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 * Chapter 11: 'Peace at Any Price'**
 * Sovnarkom = Council of People's Commissars, led by Lenin, Russian gov.
 * not purely Bolshevik, Socialist Revolutionaries most likely to win in election
 * started issuing decrees the day it was created - made great changes to Russia and its people
 * 8 Nov - 31 Dec: land, peace, work, unemployment insurance, press, Cheka (political police force), worker's control, banking, marriage
 * Constituent Assembly = Russia's new parliament, elections Nov 1917
 * Bolsheviks badly beaten by Socialist Revolutionaries - less than half
 * first meeting = 18 Jan, 1918
 * ordered to stop meeting, Red Guards closed Assembly down permanently
 * Treaty of Brest-Litovsk = quick end to war against Germany/Austria
 * 3 December, 1917: peace conference between Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary
 * Leon Trotsky stalled for 9 weeks hoping for socialist revolution in Germany, but to no avail
 * peace at any price = loss of: 26% population, 27% farmland, 26% railways, 74% iron ore/coal, plus fine
 * Chapter 12: Civil War and Foreign Intervention**
 * May 1918: anti-Bolshevik soldiers take control of Trans-Siberian Railway (Russia's vital link between E/W)
 * Czech Legion: 45 000 Czech POW revolt, May 1918
 * took nearly all of Trans-Siberian Railway, plus its towns
 * Komuch = Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly, under Czech protection, set up People's Army
 * Bolsheviks desperate, introduce Red Army w/ forced officers (22 000 officers, 330 000 men)
 * RED VS WHITES
 * Red = Bolsheviks, Whites = all enemies of Bolsheviks (SRs, democrats, landlords, nobles), Allies (of WW1)
 * fighting = savage, many killed, Tsar Nicholas and family all shot
 * Lenin assassination, August 1918 -> Red Terror
 * Red Terror = ruthless methods to deal with White enemies w/ Cheka
 * Cheka = torturing, hanging, beating, shooting, burning all Whites
 * army terror = Trotsky kept Red Army effective and united
 * Red Army gradually won (1919 foreigners withdraw, only isolated White groups left, easily defeated)
 * Chapter 13: 'One Step Backwards...' War Communism and the NEP**
 * War Communism = keep Red Army Supplied, introduce communism (equal sharing of wealth)
 * nationalised factories, military discipline, private trading, abolished rents, etc, food strictly rationed
 * succeeded in keeping Red Army supplied, but failed to share Russia's wealth equally
 * peasants decide that no point in growing more food than needed (gov took away all excess anyway)
 * food shortage, 1920; famine, 1921; starvation + cold weather + disease = death of 7 million
 * New Economic Policy = Lenin abandoned War Communism, March 1921, after sailor revolt in Kronstadt
 * peasants can sell for profit, increased food = less tax, could use money again, etc
 * shocked Bolsheviks: back to capitalism?! (1 step back, 2 steps forward to communism)
 * industrial output increased dramatically, food production went back to normal
 * 1923 Constitution = Russia -> USSR = Russia, Byelorussia, Ukrain, the Causcasus
 * "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics", each had own gov.
 * January 1924: Lenin's death, embalmed, put on display, greatest leaders of 20th C.

The Bolsheviks, under Lenin's rule, defeat its opposing forces using brute force and harsh compromise; they crush the elected SR government and make a harsh treaty with Germany to end the war. This leads to civil war between the Bolsheviks (Reds) and their opponents (Whites); a near-assassination of Lenin drives the Red Terror to take place, which helps the Reds win the civil war. Lenin tried to introduce War Communism, but it caused food shortages and famines, which led to the death of 7 million; in March 1921, Lenin abandoned War Communism and introduced the NEP, which brought the economy of Russia back. A new constitution was formed in 1923 and Russia became the USSR; however, Lenin died in January 1924 and did not see the rest of the USSR's development.
 * Summary**

What does USSR stand for? What republics made up the USSR? Summarise War Communism. Summarise the NEP. Who were the Reds? Who were the Whites? How did the Bolsheviks win the civil war?
 * Questions**