2.  ‘Peace at any Price’ ‘Peace at any Price’ › The first decrees of Sovnarkom The first decrees of Sovnarkom › The Constituent Assembly The Constituent Assembly › The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk  Civil War Civil War › The Czech Legion The Czech Legion › Reds vs. Whites Reds vs. Whites › The Red Terror The Red Terror › Results of Bolshevik Victory Results of Bolshevik Victory  War Communism and NEP War Communism and NEP › War Communism War Communism › The New Economic Policy (NEP) The New Economic Policy (NEP) › The 1923 Constitution The 1923 Constitution  Lenin overall Lenin overall › Achievements Achievements › Death Death  Key Words Key Words

3. The first degrees of Sovnarkom The Constituent Assembly The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Contents

4. Timeline 8 th November 1917 Degree on the Land Degree on Peace 12 th November 1917 Degree on Work 14 th November 1917 Degree on Unemployment Insurance 1 st December 1917 Degree on the Press 11 th December 1917 Russia’s main Liberal Party is banned 20 th December 1917 The Cheka was set up 27 th December 1917 Degree on Workers’ Control Degree on Banking 31 st December 1917 Degree on Marriage  The Sovnarkom was Lenin’s Parliament, set up in November 1917. He was chairman.  The degree on Land: › Took 540 million acres from Tsar, nobles, the church and landlords. This was given to the peasants to divide among themselves  The degree on Peace: › Stated Sovnarkom intended to make peace with enemies at once  Degree on Work: › 8-hour day and 48-hour week for all industrial workers and made laws about overtime and holidays  Degree on Unemployment Insurance: › Promised financial stability for all workers against illness, injury & unemployed  Degree on the Press: › Banned all non-Bolshevik newspapers  Banning of Political Parties: › Banned Russia’s main liberal party, the Constitutional Democratic Party, and arrested their leaders  The Cheka: › A political police force, ‘All-Russian Extraordinary Commission to Fight Counter-Revolution and Espionage.’ They fought against Bolshevik enemies and opposition  The degree on Works’ Control: › All factories under control of elected committees of workers  The degree on Banking: › All banks in Russia were under Sovnarkom control  The degree on Marriage: › Allowed couples to have non-religious marriages and made it easier to get a divorce About GoodBad Contents

5.  November 1917 – elections were held for new parliament  First free elections in Russian history  Bolsheviks were badly beaten in the elections by the SRs  The SRs got more seats then all the other parties put together  The Assembly met for the first time on 18 th January 1918  Less than 24-hours later, Sovnarkom ordered it to stop meeting  Red Guards killed & wounded more than a 100 people in support of the Assembly who demonstrated  Red Guards prevented elected Deputies from entering the Assembly & closed it down permanently Contents

6.  On 3 rd December 1917 a peace conference was made between Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungry  Leon Trotsky was Russia’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs. He hoped that a socialist revolution would happen in Germany which would enable Russia to have a fair and democratic peace with Germany. After 9weeks there was still no revolution  In February 1918 German forces advanced so close to Petrograd that Lenin decided peace at any price was needed  The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was one of the harshest ever made  Russia had to give up all western lands – Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Georgia  Russia lost: › 62million people – 26% of population › 27% of farmland › 26% of railways › 74% of iron ore and coal  Russia also had to pay a fine of 300million gold roubles  Russia was now at peace. Lenin thought Bolsheviks would now have ‘breathing space’ to get control over the country. He was wrong – he would have a civil war to deal with first. Contents

7. The Czech Legion Reds vs. Whites The Red Terror The Results of Bolshevik Victory Contents

8.  In May 1918, 45,000 Czech POW was taken across Russia on trains to Vladivostok. They were going to be put on ships and taken to their home country.  Some of the Czechs got into a quarrel with the Soviet of a town  When the Bolshevik troops arrived to restore order, more Czechs were involved  Within 2weeks they had taken over all important towns in the area  By the end of 1918, nearly all the towns on the Trans-Siberian Railway’s route were in Czech hands  Bolshevik enemies joined the Czech Legion. They set up their own government and claimed they ruled Russia  Komuch, a Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly was formed. They quickly organised the enemies of the Bolsheviks into a People’s Army.  The People’s Army advanced to Moscow, gaining 650million gold roubles along the way.  The Bolsheviks had taken strict measures in Moscow, introducing conscription for the Red Army. Trotsky organised this. Trotsky had to use former officers of the Tsar’s Army for the Red Army.  Trotsky used fear methods to secure loyalty in the officers: › Any refusal meant going to prison camps › Desertion resulted in their family taken hostage and kept in prison  Trotsky managed to find 22,000 officers to command 330,00 men of the Red Army using those methods Contents

9. Whites (enemies of the Bolsheviks) Reds (Bolsheviks)  White was the traditional colour of the Tsar although not all the Whites were supporters of the Tsar  They were disunited – they had many different leaders and aims, they lost foreign support (Allies) in 1919 and they didn’t work together – they fought in separate armies far apart.  They nearly killed Lenin when a SR, Fanya Kaplan, shot Lenin, bullets entering his neck and lung although he survived.  The Whites had most of Russia under their control  The Whites were unpopular because people associated them with the Tsar, landlords and foreign intervention, and the harsh treatment of the people they captured  They captured the Tsar and his family, keeping them prisoners in Ekaterinburg (in the Ural Mountains). Bolsheviks feared the Tsar would lead the Whites and so in July 1918, they killed him and his family and even his servants.  They were united: they had a common purpose, had one leader and were fighting for survival  War Communism kept the Red Army well supplied  The Red Terror and the Cheka (see slide 10)  The Bolsheviks were popular because of their reforms  The influence of Trotsky: enforcing discipline and had a great military influence – finding good leaders, using encouragement and fear so soldiers fought and had good strategies  The Bolsheviks had resources by having control over the main cities of Petrograd and Moscow Contents

10.  The Cheka, led by Felix Dzerzhinsky, started the Red Terror.  In the cellars of their HQ (in Lubyanka street in Moscow), Cheka agents tortured prisoners for confessions before executing them  Cheka units in the countryside › Hanged › Beat › Shot › Burned anyone who helped the Whites or fought for them  The Cheka was feared, even by some of the loyal Bolsheviks  Trotsky also used his own form of terror. In 1918 he set out an order stating: › Anyone who incites anyone to retreat, desert or not fulfil a military order will be shot › Every soldier in the Red Army who voluntarily deserts his post will be shot › Every soldier who throws away or sells part of his equipment will be shot › Those harbouring deserters are liable to be shot › Houses with deserters can be burned down  Trotsky meant it and did just that when needed, but he was a good leader  He made sure that the Red Army was effective and an united fighting force – helping to win the Civil War Contents

11. 1) Bolsheviks staying in power/ Bolshevik survival 2) The extension of Bolshevik control over a wider area 3) Famine 4) Industrial collapse 5) The New Economic Policy (NEP) 1) Bolsheviks staying in power/ Bolshevik survival 2) The extension of Bolshevik control over a wider area 3) Famine 4) Industrial collapse 5) The New Economic Policy (NEP) Contents

12. War Communism The New Economic Policy The 1923 Constitution

13.  The 5 aspects of War Communism: 1. Nationalisation of factories with more than 10 workers. Vesenkha (Supreme Council of National Economy) decided what should be produced 2. All workers were under government control and military discipline. Death penalty could be used for strikers. Unemployed were put into ‘Labour Camps’ 3. Private trading was banned. Surplus food had to be given to the government 4. The government allowed money to lose value in inflation – abolished rents, railway fares, postal charges, etc. People encouraged to barter 5. Food was strictly rationed in cities  War Communism had two aims: 1. Keep the Red Army supplied with food and weapons 2. Introduce the system of Communism  War Communism succeed in its first aim  In the countryside, peasants decided there was no point in growing surplus food. In 1919, they started to sow less grain and breed fewer animals.  This resulted in food shortages in 1920 and a famine in 1921  Starvation, cold weather and disease killed a total of 7million Russians  Pravda (the Communists’ own newspaper) said 25million Russians were living below the subsistence level Contents

14.  In March 1921there was a revolt of 10,000 sailors at Kronstadt – a navel base near Petrograd. They had been loyal to the Bolsheviks but said War Communism isn’t what they had promised.  While they were ready to attack Petrograd, Trotsky surrounded Kronstadt with 60,000 troops, bombing the navel base and attacking the HQ  Many were killed and any survivors were captured and shot by the Cheka  Lenin then realised a new policy was needed  In March 1921 he abandoned War Communism and set up the NEP  Many Bolsheviks were shocked & said it was a ‘step backwards’ to the capitalist system. Lenin was persistent, saying it would pay off in the long run  By 1925, it had begun to work. Food production went back up to how it was before WW1 and the industrial output dramatically increased (see table). Industry (in millions) 191319221925 Grain harvest (tonnes) 80.150.372.5 Cattle58.945.862.1 Pigs20.312.021.8 Coal (tonnes)29.09.518.1 Iron (tones)4.20.11.5 Contents 1. Peasants could sell surplus food for profit 2. Peasants who increased their food production would pay less tax 3. Factories with fewer than 20 workers were given back to factory owners 4. People could use money once more

15.  At the start of 1923 Russia gained a new constitution and a new name  Russia became a ‘Union of Soviet Socialist Republics’ aka the USSR  The country was now a union of four republics: › Russia › Byelorussia › Ukraine › Caucasus  Each republic had their own government for matters like public health, welfare and education  There was still the Sovnarkom which was the national government, in control of national matters like the Cheka, armed forces, industry and communications Contents

16. Achievements Death

17.  Becoming leader of the Bolsheviks  Setting up the April Theses  Protecting the Provisional Government in the Kornilov Revolt  Winning the Bolshevik Revolution › November 1917  Setting up the Sovnarkom  Setting up the Cheka  Bringing peace, land and bread to Russia  Getting rid of opposition › Provisional Government › Constituent Assembly › Civil War – the Whites  Surviving assassination attempts  Introducing the NEP  Being a successful dictator of Russia/USSR  Setting up the bases of a Communist regime  Gaining masses of support Contents

18.  In 1922 and 1923, Lenin suffered from a series of strokes  In January 1924, he died – aged 53  Lenin wasn’t buried or cremated but embalmed  He is on display in a tomb in Red Square in Moscow  Every year since his death, million visit his tomb to see his body  This is a sign that he is regarded in Russia as one of the greatest leaders of the 20 th Century  After his death, there was a power struggle between Trotsky (Lenin’s favoured leader) and Stalin Contents

19. 1. Sovnarkom 2. Cheka 3. Constituent Assembly 4. Treaty (of Brest-Litovsk) 5. Czech Legion 6. Reds 7. Whites 8. Armies of intervention 9. The Red Terror 10. War Communism 11. Kronstadt 12. The NEP 13. The USSR 14. Lenin 15. Trotsky 16. Bolsheviks 17. Germany 18. Austria-Hungry 19. Civil War 20. Red Army 21. People’s Army 22. Komuch 23. Fanya Kaplan 24. Lubyanka 25. Stalin 26. Pravda 27. Trans-Siberian Railway 28. Nationalisation 29. Petrograd 30. Moscow 31. Vladivostok 32. Social Revolutionaries (SRs) Contents