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Russia: 1917-1921 - Lenin And The Consolidation Of Soviet Power
The Ukraine enjoyed a brief period of independence from 1917, before it was taken over by the Soviet Union.

Russia: 1917-1921 - Lenin And The Consolidation Of Soviet Power

Learn how Lenin and the Bolsheviks turned a fragile revolution into Soviet control between 1917 and 1921, using force, propaganda, and emergency policies like War Communism.

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Fascinating Fact:

War Communism nationalised industry and controlled grain from peasants. It helped feed the cities and the army but caused shortages and resentment in the countryside.

In GCSE History, this topic looks at Russia from 1917 to 1921. You study how Lenin and the Bolsheviks defended their revolution, fought a civil war, and tightened control across the new Soviet state.

  • Bolsheviks: The revolutionary socialist party led by Lenin that seized power in October 1917 and later became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
  • Cheka: The Bolshevik secret police, created to deal with opposition and suspected enemies during the Civil War and Red Terror.
  • War Communism: Emergency economic policy during the Civil War that brought industry under state control and forced peasants to hand over grain.
How did Lenin consolidate Bolshevik power after October 1917?

Lenin consolidated power by closing the Constituent Assembly, signing the Brest Litovsk treaty, using the Cheka against opponents, and winning the Civil War with tight control of industry and supplies.

Why was War Communism introduced in Russia?

War Communism was introduced to keep the Red Army supplied during the Civil War, ensure food reached the cities, and direct factories to produce what the government needed for victory.

What is the difference between War Communism and the NEP?

War Communism relied on strict state control and grain requisition. The New Economic Policy relaxed controls, allowed some private trade, and let peasants sell surplus food for profit.

1 .
Which senior Tsarist naval officer controlled the anti-Bolshevik forces attacking the red zone from the east?
Kolchak
Denikin
Wrangel
Yudenich
The Bolsheviks controlled a relatively small area between St. Petersburg and Moscow. Thus they could be attacked on all sides. However, the White Russian commanders found it difficult to co-ordinate their efforts, and to overcome personal differences
2 .
Which large Slav province of Southern Russia, bordering the Black Sea, enjoyed a brief period of independence against the Bolsheviks during the Civil War?
Byelorussia
The Ukraine
Moldavia
Georgia
The Bolsheviks were determined to hold on to as much territory as possible - especially as they had by now recovered their losses to Germany from Brest-Litovsk
3 .
Who was the Bolshevik Foreign Commissar who negotiated with Germany, and who was told by Lenin to accept the Germans' harsh terms for peace in 1918?
Trotsky
Stalin
Bukharin
Kalinin
The Bolshevik negotiators were put in an impossible position. If they failed to agree to the German terms the war would go on, but the terms were extremely severe. If they signed they would lose (perhaps only temporarily) large areas of land, millions of citizens and much of their agriculture and industry
4 .
Lenin moved the Russian capital in 1918 to a location further away from the Civil War fighting. Which city became the new capital?
Kiev
Moscow
Nishni Novgorod
Archangelsk
The capture of the Bolshevik capital would have been a disaster
5 .
The Bolsheviks deployed a ruthless secret police force during the Civil War. What was its name of this organisation?
OGPU
KGB
NKVD
Cheka
The Tsarists also used a brutal police force called the Okhrana. The Bolsheviks felt that they had to be utterly ruthless to prevail in the Civil War, and made full use of their equivalent force
6 .
Where did the Bolsheviks make peace with Germany in March 1918, thereby ending the First World War on the Eastern Front?
Rapallo
Minsk
Brest Litovsk
Suwalki
Lenin had promised peace if he became Russian leader. Thus he felt obliged to accept Germany's harsh peace terms in 1918, if he was to remain in power. He believed also that Germany herself would fall prey to a communist revolution, and that - in those circumstances - Russia would soon regain her lost territories
7 .
To which of these former parts of the Tsarist state was Lenin prepared to concede independence after the Civil War?
Armenia
Estonia
Kazakhstan
Chechyna
Lenin was prepared to grant independence to areas that did not have significant natural resources or were unlikely to be used as invasion routes by hostile powers
8 .
Which Russian Marxist revolutionary party split off from the Bolsheviks in 1903 at the Brussels conference and fought against them in the Civil War?
The Social Revolutionaries
The Mensheviks
The Octobrists
The Decembrists
The Bolsheviks lacked allies in the Civil War - either domestic or foreign
9 .
Bolsheviks murdered the entire Romanov family in June 1918. What was the name of the city where these executions took place at the Ipatiev House?
Ekaterinburg
Irkutsk
Perm
Kazan
During the Civil War the royal family had to leave St. Petersburg. Ekaterinburg (or Yekaterinburg) was renamed Sverdlovsk in 1924 after the Communist party leader Yakov Sverdlov. It reverted back to its original name in 1991
10 .
What happened at Kronstadt in the Gulf of Finland in 1921, which so disturbed the Bolshevik leadership?
A naval mutiny against the Bolsheviks
The garrison joined the White Russian side
Foreign forces arrived with military support against the Bolsheviks
Trotsky promised concessions if the garrison withdrew their demands for a more liberal communist state
Having just defeated the Whites in the Civil War, the Bolsheviks were terrified by a challenge by the "enemy within"
You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Lenin and the Russian Revolution

Author:  Edward Towne

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