Socials

Karl Marx / Marxism

A German philosopher who wrote The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital. He argued that history is a class struggle and that the working class would eventually overthrow the ruling class to create a classless society.

Bourgeoisie

The property-owning middle class in a capitalist society who, according to Marx, control industry and exploit the workers.

Proletariat

The industrial working class who Marx believed would lead a violent revolution to overthrow capitalism.

Social Revolutionary Party

Founded in 1900-1902, this loosely organized party appealed to the peasants, aimed for the nationalization of land, and sometimes used political assassination as a weapon.

Social Democratic Party

A Marxist political party founded in 1898 that aimed to win the support of the industrial proletariat. It split in 1903 into the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.

Mensheviks

The "minority" faction of the Social Democratic Party led by Plekhanov, who wanted a broadly-based socialist party similar to those in Western Europe.

Bolsheviks

The "majority" faction of the Social Democratic Party led by Lenin, who believed the party should be restricted to a small group of active, professional revolutionaries.

Cadets

Also known as the Constitutional Democrats, they were the largest party in the first Duma, representing property interests and favoring a constitutional monarchy.

Tsar Nicholas II

The last Tsar of Russia (1894-1917) who ruled with absolute power, resisted constitutional reform, and was forced to abdicate during the March Revolution.

Autocracy

A system of government in which one person (such as the Tsar) possesses unlimited, absolute power over the state.

Bloody Sunday

A tragedy on January 22, 1905, where peaceful demonstrators led by Father Gapon were fired upon by the Tsar's troops, sparking the 1905 Revolution.

1905 Revolution

A wave of mass political unrest triggered by Bloody Sunday and defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, ending when the Tsar issued the October Manifesto.

October Manifesto

A document issued by Nicholas II promising to create a Duma (parliament) and grant basic civil rights, temporarily satisfying the public after the 1905 Revolution.

Fundamental Laws

Laws passed by the Tsar just before the first Duma met, which restricted its power and reaffirmed his ultimate autocratic authority.

Duma

The Russian parliament created after the 1905 Revolution. Its power was heavily limited, and the Tsar dismissed it whenever it challenged him.

Tsarina Alexandra

Nicholas II's wife, whose German heritage and reliance on Rasputin made her highly unpopular and distrusted by the Russian people.

Rasputin

A self-styled holy man who gained immense, scandalous influence over Tsarina Alexandra and the government before being assassinated by nobles in 1916.

Peter Stolypin

The Tsar's Prime Minister (1906-1911) who used harsh repression against revolutionaries but also introduced reforms to help peasants buy their own land.

V. I. Lenin

The leader of the Bolsheviks who organized the November Revolution, pulled Russia out of WWI, and became the first head of the Soviet state.

Leon Trotsky

A prominent Bolshevik leader who organized the Petrograd Soviet, executed the November Revolution, and later led the Red Army.

Joseph Stalin

A Bolshevik who eventually became the totalitarian dictator of the USSR after Lenin's death, known for his Five-Year Plans and brutal purges.

“Peace, Land and Bread”

The highly effective Bolshevik slogan that appealed to the masses by promising an end to the war, land for peasants, and food for workers.

April Thesis

Lenin's radical proposals upon returning to Russia in 1917, demanding "all power to the soviets" and no cooperation with the Provisional Government.

International Socialism

The Marxist belief (heavily promoted by Trotsky) that socialist revolution must spread globally to capitalist nations in order to be successful.

“Socialism in One Country”

Stalin's policy that focused on strengthening communism within the borders of the USSR rather than waiting for a worldwide revolution.

March (February) Revolution

The 1917 spontaneous uprising in Petrograd sparked by bread riots and mutinies, which led to the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II.

Abdication

The act of a monarch giving up their throne, as Tsar Nicholas II was forced to do in favor of a Provisional Government in March 1917.

Provisional Government

The temporary government formed by Duma leaders after the Tsar abdicated. It lost popular support because it decided to keep Russia in World War I.

Prince Lvov

The first Prime Minister of the Provisional Government following the March Revolution.

Alexander Kerensky

A Socialist Revolutionary who became head of the Provisional Government but failed to stop the Bolshevik takeover after arming them during the Kornilov Affair.

July Days

A premature, disastrous uprising against the Provisional Government in 1917 that led to the Bolsheviks being outlawed and Lenin fleeing to Finland.

General Kornilov / Kornilov Affair

The commander-in-chief of the Russian army who attempted a right-wing military coup against the Provisional Government, which was stopped with the help of armed Bolsheviks.

November (October) Revolution

The 1917 revolution where Bolshevik forces, led by Lenin and Trotsky, stormed the Winter Palace and seized power from the Provisional Government.

Sovnarkom

The Council of People's Commissars; the new Bolshevik government established after the November Revolution, with Lenin as its head.

Cheka

The brutal secret police force created by the Bolsheviks shortly after taking power to hunt down and eliminate counter-revolutionaries.

Red Guards

Armed bands of factory workers organized by the Bolsheviks who played a crucial role in taking control of Petrograd during the November Revolution.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

The harsh 1918 peace treaty with Germany signed by Lenin, which took Russia out of WWI but cost it a massive amount of territory and population.

Civil War

The conflict spanning 1918-1921 between the Bolsheviks (Reds) and their anti-communist opponents (Whites) for control of Russia.

Reds

The Bolshevik/Communist forces during the Russian Civil War, efficiently organized and commanded by Leon Trotsky.

Whites

The fractured, anti-communist forces during the Russian Civil War, made up of tsarists, liberals, and moderate socialists.

Allied Intervention

The involvement of foreign powers (like Britain, France, and the USA) in the Russian Civil War to support the Whites and try to force Russia back into WWI.

Red Terror

A brutal campaign of mass arrests and executions carried out by the Cheka during the Civil War to crush opposition to Bolshevik rule.

War Communism

Harsh economic policies implemented by Lenin during the Civil War, including the nationalization of industry and the forced requisition of grain from peasants.

New Economic Policy

Lenin's 1921 policy that temporarily brought back elements of capitalism (like allowing peasants to sell surplus grain) to save the collapsing Soviet economy.

Kronstadt Affair

A 1921 mutiny by previously loyal sailors at a naval base demanding an end to War Communism, which convinced Lenin to introduce the NEP.

Politburo

The principal policy-making committee of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union.

Comintern

The Communist International, an organization founded in 1919 by the Soviets to promote and coordinate global communist revolutions.

Gosplan

The State Planning Committee in the Soviet Union responsible for creating and overseeing Stalin's Five-Year Plans.

Treaty of Rapallo

A 1922 treaty between Germany and the USSR where both isolated nations renounced territorial claims against each other and normalized diplomatic relations.

Collectivization

Stalin's ruthless policy of forcing peasants to give up their private land and join large, state-controlled collective farms.

Kolkhoz

A Soviet collective farm operated by a group of peasants who pooled their labor and resources under state supervision.

Five-Year Plans

Stalin's strict, state-directed quotas aimed at rapidly transforming the Soviet Union from an agricultural country into a modern industrial and military power.

Kulaks

Wealthier peasants who resisted collectivization and were subsequently targeted by Stalin for liquidation, resulting in mass exile and death.

Nepman

Small businessmen and private traders who took advantage of the capitalist elements of Lenin's New Economic Policy to accumulate wealth.

Gulags

The vast system of brutal forced labor camps across the Soviet Union where political prisoners, criminals, and kulaks were sent.

Stakhanovites

Soviet workers who significantly exceeded their production quotas, named after a famous miner, and were given special privileges as examples for others.

Show Trials

Highly publicized, staged trials during the 1930s where prominent "Old Bolsheviks" were tortured into falsely confessing to treason before being executed.

Purges

Stalin's widespread campaigns of terror to eliminate any potential political rivals, military leaders, or citizens perceived as threats to his power.

Great Terror

The most intense period of Stalin's purges (1936-1938), resulting in millions of arrests, executions, and imprisonments in the Gulag system.

NKVD/OGPU

The successors to the Cheka; the Soviet secret police organizations responsible for carrying out the Great Terror, managing the Gulags, and enforcing Stalin's will.