and printed more money, so that the rouble no longer had any meaning

what did Russia become as a result of the abolition of money and hyperinflation?

"a country of millionaire paupers"

abolition of private trade

21st November 1918, decree on trade
- all private trade was declared illegal, even peasant business
- the Soviet government had a Food Commissariat which was the only legal organisation to supply consumer items

results of the abolition of money and trade

- black market trading
- rationing of food

black market trading

- bartering increased in soviet cities, the only way people could get enough food
- bagmen brought food from the countryside to cities and sold for considerable profit

stat about illegal trade

from 1918 - 1919, illegal traders supplied the city dwellers with up to 60% of their bread

rationing of food

July 1918, class based food rationing systems were introduced, lowers classes and members of the Communist party received considerable more food than upper classes

Lenin quote about food rationing

"he who does not work, neither shall he eat"

kulaks

propoganda made 'rich peasants' that Lenin was convinced was hoarding all the grain, they were the countries scapegoat due to dire lack of food
- created class division

the Kombedy

'Committees of the Poor' Groups of poor peasants who were to help the government extract grain from the kulaks, to see if they were hoarding grain

Lenin quote about kulaks

"hang no fewer than one hundred known kulaks, rich men, bloodsuckers"

purpose of the kombedy

- to ignite class warfare between rich and poor peasants
- also to find grain in the country

affect of Kombedy

not successful, peasants usually would share the grain they found amongst poorer peasants instead of handing to Soviet officials , they had a sense of communal solidarity

quote about the result of the Kombedy

"...united [russia]- in rage and fury against the Bolsheviks"

forced grain requisitioning

- Communist officials used force to get grain since they were not handing over willingly
- armed workers and Cheka agents formed grain requisitioning squads, 'prodrazvyorstka'

stat about grain harvest as a result of forced grain requisitioning

between 1917 and 1921, the amount of land under cultivation dropped by 40%, harvests were 37% of usual, peasants had no incentive to farm surplus grain

stat about decrease of proletariat

from 3.6 million to 1.4 million in 1919 (Williams)

reaction to war communism

- peasants produced less grain and rioted and turned to armed resistance

how many peasant uprisings as a result of forced grain requisitioning

between July - August 1918, over 200 uprisings against the food brigade

quote about down with Lenin

"Down with Lenin and horse meat! Give us the Tsar and pork!"

quote about peasant uprising

"civil war in the countryside" (Figes)

impacts of war communism

malnutrition and infectious disease

stat about deaths due to starvation

by 1922, around 5 million people had died of starvation

quote about fall of the Russian proletariat

"The Russian 'proletariat' fell by one half" (Pipes)

views of war communism

left - a necessary reaction to the problems of the civil war

right - a natural consequence of communist ideology

moderate view - a political response to an urban crisis, capitalist instead of truly communist

the Red Terror

The campaign of mass arrests and executions conducted by the Bolshevik government

foundation of the Cheka

7th December 1917

The Cheka

The secret police under Lenin and his Communist Party
- led by Felix Dzerzhinsky

Felix Dzerzhinsky

- Leader of the Cheka
- ruthless and merciless
- "a man of correct manners and quiet speech, but without a ray of humour in his character"

Felix Dzerzhinksy quote

"terror is the absolute necessity during time of revolution"

How was the Terror allowed?

November 22nd 1917 - abolition of courts, judges could not pass judgement that would contradict the revolutionary conscious

Lenin quotes about the Terror

"loot the looters", it was necessary to "defend the revolution"

the Cheka laws

Sept 4th 1918 - all right SR's were to be arrested immediately

Sept 5th 1918 - decree on the Red Terror, class enemies sent to concentration camps or executed (concentration camps legalised)

quote about exterminating the bourgeiosie

"we are exterminating the bourgeoisie as a class" Latsis

Soviet newspaper about the bourgeoisie blood

"let there be floods of bourgeoise blood - more blood, as much as possible" Krasnaya Gazeta

stat about victims of the Red Terror

50,000 to 140,000 victims

Methods of terror

- rolled prisoners in spike barrels, buried them alive with rotting corpses, then dug them up
- the glove trick, held the hands of prisoners in boiling water until the skin came off 'like a glove'
- prisoners could be interrogated and shot with an empty gun, then brought back to their cell
(Perfect, Ryan and Sweeney)

Chekists mental health

"raised serious doubts as the whether the perpetrators were mentally stable" (P,R and S)
- Chekists went insane, cocaine and alcohol use was prevalent

Terror against the Romanovs

they were shot, bayoneted and clubbed to death in a cellar on the 16th of July 1918 by the Bolsheviks

Trotsky quote about the murder of the Romanovs

""...to show that there was no retreating, that ahead lay total victory or total doom"

assassination attempt on Lenin

August 1918, by Fanya Kaplin, a right SR, resulted in the Cheka September decrees

The White Terror

- during the civil war, the whites carried out a campaign of terror
- brutal torture included nailing suspected communists to tress with railway spikes in their left hand and right foot
- also involved programs against Jews, in Ukraine over 100,000 Jews were murdered, thousands beaten and raped

famine of 1921

caused by years of doubt and heavy frost

Samara province stat about grain in the famine of 1921

the amount of grain taken exceeded harvest surplus by 30%

quote about cannibalism in Russia during the famine of 1921

"in our village, everyone eats human flesh but they hide it. There are several cafeterias in the village and all of them serve human flesh"

statistic of Simbirsk province falling as a result of famine in 1921

population of Simbirsk fell by 300,000 people from 1921-1926

historian perspective on the death toll of the 1921 famine

by 1922, 5 million people had died of starvation

Workers Opposition

A group within the Bolshevik party that arose during the civil war. They demanded higher wages, better living conditions, more food and the restoration of workers' control of industry. They also objected to the actions of the Cheka. Alexandra Kollontai was one of the leaders. This group closed down after the ban on factions in 1922 in the Tenth Party Congress

Democratic Centralists

Wanted to make the Communist Party more democratic, apposed the NEP

Tenth Party Congress

8-16 March 1921

- NEP (new economic policy) introduced, emphasised the shift from war communism to a market oriented society

- addressed internal party divisions, Lenin advocated for a ban on factions within the party to ensure unity and discipline, which was a response to growing dissent and debate among party members

- squashed the Workers Opposition Group

- discussed military challenges and the need for a strong centralised authority to maintain control over the Russian society