A level History: Russian Revolution Glossary

Constituent assembly

Elected body for making the constitution, promised by the Provisional Committee and supported by the Petrograd Soviet, dissolved by Bolsheviks

Dual power

The existence of the Provisional Government and Petrograd Soviet in 1917

Marxism

Theory advocating class struggle and revolution to create a classless society

Lenenism

Adaptation of Maxism with the emphasis of a vanguard party 

Lenin

Leader of the Bolsheviks, first leader of the Soviet Russia

Trotsky

Bolshevik leader, founder of the Red army, rival to Stalin

Red army

Bolshevik military force, 1918-1921

White army

Anti-Bolshevik forces during the Civil War

War Communism

Economic system during the Civil War involving nationalisation and requisitioning

Cheka

Bolshevik secret police used to eliminate opposition, carried out the Red Terror

State Capitalism

Steps towards communism by using some aspects of capitalism, October 1917 - July 1918

War Communism (Economic)

July 1918 - March 1921, adopted at outbreak of the Civil War, introduced communism to gain supplies for the Reds

NEP

March 1921,used to revive economy with limited private enterprise

Grain requisitioning

Forced seizure of grain from peasants, during War communism period

Sovnarkom

Bolshevik government body

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

Peace treaty with Germany in 1918, ended Russia’s FWW involvement

Faction

An organised group within a political party

Oligarchy

A political system where power rests in the hands of a small group of people

Autocracy

Absolute rule by one individual, in Russia this was the Tsar

Nicholas II

Last Tsar of Russia (1894-1917), overthrown during 1917 revolutions

Okhrana

Tsarist secret police used to suppress opposition

Orthodox Church

State religion closely aligned with Tsarist authority

Nationalism

Movement to make “ethnic Russians” the dominant group in Russia

The Great Spurt

Period of industrialisation from the 1890’s - 1910’s

Mir

Russian word for the Russian commune and the council that run it

Redemption payments

Payments made by peasants to pay off their “loan” for the 1861 Emancipation of the Serfs

Nepotism

Favouring friend and family for positions over those who are qualified

Haemophillia

A disorder which affects the bloods ability to clot

Republic

A country with an elected head of state

Trudovik

A political group of moderate socialists who wanted the transfer of landowners estate to the peasants without compensation

Socialism

A movement to replace private ownership with pubic or communal ownership

Anarchism

The removal of a centralised government and state authority

Bourgeosie

the “owning class” who own the “means of production”

Proletariat

The “working class” who sell their labour - they will lead the revolution over-throwing the bourgeoise

Soviets

Councils of workers and soldiers formed during revolutionary periods

Mensheviks

Moderate Marxist faction favouring broad membership and gradual reform

Bolsheviks

Radical Marxist faction led by Lenin, advocating immediate revolution

SR’s

Social Revolutionaries wanted and agrarian socialist revolution

Syndicalism

Where factories are owned and run by the workers within it

Duma 

Russian parliament created after 1905, with limiting powers

War Industries Committees

Founded in July 1915 - Moscow businessmen and industrialists mobilised to overcome the shell shortage

Progressive Bloc

A movement to create a “unified government” during the FWW - they also had prerequisites such as amnesty for political detainees, self governance for Poland, and abolition on restriction for Jews

Provisional Committee

Key figures of the Duma who came together during the February Revolution to seize the political initiative

Provisional Government

Temporary governement formed after the February 1917 Revolution