Question

1. Why were many Russian disappointed in the Revolution of 1905?

2. Who were the Bolsheviks? How did they gain power in 1917?
3. Who were the “Reds” & “Whites” in the Russian Civil War? Who won & why?
4. What was the “Red Terror” used by Vladimir Lenin?
5. How did Russian society transform in the early 1920s?
6. Who was Leon Trotsky? How did he disagree with Stalin?
7. How did Stalin industrialize the Soviet Union?
8. What were Stalin’s “Great Purges”? Who were the kulaks?
9. Why do you think Russia was the first country to become Marxist (communist)?

Answer 1

1. Many Russians did not want to leave World War I nor conform to communism.

2. The Bolsheviks were the communist followers of Carl Marx, and they gained power through the Revolution of 1917.

3. The "Reds" were the communist Bolsheviks, and the "Whites" were made up of militarists and monarchists who opposed the "Reds."

4. The "Red Terror" was partly a series of executions used by the leader of Russia to gain political power and prestige and a way to make the people fear him.

9. Vladimir Lenin approved of the teaching of Karl Marx (who had been exiled from his home country of Germany). As Russia's monarchy was already pretty weak, it was not hard for him to push communism on the country as a good alternative, thereby taking power.