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Russia and the Soviet Union, 1917–41

The Bolshevik Revolution

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 3

Overview

Lenin's return in the sealed train, the April Theses, 'Peace, Bread, Land', rising Bolshevik membership, the July Days and their aftermath, the Red Guards' seizure of Petrograd, Trotsky's Military Revolutionary Committee, the Winter Palace, Lenin's part in the October rising and why it succeeded.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

How did the Bolsheviks seize power in Petrograd in October 1917?

Key term

How did Lenin get back to Russia in April 1917?

Key term

What slogans summed up what the Bolsheviks were offering?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    How did Lenin get back to Russia in April 1917?

    Model answer

    The Germans carried him from exile in Switzerland across their own territory in a sealed train, hoping he would take Russia out of the war.

  2. 2

    What did Lenin demand in the April Theses?

    Model answer

    An immediate end to the war, no cooperation whatever with the Provisional Government, land for the peasants and all power to the soviets.

  3. 3

    What slogans summed up what the Bolsheviks were offering?

    Model answer

    'Peace, Bread, Land' and 'All Power to the Soviets', promising an end to the fighting, food for the towns and the estates for the peasants.

  4. 4

    Why did Bolshevik membership grow so quickly during 1917?

    Model answer

    They alone demanded an immediate peace and refused to join the government, so they carried none of the blame for its failures.

  5. 5

    What were the 'July Days'?

    Model answer

    A rising in Petrograd by armed workers, soldiers and sailors demanding that the Soviet take power, which had no clear leadership and was put down by loyal troops.

  6. 6

    What happened to the Bolsheviks immediately after the 'July Days'?

    Model answer

    Lenin fled to Finland, Trotsky and other leaders were arrested, and the party was publicly accused of taking German money.

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