Russia and the Soviet Union 1917–1941 Review

Key Analysis and Focus Questions

• Primary Intent: This study guide covers Russia and the Soviet Union from the end of the Romanov dynasty in $1917$ to the onset of the Great Patriotic War in $1941$.

• Foundational Focus Questions:

  • Assessing Lenin’s role in constructing Bolshevik ideology and practical governance.

  • Examining the internal party friction and the different visions for the Soviet Union’s future.

  • Analysing the mechanics of Bolshevik power consolidation and Civil War victory.

  • Investigating Joseph Stalin’s ascent and the structural nature of his totalitarian dictatorship.

  • Evaluating the breadth of political, social, economic, and cultural transformations.

  • Determining the efficacy and objectives of Soviet foreign policy during this timeframe.

• Historical Perspective: Historians emphasise that the fall of the Romanovs after $300$ years of autocratic rule was not an inevitable path to Stalinism. The study requires analysis of primary sources (Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin) and scholarly interpretations ranging from sympathetic to critical.

Evolution of Bolshevik Ideology: Theory and the 1903 Split

• The Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP): Established in $1898$, it faced an ideological schism in $1903$.

• Bolsheviks (Majority): Led by Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin). They argued for a small, highly disciplined, professional revolutionary vanguard to accelerate the move to a proletarian revolution.

• Mensheviks (Minority): Led by Julius Martov. They adhered to a more orthodox Marxist view that Russia required a prolonged ‘bourgeois’ (middle-class) phase after the fall of autocracy before a socialist revolution could occur.

• Class Theory: Based on the works of Karl Marx ($1818$–$1883$) and Friedrich Engels ($1820$–$1895$), stating that history is a series of class struggles. The goal of the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ was to place workers in control until the state eventually ‘withered away’ under true communism.

• Lenin’s Adaptations: Lenin was flexible with Marxism, viewing political theory as a tool for the class struggle. In his $1902$ work What Is To Be Done?, he argued that only professional revolutionaries could centralise secret activities and lead the masses effectively.

The Revolutions of 1917 and the Collapse of Autocracy

• March Revolution 1917: Triggered the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, ending the Romanov dynasty. It resulted in a ‘Dual Power’ state:

  • The Provisional Government: Initially led by Georgy Lvov, later by Alexander Kerensky (Socialist Revolutionary). It aimed for reform but kept Russia in the First World War.

  • The Petrograd Soviet: A council of workers’ and soldiers’ deputies that functioned as an alternative source of authority.

• Lenin’s Return: Arriving from exile in April $1917$, Lenin issued his April Theses, which contained two vital slogans:

  • ‘All power to the soviets!’ (Transferring governance to worker councils).

  • ‘Peace, bread, and land’ (Ending the war, feeding the hungry, and redistributing land to peasants).

• Bolshevik Growth: Party membership grew from $24\,000$ in early $1917$ to $350\,000$ by the end of the year.

• The Kornilov Affair: In September $1917$, General Lavr Kornilov attempted a military coup. Kerensky released and armed Bolshevik Red Guards to help defend Petrograd, which significantly increased Bolshevik prestige while the Provisional Government lost credibility.

• The November Revolution: On $7$ November $1917$, Bolshevik forces (Red Guards) under Leon Trotsky’s tactical leadership seized key points in Petrograd (post offices, bridges, telephone exchanges) and arrested most Provisional Government ministers in the Winter Palace. Trotsky famously declared to opposing socialists: ‘You are pitiful isolated individuals; you are bankrupts; your role is played out. Go where you belong from now on — into the rubbish-can of history!’

Consolidation of Power: Decrees and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

• Sovnarkom: The Council of People’s Commissars was effectively the new government, originally including some left-wing Socialist Revolutionaries.

• Early Decrees (late 1917):

  • 8 November: Decree on Land (handing church/noble land to peasants) and Decree on Peace.

  • 12 November: Eight-hour working day limit.

  • 1 December: Banning non-Bolshevik newspapers.

  • 20 December: Establishment of the Cheka (secret police) to combat counter-revolution and sabotage.

  • 27 December: Nationalisation of banks and worker control of factories.

• Constituent Assembly: Democratic elections in December $1917$ saw the Socialist Revolutionaries win $40\%$ of the vote, while Bolsheviks won $25\%$. When the assembly met on $18$ January $1918$, the Bolsheviks forcibly dissolved it after just $12$ hours, essentially ending democracy in favor of one-party rule.

• Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 1918): Lenin insisted on peace with the Central Powers at any cost to ensure the revolution's survival. Terms were severe:

  • Russia lost $30\%$ of its population.

  • Loss of $32\%$ of agricultural land and $85\%$ of sugar beet land.

  • Loss of $54\%$ of industrial undertakings and $89\%$ of coal mines.

  • Indemnity payment of $6\,000\,000\,000$ marks.

  • The treaty was annulled on $11$ November $1918$ following Germany’s defeat in WWI.

The Russian Civil War (1918–1921)

• The Combatants:

  • The Reds: The Bolshevik Red Army, organised and led by Leon Trotsky with ruthless discipline. He used in excess of thousands of former Imperial officers (‘military specialists’) but paired them with political commissars to ensure loyalty.

  • The Whites: A fractured coalition of liberals, monarchists, and disillusioned socialists, aided by foreign powers (Britain, France, US, Japan) and the Czech Legion.

• Foreign Intervention: Britain and France supported the Whites to reopen the Eastern Front and reclaim debts repudiated by Lenin. These forces occupied northern ports (Murmansk, Archangel) and southern ports (Odessa).

• Red Terror: The Cheka carried out extensive executions and intimidation to suppress internal dissent.

• Outcome: The Bolsheviks won by $1921$ due to their control of the central industrial heartlands, unified command, and the fragmented nature of the White opposition.

Economic Transformation: War Communism to NEP

• War Communism (1918–1921): A radical policy to sustain the Red Army and cities during the Civil War.

  • Features: Nationalisation of all industry, banning of private trade, replacing money with tokens, and ‘prodrazvyorstka’ (armed requisitioning of grain from peasants).

  • Consequences: Industrial output in $1921$ fell to $1/3$ of $1913$ levels. Millions died in the famine of $1921$ (some reports of cannibalism occurred in the Volga). The Kronstadt Mutiny of $1921$ (sailors demanding ‘soviets without communists’) signaled the policy had failed.

• New Economic Policy (NEP) (1921–1928): A ‘tactical retreat’ to capitalism to save the economy.

  • Features: Peasant grain requisitioning replaced by a tax in kind; surplus could be sold for profit. Small businesses were privatised while the state kept control of the ‘commanding heights’ (banks, heavy industry, transport).

  • Consequences: By $1926$, industrial and agricultural output neared $1913$ levels. However, it created the ‘Scissors Crisis’ ($1923$), where agricultural prices dropped while industrial prices rose.

The Power Struggle and the Rise of Stalin

• Lenin’s Death: Lenin suffered strokes from $1922$ and died in January $1924$. His Testament warned that Stalin was ‘too rude’ and had concentrated too much power as General Secretary ($1922$).

• Candidates for Power: The Politburo was split between figures like Trotsky, Stalin, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin, Rykov, and Tomsky.

• Ideological Disputes:

  • Permanent Revolution: Trotsky argued socialism had to spread globally to survive.

  • Socialism in One Country: Stalin argued for strengthening the Soviet Union internally first. This resonated with a population weary of war.

• Stalin’s Tactics: As General Secretary, Stalin controlled the ‘nomenklatura’ (the list of appointments). He filled the party machine with loyalists. He formed a ‘troika’ with Zinoviev and Kamenev to isolate Trotsky.

• Expulsions: By $1927$, Trotsky, Zinoviev, and Kamenev were expelled. Trotsky was exiled to Alma-Ata in $1928$, banished from the USSR in $1929$, and murdered in Mexico in $1940$.

The Stalinist State: Totalitarianism and Terror

• Totalitarianism: Defining traits included a single ideology, a single party, a cult of personality, and total control of the media and secret police.

• The Great Purge (1936–1938): Triggered by the assassination of Sergei Kirov ($1934$). Stalin used it to eliminate ‘Old Bolsheviks’ and rivals (Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin).

• Show Trials: Public trials where leaders confessed to treason under torture. In $1936$-$39$, an estimated $14$ million deaths were linked to the purges.

• The Gulag: The Chief Administration of Corrective Labour Camps. Millions were sent to remote islands of camps (such as at the Belomor Canal project) for forced labour.

• Censorship: Glavlit (the central censorship bureau established in $1922$) controlled all publishing. History was rewritten in The Short Course ($1938$), which cast Stalin as a central hero alongside Lenin.

Economic Revolution: Industrialisation and Collectivization

• First Five-Year Plan (1928–1932): Aimed for rapid industrialisation of heavy industry (coal, iron, steel, electricity). Entire cities like Magnitogorsk were built from nothing.

• Collectivization: Replacing individual farms with kolkhozes (collective farms) or sovkhozes (state farms). Stalin announced the goal to ‘liquidate the kulaks’ (wealthy peasants) as a class.

  • Resistance: Peasants slaughtered their own livestock and burned crops. Roughly $15$ million people left the countryside.

  • Famine (1932–1933): Specifically targeted the Ukraine and Kuban area to crush nationalism. Death toll: $6$ to $8$ million people.

  • Production Outcome: By $1939$, agricultural output had only just returned to $1913$ levels, though state control over the food supply was total.

• Labour Heroes: The ‘Stakhanovite’ movement (named after miner Alexei Stakhanov) encouraged workers to break production records through competition and pride.

Social and Cultural Transformation under Stalinism

• Women’s Rights: Early years were progressive (Aleksandra Kollontai, Zhenotdel). Abortion was legalised in $1920$ and divorce was made easy. By the mid-$1930$s, a ‘Great Retreat’ occurred: Stalin banned abortion in $1936$, restricted divorce, and promoted the family as the basic unit of the state.

• Education: Initial moves focused on literacy and the Proletkult (proletarian culture) movement. Under Stalin, education became more conservative and rigid, focusing on technical skills and political indoctrination.

• Religion: Bolsheviks viewed religion as a ‘superstitious barrier’. Churches and monasteries were stripped. Secular anniversaries replaced religious holidays. However, popular faith persisted.

Soviet Foreign Policy (1917–1941)

• Initial Outlook: Hopes for world revolution led to the founding of the Comintern ($1919$). This failed as revolutions in Germany and Hungary were crushed.

• Pragmatism: The USSR signed the Treaty of Rapallo ($1922$) and the Treaty of Berlin ($1926$) with Germany. They sought diplomatic relations with Britain ($1921$).

• Collective Security: To counter Nazi Germany, the USSR joined the League of Nations in $1934$ and signed treaties with France and Czechoslovakia ($1935$).

• The Munich Agreement (1938): Stalin felt betrayed when the West excluded the USSR from talks regarding Czechoslovakia. This led to the German-Soviet Non-aggression Pact (August 1939).

• 1939–1941: The USSR occupied eastern Poland, the Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia), and parts of Finland while avoiding war with Germany until Operation Barbarossa began on $22$ June $1941$.