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NCEA Level 2 History (90470) 2011 — page 1 of 10
Assessment Schedule – 2011
History: Examine individual or group identity in an historical setting, in an essay (90470)
Describe and explain the factors that gave an individual or specific group a
characteristic identity.
Describe and explain actions taken by the individual or specific group to express their
identity.
This Achievement Standard requires writing an essay describing factors that have contributed to the formation of
individual or group identity, and ways the identity was expressed, in an historical setting, and describing
characteristics of this individual or group identity.
Judgement Statement
Achievement
Achievement with Merit
Achievement with Excellence
NOTE 1: There is no requirement for the characteristics of the group / individual to be explicitly stated: this
criterion of the Standard is covered implicitly when candidates describe / explain the factors that gave an
individual or group a characteristic identity.
NOTE 2: The specific group / individual must be identified by the candidate, either explicitly or implicitly
NOTE 3: While accuracy in evidence is desirable (eg dates, figures, statistics, quotes, names) this Standard is not
assessing recall of specific details; candidates should not be penalised at any grade level, unless lack of accuracy
detracts from the examination of identity.
AS criteria 2 CONTENT
Some factors that have contributed
to the formation of a significant
individual or group identity are
identified and described within an
historical setting.
A range of factors that have
contributed to the formation of a
significant individual or group
identity are explained within an
historical setting.
A range of factors that have
contributed to the formation of a
significant individual or group
identity are comprehensively
explained within an historical
setting.
AND
AND
AND
AS criteria 1 CONTENT
Some ways in which a significant
individual or group expressed its
distinctive sense of identity within
the historical setting are described.
• As a guide, at least two ways
are required
Ways in which a significant
individual or group expressed its
distinctive sense of identity within
the historical setting are explained
• As a guide, at least three ways
are required
Ways in which a significant
individual or group expressed its
distinctive sense of identity within
the historical setting are
comprehensively explained
• As a guide, at least three ways
are required
Describing means a relevant idea
is stated and followed up with some
amplification.
Explaining means describing and
then making links as to:
- how / why the factors contributed to
the formation of a significant
individual or group identity.
- how / why the individual or group
expressed its distinctive sense of
identity.
Comprehensive means the essay
covers a good range of relevant
content and supports the
description and explanation with
mostly accurate facts.
NCEA Level 2 History (90470) 2011 — page 2 of 10
STRUCTURE
The historical information could be organised in an appropriate essay
format that includes:
• an introduction and conclusion that make reference to at least one of
the questions
• evidence of paragraphing
o Typically, a paragraph will open with a Key Idea (Topic)
Sentence that reflects the question AND signals what aspect
of the candidate response will be covered in the paragraph
body. Elaboration in the body will be supported by evidence
(statistics, short quotes, dates, names etc)
The historical information should be
organised in an effective essay
format that includes:
• an introduction and conclusion
that address both questions
• structured and / or sequenced
paragraphs with evidence of
argument
NCEA Level 2 History (90470) 2011 — page 3 of 10
Suggested Assessment Schedule
Selected topic or setting: Vietnam and the Second Indochina War (up to the Tet Offensive)
Selected individual or group: Ho Chi Minh / the Viet Cong
Factors that gave the individual or group a characteristic identity could include:
•
•
•
•
•
Opposition to foreign interference and desire to unite the Vietnamese people (despite long-standing regional
differences). Anti-Diem (Diem was viewed as a puppet of the American imperialists).
Although not all of the Viet Cong were specifically Communist, Ho was, and this ideology became the dominant
one in the Viet Cong.
By necessity, the Viet Cong had to operate mostly from the countryside and mountains, in order to hide from
the ARVN / Americans. This is where the Viet Cong picked up much of their support.
Ho and the Viet Cong leadership were prepared to suffer heavy losses in order to achieve their goals. General
Vo Nguyen Giap had said: “Every minute, hundreds of thousands of people die on this earth. The life or death
of a hundred, a thousand, tens of thousands of human beings, even of our compatriots, means little.”
Although Diem and the Americans were the immediate problem that the Viet Cong were formed to deal with,
Ho never forgot that China was Vietnam’s most powerful and domineering neighbour (even when it had turned
communist in 1949). Ho had said when reluctantly negotiating with the French in 1946: “It is better to sniff
France’s dung for a while, than eat China’s all our lives.”
A Shared Heritage
• Despite regional differences, there was a common language in Vietnam (until at least the arrival of the French).
• Confucianism and Buddhism influenced cultural development. For most, life was village-based; the family and
village leaders were extremely important, more so than an Emperor or other ruler.
• Founding of the Viet Minh by Ho Chi Minh in 1940, with its goal of ridding Vietnam of first the Japanese and
then the colonial French.
Shared Beliefs and Values
• Ho and the Viet Minh believed passionately in a free and independent Vietnam (“Vietnam for the Vietnamese”).
They believed in the “rightness” of their cause.
• Through his Western-style education, Ho had learned of the high ideals of the French Revolution – “liberty,
equality and fraternity”. He travelled to France in 1911 and joined the French communist party while in Paris.
He took great interest in the anti-colonial views of Lenin (leader of the Russian Revolution of 1917). Later, Ho
studied and taught in the Soviet Union for a period. Ho came to believe that a total focus on the goal of
independence was the only way that Vietnam would be free. Although the Viet Minh was a nationalist rather
than communist organisation, beliefs such as equality and land distribution to the peasants were important.
• There was a belief up until at least the end of WWII that America would support the cause of the Viet Minh,
because America portrayed itself as the champion of freedom and self-determination.
Shared Experiences
• A long history of foreign intervention by foreign powers, especially China, had led to regular uprisings that
helped create a sense of national identity based on a strong resentment of foreign interference.
• Childhood experiences of nationalism. Ho was born in central Vietnam where French rule was carried out
indirectly through a Vietnamese Emperor. Like other nationalists, Ho developed a dislike of those who were
prepared to do the bidding of foreign rulers. Ho’s father was a nationalist who disliked French rule of Vietnam,
no matter how indirect. Ho was a messenger for his father’s activities and later participated in a series of tax
revolts.
• Return of the French after WWII. This was a bitter experience for Vietnamese nationalists, especially after the
joy of successfully ousting the Japanese, and then the declaration of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. A
bitter experience, too, was the failure of the US to support Ho and the Vietnamese, given its position on the
right of peoples anywhere to choose their own destiny, and the support US agents had given to the Viet Minh
during their struggle against the Japanese.
• Hope arose out of the defeat of the French at Dien Bien Phu that the Viet Minh would have a strong bargaining
position at the Geneva Conference, and that China and Russia would support its claims. (This was followed by
disappointment).
• Opposition to Diem and his regime due to Diem’s nepotism, dictatorship, Catholicism, and being seen as proAmerican; Diem was isolated from the ordinary people of Vietnam. Diem’s actions such as the cancellation of
elections scheduled for 1956, persecution under the “Denunciation of Communists” campaign and “Law 10/59”
(during which many innocent people were caught up), failure to carry out effective land reform, abolition of
election of village leaders, and the disruption caused by “strategic hamlet” programme all led to opposition.
NCEA Level 2 History (90470) 2011 — page 4 of 10
•
Opposition to increasing US involvement in Vietnam increased due to America’s support of French in the First
Indo-China War, its policy of “Two Vietnams” and support of Diem, the economic impact on local Vietnamese of
the increasing US involvement (prostitution, corruption). “Americanising” the war with a full commitment of US
combat troops after 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passed led to more intense conflict, as did American
bombing of North Vietnam and use of Agent Orange in the South.
Actions taken by the individual or group to express their identity could include:
Political / social / economic
• Formation of the National Liberation Front (NLF) or Viet Cong in 1960, a broad-based coalition of Vietnamese
nationalist groups, including the Viet Minh’s “winter cadre” or “stay behinds” from the time of the partition of
Vietnam. Its goal was a unified Vietnam free of foreign intervention.
• Land reform and propaganda campaigns to win the “hearts and minds” of the Vietnamese peasants.
• Political aim behind the Tet Offensive (see below) was to undermine support for the war within the US itself by
showing the American public that their leaders had been deceiving them with regard to “winning the war in
Vietnam”.
• Insistence during post-Tet Offensive negotiations that the VC form part of the government in the South.
Military
• Formation of the People’s Liberation Armed Forces, commonly referred to as the Viet Cong, in 1960, a broadbased coalition of Vietnamese nationalist groups, including the Viet Minh’s “winter cadre” or “stay behinds” from
the time of the partition of Vietnam.
• Beginning of guerrilla campaign in 1961 against the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and US forces.
• Targeting of “strategic hamlets” and villagers (leaders, teachers etc) who supported the Diem regime or
followed its instructions.
• New VC tactic of full scale battles began in 1963, although VC losses began to rise dramatically with the
introduction of American troops from 1965.
• In preparation for the Tet Offensive a diversionary battle took place at Khe Sanh. The VC subsequently
attacked more than 100 centres in the South, including Hue and Saigon (US Embassy). Huge VC losses
resulted in its virtual destruction, although politically it was successful.
NCEA Level 2 History (90470) 2011 — page 5 of 10
Selected topic or setting: Origins of World War I
Selected individual or group: Serbian nationalist movements (eg Narodna Odbrana, Black Hand)
Factors that gave the group a characteristic identity could include:
•
•
•
•
•
Historically, the nearby Byzantine Empire had a strong influence in the Middle Ages, along with the Serb
Orthodox Church. Serbian culture fell into decline during five centuries of rule under the Ottoman Empire,
although a common Serbo-Croat language and cultural practices maintained a sense of identity. Following
autonomy and eventual independence in the 19th Century, there was a resurgence of Serbian culture. The rise
of Russia as a Great Power in the latter part of the 19th century gave hope to Serbs due to ethnic and cultural
links with that country. (Note: most nationalist movements were secular in nature.)
Anti-Austrian sentiments were powerful in nationalist movements. The series of proto-nationalist revolutions in
a number of European countries in 1848 provided inspiration, however, while other European states such as
Germany and Italy had unified in the 1870s along ethnic lines, Austria-Hungary seemed to be the main
obstacle to Serbia’s similar goal. Furthermore, the ruling Serbian royal family was seen by many (including the
Black Hand) as being too weak in its dealing with Austria-Hungary and allowing it to dominate Serbia’s
economy. (By 1905, 84 percent of Serbian exports went to Austria-Hungary, and Austria supplied 53 percent of
goods entering Serbia.)
While some nationalist groups eschewed violence (Narodna Odbrana – National Defence – had been forced
earlier to give up its revolutionary activities by pressure from Austria-Hungary, and turned instead to antiAustrian political action and propaganda), they shared the main objective of the Black Hand: the creation of a
Greater Serbia. However, the Black Hand was prepared to use violence. Its stated aim was: "To realise the
national ideal, the unification of all Serbs. This organisation prefers terrorist action to cultural activities; it will
therefore remain secret." By 1914 there were around 2 500 members of the Black Hand. The group was mainly
made up of junior army officers but also included lawyers, journalists and university professors.
Prior to the Bosnian Crisis in 1908, some five million Slavs were already living against their will within the
borders of Austria-Hungary. Even though Serbia had been granted its independence from Turkey in 1878, it
was Austria-Hungary that had been granted administrative control of Bosnia-Herzegovina. This angered Serbia,
which had hoped to unite the Slavic people there with those in Serbia. Relations deteriorated further from 1878
when Austria-Hungary began a programme of crushing by force the customs, language, religion and other
Slavic ways of the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Things came to a head in 1908, when Austria-Hungary acted
to forestall an attempt by Turkey to reassert its control over Bosnia-Herzegovina. It annexed the territories
before Turkey could make its move. This outraged Serbian nationalists, not least because a further one million
Serbs living in Bosnia-Herzegovina were now under full Austrian control.
After the first Balkan War in 1912 Serbia almost doubled in size. Alarmed, Austria-Hungary was instrumental in
having a new state – Albania – created between Serbia and the Adriatic coast. (Austria-Hungary was fearful
that an expanding Serbia would be a threat to its own security, especially as Serbia wished to further expand
by encouraging other Slavs to join with it.) Serbian nationalists, for their part, were outraged as Serbia lost
access to the sea. Sea access would have allowed Serbia to trade more freely, thus escaping economic
domination by Austria-Hungary. In addition, sea access could have dramatically increased Serbia’s power
through allowing it to develop a Navy, bringing its pan-Slavic goal closer to realisation. Consequently, AustroSerbian relations deteriorated even further.
Actions taken by the group to express their identity could include:
Political / social
• Nationalist organisations such as Narodna Odbrana – National Defence – had been formed initially to protect
Serbs living in Austria-Hungary. Its activities quickly expanded to include the training of terrorists and the
carrying out of violent acts against Austro-Hungarian interests. Pressure from an angry Austria-Hungary had
obliged the Serbian government to curb its actions. Narodna Odbrana turned instead to fundraising, political
action and propaganda, which took on a virulently anti-Austrian tone as members of the Black Hand infiltrated
the organisation. According to Narodna Odbrana propaganda, Serb nationalism was to be aroused “through
strengthening of the national consciousness, bodily exercises, increase of material and bodily well-being,
cultural improvements, etc … For the sake of bread and room, for the sake of the fundamental essentials of
culture and trade, the freeing of the conquered Serbian territories and their union with Serbia is necessary to
gentlemen, tradesmen, and peasants alike.”
• Patriotic books and newspapers carried the same pan-Slav message, and were widely read. A strongly
nationalistic curriculum was taught. The basic geography textbook showed much of the southern Balkans as
Serbian. History texts contained a similar message, and included tales of heroic martyrs who had killed, or
were killed, for their country.
• Nationalist movements supported the Serbian government’s expansion during the Balkan Wars, and were
utterly opposed to the creation of Albania – primarily at the behest of Austria-Hungary – in the aftermath of
these wars.
NCEA Level 2 History (90470) 2011 — page 6 of 10
Violence
• Both the early Narodna Odbrana and the Black Hand operated in small cell units to maintain secrecy.
• The Black Hand trained guerrillas and saboteurs in preparation for an eventual war between Serbia and
Austria-Hungary, and arranged political murders. In 1903, the same year that police fired on students who were
demonstrating against the King’s unwillingness to permit reform or stand up to Austria-Hungary, a group of 120
young, nationalist Army officers lost all patience with the King; led by Dragutin Dimitrijevic (known as Apis, or
“the Bee”), they killed the King. This act showed that nationalism had strongly influenced elements within the
Army, and it showed that these elements were not under the full control of their senior officers.
• Although the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was planned primarily by Dragutin
Dimitrijevic (rather than the full Black Hand executive), there were ample opportunities to stop the action if that
had been desired. There is no evidence to suggest that any of the conspirators believed the action would spark
a conflict wider than one between Austria and Serbia.
NCEA Level 2 History (90470) 2011 — page 7 of 10
Selected topic or setting: Russian Revolution
Selected individual or group: Lenin / the Bolsheviks
Factors that gave the individual or group a characteristic identity could include:
Lenin / the Bolsheviks’ policy (and thus identity) underwent change according to events and conditions, but its key
characteristics essentially can be considered as:
• For the establishment of a proletarian, soldiers’ and peasant state through the overthrow of the Tsarist regime
(including the Church and military hierarchy) in Russia. Land, resources and the means of production and
distribution should be nationalised to achieve economic equality for all in a classless society. In theory, there
would be gender and ethnic equality. Soviets (councils) – Bolshevik-dominated – would be the means by which
the workers / soldiers would organise.
• The revolution should be brought about by a relatively small group of dedicated (mostly middle-class and
educated) activists, rather than by a mass movement. Within the party, power would be in the hands of a
Central Committee (based on the notion of “democratic centralism”). However, Lenin deviated from the
orthodox Marxist view that the workers’ revolution would come only after a bourgeois class had developed and
taken power, a process which could possibly take up to a century. He believed that this phase could be
bypassed in favour of proceeding directly to the “dictatorship of the proletariat”. Furthermore, co-operation with
other parties or participation in a Constituent Assembly was acceptable only as an expediency necessary to
achieve the revolution.
• Violence would likely be needed, both against the existing regime and, once the revolution had occurred,
against reactionaries. This could entail large-scale killing, if necessary.
• Internationalist – workers of the world should unite, and thus not engage in a capitalist-driven war (WWI).
Economic and social factors which influenced the Bolsheviks’ policy and identity:
• The abolition of serfdom in 1861 left peasants legally free but still economically oppressed because of
redemption payments to be paid to the State. Extreme poverty was exacerbated by enormous population
growth, low agricultural productivity and high taxes.
• Urban workers suffered from overcrowded housing with often unsanitary and dangerous conditions, as well as
low wages and long hours at work (on the eve of WWI a 10-hour workday, six days a week, was the average
and many were working 11–12 hours a day by 1916). On the other hand, workers living in cities were exposed
to new ideas about the social and political order.
• Centuries of oppression towards the lower classes and the failure of land reforms in the early 1900s saw
increased peasant disturbances and sometimes full revolts, the goal being to secure ownership of their land.
(Russia consisted mainly of poor farming peasants, with 1.5% of the population owning 25% of the land.)
• The growth of a new “proletariat”, due to being crowded together in the cities, allowed revolutionary ideas of
freedom from oppression to spread. Between 1890 and 1910, the population of the capital of St Petersburg
swelled from one to two million, with Moscow experiencing similar growth. In one 1904 survey, it was found that
an average of 16 people shared each apartment in St Petersburg, with six people per room.
Political conditions which influenced the Bolsheviks’ policy and identity:
• Tsar Nicholas II was a deeply conservative ruler. He believed in the myth of the ruler as a saintly and blessed
father of his people. A reactionary and often ignorant clergy kept religion static and persecuted dissenters, and
non-Russian nationalities in the empire were repressed. Pogroms were also instituted against the Jews, which
turned many radical Jews to revolutionary activities. Despite this, Nicholas was unable to believe that true
Russians were not as devoted to him as he felt he was to them. He was thus unwilling to allow the democratic
reforms that might have prevented revolution. Even after “Bloody Sunday” and the failed 1905 “revolution”,
when he felt forced to allow limited civil rights (October Manifesto) and democratic representation (the Duma),
he tried to limit these in every possible way. Article 87 of the 1906 Fundamental State Laws reaffirmed his
autocratic rule, and the first two “uncooperative” Dumas were dismissed. Unfulfilled hopes of democracy fueled
the Bolsheviks’ revolutionary ideas and violence targeted at the Tsarist regime.
• Despite the Tsar’s oppressive regime, there was a long history of opposition (although it had never been able
to achieve unity of purpose or action). From the 1890s socialists of different nationalities formed their own
parties, a process accelerated by the disastrous Russo-Japanese War. Russian liberal activists from the
zemstva (local councils) and from the professions joined with diverse nationalist groups to form an antiautocratic alliance. Lenin, politicised by the execution of his brother for his part in a plot to assassinate the Tsar,
took a Marxist-inspired revolutionary approach.
NCEA Level 2 History (90470) 2011 — page 8 of 10
Conditions during WWI which influenced the Bolsheviks’ policy and identity:
• The patriotic unity that Tsar Nicholas hoped for when WWI broke out did not last long. Russia’s first major
battle of the war was a disaster. In the 1914 Battle of Tannenberg, over 120 000 Russian troops were killed,
wounded, or captured, while Germany suffered only 20 000 casualties. In the autumn of 1915 Nicholas had
taken direct command of the army, meaning that he could not escape personal responsibility for the ongoing
disasters. Worse still, his ambitious though incapable (German) wife Alexandra was left in charge of the
government. Reports of corruption and incompetence in the Imperial government began to emerge, and the
growing influence of Grigori Rasputin in the Imperial family was widely resented. As conditions worsened,
soldiers went hungry and lacked shoes, munitions, and even weapons. Rampant discontent lowered morale,
only to be further undermined by a series of military defeats. Mutinies began to occur, and in 1916 reports of
fraternising with the enemy started to circulate. The officer class also saw dramatic turnover, especially in the
lower ranks, which quickly filled with rising soldiers usually of peasant or worker backgrounds; these men
would play a large role in the politicisation of the troops in 1917. The crisis in morale “was rooted fundamentally
in the feeling of utter despair that the slaughter would ever end and that anything resembling victory could be
achieved”.
• By the end of 1915, there were already clear signs that the economy was breaking down under the heightened
strain of wartime demand. The main problems were food shortages and rising prices. Inflation rapidly forced
down real incomes, and shortages made it difficult to buy even what one could afford. Shortages were
especially a problem in the capital, Petrograd, where distance from supplies and poor transportation networks
made matters particularly bad. The vast demand for factory production of war supplies and workers caused
many more labour riots and strikes. Conscription, already unpopular, stripped skilled workers from the cities,
and these workers had to be replaced with unskilled peasants. When famine began to hit due to the poor
railway system, workers abandoned the cities in droves to look for food. Tsar Nicholas was blamed for all these
crises, and what little support he had left began to crumble, culminating in his abdication in March 1917.
Actions taken by the individual or group to express their identity could include:
Pre-revolution
• As Lenin developed his understanding of Marxism, he began to publish many articles on his views. While in
London he co-established the newspaper Iskra. His pamphlet What is to be Done? instigated the split with the
Mensheviks in 1903 (see below). This pamphlet is said to be one of the most influential in pre-revolutionary
Russia, with Lenin claiming that three out of five workers had read it or had it read to them. After the split, Lenin
also began a rival newspaper – the Vperyod. In response to philosophical debates on the proper course of
socialist revolution, Lenin wrote Materialism and Empirio-criticism in 1909, a work that became fundamental in
Marxist-Leninist philosophy.
• After several accommodations, disagreements and factional fluctuations over party policy within the Russian
Social Democratic Labour Party, the Bolsheviks under Lenin finally emerged as an independent and separate
party in 1912. From this platform, Lenin was able to exert more influence on the direction of Bolshevik policy
(although there was not always unity even within the Bolsheviks).
• In the wake of the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War and the turmoil caused by “Bloody Sunday”, soviets
(councils of workers and soldiers) were formed in some cities, the most significant being that in St Petersburg.
Bolsheviks were a minority here, but were a majority in the less significant Moscow soviet. The soviets were a
direct challenge to the Tsar’s authority, and were tolerated only whilst the regime struggled to reassert its
control in the wake of the turmoil of the so-called “1905 Revolution”.
• The Bolsheviks were represented in the four sessions (1906–1914) of the Duma that was established by Tsar
Nicholas as a concession to those seeking political change. Funding for the party came from wealthy
supporters such as the Moscow millionaire Maxim Gorky, as well as from armed hold-ups of banks. Bolsheviks
also infiltrated leadership positions in various trade unions.
• During WWI, Lenin was appalled that many socialist parties inside and outside Russia (particularly Germany)
supported the war. This led him to a final split with the Second International, which was composed of socialist
parties in different countries. Under Lenin, the Bolsheviks were convinced to adopt an internationalist stance of
worker unity irrespective of national boundaries, and total opposition to what Lenin saw as an exploitative
imperialist war. These views were articulated in Lenin’s “April Theses”, which he propounded upon his return to
Russia in 1917 in the wake of the March Revolution (Tsar Nicholas’ bloodless abdication. From this point on, a
Provisional Government and the Petrograd soviet co-existed uneasily as each competed for legitimacy
amongst the people in an arrangement known as “Dual Power”). Other measures proposed by Lenin included
non co-operation with the "bourgeois" Provisional Government; the abolition of the police, army and state
bureaucracy; rejection of parliamentary democracy in favour of workers’ control of the state through the system
of soviets; and that land should be given to the peasants. These views were neatly summed up in the slogan:
"Peace, Land, Bread."
NCEA Level 2 History (90470) 2011 — page 9 of 10
•
•
Lenin fled to Finland in the wake of the ill-advised “July Days” attempted Bolshevik revolution in 1917. Radical
anti-war Social Democrats merged with the Bolsheviks in August, and the Bolshevik Central Committee spent
September and October of 1917 debating whether they should use parliamentary methods or whether they
should seize power by force. Eventually Lenin’s repeated calls from abroad to overthrow the Provisional
Government were heeded, and a Military Revolutionary Council (led by Trotsky) was set up to do the planning.
Lenin returned late in October just in time to lead, from the Smolny Institute, the relatively bloodless revolution.
Events not instigated by the Bolsheviks had earlier played decisively into their hands and allowed them to
pursue their objectives. General Kornilov, appointed military commander by the Provisional Government,
decided to take control of Petrograd himself and neutralise the growing Bolshevik threat. When Prime Minister
Kerensky realized what was happening, he panicked and accepted the Bolsheviks’ offer of Red Guards to
defend the capital. Kornilov’s unsuccessful takeover ended without bloodshed and the Bolsheviks were seen
as "defenders of the city". Their support increased immensely; at the same time support for Kerensky and the
Provisional Government eroded. The Bolsheviks became the majority party in the Petrograd Soviet in early
September 1917 with Leon Trotsky becoming the Soviet’s Chairman.
Post-revolution
• In the wake of the 1917 Revolution, the Bolsheviks announced the establishment of a new Provisional
Government. But, in elections that an over-confident Lenin allowed, the Bolsheviks gained only 24% of the
popular vote (the opposition Socialist Revolutionaries gained over 40%). Shocked but undeterred, Lenin
established a parallel Constituent Assembly, packed it with his followers, and declared it to be the Provisional
Government. The congress duly passed all the measures submitted to it by the government spokesmen,
including the "Declaration of Rights". Russia became a "Federation of Soviet Republics", to be known as the
"Russian Soviet Socialist Republic", a name that was retained until 1924, when it was renamed "Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics". The congress acknowledged the Sovnarkom (Council of People’s Commissars) as
the country’s legitimate government, removing from its name the adjective "provisional". It also approved the
principle of universal labour obligation. In other centres, the Bolshevik party also successfully took over.
• In March 1918 the Bolsheviks negotiated a separate peace with Germany (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk). This
fulfilled the first of Lenin’s promises in the “April Theses”, but provoked opposition from the Bolsheviks’
erstwhile allies in the government. Lenin, however, had little interest in placating them. It was also quite easy
for Lenin to deliver on his second promise – land to the peasants. They had been seizing and dividing up large
estates for almost a year before Lenin legally recognized this accomplished fact. What the peasants did not
realise was that, just as Lenin planned to dispose of Brest-Litovsk at the first opportunity, so too did he plan to
nationalise the peasants’ land as soon as he could get away with it. Delivering on the promise of “Bread” was
more difficult with the economy suffering. Lenin merely intensified the brutality of enforcement of the previous
Provisional Government’s price controls on food; rather than starve in the cities, large percentages of the urban
population returned to their family farms in the country. (In the end, even this desperate move would not save
many of them from starvation).
• In March 1919 the Communist International (later known as Comintern) was founded. The aim of the
organisation was to fight "by all available means, including armed force, for the overthrow of the international
bourgeoisie and for the creation of an international Soviet republic as a transition stage to the complete
abolition of the State".
• A secret police force, the Cheka, was quickly established. It was brutal and all-powerful. As the high-ranking
Chekist Martyn Latsis explained: “The Extraordinary Commission [Cheka] is neither an investigating body nor a
tribunal. It is an organ of struggle, acting on the home front of a civil war... We are not carrying out war against
individuals. We are exterminating the bourgeoisie as a class.” The Tsar’s secret police, the Okhrana, had
numbered 15 000, which made it by far the largest body of its kind in the old world. By contrast, the Cheka,
within three years of its establishment, had a strength of 250 000 full-time agents. Censorship was imposed,
other political parties were banned and businesses and banks chaotically nationalised. Conscription and
compulsory labour were introduced.
• All of these actions provoked a reaction, and opposition to the Bolsheviks formed a loose and fractious coalition
known as the “Whites”. Allied troops were also landed in Russian ports so that, as Churchill said, Bolshevism
would be "strangled in its cradle” and war materiel given by France and Britain would not fall into German
hands. Despite major setbacks for Trotsky’s newly formed Red Army, it was able to hold out due to strict
discipline, terror, and unity of purpose. Trotsky had personally taken control of Petrograd’s defenses when a
surprise attack by British-backed “Whites” threatened to take the city. The major fighting was over by the end of
1920, and the Bolsheviks had consolidated their power. The Russian economy, however, was shattered and
drought and famine in 1920-21 saw horrific scenes of starvation. Between the civil war and its aftermath, some
15 million Russians died.
NCEA Level 2 History (90470) 2011 — page 10 of 10
•
•
War Communism (central control of industry and food production) saved the Soviet government during the Civil
War, but much of the Russian economy ground to a standstill. Private industry and trade were outlawed, and
the newly established (and barely stable) state was unable to run the economy on a sufficient scale. It is
estimated that the total output of mines and factories in 1921 had fallen to 20% of the pre-World War level, and
many crucial items experienced an even more drastic decline. For example, cotton production fell to 5%, and
iron to 2% of pre-war levels. The peasants responded to requisitions by refusing to till the land. By 1921,
cultivated land had shrunk to 62% of the pre-war area, and the harvest yield was only about 37% of normal.
The number of horses declined from 35 million in 1916 to 24 million in 1920, and cattle from 58 to 37 million.
The ruble collapsed and was replaced by a system of bartering. The turning point was the Kronstadt rebellion
at the naval base in February, 1921. The rebellion had a startling effect on Lenin (it was eventually crushed by
the Red Army) because the Kronstadt sailors had been among the strongest supporters of the Bolsheviks.
After the rebellion, Lenin ended the policy of War Communism and replaced it with the New Economic Policy.
Under the New Economic Policy – resented bitterly by ardent Marxists in the party – Lenin tacitly
acknowledged that it was impractical to impose full socialist economic theory. To explain the NEP, Lenin had
said "We are not civilised enough for socialism", referring to the fact that Russia was still a primarily agrarian
nation, with a very small urban population and a weak industrial base, and thus it did not meet the economic
criteria necessary for full socialism. Limited free trade was permitted, after the requisite taxes had been paid.
Major industries such as coal and steel remained nationalised. Lenin also introduced the Fundamental Law of
the Exploitation of Land by the Workers, which ensured that the peasants had a choice of land tenure. As
anticipated, these two measures saw agricultural production increase rapidly. A resultant imbalance between
rural and industrial production saw inflation rise. Peasants responded by hoarding grain, or selling to middlemen who profited from speculative trading, but overall the economy began to improve. Joseph Stalin ended the
NEP in 1928, as he introduced the first Five Year Plan, which focused on industrialisation and collectivisation of
agricultural holdings.