Major Test Bolsheviks 1917-1924

• The provided information details the events leading up to, during, and immediately following the Russian Revolution, focusing on the February Revolution, the failures of the Provisional Government, the rise of the Bolsheviks, the Civil War, and the subsequent implementation of the New Economic Policy (NEP). It also contrasts the roles of Lenin and Trotsky in these events.

February Revolution: Causes and Outcomes

• Military failures in World War I, economic collapse (inflation, fuel shortages), and social unrest (strikes, demonstrations led by women) were key factors.
• Tsar Nicholas II's poor leadership, including the influence of Rasputin and his control over the army, further aggravated the situation.
• Tsar Nicholas II abdicated on March 2, 1917, ending the Romanov Dynasty.
• The war resulted in 2 million deaths and 300% inflation.
• A dual power structure emerged, with the Provisional Government (representing the middle and upper classes) and the Petrograd Soviet (representing workers and soldiers) vying for control.
• Order No. 1 gave the Petrograd Soviet control over the army, undermining the Provisional Government.

Key Problems Faced by the Provisional Government (March 1917)

• The continuation of the war and the June Offensive led to mass desertions and the "July Days" unrest.
• Delaying land reform led peasants to seize land themselves and turn to the Bolsheviks. 50% of European Russia's territory was acquired.
• Failure to address inflation and the food crisis caused strikes and unrest. Wages fell by 50%.
• Resistance to granting independence alienated minorities, who then supported the Bolsheviks.

Growth of Bolshevik Influence

• Lenin's April Theses advocated for an immediate end to the war, land redistribution, and all power to the soviets, summarized as "Peace, bread, and land".
• The April Thesis platform distinguished Lenin as decisive and united.
• Bolshevik membership grew from 25,000 in February 1917 to 250,000 in October 1917.

Reasons for the Provisional Government's Failure

• The government possessed structural weaknesses, lacked real power, and lacked legitimacy. The Petrograd Soviet controlled workers, the army, and railways.
• The government feared counter-revolution.
• Continuing the war with the June Offensive resulted in 400,000 casualties and loss of popular support.
• Refusal to immediately redistribute land alienated peasants, who seized land themselves and favored the Bolsheviks.
• The government failed to stabilize the economy, leading to inflation, food shortages, and unemployment.
• There was a lack of significant social reforms for minorities.
• Kerensky's June offensive collapsed, demoralizing the army
• The Kornilov affair discredited the Provisional Government.
• Underestimating the Bolsheviks, Kerensky dismissed the Bolshevik threat until it was too late.
• The failure to convene the Constituent Assembly weakened the democratic standing.
• Alienation of the workers and peasants, along with the soldiers unwillingness to defend the Provisional Government

Bolshevik Strengths

• The Bolsheviks positioned themselves as the only true opposition to the Provisional Government.
• Their policies included an immediate end to the war, land redistribution, and all power to the Soviets.
• Lenin provided decisive leadership.
• The Bolsheviks had a disciplined and centralized party with professional revolutionaries.
• Trotsky organized the October Revolution
• Russia's economic and military collapse, Kerensky's mistakes, and strong appeal in urban centers favored the Bolsheviks.

Views on the October Revolution

• Some view it as a popular revolution with broad social participation.
• Others view it as a coup d'état (a violent seizure of power by a small group).
• The Soviets won 24% of the constituent assembly, and 51% in the towns. The SRs acquired 40%.

Civil War Period (1918-1921)

• Initial decrees (November 1917) gave peasants land, workers control of factories (80,000 committees), and self-determination to national minorities.
• The Brest-Litovsk Treaty (March 1918) resulted in significant territorial and population losses for Russia. ⅙ of the population was lost, 27% of farmland, and 26% of railways lost.
• "War Communism" involved nationalization of industry, grain requisition from peasants, and a ban on private trade.
• ⅕ of the industrial output compared to 1913, agriculture -⅓, population in cities shrunk by 50%
• The Red Terror led to mass executions, show trials, and torture by the Cheka (secret police), targeting perceived class enemies and resulting in 500,000 - 1 million deaths.
• Repression was justified as part of the proletarian struggle against "bourgeois parasites" and "enemies of the people."
• The White armies consisted of monarchists, liberals, and SRs.
• The Whites were made up of 150,000 foreign troops.
• Disunity, geographic spread and alienation of peasants was a weakness for the Whites.
• The Reds won by 1921.

Post-Civil War Period (1921-1924)

• Famine killed 5 million people.
• Demographic collapse, strikes in Petrograd, and countryside revolts threatened Bolshevik rule.
• The Kronstadt Rebellion (March 1921) was brutally suppressed, but led to the ban on factions and the introduction of the NEP.
• The NEP (New Economic Policy) ended grain requisition, legalized private trade and small businesses, and abolished rationing. The state maintained control over heavy industry.
• "Nepmen" profited, causing resentment (75% of trade by 1923)
• The "scissors crisis" (1923) saw agricultural prices fall while industrial goods prices tripled.
• Unemployment rose to 1.2 million by 1923
• The Cheka was renamed the GPU in 1922.
• Peasants' uprisings were crushed
• Religious repression
• Censorship Intensified
• While the NEP brought economic liberalization, political control intensified.
• The ban on factions and the nomenklatura system (list of approved individuals) increased party centralization and control.
• The USSR was formed in 1922, and Lenin died in 1924, marking the consolidation of a one-party authoritarian state.

Lenin vs. Trotsky

• Lenin was the leader of the Bolshevik party, issuing decrees, introducing War Communism and the NEP, and creating the Cheka.
• Lenin returned from Switzerland in April 1917
• Lenin Died in January 1924
• Trotsky joined the Bolsheviks in 1917 (former Menshevik).
• Trotsky created the Red Army to win the Civil War.
• Trotsky suppressed the Kronstadt Rebellion
• Trotsky was the chairman of the Petrograd Soviet, led the Military Revolutionary Committee, and organized the seizure of power.
• Trotsky Introduced military ranks to grow discipline.
• Trotsky opposed the NEP but created no opposition to Stalin.
• Trotsky lost political influence after Lenin died.
• After the Civil War Trotsky Privately supported the NEP even though he criticized it