Russian Revolution and Civil War: Key Events and Policies (1917–1922)

What was the name of the new all-Bolshevik governing cabinet established after the October Revolution?

Sovnarkom (Council of the People's Commissars)

How did the Decree on Land (October 1917) secure peasant support?

It gave peasants the right to take over the estates of the gentry without compensation and divide the land as they saw fit.

What was the significance of Order No. 1 regarding Bolshevik authority?

It gave the Petrograd Soviet control over all weapons and stated that soldiers should only obey the Provisional Government if the Soviet agreed.

How did Lenin deal with the Constituent Assembly after the Bolsheviks failed to win a majority?

He allowed it to meet for only one day (5 January 1918) before forcibly dissolving it with machine-gun patrols.

Which secret police force was established in December 1917 to root out counter-revolution?

The Cheka (headed by Felix Dzerzhinsky).

What were the primary terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 1918)?

Russia lost one-sixth of its population, 27% of its farmland, and 74% of its iron ore and coal reserves.

Who were the 'Whites' in the Russian Civil War?

A fragmented group of liberals, former tsarists, nationalists, and moderate socialists united only by their hatred of the Bolsheviks.

How did Leon Trotsky transform the Red Army into an effective force?

He re-established harsh discipline, brought back 50,000 former tsarist officers, and used political commissars to ensure their loyalty.

What was the fate of the Romanov family during the Civil War?

Tsar Nicholas II and his family were executed in Yekaterinburg in July 1918, likely on Lenin's secret orders.

Why were the 'Reds' successful in the Civil War?

They held the central industrial hub and railway network, had a unified command, and utilized superior propaganda.

What was the name of the ruthless economic system used to supply the Red Army during the Civil War?

War Communism.

What was Prodrazvyorstka?

The forcible requisitioning of grain from peasants by armed brigades.

What event served as the immediate trigger for the launch of the Red Terror in 1918?

The assassination attempt on Lenin by the Socialist Revolutionary Fanya Kaplan.

What was the role of the Gulag during Lenin's rule?

A network of concentration and labour camps established to house 'class enemies' and dissident workers.

What was the significance of the Kronstadt Rising in March 1921?

It was a mutiny by the 'heroes of the revolution' who demanded 'soviets without Communists' and an end to the Bolshevik dictatorship.

How did Lenin describe the New Economic Policy (NEP) introduced in 1921?

As a 'tactical retreat' or 'one step backward, two steps forward' to save the regime from collapse.

What major economic concessions did the NEP grant?

It ended grain requisitioning, allowed private trade, and permitted small businesses to reopen for profit.

Who were the 'Nepmen'?

Speculative traders who flourished under the NEP, controlling up to 75 per cent of retail trade by 1923.

What was the 'Ban on Factions' introduced at the Tenth Party Congress in 1921?

A rule stating that once the Central Committee agreed on a policy, every member had to obey; disagreement meant expulsion.

What was the Nomenklatura system established in 1923?

A list of 5,500 key party and government posts that could only be filled by central party appointees to ensure total loyalty.

Which group became the real center of party policy and power by 1919, superseding the Sovnarkom?

The Politburo (initially containing Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin).

When was the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) formally established?

At the end of 1922.

By which year were all other political parties banned in Soviet Russia?

1921.