Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering major terms, people, events, and concepts from the notes on socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution.

Socialism

A system in which the means of production (land, industries, assets) are owned and controlled by the masses or by the state.

Estates

European society before the 18th century divided into three estates: First estate (clergy), Second estate (aristocracy), Third estate (commoners).

Aristocracy

Dominant privileged class in pre-18th Europe with land-based power and social status.

Liberals

Movements seeking secular government, parliamentary rule, and constitutional reforms, often cautious about rapid change.

Radicals

Groups pushing for sweeping social and political change, sometimes through revolutionary means.

Conservatives

Monarchists who value traditional institutions and were wary of rapid reform or upheaval.

Cooperatives

Associations of people who produce goods together and divide profits according to work done.

Robert Owen

Industrial reformer who promoted cooperative communities, notably New Harmony in Indiana.

Louis Blanc

French socialist who urged government support for cooperatives to replace capitalist enterprises.

Karl Marx

Philosopher who argued capitalism exploits workers and that history moves toward communism through class struggle.

Proletariat

Working class that sells labor in a capitalist economy.

Capitalists

Owners of private property who accumulate profits under capitalism.

Communism

A classless, stateless society with collective ownership of production and distribution according to need.

Bolsheviks

Majority faction led by Lenin; advocated immediate revolution and seizure of power in 1917.

Mensheviks

Minority faction led by Martov; favored gradual reform and parliamentary development.

Lenin

Leader of the Bolsheviks who returned to Russia in 1917 and issued the April Theses.

April Theses

Lenin’s program demanding end to war, land transfer to peasants, and nationalization of banks.

Petrograd Soviet

A workers' and soldiers' council in Petrograd that challenged the Provisional Government.

Provisional Government

Interim government after Tsar abdication in 1917, sharing power with Soviets.

Bloody Sunday

1905 massacre of unarmed protesters at the Winter Palace, sparking the 1905 Revolution.

Duma

Legislative assembly created by Tsar Nicholas II; dissolved after 1905 and reappeared in reforms.

February Revolution

Winter 1917 uprising that forced the Tsar to abdicate and led to the Provisional Government.

October Revolution

Bolshevik seizure of power in 1917, establishing Soviet rule.

Brest-Litovsk

1918 peace treaty with Germany ending Russia’s WWI involvement and ceding territory.

Cheka

Bolshevik secret police enforcing political control (later OGPU/NKVD).

USSR

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, established 1922 under Bolshevik leadership.

Kolkhoz

Collective farm formed under Stalin; peasants worked together and profits were distributed.

Kulaks

Wealthier peasants who resisted collectivisation and faced punitive measures.

Five-Year Plan

Centralized state planning to promote rapid industrial growth in fixed periods.

Stalin

Leader after Lenin who enforced rapid industrialization and collectivisation, with strict political control.

Collectivisation

Policy to consolidate individual peasant farms into large state-controlled kolkhoz.

Trotsky

Bolshevik leader who organized the Military Revolutionary Committee and helped plan the October seizure.

Comintern

Communist International; organization coordinating pro-Bolshevik socialist parties globally.

Second International

International federation of socialist parties coordinating global socialist movements.

Mir

Peasant commune in Russia; land pooled and divided among families.

Greens

Peasant groups in the Civil War era, often seeking their own local gains.

Reds

Bolsheviks in the Civil War, defending the socialist state.

Whites

Counterrevolutionary forces opposing the Bolsheviks in the Civil War.

Petrograd

Name given to St. Petersburg during WWI to avoid German associations; key city in 1917 revolutions.

Jadidists

Muslim reformists in the Russian Empire who supported constitutional changes.

USSR’s one-party state

System where the Bolshevik-led party dominated political life with limited or no multi-party competition.

Mir and land reform

Historical peasant practice of land division within communes, influencing land distribution debates.