7- Russian Revolution

Underlying reasons for protests against Czar Nicholas II in 1905

  • During WWI Czar - Nicholas’s rule, people suffered at home due to shortages, hunger, and deaths, Anger over poor working conditions. Lack of true limits. On the Czar’s power and a constitution protecting people’s rights. The bad blood between the czar and the people after Bloody Sunday (meant to be a peaceful protest, killed many people). Lack of voice in government. Duma (Russian Parliament) lacked real power. Corrupt government and noble class. Lack of industrialization and preparation for WWI. Suffered defeat in the Russo-Japan war.

Lenin’s re-enter into Russia.

  • After Lenin was arrested and sent to Siberia, he wanted to return after the March Revolution. However, the passage was blocked due to an ongoing conflict. When the German government travel realized that Lenin wished to return to Russia, it permitted him and 32 other Russian dissidents to travel in a “sealed” carriage through their Russian territory. Lenin and the Bolsheviks promised “Bread, Land, and Peace”. He overthrew the provisional government run by the Duma. He started during the November Revolution in St. Petersburgh when in power, he signed the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, pulling them out of the war.

Karl Marx’s Theory of Communism

  • He believed it was inevitable for the greed of the Capitalists to lead to the working to have enough and overthrow the wealthy class. He believed that by eliminating private business and property, no individual wealth could be accumulated and there would be no class system (wealth inequality). Believed a government would be necessary initially, but then went away. The government controls the means of production, focusing on the needs rather than the wants. Nationalization: a government takes over private property or business.

Lenin’s take on Marx’s theory of Communism to fit Russia

  • Instead of the workers leading the revolution, the Bolsheviks would lead it since Russia was not yet industrialized, the working class would not spontaneously overthrow the system, and Lenin would not wait. He argued that they did not have to industrialize first. The Russian peasants could first overthrow the Czar and then industrialize. He thought only the Bolsheviks were experienced enough to lead the revolution. Set the standard for communist leaders to follow.

The Civil War in 1918 and 1921

  • the reds

    • communist supporters: peasants, lower class, factory workers

  • the whites

    • capitalist supporters: clergy, nobles, czars, bourgeoisie, landowners, and allied powers

  • The Reds adopted war communism: and took control of means of production. Lenin ordered the execution of the Romanovs (Czar Nicholas’s entire family). Red’s won.

USSR

  • Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

USSR flag

  • hammer represents factory workers

  • sickle represents peasants

  • together they represent the ultimate goal of communist victory

Lenin’s New Economic Policy (NEP)

  • Peasants stopped producing grain because it was seized by the government. Economy collapsed. To revive the economy, Lenin’s NEP allowed for some capitalist policies. The state held control of the large industries but allowed small businesses to open for some profit. The government stopped seizing peasants’ grain and gave them small plots of land to sell their surplus. NEP worked and production increased again Stopped government resistance. Lenin saw the NEP as a temporary solution.

Stalin’s isolation of Leon Trotsky from the communist party

  • Lenin died suddenly in 1924. Lenin thought Stalin was rude and preferred Trosky to take over. Grigory Zinoviev and Lev Kaminev persuaded the politburo to not remove Stalin as General Secretary. At the funeral, Stalin sent Trotsky to the wrong place so he did not go. People saw Trotsky as unloyal after this. Stalin used his position to appoint friends and gain supporters. In 1927, he seized power. Trotsky flees to Mexico after being stripped of party membership for criticizing Stalin where he is assassinated.

Stalin’s policy of industrializioatn

  • met Stalin set high goals, He gave bonuses to people who me the goals and punished those who didn’t. Central planning was inefficient and caused shortages. Consumer goods were scarce, low quality goods were produced as managers were only concerned about meeting quotas. Factory managers lied about meeting high quotas to avoid punishments. Then the next production goals were ridiculously high. To still meet quotas goods were of poor quality and often broke.

Stalin’s policy of collectivization

  • collectivization was when Stalin forced peasants to give up their small farms vien tot them under the NEP and live on state-owned farms called collectives, The government controlled the collectives and set quotas. Kulaks (wealthy peasants), before communism, owned land and Stalin wanted to destroy them. The government seized land and grain and let peasants starve, this was called the Holodomor. 5 -8 million Ukrainians died from starvation. He sent dissenters to prison labor camps and they died.

Holodomor is an example of a human rights violation

  • it targeted a specific group of people and was a genocide

The Great Purge

  • During 1933-1934, Stalin expelled over one million people from the party for counter-revolutionary plots, failure to meet quotas, and vague accusations of disloyalty. Stalin launched an attack on the Old Bolsheviks (who were old communist party leaders before the revolution. Former communist leaders admitted to crimes after torture show trials held in Moscow. Purges increased fear and power in Salin, and all citizens were aware of the consequences of disloyalty. Executed military leaders and close friends.

How it was considered a totalitarian system

  • totalitarian state (a party government attempts to regulate and control every aspect of the lives of its citizens). State control of individuality, society, enforcement, and technology (spread propaganda), information presented to deliberately influence an audience.

  • single party dictatorship

    • unquestioning obedience to a single leader who develops a cult of personality

    • leader who is idealized through the public image

    • control of info

      • spies, secret police, and use of terror to control population

    • Stalin is seen as “Uncle Joe”.