Summary
Summary Russia 1917-24 Notes (Civil War and Lenin)
- Course
- Institution
12 pages of detailed notes on Russia 1917-24. Includes key facts, dates and statistics, as well as multiple historians' quotes to support interpretations.
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
frenchandmore
Reviews received
Content preview
LeninBolsheviks in Power
● Bolsheviks were in desperate struggle for survival
● Had given little thought to how affairs would be organised once revolution had been
achieved
● Marxist belief was that state would 'wither away' after revolution but reality soon became
apparent
● Lenin persisted w/ notion that Sovnarkom had been appointed by Congress of Soviets
● Saw distribution of power like a pyramid, w/ Sovrarkom at the top, drawing its authority
from R people who expressed their will through soviets
● Was convenient cover for fact traditional forms of gvt had broken down & Bolsheviks could
make own rules
● Central Committee of Bolshevik Party was key body & provided members of gvt
● Supposedly derived authority from All-Russian Congress of BP but really BP kept to principle
of democratic centralism, guaranteeing that power was exercised from top down
● L took pragmatic approach to transition from bourgeois to proletarian economy
● Pointed that new regime didn't have power to impose sweeping revolutionary policy
● B power didn’t extend much beyond Petrograd & Moscow & war against Germany & Austria
brought huge problems
● Shortage of raw materials
● Rocketing inflation
● Fractured transport system
● Mass hunger: grain supplies were over 13 million tons short of nation's needs
● Food crisis further deepened by ceding to G of Ukraine, R's richest grain-
producing region
● L sympathetic towards new independent states like Georgia
● Dec 1917: proposal to form Russian Socialist Federation of the Soviet Republic, all territories
listened to
● Brest-Litovsk treaty ruined prospect of testing out policy as former R provinces of Ukraine,
Belorussia, Lithuania, Latvia & Estonia all joined w/ Poland under G control
● Seemed Communist ideal would be land-locked to what Service calls a 'Russian enclave'
Lenin's Decrees
Oct 1917: Decree on Peace
● Appeal to warring nations to enter into talks for 'a democratic peace without annexations'
● B gvt had to make peace w/ G if it was to survive, & would gain nothing from continuing to
fight
● Soldiers began heading home expecting to be able to work for themselves w/o high
mortgage payments
Nov 1917: Decree on Land
● Gave B approval to peasant land seizures that had been happening in countryside since Feb
Revolution
● Abolished private ownership of land & introduced nationalisation
● All large scale wealth in terms of industry & food production passed to gvt
Nov 1917: Decree on Workers' Control
● Accepted takeover of factories by workers, which had been taking place during 1917
, ● Workers' committees formed rarely ran factories efficiently, resulting in serious fall in
industrial output
● Instructed workers' committees to maintain 'the strictest order and discipline' in the
workplace
Dec 1917: Vesenkha (Gosplan)
● Set up 'to take charge of all existing institutions for the regulation of economic life'
● Initially unable to exercise full authority granted to it but did preside over several important
developments, showing how effective centralised control might become were Bs able to gain
complete power
● Banks & railways nationalised
● Foreign debts cancelled
● Transport system improved
Jun 1918: Decree on Nationalisation
● Laid down programme for takeover by state of larger industrial concerns
● W/in 2 years had brought practically all major industrial enterprises in R under central gvt
control
● Peasants wanted independence & restoration of Orthodox Church (separated from state Feb
1918)
● Other political parties wanted representation
● Monarchists wanted restoration of Royal power
● Industrial workers wanted greater say in running of the country
Constituent Assembly
● Lenin had no faith in democratic elections & was determined for Nov elections to All-Russian
Constituent assembly not to undermine Bolsheviks’ newly won power
● Bolsheviks outvoted nearly 2 to 1 by SRs
● Had won only 24% of total vote
● Gained barely ¼ of seats
● Lenin had no need in Constituent Assembly as PG no longer needed weakening
● Overwhelmingly non-B so would cause problems
● Was revolutionary so believed in crushing opposition > compromise
● Had Constituent Assembly dissolved at gunpoint Jan 1918 by Red Guards when it gathered
after one session
● Bolsheviks had precarious hold on power
● Strong & widespread opposition in country
● R still at war w/ G so Allies F & GB were set to interfere should new R gvt make separate
peace
● Bolsheviks not prepared to consider power sharing
● L justified action by arguing original reason for assembly was achieved by creation of Soviet
gvt Oct 1917 as was all-R representative body
● Asserted that elections had been rigged by SRs & Kadets so results didn't truly reflect wishes
of R people
● Declared handing over power to Constituent Assembly would be 'to compromise with the
malignant bourgeoisie. Nothing in the world will induce us to surrender the Soviet power'
● T recorded remark L made to him in private:
● 'The dissolution of the Constituent Assembly by the Soviet government means a
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller frenchandmore. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $4.56. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
61001 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now