Russia+Revo.+caroline.norgreen+Part+3



NOTES

‘Peace At Any Price’

The first decrees of Sovnarkom


 * November 8 (1917) – decree on land
 * 540 million acres from Tsar, nobles, churches, and other landlords, was given to peasants to divide among themselves
 * November 8 – a decree on peace
 * Would make peace with Russia’s enemies at once
 * November 12 – decree on work
 * 8 hour day & 48 hour week for all industrial workers – laid down rules about over-time and holidays too
 * November 14 – a decree on unemployment insurance
 * Promised to give all workers insurance against injury, illness and unemployment
 * December 1 – a decree on the press
 * Banned all newspapers that weren’t for the Bolsheviks
 * December 11 – Banned Constitutional Democratic Party
 * Arrested all its leaders
 * December 20 – Set up political police force
 * ‘All-Russian Extraordinary Commission to fight Counter0Revolution and Espionage’ – Also known as the Cheka – job was to deal with Bolshevik opponents
 * December 27 – a decree on workers’ control
 * All factories were under the control of elected committees of workers
 * December 27 – a decree on banking
 * All banks under Sovnarkom’s control
 * December 31 – a decree on marriage
 * Allowed non-religious wedding & easier divorces

The Constituent Assembly


 * Elections were help for a new parliament – the Constituent Assembly but the Bolsheviks were beaten badly
 * The Socialist Revolutionaries gained more seats than all parties put together
 * Meeting was allowed once – 24 hours later it was shut down
 * Killed more than 100 people who demonstrated in support of the Assembly
 * Red Guard also prevented elected Deputies from entering the Assembly – closed permanently

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk


 * Lenin thought that Russia needed to end war with Austria & Germany fast if the Bolsheviks were to stay in power
 * Scared that they would lose support of the army
 * Leon Trotsky – minister of Foreign Affairs
 * Tried to dag out talks for as long as he could – hoped a socialist revolution would start in Germany
 * Thought two countries could make a fair and democratic peace
 * February 1918 – German Army advanced so close to Petrograd – Lenin decided to make peace at any price
 * Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was one of the harshest treaties ever made
 * 26% of her population lost
 * 27% farmland
 * 26% railway
 * 74% iron, ore, and coal
 * Lenin thought it would give Bolsheviks some breathing space – but then a civil war erupted

Civil War and Foreign Intervention

The Czech Legion


 * May 1918 – Prisoners of War were taken across Russia on trains to Vladivostok to be taken back to their own countries
 * Czechs got into a quarrel with the Soviets of a town on the railway
 * When Bolshevik troops came to restore order more Czechs joined into the fighting
 * Within two weeks all of the towns in the area had been taken over by the Czechs
 * End of 1918 – nearly all Trans-Siberian Railway and towns along its route were in Czech hands
 * Enemies of the Bolsheviks joined in the Czech Legion
 * Under Czech protection they set up their own governments and claimed to rule Russia
 * New governments were called Komuch (Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly)
 * Bolsheviks government moved to Moscow
 * Introduced conscripts – all men over 18 had to serve in the ew Red Army
 * Leon Trotsky’s job to organize it
 * Trotsky’s first job was to find officers – he took them from Tsar’s old army
 * If the refused they were sent to prison camps
 * Any Officer deserting to the enemy’s side found his family taken hostage – kept in prison
 * Using these methods Trotsky found 22,000 officers – 330,000 men for new Red Army

Reds and Whites


 * All enemies to the ‘Reds’ (Bolsheviks) known as the ‘Whites’
 * White was traditional color of the Tsar – many did not support him though
 * Most were Socialist Revolutionaries, some democrats, some landlords, and some nobles
 * End of 1918 – 4 white armies were attacking heartland of Russia
 * Helped by foreign armies – sent by the Allies
 * These were countries who’s side Russia had been on in WW1.
 * Allies were angry at Russia’s withdrawal from the war
 * Reds were faced with Whites along with ‘armies of intervention’ from Britain, France, America and Japan
 * Many casualties (including the ex-Tsar and his family)
 * July 1918 – Bolsheviks feared ex-Tsar would be saved and become leaders of the Whites
 * Shot Tsar dead rather than risking it, along with his family and sevants
 * Bolsheviks almost lost Lenin who was shot be Socialist Revolutionary – Fanya Kaplan – three times at point blank range
 * This convinced Lenin that ruthless methods were needed to deal with the Whites
 * Ordered Cheka to begin the ‘Red Terror’

The Red Terror


 * Cheka began to torture prisoners to get confessions before executing them
 * Would hang, beat, shoot, and burn anone who helps the Whites
 * Loyal Bolsheviks even bagna to feat them
 * Trotsky also issued an order stating that anyone who flees from battle and does not fulfill a military order will be shot.
 * Also said selling of equipment will get one shot
 * Trotsky had 1 in 10 soldiers shot by firing squad
 * Trotsky was a tyrant but also a good military leader
 * He made sure the Red Army was an effective and united fighting force
 * Red Army began to win the Civil War
 * 1919 – armies of intervention were withdrawn from Russia – Whites were to fight alone
 * End of 1919 – only isolated groups of Whites were fighting

‘One Step Backwards…’ War Communism and the NEP


 * 5 aspects of War Communism
 * All factories with 10+ people are taken over by government
 * All workers will receive a death penalty for striking – unemployed join the ‘Labor Armies’ (to build roads, cut trees, etc.)
 * Private trading was banned – surplus given to government
 * People were encouraged to barter
 * Food was strictly rationed
 * War Communism both failed and succeeded
 * Failed – didn’t share Russian wealth
 * Succeeded – Red Armies had a constant supply of food and weapons
 * Won civil war in 1920
 * 1919 – peasants started sowing less grain – breeding fewer animals
 * Food shortage in 1920 – terrible famine in 1921
 * Starvation, cold weather, and disease killed 7 million
 * 25 million Russians were living below subsistence level

The New Economic Policy


 * 10,000 sailors revolted at Kronstadt – naval base near Petrograd
 * Had been loyal to Bolsheviks since Revolution - but now they said War Communism was not what they had promised
 * Leon Trotsky + Red Army surrounded Kronstadt with 60,000 troops – bombed naval base and attacked sailors’ headquarters
 * Rising in Kronstadt was crushed
 * March 1921 – Lenin introduced New Economic Policy
 * Peasants could sell their surplus food for profit
 * Increased food production would pay less tax
 * Factories 20- people were privately owned again
 * People could use money again
 * Many Bolsheviks were shocked with NEP – thought it was one step back to capitalism
 * 1925 – NEP began to work

The 1923 Constitution

Lenin’s Death
 * Russia became a ‘Union of Soviet Socialist Republics’
 * Union of Russia, Byelorussia, the Ukraine and the Caucasus
 * Had separate governments and a national government
 * Separate gov. had control over public health, welfare, and education
 * National gov. had control over armed forces, industry, communications and police force
 * January 1924 – Lenin died at 53 (series of strokes)
 * Lenin was embalmed and put on display in the tomb in Red Square – Moscow
 * Known as one of the greatest leaders of the twentieth century

Summary:

The Russian Bolsheviks gain control of the government and end up agreeing to a harsh treaty with the Germans to stop the war, thinking it would give them some breathing space. This only leading to eternal civil war which takes its toll on the country – Lenin apposes many threats, and loses much support, but because of strong leadership, the Bolsheviks (Reds) ends up successfully winning the war.

Questions:

Why did the nations with Russia in WW1 turn against them? What tactics did the Reds use eternally to create a strong army? What tactics did the Reds use to beat the other armies? Explain NEP. Explain War Communism.