Comprehensive Notes on Russian and Chinese Revolutions and Causes of WWII

Russian Revolution

Identifying Causes and Effects

When studying revolutions, it's crucial to identify:

1. Major Causes: The factors that led to the revolution.
2. Major Effects: The outcomes and consequences of the revolution.
3. Extent of Societal Change: How much society changed politically, socially, and economically.
4. Continuity: How much society stayed the same despite the revolution.
5. Similarities and Differences: Comparing the revolution to others (e.g., Russian vs. French, Russian vs. Chinese).

Long-Term Causes

1. Enlightenment Ideas:
   • Political revolutions are often influenced by Enlightenment ideals.
   • Concepts like self-determination challenged the divine right of czars like Nicholas II.
   • Enlightenment and French Revolutionary ideas spread in Russia after the Napoleonic Wars.
2. Revolutionary Period:
   • Russia experienced about 100 years of revolutionary attempts before 1917.
   • The Decemberists in 1825 and the Narodnaya Volya (Sofia Perovskaya) in 1881 were early attempts to overthrow the monarchy.
   • These attempts failed, resulting in conservative, reactionary czars.
3. Industrial Revolution:
   • The Emancipation Manifesto of Alexander II freed the serfs, but they remained poor.
   • Many serfs migrated to cities for factory work, increasing the proletariat.
   • The czarist system ignored workers' issues, leading them to embrace Marxist ideologies.
   • Marxists and Bolsheviks began to address the workers' concerns.

Short-Term Causes

1. Inadequate Ruler:
   • Nicholas II was an ineffective ruler who didn't understand the plight of his people.
   • His marriage to Alexandra, who was German, caused problems during World War I.
   • Alexandra's son, Alexi, suffered from hemophilia, leading to Rasputin's influence.
2. Russo-Japanese War:
   • Japan, after the Meiji reforms, became an industrial and military power.
   • Japan and Russia fought over Manchuria for resources and power.
   • Japan defeated Russia, boosting Japanese confidence and exposing Russian weakness.
3. Bloody Sunday and 1905 Revolution:
   • Bloody Sunday was a peaceful protest where Russian people asked the czar for help.
   • The czar's guards killed the protesters, igniting the 1905 Revolution.
   • Nicholas II issued the October Manifesto, creating a Duma (legislative assembly) to appease the people.
   • Russia began a transition to a constitutional monarchy.

World War I

1. Russian Unpreparedness:
   • Russia was unprepared for World War I and faced significant defeats against Germany.
   • The czar was at the front, while Rasputin and Alexandra were in charge, further deteriorating the royal family's image.
   • The Romanov dynasty's prestige declined as the Russian people lost faith in their special status.
2. Revolutions of 1917:
   • February/March Revolution: Overthrew the czar and ended the absolute monarchy.
     • A provisional government was established, aiming to create a democracy.
     • Lenin, in exile, was smuggled back into Russia by the Germans to instigate a Bolshevik revolution.
   • October/November Revolution: The Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, overthrew the provisional government in a coup.
     • Mistakes of the Provisional Government:
       • Failed to solve economic problems.
       • Continued Russia's involvement in World War I.

Bolshevik Seizure of Power

1. Treaty of Brest-Litovsk:
   • To exit World War I, Lenin made a deal with Germany, ceding a large chunk of territory.
   • This allowed Lenin to focus on fighting other Russians in the Russian Civil War.
2. Russian Civil War:
   • The Bolsheviks (Reds) fought against various groups (Whites).
   • By 1922, the Bolsheviks won, leading to the formation of the USSR (Soviet Union).

Lenin's Reforms and Leninism

1. Modifying Marxism:
   • Lenin adapted Karl Marx's ideas to fit Russia's agrarian society.
   • He applied Marxist thought to both industrial and agricultural workers.
2. Dictatorship:
   • Lenin established a dictatorship to implement communist reforms.
   • This deviated from Marx's original vision of a communist state.
3. Totalitarianism:
   • Lenin implemented totalitarian policies, controlling every aspect of life.
4. New Economic Policy (NEP):
   • Lenin initially established a command economy, but it failed.
   • He introduced the NEP, a mixed market system with some capitalist elements, which improved the economy.

Stalin's Era

1. Power Struggle:
   • After Lenin's death in 1924, Stalin seized control of the Soviet Union.
   • Stalin's rule lasted from the mid-1920s to 1953, influencing events from World War II to the early Cold War.
2. Collectivization:
   • Stalin seized private land from farmers, creating collective farms.
   • The goal was to increase efficiency and shift labor to factories for the Five-Year Plans.
3. Holodomor:
   • Stalin isolated Ukrainians, who resisted collectivization, and induced a famine, leading to mass starvation.
   • This event is increasingly referred to as the Holodomor.
4. Great Purge:
   • Stalin purged political opponents and military leaders to eliminate threats to his power.
   • This involved executing generals and others suspected of disloyalty.

Chinese Revolutions

First Chinese Revolution (1911)

1. End of Qing Dynasty: The revolution marked the end of the Qing dynasty due to its gradual decline.
2. Key Figures:
   • Sun Yat-sen (Sun Yixian): Leader of the KMT (Kuomintang) or Nationalists.
   • The Nationalists played a role in overthrowing the Qing dynasty.
3. Post-Revolution China:
   • China was decentralized, with warlords ruling different regions.
   • The KMT aimed to centralize power under a single government to modernize China.

Three Principles of the People

Sun Yat-sen's reformist ideology:

1. Nationalism: China for the Chinese; removal of foreign influence.
2. Democracy: Establishment of a constitution, rejecting dictatorship.
3. Socialism: Government intervention in the economy to fix issues and stimulate growth (not communism).

First United Front

1. Alliance: The Nationalists, then led by Chiang Kai-shek (Zheng Zhixi) formed an alliance with the Communists.
2. Common Goal: To defeat the warlords and unify China.
3. Shanghai Massacre: Chiang Kai-shek purged the Communists, starting the Chinese Civil War.

Chinese Civil War

1. Long March: Mao Zedong and the Communists were pursued by the Nationalists.
   • Mao successfully escaped and gained support from peasants in the villages.
2. Outcome: The civil war lasted until 1949, with the Communists ultimately victorious.

Chiang Kai-shek’s Reforms

• Modernization: He implemented policies focused on westernization and modernization which includes the change in the Gender Roles, increasing the rights of women.

World War II Causes

Post-World War I Efforts

1. League of Nations:
   • Major powers aimed to prevent another world war through the League of Nations.
   • Goals: Disarmament and collective security.
2. Collective Security: If any country showed bad behavior, every country would unite to threaten that country and force it to act accordingly.

Impact of the Great Depression

1. Global Implications: The Great Depression changed everything, and major powers took different approaches.
2. Internal Changes:
   • Britain, France, and the United States focused on internal recovery (e.g., the New Deal in the US).
3. Aggressor Nations:
   • Germany, Italy, and Japan chose militarism and expansion to overcome the depression.
   • These nations caused the divide that led to World War II.

Japanese Aggression

1. Invasion of Manchuria (1931) and China (1937): Japan's target was China; first Manchuria and then the invasion of the rest of China.
2. Second Sino-Japanese War: Japanese aggression in China was known as the Second Sino-Japanese War.
3. Human Rights Atrocities: The invasion resulted in human rights atrocities like the Rape of Nanking (Nanjing Massacre).
4. League of Nations Impotence: Impotent and Powerless.

League of Nations Failure

1. Powerlessness: The League of Nations failed to prevent war.
2. United Nations Formation: After World War II, the League was replaced by the United Nations, which included all nation-states.