Russian Revolution and Rise of Soviet Union

Communist Manifesto: Economic Policy

• abolish private property: business and land should be owned by community

• redistribute wealth: no one is rich or poor

• classless society: end division between working and ruling class

• workers control production: how things are produced and how benefits are shared

• Marx wrote it

Communist Manifesto: Religious Policy

• as a tool of control: used to make people accept their difficulty life by promising rewards in the afterlife, instead of encouraging them to change their present situation

• Opposition to religion: Marx said “Religion is the opium of the people”, distracting people from focusing on change

• Focus on material change: instead of focusing on spiritual salvation, people should focus on the economy and society to create fairness and equality

Communist Manifesto: Family Policy

• As a product of capitalism: family structure evolved to serve ruling class and private property system through inheritance

• Abolition of traditional family roles: no domestic roles, men and women should contribute equally

• Socialization of children: children are raised and cared for by the community

Russian Revolution and Romanov Family: Pre-Revolution

• only true autocracy left in Europe - still believed in “Divine Rule”

• no elected representatives

• Nicholas II became Tsar in 1884 (didn’t really know what he was doing)

• disappointing defeat in 1904 war with Japan

autocracy

• one person has absolute power

divine right

• monarchs believe their authority comes from God and they cannot be held accountable by human means

Russian Revolution and Romanov Family: Revolution Of 1905

• industrial labor in Moscow and St. Petersburg grow disappointed

• rural peasants starved to support the cities

• middle class makes gains from revolution with representation in the Duma (representative council in Russia)

Russian Revolution and Romanov Family: Conservatism Continues

• Alexandra and other monarchists push Nicolas to ignore the Duma

• Nicholas was personally a very weak man who grew out of touch with population

Russian Revolution and Romanov Family: Alexis:The Heir With Hemophilia

• almost died but Rasputin told them to stop using Advil, letting his blood clot and saving his life

• Alexandra felt very thankful to Rasputin

Russian Revolution and Romanov Family: Rasputin’s arrival

• Weird ideas, like that everyone is a sinner and the only way to purge is group sex, caused him to be not very liked

• rumors with Alexandra

• scandals surrounding him served to discredit the monarchy

Russian Revolution and Romanov Family: The Collapse of The Imperial Government

• Nicholas leaves for the Front in September 1915

• Alexandra and Rasputin throw the government into chaos

• Alexandra and other high government officials accused of treason

• Rasputin assassinated in December 1916

• refusal to receive assistance of Russian Middle Class

March Revolution

• Food riots and strikes bring nation to the brink

• Duma declared itself a provisional Government on March 12th

• Tsar abdicated on March 17

• composition of Provisional Government -- Alexander Kerensky

• the petrograd soviet -- order #1

  • Prov Gov says obey military orders/don’t back down

November Revolution

• Bolshevik Party renamed Communist Party in march 1918

• Treaty of Brest-Litovsk negotiated with the Germans, was nullified

• lead to Civil War 1917-1920

Alexander Kerensky

• leader of the social-democratic Trudovik faction of the Socialist Revolutionary Party

• member of the Duma and anti-government campaigner

• in March of 1917, became a minister of justice

Vladimir Lenin

• key role of the Party in the revolution

  • dictatorship of the proletariat

• died of a stroke

• “peace, land, bread”

• people try to get him to turn against Stalin

Russian Civil War in Soviet Era

• the Reds/Bolsheviks: led by Lenin, a group of communists who had taken power in the 1917 revolution. They wanted a communist government, where the working class and peasants controlled the country.

• the Whites: loose group of people who disliked the Bolsheviks, including former monarchists, military leaders, foreign powers, socialists (Mensheviks), and others who wanted a democracy or to return to monarchy.

• very brutal war, won by the Reds in 1922. SU was formed under communist rule. Whites lost because they didn’t have strong leadership or clear goals, while the Reds were united under Lenin.

• millions died from fighting, disease, and famine

Holodomor

• man-made famine in Ukraine from 1932-1933 during Soviet Era under Stalin

• what happened: The Soviet government took away a lot of grain from Ukrainian farmers to send to other parts of SU. They also set very high grain quotes that farmers couldn’t reach. Caused severe shortage of food and famine in Ukraine.

• why it happened: intentionally caused by SU to punish Ukraine for resisting and to force the country in collectivization

• legacy: considered a genocide, but SU denied that it was intentional

collectivization

• farms were taken from private owners and turned into large, state-run farms

Kulak

• wealthy farmers who had more land and resources than the average peasant

• why they were targeted: Stalin wanted to collectivize farming and saw Kulaks as an obstacle

• what happened to them: many were arrested, deported to labor camps, or executed. Government took away their land, livestock, and goods.

Lavrentiy Beria

• kidnapped a girl and raped her and forced her to marry him

• has things with younger girls

• Soviet politician and one of the longest-serving and most influential of Joseph Stalin's secret police chiefs, serving as head of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs

Sergei Kirov

• shows up with the polar bear (shot with 1 bullet, 10 meters away)

• pick him to replace Stalin but realize he may be too good/ too much

• first one thrown out

• is assassinated

Kamenev & Zinoviev

• say they want to work with Stalin because Trotsky won’t listen to them

• next two to get killed by Stalin’s orders after they were told they would not be

• after they get killed, they are made fun of at dinner

Nikita Khrushchev

• political commissar

• Stalin used him to keep commanders on a tight leash

• became the first party’s secretary

• replaced Stalin when he died

Nadya Alliluyeva

• Stalin’s wife

• killed herself

• they had two children

The Purges

• when Stalin was getting people to give these confessions, but then just had them killed to consolidate his power and remove any remaining influence of Trotsky within the SU

Early stages of WW2

• starts with German invasion of Poland in Sep. 1939

• which prompted France and Great Britain to declare war on Germany, marking the official start of the conflict in Europe

• this was followed by further German aggression including the invasion of Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France in the following months

The “Secret Speech”

• Feb. 25th, 1956

• Nikita Khrushchev gave this speech

• delivered it to the 20th congress of the communist party of the SU

• was secret because it was to be delivered to an unpublicized closed session of the party with no press

• wanted to return to the time before Stalin

  • during the time of Bolsheviks and Lenin

Svetlana Alliluyeva

• Stalin’s daughter