RUSSIA
Area of Study 1 –
Causes of the Revolution
ESSAY QUESTION
POSSIBLE RUSSIA QUESTION 1 ESSAY QUESTIONS
· How significant was WW1 as a cause of the February Revolution?
Use evidence to support your answer.
· How significant were the Dumas as a cause of the February
Revolution? Use evidence to support your answer.
· How significant was 1905 as a cause of the February
Revolution? Use evidence to support your answer.
· How significant were the ideas of Lenin as a cause of the
February Revolution? Use evidence to support your answer.
· How significant were Tsar Nicholas’s measures in the October
Manifesto as a cause of the February Revolution? Use evidence to
support your answer.
· How significant were the political decisions of the
Provisional Government as a cause of the October Revolution? Use
evidence to support your answer.
· How significant was the leadership of Tsar Nicholas as a cause
of the February Revolution? Use evidence to support your
answer.
· How significant was the abdication of the Tsar as a cause of
the October Revolution? Use evidence to support your answer.
· How significant were General Kornilov’s actions as a cause of
the October Revolution? Use evidence to support your answer.
· As a cause of revolution, how significant was the
unwillingness of the Tsarist regime to introduce effective reform?
Use evidence to support your answer.
· ‘The workers, soldiers and peasants were the driving force in
the Russian Revolution.’ Do you agree?
· ‘Kerensky lost the Revolution, Trotsky organised the
Revolution, and Lenin inspired the Revolution.’ Do you agree?
· ‘By 1917 Russia was a revolution waiting to happen.’ Do you
agree?
· How significant was Kerensky’s leadership as a cause of the
Russian Revolution?
· ‘The Rasputin scandal was a symptom, not a cause of the
Russian Revolution.’ Do you agree?
· ‘The Dual Authority of the Provisional Government and
Petrograd Soviet was doomed to fail.’ Do you agree?
· How significant were actions by soldiers and sailors in
contributing to the development of the Russian Revolution?
· The 1917 revolution succeeded where the 1905 revolution
failed.’ Do you agree?
Note: Prompt style questions require you to refer to the actual
prompt in your answer
1. Dominic Lieven stated that “one-quarter of the world’s land
surface changed hands between 1876 and 1915.”
Could the geography of Russia (both physical and social) be
considered as a cause of the Russian Revolution of 1917?
1. Nicholas II said:"I am not yet ready to be Tsar. I know
nothing of the business of ruling". To what extent did the
nature of this Tsar contribute to the development of the Russian
Revolution of 1917?
1. “Autocracy is a superannuated form of government that may
suit the needs of a Central African tribe, but not those of the
Russian people, who are increasingly assimilating the culture of
the rest of the world. That is why it is impossible to maintain
this form of government except by violence.”
Nicolai Tolstoy
Did the Romanov autocracy inevitably lead to its demise by
October 1917?
1. “Be more autocratic than Peter the Great and sterner than
Ivan the Terrible.”
Tsarina Alexandra, to her husband
To what extent did Nicholas' personality prevent him from acting
on the Tsarina's advice, thereby leading inevitably to
revolution?
1. “I shall never, under any circumstances, agree to a
representative form of government because I consider it harmful to
the people whom God has entrusted to my care.”
Nicholas II
The concept of divine right to rule, and the Tsar's view of his
role as father to his people were both factors in the development
of the Russian Revolution of 1917, but how significant were
they?
1. “Comrade Workers, tear up all portraits of the blood-sucking
Tsar and say to him: Be thou damned with all Thine august reptilian
progeny!” Georgi Gapon during 1905 - To what extent was the
"revolution" of 1905 the commencement of progressive change in
Russia's government?
RUSSIA
Area of Study 2 –
Consequences of the Revolution
SOURCE ANALYSIS QUESTION
Source 1
The Cheka is not a court. The Cheka is the defense of the
revolution as the Red Army is: as in the Civil War the Red Army
cannot stop to ask whether it may harm particular individuals, but
must take into account only one thing, the victory of the
revolution over the bourgeoisie, so the Cheka must defend the
revolution and conquer the enemy even if its sword falls
occasionally on the heads of the innocents.
Statement by Felix Dzerzhinsky, Commander of the Cheka, July,
1918
Source 2
From the Northern Commune 9 September 1918
The Council of the People's Commissaries, having considered the
report of the Chairman of the Extraordinary Commission found that
under the existing conditions it was found necessary to secure the
safety of the rear by means of terror. To strengthen the activity
of the Extraordinary Commission, and render it more systematic, as
many responsible party comrades as possible are to be sent to work
on the Commission. The Soviet Republic must be made secure against
the class enemies by sending them to concentration camps. All
persons belonging to White Guard organisations or involved in
conspiracies and rebellions are to be shot …
Quoted in Bucklow and Russell, 1976, Russia: Why Revolution?,
pp. 204
Source 3
‘Peace and Liberty in Sovdepiya’. A White propaganda poster of
1919. Sovediya was a degrotoary slang term that roughly translates
as ‘land of Soviet deputies’.
Questions
a. Using Sources 1 and 2, explain the government’s use of
terror.
5 marks
b. Using Source 3, explain Trotsky’s role in the Civil War.
5 marks
c. Evaluate the reasons for Red victory in the Civil War. In
your response, refer to the sources provided and other views. (10
marks)
Source 1
But as long as behind the slogan ‘All power to the Constituent
Assembly’ is concealed the slogan ‘Down with the Soviets’, civil
war is inevitable. For nothing in the world will induce us to
surrender the Soviet power. And when the Constituent Assembly
revealed its readiness to postpone all the painfully urgent
problems and tasks that were placed before it by the Soviets, we
told the Constituent Assembly that they must not postpone for a
single moment.
And by the will of the Soviet power the Constituent Assembly,
which has refused to recognize the power of the people is
dissolved. The Soviet Revolutionary Republic will triumph no matter
what the cost.
Lenin,
Written: 11-12 of December, 1917 First Published: 26 December,
1917 in Pravda No. 213
Source 2
From various quarters of the town processions, carrying red
flags with inscriptions for the Constituent, marched towards the
centre and one by one were fired on and dispersed by Red guards and
sailors. Barricades were erected near the Taurida Palace, sailors
and Red Guards were stationed in convenient courtyards: all the
methods so familiar under the old regime were brought into
play.
Most of the shooting took place on the Liteiny Prospect. The
number of killed and wounded apparently was not large, considering
the amount of ammunition expended. Among those killed and wounded
were several workmen and students and one member of the
Constituent, the peasant Loginov. Indignation is intense.
When the Assembly was opened the galleries were crowded, mostly
with Bolshevik supporters. Sailors and Red Guards, with their
bayonets hanging at various angles, stood on the floor of the
House. To right and left of the Speaker's tribune sat the People's
Commissars and their assistants. Lenin was there, bald,
red-bearded, short and rather stout…
After a long wait an SR proposed that the senior deputy,
Shvetsov, should open the proceedings. The Bolsheviks in the House
and galleries raised a howl of indignation, banged the desks, and
with whistles and catcalls accompanied the slow, heavy tread of an
elderly gentleman with long hair towards the tribune. Shvetsov rang
the bell, but the din continued. The Bolsheviks shook their fists,
several rushed towards the tribune, two or three young men in
uniform put their hands on Shvetsov, and the brawl only ceased
when, after the appearance on the scene of Sverdlov, president of
the Executive Committee of the Bolshevik Soviet, the old gentleman
retired.
Harold Williams, Daily Chronicle (21st January, 1918)
Source 3
A child’s drawing showing Red Guards in a truck, 1918.
a. Outline how the government responded to political opposition
in the new society. In your response, refer to the sources provided
and your own knowledge.
b. Using the sources provided and your own knowledge, explain
the significance of the dissolution of the Constituent
Assembly.
c. Evaluate the way in which the sources provided present the
Russian Revolution. In your response, refer to the sources and
other views of Lenin.
Dismissal of the Constituent Assembly
Source 1
‘It was as if the Bolsheviks were psychologically unable to make
the transition from an underground fighting organisation to a
responsible party of national government. They couldn’t bring
themselves to exchange their leather jackets for ministerial
suits.’
Figes (A People’s Tragedy, p. 505)
Source 2
Lenin justified the Bolshevik action this way:
As long as behind the slogan ‘All power to the Constituent
Assembly’ is concealed the slogan ‘Down with the Soviets’, civil
war is inevitable. For nothing in the world will induce us to
surrender the Soviet power. And when the Constituent Assembly
revealed its readiness to postpone all the painfully urgent
problems and tasks that were placed before it by the soviets, we
told the Constituent Assembly that they must not postpone for a
single moment. And by the will of the Soviet power, the Constituent
Assembly, which has refused to recognise the power of the people,
is dissolved. The Soviet Revolutionary Republic will triumph no
matter what the cost.Cited in Lynch, Reaction and Revolutions, p.
105
QUESTIONS:
a. Using the sources and your knowledge explain why the
Constituent Assembly presented such a threat to Bolshevik
power.
b. Using the Source 2 and your knowledge discuss the
consequences of the dismissal of the Constituent Assembly.
c. Analyse the form of government adopted by the Bolsheviks upon
the dismissal of the Constituent Assembly. In your response refer
to the sources provided and other views.
Civil War
Source 1
Greenwood (The Modern World, 1973) argues that the Whites lost
rather than the Reds winning:
Much was due to the driving initiative, the disciplined order
and the ruthlessness of the Bolsheviks themselves. They possessed
in Lenin a leader of great strength and astuteness, and in Trotsky
an organiser of extraordinary capacity. The policy of terror
subdued opposition and aided their cause, but the victory was not
due to terrorism. The Bolsheviks were faced by a motley array of
oppositionists, who had little in common. It was difficult to
maintain effective co-operation between socialist revolutionary
leaders and army generals of the old regime. There was little
co-operation of policy or strategy between the White leaders, and
this lack of unity was to prove fatal to the counter-revolutionary
cause.
Greenwood (The Modern World, 1973)
Source 2
QUESTIONS:
a. Using Source 1 and your knowledge explain why the White
Armies were unsuccessful in defeating the Red Army in the Civil War
1918-1921?
b. Using Source 2 and your knowledge explain the role of
Bolshevik leadership during the Civil War period.
c. Evaluate the impact of the Civil War on the development of
the New Society in Russia. In your response refer to the sources
provided and other views.
Sample Answer:
a. Using Source 1 and your knowledge explain why the White
Armies were unsuccessful in defeating the Red Army in the Civil War
1918-1921?
In source 1 Greenwood states “they [the Red Army] possessed in
Lenin a leader of great strength and astuteness” and a “lack of
unity [among the White Army] was to prove fatal to the
counter-revolutionary cause.” Greenwood concludes the Reds victory
was due to superior leadership and organisation and a lack of
cohesion ultimately undermined the ability of the White Army to
seriously challenge the Bolsheviks. Additionally the ability of the
Bolsheviks (Red Army) to control the centrally located industrial
strongholds of Moscow and Petrograd allowed them to produce war
materials and control the railways providing them with a strategic
advantage which would prove to be impossible to overcome by the
White Armies. The Red Army supporters were also highly motivated
and committed to the cause of defending the revolution. The
Bolsheviks convinced enough of the population through a mixture of
propaganda and terror that their cause was worthy of support and a
victory by the White Army would mean a return of the Old Regime.
The Reds victory was due to several reasons including strong
leadership as Greenwood suggests and defending a central location
as well as efficient use of propaganda and terror.
b. Using Source 2 and your knowledge explain the role of
Bolshevik leadership during the Civil War period.
As shown in Source 2 Lenin and Trotsky were central figures
contributing to the success of the Bolsheviks (Red Army) in the
Civil War period. In Source 2 Lenin is presented in an elevated
position demonstrating his superior importance in the hierarchy
within the Party. He is delivering a speech to the people
indicating that his ideas were the driving force behind the Party.
Source 2 also includes Trotsky shown to be supporting Lenin and
positioned in a way that suggests he was a key figure in helping
Lenin and the Bolsheviks to achieve victory in the Civil War.
Trotsky was appointed Commissar of War in March 1918 and was
successful in recruiting five million men to the Red Army by 1920.
Included in that figure were 50,000 former Tsarist military
officers which Trotsky believed essential in ensuring strict
military discipline. Trotsky was known to be a skilled speaker
travelling an estimated 105,000 kilometres during the Civil War
promoting the Bolsheviks ‘inevitable’ victory against
counter-revolution. As shown in Source 2 Lenin and Trotsky were
exceptionally important figures and were pivotal in the Bolsheviks
ability to consolidate the revolution and defend against
counter-revolution during the Civil War period.
c. Evaluate the impact of the Civil War on the development of
the New Society in Russia. In your response refer to the sources
provided and other views.
Both sources indicate that strong leadership was necessary
during the Civil War and was critical in ensuring the Bolsheviks
successfully defended the revolution from the White and Green
counter revolutionary forces. Greenwood in Source 1 states “much
was due to the driving initiative (of Lenin), and in Trotsky an
organiser of extraordinary capacity” Source 2 focuses on
highlighting the importance of Lenin and Trotsky during the Civil
War period. Strong and authoritarian leadership even after the
Civil War ended has led many historians to conclude that the
significant challenges faced by Lenin and the Bolsheviks during the
Civil War forced them to adopt authoritarian policies using
violence, terror and repression to assert their will on the
majority of the population. Thomas and McAndrew state “The
Communist might have controlled the railways, the large industrial
enterprises, and the armed forces, but not the hearts and minds of
the people” suggesting that the Civil War had profound consequences
on success of the New Society created by the revolution. Volkoganov
is even more cynical in his assessment of the leadership of the
Bolsheviks and New Society created in the post-Civil War period
stating Lenin “regarded it as normal to build this “happiness” on
the blood, coercion and denial of freedom.” Figes suggests “the Red
Terror did not come out of the blue. It was implicit in the regime
from the start” indicating that he believes that terror and
repression were not a result of the Civil War but rather a
reflection of the nature of the Bolsheviks leadership style. Both
sources are accurate in their assessment of the importance of the
leadership of the Bolsheviks during the Civil War period and their
need to adopt authoritarian measures to maintain power yet these
sources are limited in indicating the rational for why these
measures were maintained once the Civil War period was over.
War Communism
Source 1
As the urban food crisis deepened and more and more workers went
on strike, it became clear that the Bolsheviks were facing a
revolutionary situation. Lenin was thrown into panic: every day he
bombarded the local Red commanders with violent demands for the
swiftest possible suppression of the revolts by whatever means. ‘We
are barely holding on,’ he acknowledged in March. The peasant wars,
he told the opening session of the Tenth Party Congress on 8 March,
were ‘far more dangerous than all of the Denikins, Yudeniches and
Kolchaks put together.’ Together with the strikes and the Kronstadt
mutiny of March, they would force the Congress to abandon finally
the widely hated policies of War Communism and restore free trade
under the NEP. It was a desperate bid to stem the tide of this
popular revolution. Having defeated the Whites, who were backed by
no fewer than eight Western powers, the Bolsheviks surrendered to
the peasantry.
Figes, A People’s Tragedy (1996), p. 758
Source 2
A Bolshevik requisitioning brigade
a. Using Source 1 and your knowledge explain why the Green
Armies presented such a challenge to the Bolsheviks and their
ability to implement War Communism?
b. Using Source 2 and your knowledge explain the role of the Red
Army in the Russian Revolution.
c. Evaluate the impact of the policy of War Communism on Russian
society. In your response refer to the sources provided and other
views.
Sample answer
a. Using Source 1 and your knowledge explain why the Green
Armies presented such a challenge to the Bolsheviks and their
ability to implement War Communism?
In Source 1 Figes makes the argument that the Green Army
presented a significant challenge for the Bolsheviks and by 1921
the “Bolsheviks were facing a revolutionary situation.” Figes
supports his conclusion by quoting Lenin when he stated the
peasants were “far more dangerous than all of the Denikins,
Yudeniches and Kolchaks put together” implying that the Green Army
presented more of a threat than the White Army. Figes concludes
that “the Bolsheviks surrendered to the peasantry” and abandoned
the hated economic policy of and adopted the NEP to save themselves
from continued peasant uprisings. Peter Oxley estimated that during
the Civil War period close to 10 million deaths occurred and 95% or
those were due to famine and disease. It was the peasantry who were
hardest hit by the famine and disease and this inspired them to
mobilise against the Bolsheviks in an attempt to secure a better
future for themselves and resist the implementation of War
Communism. The peasants and by extension the Green Armies were
fighting for local independence and freedom from a national
government which presented a significant threat to the Bolsheviks
and their ability to maintain support and their ability to
implement the policy of War Communism.
b. Using Source 2 and your knowledge explain the role of the Red
Army in the Russian Revolution.
As seen in Source 2 the Red Army was instrumental in the
implementation of economic policy of War Communism. An essential
element of this policy was the ability of the government to obtain
sufficient grain from the peasants, the Red Army soldiers were
expected to canvas the rural areas of Russia going village to
village requisitioning grain as seen in Source 2. The Bolsheviks
had been reliant on the Red Army for support from the very start of
the revolution in October 1917 until well after the death of Lenin
and into the Stalin period of 1927. The Red Army were used to help
seize power away from the Provisional Government, dismiss the
Constituent Assembly January 1918, defeat foreign armies such as
the Czech Legion 1920, fight the White and Green Armies 1918-1921,
and supress the Kronstadt rebellion in March 1921. By 1920 the Red
Army had grown to five million men who were expected to pledge a
compulsory Oath of the Red Warrior. This oath of loyalty committed
each individual to ‘observe the strictest revolutionary
discipline’, to protect all public property from damage and
robbery, and to defend the Soviet republic against all foreign
invaders. The role of the Red Army was supremely important in
ensuring the Bolsheviks were able to maintain power in Russia
between October 1917-1927.
c. Evaluate the impact of the policy of War Communism on Russian
society. In your response refer to the sources provided and other
views.
Both Source 1 & 2 identify that one aspect of the economic
policy of War Communism was the need to forcefully take food from
the rural regions of Russia and redistribute food to the urban
areas. Source 2 presents an image of a requisitioning party
acquiring grain from a rural village and in Source 1 Figes engages
in some discussion of the consequences of this policy on creating
significant unrest within the rural regions of Russia. War
Communism was an economic failure and resulted in the estimated
deaths of 9.5 million peasants due to starvation and disease. Yet
the real impact of War Communism on the New Society was how the
centralization of authority became the nucleus of the conflict
between the people of Russia (specifically the peasants) and the
Bolsheviks. Lenin and the Bolsheviks were forced to regularly adopt
authoritarian policies and use violence, terror and repression as a
means to implement the policy of War Communism. Lieven states of
Lenin that “he combined fanaticism, ruthlessness and absolute
self-confidence with a terrifying naivety about government and
economics” and Malone goes on to state Lenin “normalised terror and
disguised it with revolutionary terminology” both concluding that
Lenin justified his use of terror in the name of defending the
revolution and ensuring that his policies were implemented
regardless of the consequences on the New Society. The conflict
between the Bolsheviks and the people only subsided once Lenin and
the Bolsheviks relented on their insistence of implementing the
hated policy of War Communism and adopted a more moderate policy of
the NEP. The NEP according to Lenin was a ‘strategic retreat’ and
ideologically conflicted with their aim of implementing
Marxist-Leninist socialism and created disharmony amongst the Party
yet resolved the economic crisis and ended the peasant revolts.
Source 2 is useful in understanding the means by which the policies
of War Communism were implemented yet it is limited in
understanding the long term impact of the policy of War Communism.
Source 1 is significantly more useful because it provides insight
into the consequences of this policy on creating conflict between
the Bolsheviks and the people and then goes on to identify that the
resolution of this conflict is only achieved once War Communism is
abandoned and the NEP is adopted.
Kronstadt Rebellion
Source 1
Beginning as early as 1918, the fronts began to complain that
the new contingents of ‘Kronstadters’ were unsatisfactory,
exacting, undisciplined, unreliable in battle, and doing more harm
than good … It would seem that the Bolsheviks marched with bared
chests across the ice against the fortress only because of their
evil characters and their hatred of the Kronstadt sailors … Is this
not childish prattle? … The critics try to suggest that everything
would have ended in general satisfaction if only the revolution had
left the insurgent sailors alone. Unfortunately, the world
counterrevolution would in no case have left them alone.
Trotsky, ‘Hue and cry over Kronstadt’, New International, April
1938
Source 2
The repression of the Kronstadt revolt was a necessity because
there is no question that if the Kronstadt rebellion had been
successful, it would have been, as Lenin said, ‘a step, a ladder, a
bridge’ to the victory of counter revolution. Its success would
have opened the way for the restoration of the Whites, the
reactionary forces uniting monarchists, social democratic
Mensheviks and foreign armies in a massive assault on the fledgling
and isolated workers state.
Abbie Bakan ‘A Tragic Necessity’, first printed in the Socialist
Workers Review in November 1990
a. Using sources and your knowledge explain why it was necessary
for the Bolsheviks to supress the Kronstadt sailors in March
1921.
b. Using the sources and your own knowledge explain the role of
war in the development of the new society in Russia from
1918-1921.
c. Evaluate the impact of the Kronstadt Rebellion on the Russian
society. In your response, refer to the sources provided and other
views.
Sample answer
a. Using sources and your knowledge explain why it was necessary
for the Bolsheviks to supress the Kronstadt sailors in March
1921.
Trotsky in Source 1 states that the Kronstadt sailors for a
number of years “were unsatisfactory, exacting, undisciplined,
unreliable in battle, and doing more harm than good”, therefore
having a negative impact on the ability of the Bolsheviks to
maintain control of the New Society. In Source 1 Trotsky states
“the world counterrevolution would in no case have left them alone
if the Kronstadt rebellion had been successful”, which is echoed in
a statement by Lenin in Source 2 which states if the Kronstadt
sailors has been successful it would have been “a step, a ladder, a
bridge to the victory of counter revolution”. The Kronstadt sailor
rebellion presented an ideological challenge for Lenin and the
Bolsheviks. The Kronstadt sailors were once considered the vanguard
of the revolution hence these were the very people whom the
Bolsheviks claimed to represent and now in March 1921 they were
actively attempting to overthrow them. The 16,000 strong Kronstadt
garrison were highly trained soldiers who were demanding the end to
Sovnarkom and election to immediately take place. Both Source 1
& 2 conclude that if they Bolsheviks were unable to supress the
Kronstadt rebellion it would have been likely a third revolution
would have occurred bringing an end to the New Society created by
the Bolsheviks.
b. Using the sources and your own knowledge explain the role of
war in the development of the new society in Russia from
1918-1921.
Officially the Russian Civil War ended at the beginning of 1921
yet both Source 1 & 2 describe the Kronstadt Rebellion as a
continuation of war and a threat to Bolshevik power similar to WWI
and the Civil War. Abbie Bakan in Source 2 concludes if the
Kronstadt sailors were successful in their uprising it “would have
opened the way for the restoration of the Whites, the reactionary
forces uniting monarchists, social democratic Mensheviks and
foreign armies” suggesting extending the war until the Bolsheviks
were overthrown and a new form of government inserted in its place.
From the outset the Bolsheviks were at war, initially using a
military coup to overthrow the Provisional Government, then
continuing to fight WWI until the signing Treat of Brest-Litovsk in
March 1918, then the Bolsheviks made the decision to dismiss the
Constituent Assembly which Lenin knew would lead to Civil War. The
Civil War begin in mid-1918 and lasted until early 1921 during
which the Bolshevik Red Army fought off challenges from White Army
generals such as Miller, Yudenich, Kolchack, and Denikin as well as
threats from the peasant led Green Army. Additionally the
Bolsheviks during the early years of the New Society fought off
foreign attempts to challenge them from Western nations such as
France, Britain, and Japan. Sources 1 & 2 focus largely on the
Kronstadt Rebellion yet war was an ever present situation for the
Bolsheviks starting from October 1917 until late in 1921.
c. Evaluate the impact of the Kronstadt Rebellion on the Russian
society. In your response, refer to the sources provided and other
views.
Trotsky in Source 1 and Abbie Bakan in Source 2 identify the
Kronstadt sailors as a genuine threat to the Bolsheviks ability to
maintain power and continue to implement their vision for the New
Society. Both Sources conclude that it was necessary for the
Bolsheviks to overcome this challenge of the Kronstadt Rebellion
through the use of force or a never ending series of counter
revolutionaries would continue to challenge the Bolsheviks hold on
power. Isaac Deutscher would support Trotsky and Bakan suggesting
it was necessary to supress the Kronstadt Rebellion because the
“Bolshevik leaders hoped that the horrors and terrors of the civil
war were over and that the era of peaceful Socialist reconstruction
was about to begin” meaning the Bolsheviks were justified in
attacking the Kronstadt sailors ensuring their ability to
consolidate the New Society. Orlando Figes would challenge these
views stating the violence unleashed on the Kronstadt sailors was
“conclusive proof that the Bolsheviks had turned into tyrants”
suggesting the Bolsheviks were unwilling to negotiate, compromise
or identify the nature of the conflict preferring to resort to
violence and terror. The Kronstadt sailors had been the vanguard of
the Bolsheviks since 1905 and were now directly challenging
Bolshevik authority demanding civic freedoms and new elections in
their petition. In March 1921 widespread revolts were occurring in
the rural and industrial areas throughout Russia and the sources
accurately identify that without the rapid and violent suppression
the Kronstadt Rebellion that there was the potential for additional
counterrevolution to occur. The limitation of the sources are that
they fail to identify the more serious threat which was as Malone
states was “ideological rather than military.” Meaning the
Bolsheviks would be required to undertake drastic compromise by
March 1921 or they risked losing support from the entire Russian
population even those who once were willing to fight and die for
their cause like the Kronstadt sailors. After the violent
suppression of the Kronstadt sailor’s, concessions would still need
to be made by the Bolsheviks to maintain power. The sources fail to
identify that the Bolsheviks were forced to abandon the hated
economic policy of War Communism which created enormous hardship
for the people of Russia opting instead for a more moderate
capitalist policy of the NEP. The sources are useful in
understanding why the Kronstadt Rebellion presented a significant
challenge to the Bolsheviks yet limited in understanding deeper
threat they posed and they fail to identify what additional actions
would be required by the Bolsheviks to overcome this challenge.
New Economic Policy (NEP)
Source 1
A poster of Lenin's New Economic Policy (NEP) ambitions. Source:
community.middlebury.edu
Source 2
The victory of revolution in the cooperation of workers and
peasants. 1925
a. Using the sources provided and your own knowledge, explain
the experiences of peasants in the Russian Revolution.
b. Outline how Lenin aimed to change society through the
implementation of the NEP. In your response refer to the sources
and your own knowledge.
c. Evaluate the impact of the NEP on the development of the New
Society from 1921-1927. Refer to the sources and other views.
Violence and Terror
Source 1
The revolution ‘logically’ does not demand terrorism just as
‘logically’ it does not demand an armed insurrection …But the
revolution does require of the revolutionary class that it should
attain its end by all methods at its disposal –if necessary, by an
armed rising; if required by terrorism. A revolutionary class which
has conquered power with arms in its hands is bound to, and will,
suppress, rifle in hand, all attempts to tear the power out of its
hands. Where it had against it a hostile army, it will oppose to it
its own army. Where it is confronted with armed conspiracy …it will
hurl at the heads of its enemies an unsparing penalty.
Trotsky, The Defence of Terrorism (1920)
Source 2
To stay in power against the wishes of the overwhelming majority
of their subjects, the Bolsheviks had to distort that power beyond
all recognition. Terror may have saved Communism but it totally
corroded its soul.
Pipes, A Concise History of the Russian Revolution (1994), p.
229
a. Using Source 1 and your knowledge identify the challenges
faced by the Bolsheviks which necessitated the use of violence and
terror.
b. Explain why a new form of government was difficult to
achieve. In your response, refer to the sources provided and your
own knowledge.
c. Analyse the methods adopted by the Bolsheviks in their
attempt to implement their New Society between 1918-1921. In your
response, refer to the sources provided and other views.
Source 1:
An extract from John Reed's Ten Days that Shook the World,
describing the first acts of the Bolsheviks after seizing
power.
As soon as Petrograd was in Bolshevik hands, Lenin made his
'decrees' to end the war and settle the land question. The left
wing American journalist, John Reed, witnessed some of the events
of October and described them in Ten Days that Shook the World,
published in 1919. Here is his description of Lenin's first address
to the Second All Russian Congress of Soviets in Petrograd on 26
October 1917:
Now Lenin, gripping the edge of the reading stand, letting his
little winking eyes travel over the crowd as he stood there
waiting, apparently oblivious to the long-rolling ovation, which
lasted several minutes. When it finished, he said simply, 'We shall
now proceed to construct the Socialist order!' Again that
overwhelming human roar.
'The first thing is the adoption of practical measures to
realize peace ... We shall offer peace to the peoples of all the
belligerent countries upon the basis of the Soviet terms - no
annexations, no indemnities, and the right of self-determination of
peoples. At the same time, according to our promise, we shall
publish and repudiate the secret treaties...
[Lenin read out a proclamation to the warring nations proposing
peace on these terms, and a vote
was taken on it at the Congress.]
Kamanev asked all in favour of the proclamation to hold up their
cards. One delegate dared to raise his hand against, but the sudden
outburst around him brought it swiftly down ... Unanimous.
Suddenly, by common impulse, we found ourselves on our feet,
mumbling together into the smooth lifting unison of the
Internationale. A grizzled old soldier was sobbing like a child.
Alexandra Kollantai rapidly winked the tears back. The immense
sound rolled through the hall, burst windows and doors and soared
into the quiet sky. 'The war is ended! The war is ended!' said a
young workman near me, his face shining.
[When the tumult subsided] Lenin was reading the Decree on
Land:
(1) All private ownership of land is abolished immediately
without compensation.
(2) All landowners' estates and all lands belonging to the
Crown, to monasteries, church lands with all their livestock and
inventoried property, buildings and all appurtenances, are
transferred to the disposition of the township Land Committees and
the district Soviets of Peasants' Deputies until the Constituent
Assembly meets.
[After more descriptions of the Congress, Reed described the
Land Decree being put to the vote.]
At two o'clock the Land Decree was put to the vote, with only
one against and the peasant delegates wild with joy ... So plunged
the Bolsheviki ahead, irresistible, overriding hesitation and
opposition - the only people in Russia who had a definite programme
of action while the others talked for eight long months.
[Source: John Reed, Ten Days that Shook the World (Penguin,
Middlesex, 1981) pp. 129, 133,
134, 137.
Source 2:
The First Year of Proletarian Rule (1918)
[Source: Alphahistory,
http://alphahistory.com/russianrevolution/russian-revolution-graphics/nggallery/page/3,
Accessed on 12.08.2016]
Question 1 (20 marks)
a) Using Source 1 and your own knowledge, describe how the
Bolshevik’s initial decrees were perceived by different groups in
Russia.
(5 marks)
b) Analyse Source 2 and explain how the Bolsheviks used
propaganda to present a positive view of their rule. In your
response, use source 2 and your own knowledge.
(5 marks)
c) Evaluate the effectiveness of the methods used by the
Bolsheviks to unite the people under their leadership between
October 1917 the end of 1918.
(10 marks)
Source 1:
A starving family in Russia, 1921
[Source: Jon Nichol and Keith Shephard, Russia (Blackwell
Education, 1988) p. 29.]
Source 2:
The demands of the Kronstadt Sailors
The Resolution of the General Meeting of the Crews of the Frist
and Second Squadrons of the Baltic Fleet 1 March 1921.
Having heard the Report of the Representatives sent by the
General Meeting of Ship Crews to Petrograd to investigate the
situation there, Resolved:
1 In view of the fact that the present Soviets do not express
the will of the workers and the peasants, immediately to hold new
elections by secret ballot ...
2 To establish freedom of speech and press for workers and
peasants, for Anarchists and left Socialist parties;
3 To secure freedom of assembly for labor unions and peasants
organisations;
4 To call a non-partisan Conference of the workers, Red army
soldiers and sailors ... no later than 10 March 1921;
5 To liberate all political prisoners of Socialist parties,
[and] those imprisoned in connection with the labor and peasant
movements;
6 To elect a Commission to review the cases of those held in
prisons and concentration camps;
7 To abolish all political bureaus, because no party should be
given special privileges in the propagation of its ideas, or
receive the support of the Government for such purposes;
8 To abolish immediately all armed units organized [to] suppress
traffic and confiscate foodstuffs;
9 To equalize the rations of all who work ...
10 To abolish the Communist fighting detachments ... in the
army, as well as the Communist guards kept on duty in mills and
factories ...
11 To give the peasants full freedom of action in regard to
their land ... and the right to keep cattle, on condition that
[they] manage .... without employing hired labour;
12 To request all branches of the Army, as well as our comrades,
to concur in our resolutions ...
[Source: Michael Bucklow and Glenn Russell, Russia: Why
Revolution? (Longman, Hawthorn, 1976) p. 232.]
Source 3:
Extract from What We Are Fighting For, letter written by
Kronstadt sailors, 1 March 1921
After… the October Revolution, the working class had hoped to
achieve its emancipation. The result has been to create an even
greater enslavement of the individual man. The power of the
police-gendarme monarchy has gone into the hands of the
Communist-usurpers, who instead of freedom offer the toilers the
constant fear of falling into the torture-chamber of the Cheka…
[T]he sickle and the hammer- have actually been replaced… with the
bayonet and the barred window, for the sake of preserving the calm,
carefree life of the new bureaucracy of Communist commissars… Here
at Kronstadt the first stone of the third revolution has been
laid.
[Source: Robert Daniels, A Documentary History of Communism and
the World: From Revolution to Collapse (New England: New England
University Press, 1994) pg 137-8]
Questions
a) Describe the circumstances surrounding the Great Famine in
Russia 1921. In your response, refer to Source 3 and your own
knowledge.
(5 marks)
b) Explain how Kronstadt Sailors’ support for the Communist
Government changed over time. In your response, refer to Source 3
and/or Source 4 and/or Source 5 and your own knowledge.
(5 marks)
c) Evaluate the significance of War Communism as a challenge for
the new government. In your response refer to Source 3 and/or
Source 4 and/or Source 5 and other views.
(10 marks)
Alternative (c) question: (10 marks)
To what extent did the Bolsheviks compromise their ideals
between 1917 and the end of 1921.
In your response, use your own knowledge and refer to parts of
any of the five primary
sources given above
