PROV GOV AND LENIN

The Provisional Government (PG)

A temporary government of Duma liberals formed in March 1917, led first by Prince Lvov and later by Alexander Kerensky.

The Petrograd Soviet

A council of 3,000 workers and soldiers that held the "actual" power in the capital, including control of the railways and post office.

Dual Power (Dvoevlastie)

The period (March-October 1917) where the PG held formal office but the Soviet held the loyalty of the masses.

Soviet Order Number 1

1 March 1917, a decree stating soldiers should only obey the PG if the Soviet agreed, stripping the PG of military authority.

The "Sealed Train"

April 1917, the German government transported Lenin from Switzerland to Russia to cause internal chaos and knock Russia out of WWI.

The April Theses

Lenin's 1917 declaration demanding "All Power to the Soviets" and "Peace, Land, and Bread," radicalizing the Bolshevik party.

The "Land Question"

The PG's failure to redistribute land to peasants, who then began seizing noble estates illegally throughout the summer of 1917.

The June Offensive

A disastrous military attack ordered by Kerensky; 400,000 Russian casualties led to mass desertions and destroyed PG's military credit.

The July Days

3-7 July 1917, a chaotic, spontaneous uprising in Petrograd; the PG crushed it, arrested Trotsky, and forced Lenin to flee to Finland.

Alexander Kerensky

Became PM in July 1917; his major errors were keeping Russia in WWI and failing to stop inflation.

The Kornilov Revolt

August 1917, Right-wing General Kornilov marched on Petrograd to crush the Soviet; Kerensky had to arm the Bolsheviks to stop him.

Bolshevik Red Guard

The 10,000-strong private army the Bolsheviks kept and trained after the Kornilov Revolt was over.

Bolshevik Soviet Majority

By September 1917, the Bolsheviks won the majority of seats in both the Petrograd and Moscow Soviets.

Leon Trotsky

Joined the Bolsheviks in 1917; became Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet and the mastermind of the October military takeover.

Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC)

Set up by Trotsky in October to "defend" Petrograd, used as a legal front to seize control of the army garrison.

The Night of 24-25 October

The Red Guard seized key points in Petrograd (bridges, telegraphs, stations) with almost no blood shed.

Storming of the Winter Palace

25-26 October 1917, the MRC arrested the PG ministers; the Palace was defended only by a Women's Battalion and cadets.

Sovnarkom

The "Council of People's Commissars"—the new Bolshevik-only cabinet led by Lenin.

Decree on Land

October 1917, Lenin abolished private land ownership, giving 540 million acres to the peasants to win their support.

Decree on Peace

October 1917, an immediate call for an armistice, fulfilling Lenin's promise to end the war.

The Cheka

Established December 1917, a secret police force led by Felix Dzerzhinsky to hunt down "class enemies" and strikers.

The Constituent Assembly

January 1918, the first democratically elected parliament; Lenin shut it down by force after one day because the SRs won.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

March 1918, a "shameful peace" where Russia lost 25% of its population and 74% of its coal/iron to Germany to exit WWI.

The Russian Civil War

1918-1921, a conflict between the "Reds" (Bolsheviks) and the "Whites" (monarchists, liberals, and foreign troops).

The Whites

Anti-Bolshevik forces led by generals like Denikin and Kolchak; they failed because they were geographically scattered and disunited.

War Communism

Lenin's 1918-1921 economic policy: the state seized all surplus grain and took total control of industry to feed the Red Army.

Grain Requisitioning

Cheka units forcibly took food from peasants at gunpoint, leading to the 1921 famine that killed 5 million people.

The Red Terror

A campaign of mass executions and arrests by the Cheka during the Civil War to eliminate any internal opposition.

The Tsar's Execution

July 1918, the Romanov family was murdered in Ekaterinburg to prevent the Whites from rescuing and restoring the Tsar.

Leon Trotsky's Train

A high-speed armored train Trotsky used to visit front lines, keeping Red Army morale high and ensuring discipline.

Political Commissars

Bolshevik officers embedded in the Red Army to ensure the former Tsarist officers remained loyal to the revolution.

The Kronstadt Mutiny

March 1921, a revolt by sailors who had been the "pride of the revolution" but now demanded "Soviets without Bolsheviks."

NEP (New Economic Policy)

1921, Lenin's "tactical retreat" from communism, allowing peasants to sell grain and reopening small private shops.

Ban on Factions

1921, a rule passed by Lenin forbidding any disagreement within the Communist Party, paving the way for dictatorship.

Electrification (GOELRO)

Lenin's plan to modernise Russia; he famously said, "Communism is Soviet power plus the electrification of the whole country."

Comintern

The Communist International, formed in 1919 to promote worldwide socialist revolution.

The Scissors Crisis

1923, an economic problem where food prices dropped while industrial prices rose, threatening the success of the NEP.

Lenin's Testament

1922, a secret letter evaluating his successors, calling Trotsky "the most capable" and Stalin "too rude."

Death of Lenin

January 1924, following a series of strokes; his body was embalmed and placed in a mausoleum in Red Square.

General Secretary

The "boring" administrative job Stalin took in 1922