After October 1917 pt 2

1
After October 1917 (pt 2)

• Causes of the Civil War and Its Outbreak in 1918

2
Reminder Key Control Methods

• Central Political Control Sovnarkom
• Incentives/Propaganda and slogans to build
  support
• Class Warfare
• Use of Terror Cheka provision of a group to
  blame for the problems
• (Initially) allowing the assembly elections
• Abolition of legal system replaced with
  revolutionary justice
• End to the war gave control of the army and a
  desperate officer class for a quick end

3
Kamenev, Zinoviev and others, Oct 1917

• It is our view that a socialist government must
  be formed from all parties in the Soviet.. We
  believe that, apart from this, there is only one
  other path retention of a purely Bolshevik
  government by means of political terror.

4
Death of the Constituent Assembly

• 47m of the 80m eligible voted.
• Opened on the 5/12/2008 and closed the day after
  by Sailors loyal to the Bolshevik party.
• Lenin justified its closure

The revolution created the Soviets as the only
organisation of all the working classes in a
position to direct the struggle of those classes
for their complete economic liberation. The CA,
elected by the old register, appeared as an
expression of the old regime when the authority
belonged to the bourgeoisie.
5
Key Decrees

• On land
• On government
• On peace
• On nationalities
• On civil marriage and rights for women
• On abolition of titles replaced by comrade
• On nationalisation of large factories

6
Suppression of Opposition

• What impact would the decrees of the Sovnarkom
  have upon opposition parties?
• Although the government had clearly established
  its mandate in many cities, from the summer of
  1918 onwards the Communist government became more
  and more concerned about its own survival as
  opposition gathered in other areas.

7
Civil War, 1918-22/23

• Reading List
• Lynch, p.
• Murphy, p.78-83
• Oxley, p.117-29

8
Why was there a civil war in Russia (1918-1920)?
9
Reds

• Kronstadt sailors
• Red Guard
• Workers volunteers
• Soldiers from Russian army
• Pro-Revolution

10
Whites

• Liberals
• Tsarists or supporters of military dictatorship
• Nationalists
• Separatists
• Socialist Revolutionaries
• Moderate socialists
• Yudenich (NW), Omsk govt. led by Kolchak
  including pro-monarchists (Siberia), Southern
  Volunteer Army (S) including Liberals army
  officers Komuch (former Const. Assemb.)
  including Soc. Revs. (Samara, E.)
• Anti-Bolshevik

11
Roots of Civil War

• As the Bolsheviks (often termed the Reds) were
  consolidating power, Lenins opponents were also
  organizing from multiple directions. From
  monarchists to democrats to militant Cossacks to
  moderate socialists, these highly divergent
  groups united and came to fight together as the
  Whites. (A smaller group, known as the Greens,
  was made up of anarchists and opposed both the
  Whites and the Reds).
•  
• In the meantime, a contingent of about half a
  million Czech and Slovak soldiers, taken prisoner
  by the Russian army during World War I, began to
  rebel against the Bolsheviks, who were attempting
  to force them to serve in the Red Army. The
  soldiers seized a portion of the Trans-Siberian
  Railway and attempted to make their way across
  Siberia to Russias Pacific coast in order to
  escape Russia by boat.
• In the course of their rebellion, they
  temporarily joined with White forces in the
  central Volga region, presenting the fledgling
  Red Army with a major military challenge. In
  response to these growing threats, the Bolsheviks
  instituted military conscription in May 1918 in
  order to bolster their forces.

12
Roots of Civil War (edit)

• Unification of anti-Bolsheviks (SRs, Monarchists,
  Democrats, Officer Class, Cossacks The Whites
• Smaller anti-Whites and Reds called the Greens.
• 500,000 Czech and Slovak soldiers rebel against
  roles in Bolshevik army. Control parts of
  Trans-Siberian Railway.
• Combined with Whites threat to Bolsheviks
• Bolsheviks renew conscription May 1918.

13
(attempted) Assassination of Lenin

• At the end of the summer, on August 30, there
  was an assassination attempt on Lenin. He
  survived, but a brutal crackdown on all forms of
  opposition commenced shortly thereafter. The
  Bolsheviks called it the Red Terror, and it fully
  lived up to its name. This was the atmosphere
  under which the Russian Civil War began. It
  lasted well into 19201921, by which point the
  Bolsheviks had fully crushed the rebellion.

14
Timeline

• November 1917 Nationwide elections for the
  Constituent Assembly held throughout the month
• December 15 Russia signs armistice with the
  Central Powers
• December 20 Cheka established with Dzerzhinsky as
  its leader
• January 5, 1918 Constituent Assembly meets for
  first and last time
• March 3 Russia and Germany sign peace treaty at
  Brest-Litovsk
• May Bolsheviks institute military conscription
• JuneJuly Russian Civil War begins
• August 30 Lenin shot in assassination attempt but
  survives
• September 5 Red Terror begins

15
Reading Murphy, p.78-80

• Identify the various reasons why the Bolsheviks
  faced so much opposition in 1918.
• List the opposition to the Bolsheviks by Aug
  1918.

16
Summary Reasons for the Civil War

• Collapse of the Russian Empire
• Political Opposition
• Allied Opposition
• Breakdown of Law and Order
• Food Requisitioning