| Front | Back | | --- | --- | | Why did Tsar Nicholas II's decision to take personal command of the army in September 1915 fatally undermine the autocracy? |

Direct accountability: It made him personally responsible for military defeats, destroying his sacred authority.
Political vacuum: It left Petrograd under the highly unpopular influence of Tsarina Alexandra and Rasputin.

| | How did WWI economic disruption trigger urban desperation in Petrograd by early 1917? |

Inflation gap: Food prices rose 300% (1914-1916) while wages only rose 100%.
Supply collapse: Petrograd received only one-third of its required grain, causing severe bread shortages.

| | What was the significance of Pyotr Stolypin's land reforms (1906-1911) in the long-term context of the 1917 revolutions? | They aimed to create a loyal, prosperous peasant class to stabilize the autocracy, but progress was too slow to resolve intense peasant land hunger before WWI. | |

What critical action by the Petrograd garrison on 27 February 1917 transformed a food protest into a successful revolution?

| The 170,000-strong garrison mutinied, refused to shoot demonstrators, and joined the protest with their weapons. | | How do historians characterize the leadership and planning of the February Revolution? | It was spontaneous and came from below; none of the major revolutionary parties (Bolsheviks, Mensheviks, or SRs) planned or led it. | |

In the "Dual Power" system of 1917, how did Petrograd Soviet's Order No. 1 undermine the Provisional Government's authority?

| It ordered soldiers to only obey the Provisional Government if its decisions did not contradict those of the Soviet. | | What were the two most critical policy errors made by the Provisional Government that alienated the population? |

Continuing WWI (e.g., launching the disastrous June Offensive).
Postponing land reform and delaying elections to the Constituent Assembly.

| | Upon returning to Russia in April 1917, Lenin issued his April Theses, which rejected cooperation with the Provisional Government and popularized the slogans "Peace, Land, Bread" and "All Power to the Soviets". | Upon returning to Russia in April 1917, Lenin issued his April Theses, which rejected cooperation with the Provisional Government and popularized the slogans "Peace, Land, Bread" and "All Power to the Soviets". | | How did Lenin's April Theses change the political direction of the Bolshevik party in 1917? | It shifted the party from moderate cooperation with the Provisional Government to a radical stance of immediate socialist revolution. | | Why did the "July Days" uprising of 1917 temporarily damage the Bolsheviks? | The Provisional Government crushed the protests, branded the Bolsheviks as German agents, arrested Trotsky, and forced Lenin into hiding. | |

How did Prime Minister Kerensky's response to the Kornilov Affair in August 1917 inadvertently empower the Bolsheviks?

| Kerensky released and armed the Bolshevik Red Guards to defend Petrograd, giving them weapons, prestige, and revolutionary legitimacy. | |

Why did Leon Trotsky organize the October Revolution through the Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC) rather than in the Bolsheviks' name alone?

| To give the armed takeover a veneer of Soviet legitimacy, making it look like a defense of the Petrograd Soviet rather than a party coup. | | Why is the October Revolution described as a "coup" rather than a mass popular uprising like February? | It was a highly planned, small-scale military operation by Red Guards who seized key infrastructure overnight with minimal resistance and only 5 casualties. | | How did the Mensheviks and right-SRs inadvertently help the Bolsheviks consolidate power at the Second Congress of Soviets? | They walked out in protest of the coup, which left the Bolsheviks with an absolute majority to form an all-Bolshevik government. | | To consolidate power immediately after the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks issued the Decree on Land to legitimize peasant land seizures, and signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918 to exit WWI. | To consolidate power immediately after the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks issued the Decree on Land to legitimize peasant land seizures, and signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918 to exit WWI. | | How did the Bolsheviks respond when they won only 24% of the vote in the November 1917 Constituent Assembly elections? | They dissolved the Constituent Assembly by force after it met for just one day in January 1918, ending democratic parliamentary opposition. | | In December 1917, the Bolsheviks established a secret police force called the Cheka, led by Felix Dzerzhinsky, to suppress political opposition. | In December 1917, the Bolsheviks established a secret police force called the Cheka, led by Felix Dzerzhinsky, to suppress political opposition. | | Contrast the liberal (Richard Pipes) and social historian (Sheila Fitzpatrick) views on the nature of the October Revolution. |

Pipes (Liberal): A classic coup d'état by a small, conspiratorial Bolshevik elite.
Fitzpatrick (Social): A revolution driven from below by genuine class conflict and workers' and peasants' radical demands.

| | What is Orlando Figes' revisionist interpretation of the October Revolution? | The revolution reflected genuine popular radicalism from below, but the Bolsheviks successfully channelled and organized this energy to take power. |

IB History 1917 Revolutions Flashcards

Paper 1 - The Move to Global War6 subtopics

Paper 1 - Rights and Protest6 subtopics

Paper 1 - Conflict and Intervention6 subtopics

Paper 2 - Independence Movements5 subtopics

Paper 2 - Emergence and Development of Democratic States5 subtopics

Paper 2 - Authoritarian States7 subtopics

Paper 2 - Causes and Effects of 20th Century Wars4 subtopics

Paper 2 - The Cold War: Superpower Tensions and Rivalries4 subtopics

Paper 3 - History of Europe18 subtopics

Paper 3 - History of the Americas18 subtopics

Paper 3 - History of Asia and Oceania18 subtopics