Unit 2 Section A: Russia 1917-24

• The people had demanded that the Tsar abdicate and the Duma took charge
• They formed a Provisional Government
• The PG would run the country until elections were hold to choose a government and decide how Russia was to be ruled
• As the PG was formed, the Petrograd Soviet also took shape
• Workers and solders sent representatives to form a soviet to look after their interests
• The Soviet issued Order No. 1, which gave them control of the army
• The PG was the official government, but could only carry out decisions if the Soviet agreed
• Political prisoners were freed
• There was freedom of the press, speech, the right to strike
• Social discrimination and the death penalty were ended
• RUSSIA HAD MORE FREEDOM THAN EVER BEFORE :) 

• War with Germany -shortages, inflation, defeats
• People wanted it to end, but Russia needed support of Allies
• Opposition - Bolsheviks, Menshevisk, Socialist Revolutionaries
• They were only temporary, and needed a new government
• Adapting to democracy
• Land reform, peasant unrest - couldn't give land to peasants, wanted new govnt. to decide
• Needed support of army
• Petrograd Soviet controlled them

Timeline 1917:

• Lenin returned to Petrograd and announces April Theses
• -no co-operation with the PG
• -end war immediately
• -land given to peasants
• -Soviets should take power
• Support grows with slogan "Bread, Peace and Land"
• However, Bs were still outnumbered by Ms and SRs
• Only Bs opposed the war
• July 1917, Kerensky launched major attack on Germany
• Terrible defeat led to the July Days, when people protested between the 16th and 17th July about the war
• They turned to the Bolsheviks (the only party that opposed the war) for support
• Bs weren't ready to seize power
• Kerensky sent troops to break up rioting, and framed Lenin as a German spy (he was forced into hiding)
• Had the Bolsheviks missed their chance?

Autumn 1917 - a second chance - The Kornilov Revolt

• Kerensky appointed General Kornilov to be head of army
• Kornilov decided to "deal with" the revolutionaries and establish his own government
• His ordered his Cossack troops to march on Petrograd
• Kerensky panicked and begged the Bolsheviks for help
• He supplied the Red Guard (who had been training secretley) with rifles
• Red Guard arrived to defend Petrograd, but Cossack troops never came
• Railway workers had stopped their trains, and workers and other soldiers persuaded them not to fight
• However, the Red Guard kept their rifles, and the Bolsheviks were now seen as the "saviours" of Petrograd, with support at an all time high
• The Bolsheviks won an overall majority to the Petrograd Soviet, and elected Leon Trotsky chairman
• Support for PG fell lower - peasants seized land, with Kerensky's punishment brigades causing more hatred, soldiers deserted, food was rationed and prices rose
• Lenin sent word from Finland tellings Bs to seize power, but they refused

• Lenin returned on 23rd October and spent the night convincing the others to seize power
• They eventually gave in
• Trotsky persuaded Lenin to wait rather than start straight away
• They planned their attack in the Smolny Institute, a former girls' school
• 7th November - Red Guards took control of bridges, main telegraph office, railway and power stations
• Nobody stopped them, it was very low key
• The next day, the Red Guard continued to seize key places, such as the State Bank
• All seemed normal - shops and factories were open, trams were runnung
• Nobody took much notice, and assumed that the Bs would be defeated as soon as Kerensky arrived with his troops
• But Kerensky had already left the city...
• The Red Guard moved onto the Winter Palace, where the PG was meeting
• Most of the Cossacks guarding the Palace had left, leaving a few cadets and the Women's Death Battalion, who offered little resistion
• When the Bolsheviks found the PG, they surrended immediately
• THE BOLSHIES HAD CONTROL

• Lenin began peace talks with Germany. In March 1918 the Treaty of Brest Litovsk was signed. Peace was achieved, but Russia lots vast amounts of agricultural and industrial land
• Land Decree issued - land was seized from rich landowners and given to the peasants - this made the Bolsheviks very popular
• Lenin renamed the Bolsheviks as the Communist Party in order to have more appeal the Russian people
• The Bolsheviks held elections for a new Parliament (Constituent Assembly) in November 1917
• The SRs won and Lenin shut down the Constituent assembly in January 1918
• All banks and industry were taken over by the government
• Workers' committees were put in control of factories

• Lenin intended to make Russia a one party state, a communist dictatorship
• He set up a secret police force, the Cheka, to spy on opponents
• The Cheka enforced Red Terror, arresting and executing over 50,000 enemies
• The Communists abolished all titles and introduced new laws improving working conditions
• To tackle food shortages, the Cheka were sent into the countryside to forcibly requisition supplies
• The Communists banned other political parties and took control of the media
• Set up new government, the Council of People Commissars (the Sovnakom) with Lenin as Chairman, Trotsky as Commissar for Foreign Affairs and Stalin for Nationalities

The Reds: The Communist Party  (the Bolsheviks) The Whites: Basically ALL opposers of the Reds, united in their common goal to get rid of the Communists:

• Landowners who lost land when it  was given to peasants
• Religious groups who opposed the loss of church property
• Royalists who wanted the Tsar back
• Mensheviks and SRs (who won the elections)

All of the Whites hated each other, but worked together to get rid of the Reds

The Communist Party (in the middle of Russia) were surrounded by enemies

ALSO: Foreign countries were opposed to the Reds because:

• they pulled out of the war (Allies)
• they were afraid of communism
• they wouldn't pay their debts

The Reds:

• Held central area of Russia, had most of the industry which could produce munitions and war supplies
• They also had control of railways between Petrograd and Moscow and the rest of the country
• This means they could send troops quickly to any place in the battle area

The Whites:

• Scattered around central area, often separated by hundreds of miles between different armies
• Communications were difficult - and often the generals didn't want to talk

The Reds:

• Stay in power
• Build a new Socialist society

The Whites:

• All different aims
• Some wanted the Tsar back
• Some wanted a military dictator
• Others wanted constitutional government or revolutionary changes
• THEY ALL WANTED TO DEFEAT THE REDS

The Reds:

• Led by Trotsky, who was superb
• He built up the Red Army from nothing, introduced conscription for men over 18
• He brought in 50,000 experienced former Tsarist officers and appointed political Commissars (******** Bolsheviks) to each unit of men
• This ensured the officers and soldiers carried out their orders
• Trotsky was brave, and accompanied his army of hand-picked soldiers on the train to areas where fighting was hardest

The Whites:

• Lacked good leaders - commanders were cruel, disrespectful, drunkards and druggies
• Generals did not trust each other and would no co-ordinate their attacks
• This allowed Reds to pick off White armies one by one
• Inside armies people fought due to their different aims and beliefs
• Revolutionaries found it hard to co-operate with Tsar supporters

The Whites:

• Had advantage
• Were supported by Britain, France, Japan and USA (+ more)
• Countries sent forces to help them
• They did not want Communism spread into Europe
• Supplies and armaments were valuable
• Borrowed troops were not - they were tired of war, and some European soldiers were sympathetic to the Bolshevik cause
• The Allied intervention was half-hearted and ineffective

The Reds:

• Were actually helped by foreign intervention
• They portrayed the Whites as being used by foreign CAPITALIST powers
• They themselves were the defenders of ordinary Russian people from foreign invasion

The Reds:

• Peasants supported Reds because they said they could keep their land
• Most of the armies were made up of peasants

The Whites:

• Lost support of the peasants 
• They made it clear that they would restore land to old landowners

• Completely revamped the Red Army
• Turned an untrained bunch of peasants into a ruthless fighting squad in a very short space of time
• Ensured a minimum amount of deserters and unloyal soldiers by making it very clear than one wrong move=death
• Kept records of soldiers' s families so they could be blackmailed

• The fam was kept under house arrest, and moved away to the country for "safety"
• Tsar was a problem for the Reds - if he escaped, he could unite White forces, if he was murdered he would become a martyr
• Decision: KILL HIM
• 17th July 1917 - fam was open fired on by soldiers (girls had to be finished off by bayonets)

What the Reds did:

• Kept quiet about murder - they were trying to make peace with Germany, and the dead Tsarina and her children had German blood

What the Whites did:

• Used the murder to get support - many Russians and foreign governments were horrified

Aim: KEEP RED ARMY SUPPLIED

In the towns:

• State took control of industry and told factories what to produce (arms)
• Lenin put his people in charge of factories and imposed strict discipline
• Food was rationed, but people could only get a ration card if they worked
• Money became virtually worthless, and made people turned to trading

In the countyside:

• Lenin needed food to feed workers
• Peasants didn't want to sell their food for worthless money
• The Cheka was sent to seize surplus food
• Those found hoarding supplies were punished harshly
• Peasants decided to produce less grain, as it would be taken

Terror:

• Cheka became for violent - people opposing government were arrested and shot without trial or sent to labour camps

• Many workers and peasants began to think that the workers' state was worse than the government of the Tsar which they had been so pleased to get rid of
• The economy of Russia was in ruins
• Industrial production had fallen disastrously under WC
• Crime increased
• Agricultural process had collapsed
• The disruption of the war and forced grain requisitioning had led to low grain harvests, as peasants had seen little point in growing food
• In 1921 even less grain was grown due to a drought
• This led to a horrendous famine, which killed up to 5 million people
• Opposition was growing
• A group called the Workers' Opposition formed, demanding higher wages, better industry, more food and workers' control of the country
• They objected to the use of the Cheka to scare the people into submission
• March 1921 sailors at the Kronstadt naval base staged an uprising because life under Communist dictatorship was worse than death
• They had been strong Bolsh. supporters, but swapped sides - Trotsky had to use troops to crush the and 20,000 men killed and wounded

• By 1921, Russia had fallen into a state of disarray
• Money became more and more worthless
• Theft was a daily occurrence
• Peasants stopped growing food, which led to famine
• Steel production was down by 4%
• THE CIVIL WAR FINISHED, therefore they didn't WAR communism
• Workers' Opposition - better pay + conditions etc
• Kronstadt Naval Base rising
  
  

• The Kronstadt rising spurred Lenin to do something
• He knew that he had to improve the economic situation in Russia. If he didn't, the Communists wouldn't survive
• In 1921, he introduced an NEP - the main features were:
• To give the Soviet Union "breathing space", and taking one step backwards in order to take two steps forward
• Grain requisitioning would be stopped
• No longer would grain be taken from the peasants by force
• The peasants would have to give a fixed amount of grain to the government each year as tax
• Any surplus they produced could be sold on the open market
• Traders could buy and sell goods (illegals during WC)
• Smaller factories, particularly those producing consumer good like shoes were returned to their formed owners, and allowed to make a profit
• Larger industries e.g. coal, steel and transport remained under state control
• Some larger factories were allowed to sell their profits

Successes:

• Electrification of Russia
• Improved general economic situation
• Foreign trade increased
• Production of industrial good and grain increased

Failures:

• Many Communists were angry, as they saw features of the NEP as a "return to Capitalism" and did not like the idea of "making a profit", or for richer people having poorer people work for them
• Prices for manufactured goods were too high for peasants
• Peasants refused to sell grain for money that wouldn't get them goods
• Still lots of unemployment and crime

Yes:

• Without him there would not have been a revolution in 1917
• He persuaded the others to seize power
• He was a superb organised
• He was modest and had no personal ambition
• He was a good political speaker
• He kept the Bs in power after 1917
• He only used the Cheka when neccessary

No:

• He seized power without support of population - dictatorship
• Wouldn't share power with SRs who won the Constituent Assesmbly - made the Civil War much worse than it could have been
• Used ruthless methods and terror to stay in power
• Let millions of Russians suffer for his ideas
• Stop other people from expressing their opinions
• Made Communist Party an organisation for carrying out orders - members were not allowed to disagree with leaders