In 1917-1918, what decrees did the Bolsheviks issue and toward what governance did they move?

• A. They focused on economic reform through privatization.
• B. They established a constitutional monarchy.
• C. They issued radical decrees (Land, Peace) and gravitated toward a provisional constitution and Sovnarkom governance.
• D. They maintained the provisional government and delayed decrees.

Answer: (C)

The main idea being tested is how the Bolsheviks moved from mere seizure of power to shaping a new regime through decisive decrees and a soviet-style government. In 1917–1918 they issued radical decrees such as the Decree on Land, which redistributed land from the nobility and church to the peasantry, and the Decree on Peace, which sought an immediate end to Russia’s involvement in World War I. These actions reflected a clear shift away from the old order and toward radical, state-controlled changes.

At the same time, they began organizing governance around a soviet framework, with power concentrated in the Council of People’s Commissars (Sovnarkom) rather than in the Provisional Government. This set up a provisional constitutional framework that legitimized Bolshevik rule while they built a new, party-led state structure based on soviet authority.

In contrast, privatization runs counter to Bolshevik policy of nationalization; a constitutional monarchy would preserve a monarch, which the Bolsheviks rejected; and maintaining the Provisional Government and delaying decrees would be the opposite of what they did in order to seize and consolidate power.