GCSE History | Vladimir Lenin and his Time in Power in Russia

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History Quiz - Russia: 1917-1921 - Lenin And The Consolidation Of Soviet Power (Questions)

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.

Key Terms

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.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

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.

Try These Related Quizzes

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

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

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

Which senior Tsarist naval officer controlled the anti-Bolshevik forces attacking the red zone from the east?

[ ]	Kolchak
[ ]	Denikin
[ ]	Wrangel
[ ]	Yudenich

The Bolsheviks deployed a ruthless secret police force during the Civil War. What was its name of this organisation?

[ ]	OGPU
[ ]	KGB
[ ]	NKVD
[ ]	Cheka

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

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

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

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

10.

To which of these former parts of the Tsarist state was Lenin prepared to concede independence after the Civil War?

[ ]	Armenia
[ ]	Estonia
[ ]	Kazakhstan
[ ]	Chechyna

History Quiz - Russia: 1917-1921 - Lenin And The Consolidation Of Soviet Power (Answers)

Where did the Bolsheviks make peace with Germany in March 1918, thereby ending the First World War on the Eastern Front?

[ ]	Rapallo
[ ]	Minsk
[x]	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

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?

[x]	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

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?

[x]	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

Which senior Tsarist naval officer controlled the anti-Bolshevik forces attacking the red zone from the east?

[x]	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

The Bolsheviks deployed a ruthless secret police force during the Civil War. What was its name of this organisation?

[ ]	OGPU
[ ]	KGB
[ ]	NKVD
[x]	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

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
[x]	The Mensheviks
[ ]	The Octobrists
[ ]	The Decembrists

The Bolsheviks lacked allies in the Civil War - either domestic or foreign

Lenin moved the Russian capital in 1918 to a location further away from the Civil War fighting. Which city became the new capital?

[ ]	Kiev
[x]	Moscow
[ ]	Nishni Novgorod
[ ]	Archangelsk

The capture of the Bolshevik capital would have been a disaster

What happened at Kronstadt in the Gulf of Finland in 1921, which so disturbed the Bolshevik leadership?

[x]	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"