2.5 - Foreign Policy

What were Lenin’s early foreign policy aims?

Spread world revolution, protect the Soviet state, and break international isolation.

How did Lenin first try to leave WW1?

Through the Decree on Peace and then Brest-Litovsk.

Why did foreign powers intervene in the Civil War?

Britain, France, the USA, and Japan feared communism, opposed Russia’s exit from WW1, and supported the Whites.

What was Comintern?

Founded in 1919, it aimed to spread international communism.

What was its purpose?

To coordinate foreign communist parties and overthrow capitalist governments.

What was the Spartacist uprising?

A failed communist uprising in Germany.

What was the Bavarian Soviet Republic?

A short-lived communist state in Germany that quickly collapsed.

Why were these failures important?

They showed that immediate world revolution was unrealistic.

How did Soviet foreign policy later change?

It shifted from global revolution to protecting the survival of the USSR.