Russia, Lauren's Master Doc

Emancipation Edict motivations

Motivations behind the Emancipation Edict included the increase in peasant uprisings since the 1840s, the catalyst of the Crimean War humiliation, and the aim to gradually reform by releasing political prisoners, pardoning Decembrists, relaxing censorship, and more.

St Petersburg Progress

The Party of St Petersburg Progress was a political circle of progressive nobles prominent at Alexander II’s court, advocating for reforms like the emancipation of serfs.

Zemstva

Local councils at district and provincial levels in Russia, the Zemstva were chosen through electoral colleges and aimed to improve public services, develop industrial projects, and administer poor relief.

Judicial reforms (1864)

The judicial reforms established local, provincial, and national courts in Russia, ensuring the principle of innocent until proven guilty, the right to have a lawyer, and the appointment of judges by the Tsar.

Military reforms (1861-1881)

Conducted by Dmitry Milyutin, the military reforms in Russia included compulsory conscription for all classes, reduced service time, better provisioning and healthcare, modern weaponry, and improved literacy through education campaigns.

Education reforms (1863-1864)

The education reforms in Russia aimed to increase literacy and numeracy, transferring responsibility for schooling from the Church to Zemstva, extending primary and secondary education, and establishing modern schools open to all regardless of class and sex.

Censorship reforms

Censorship reforms in Russia included reducing restrictions on publishers, permitting foreign publications with approval, and allowing the press to print editorials on government policy, leading to a short-lived growth in critical writing before government control tightened in the 1870s.

Industrial developments

Industrialization in Russia was driven by state initiatives to match Western Europe, with economic reforms, banking and credit facilities, trade promotion, government subsidies, and encouragement of foreign investment contributing to industrial growth and increased exports.

Agricultural challenges

Post-emancipation, Russian agriculture faced challenges such as low yields compared to the West, high debts from land banks, and the 1891-2 famine revealing that the average peasant had too little land to be prosperous.

Social and cultural changes

Socially, Russia saw a divided peasantry with prosperous kulaks and struggling former serfs, an expanding middle class due to industrial growth, and the Church's cultural influence through control, education, and promotion of Orthodoxy.

Stolypin's necktie

Gallows used for hanging peasants as a form of punishment under Stolypin's rule.

Zubatov

Head of Okhrana who initiated police-sponsored trade unions to provide official channels for complaints in Russia.

Father Gapon

Created a union based on Zubatov's model, known as the Assembly of St Petersburg Factory Workers, which gained significant membership.

Fundamental Laws

Enacted in April 1906, these laws reasserted autocratic power in Russia, reducing the State Duma's authority.

October Manifesto

Issued on 17 October 1905, it granted civic freedom and established the State Duma, aiming to address the revolutionary situation in Russia.

Bloody Sunday

Refers to the violent events of 7 January 1905 when peaceful protesters were fired upon by the Tsar's forces, leading to significant casualties.

Bolsheviks

Faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party led by Lenin, advocating for a centralized party of professional revolutionaries.

Mensheviks

Faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party advocating for a broad-based, democratic party encouraging trade union participation.

Trade unions

Organizations established in 1905 in Russia to improve state-employer-worker relations and advocate for workers' rights.

February Revolution

Series of strikes and demonstrations in February 1917 in Petrograd, leading to the collapse of the Tsarist regime in Russia.

February Revolution 1917

Tsar Nicholas II orders Major-General Khabalov to restore order, leading to soldiers mutiny, arming protestors, and the establishment of a provisional committee by the Duma.

Order No 1

Charter of soldiers’ rights issued during the February Revolution, outlining soldiers' political control, elected committees, and soldiers' rights off duty.

Dual Power

Coexistence of the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet, representing different factions and sharing power during the Russian Revolution of 1917.

War Communism

Economic policy under Lenin involving nationalization, requisitioning, and state control, leading to food shortages, inflation, and industrial decline.

New Economic Policy (NEP)

Introduced by Lenin in 1921, allowing limited capitalism, private ownership, and trade to revive the Soviet economy after War Communism.

Collectivization

Stalin's policy to consolidate agriculture into collective farms, leading to forced collectivization, famine, and the elimination of the kulaks as a class.

First Five Year Plan

Stalin's economic plan (1928-1932) focusing on rapid industrialization, leading to growth in production but shortages in consumer goods.

Second Five Year Plan

Stalin's plan (1933-1937) emphasizing industrial expansion, improving infrastructure, and achieving some success in production targets.

Third Five Year Plan

Stalin's plan (1938-1941) focusing on rearmament, industrial growth, and quality issues, with increased investment in the armed forces.

Purges and Terror

Campaigns under Lenin and Stalin to eliminate opposition, consolidate power, and maintain control through repression and executions.

Cheka

Established in December 1917 under Dzerzhinsky, it was the Soviet secret police organization responsible for political repression.

Red Terror

Accompanied the Civil War (1918-1921) and involved attacks on ordinary individuals deemed 'class' enemies, leading to widespread persecution.

Great Purges

Refers to the period of mass repression and executions in the late 1930s under Stalin, targeting political opponents and ordinary citizens.

Gulags

Labor camps under the direct authority of the secret police (OGPU), housing millions of individuals, including political prisoners and perceived enemies of the state.

Stalinism

Refers to the political, economic, and social policies implemented by Stalin, characterized by authoritarian rule, mass purges, and centralized control.

War Communism

Lenin's economic policy during the Russian Civil War, involving state control of industries and agriculture, leading to poor living conditions and economic struggles.

NEP (New Economic Policy)

Introduced by Lenin, it allowed for some degree of capitalism to revive the economy after the Civil War, before being replaced by the Five Year Plans.

Kolkhoz

Collective farms where peasants worked under party supervision, symbolizing the shift towards socialist communal values in the Soviet countryside.

Central Planning

Inefficient economic system in the USSR where the state directed all economic activities, leading to shortages and lack of consumer goods.

Katyn Massacre

Refers to the mass execution of Polish officers, police, and elites by the Soviet secret police (NKVD) in 1940, a symbol of Stalinist repression.

Propaganda in High Stalinism

Stalin utilized the connotations of the 'Great Patriotic War' to intensify propaganda efforts, promoting increased war effort and nationalism.

Role of Women in Russian War Effort

Women were heavily drafted into work during High Stalinism, comprising half of all Soviet workers by 1945 and shouldering significant responsibilities in factories and fields.

Impact on Families

Young people were drafted into "labour reserve schools" during High Stalinism, preparing them for war work and affecting families.

Partisans in WWII

The rapid advance of 1941 led to the emergence of Partisans, with numbers growing to around 1,000,000 by 1945, including many women like Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya.

Forced Relocation of Minority Groups

Stalin forcibly moved minority groups during High Stalinism to prevent them from potentially seeking independence by joining Nazi invaders, resulting in significant casualties.

Cultural Purge in Zhdanovshchina

The Zhdanovshchina in 1946 was a cultural purge that emphasized conformity to socialist ideals, condemned Western influences, and promoted the Cult of Stalin.

Doctors' Plot

The Doctors' Plot in 1952 involved the arrest of doctors on false charges of conspiracy to murder, reflecting Stalin's anti-Semitic tendencies and use of propaganda to maintain power.

Cult of Personality

High Stalinism fostered a cult of personality around Stalin, portraying him as god-like and the greatest living genius, with media dedicating paragraphs to his supposed genius.

Power Struggle after Stalin's Death

Following Stalin's death in 1953, a power struggle ensued between Beria, Malenkov, and Khrushchev, leading to Beria's removal and Khrushchev's rise to power.

De-Stalinisation

Khrushchev's era saw limited de-Stalinisation efforts, with some changes in power balance, restoration of Party influence, and a shift towards economic decentralization.

Fourth Five Year Plan

USSR second to USA in industrial capacity, production doubled and urban workforce increased from 67 to 77 million (1941–52).

Fifth Five Year Plan

National income increased 71%, Malenkov’s changes met opposition resulting in change of leadership in 1955.

USSR divided into 105 economic regions with economic council (sovnarkhoz)

1959, Seven Year Plan emphasised improving living standards with 40 hour week and 40% wage rise promised by 1965.

1961-65, merged into seventh Five Year Plan with slogan, “Catch up and overtake the USA by 1970.”

Agricultural production behind industry and not 1940 level.

Peasants incentivised by raising grain prices, State quotas and taxes reduced, private plot quotas reduced, peasants who did not possess animals no longer required to deliver meat, collectives could set production targets.

Virgin Lands aimed to cultivate lands in western Siberia and northern Kazakhstan

Zhdanovshchina, greater censorship, ethnic minorities suffered, cultural expression nonexistent.

Tamizdat

evade Soviet censorship by publishing abroad. E.g. Pasternak’s Dr Zhivago.