Background: Russia consistently lagged behind Western European countries in modernization and industrialization, partially due to the Mongol invasion in the 1200s which isolated Russia from Western Europe.
Previous Attempts at Reform: Russian Czars had previously attempted modernization:
Peter the Great and Catherine the Great tried to westernize Russia.
Alexander II abolished serfdom in 1861 and reformed the judicial system.
Nicholas II established the Duma (a Russian parliament) in 1905, but it had limited power.
World War I's Impact: Despite reforms, Russia was unprepared for World War I.
In 1914, Russia suffered significant losses at the Battles of Tannenberg and Masurian Lakes (approximately 250,000 men).
In 1916, Czar Nicholas II took personal control of the army due to these defeats, which proved to be a terrible idea since he was an indecisive and sorry military general.
When Nicholas II left for the front, he put his wife Alexandra in charge, who was being advised by Rasputin, leading to rumors of German influence and undermining confidence in the government.
Nicholas II's laws favored wealthy noble landowners, increasing support for radical ideas.
By 1916, Russia had suffered 1.7 million soldier deaths and 5 million wounded.
Russia's antiquated transportation system caused food shortages.
February Revolution (1917):
Riots broke out in Petrograd in 1917; the army refused to suppress them.
Mikhail Rodzianko (head of the Duma) informed Nicholas II of the chaos.
Nicholas II ignored the warnings, rioting continued, and he was forced to abdicate the throne.
The Duma established a provisional government, promising democratic reforms.
The provisional government's main mistake was continuing Russia's involvement in World War I.
The February Revolution ended the Russian monarchy, but the provisional government's unpopularity led to the October Revolution.
October Revolution (Bolshevik Revolution):
Radical groups, including the Marxist Bolsheviks led by Vladimir Lenin, called for radical change.
In October 1917, the Bolsheviks overthrew the provisional government.
Lenin ended Russia’s involvement in World War I with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
Lenin began converting Russia into a totalitarian, communist nation by abolishing private property and establishing strict censorship laws.
Russian Civil War (1918-1920):
The Bolsheviks (Reds) faced opposition from anti-communist groups (Whites).
The US and Great Britain supported the Whites due to Russia's withdrawal from World War I and loss of territory in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
The Reds, led by Leon Trotsky, eventually won the civil war.
In 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR, or Soviet Union) was officially established.
Lenin and Stalin
Lenin's New Economic Policy (NEP):
After the Russian Civil War, Russia faced food shortages and economic problems.
Lenin introduced the NEP in 1921, shifting the economy from communist to socialist.
The government controlled banks, foreign trade, and large industries, but private individuals controlled other sectors, especially agriculture.
The NEP incentivized farmers, leading to increased crop production.
Stalin's Rule:
After Lenin's death in 1924, Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky competed for power.
Stalin won, forcing Trotsky into exile and later assassinating him.
Stalin’s policies caused the deaths of at least 10 million people.
Five Year Plans:
Stalin replaced the NEP with centralized Five Year Plans for industrialization.
These plans set quotas for industrial goals to be achieved in five years.
The Soviet Union claimed to have met or exceeded these quotas, but historians are unsure if the numbers were accurate due to Stalin’s self-promotion.
Collectivization of Agriculture:
Stalin implemented collectivization to feed the industrial workforce.
Small, privately-owned farms were combined into large, state-run collective farms.
Wealthier farmers (kulaks) who owned more than twenty-four acres of land were targeted, and millions were deported to Siberia.
Many farmers in the Ukraine resisted, leading to Stalin ordering the sale of Ukrainian grain on the foreign market as punishment.
This caused a terrible famine in the Ukraine, with around 25,000 Ukrainians a day starving to death in the Spring of 1933.
The Great Purges:
Stalin was paranoid and eliminated anyone perceived as a threat, including Old Bolsheviks, teachers, intellectuals, military officers, and factory managers.
The purges led to inexperienced officers running the military, which had negative consequences during World War II.
Late Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Ideas
Uncertainty in the Sciences: Late 1800s discoveries questioned the idea that objects follow constant natural laws.
Radioactivity:
Scientists discovered radioactivity, the release of energy due to spontaneous changes in atoms.
Marie Curie made significant contributions to the study of radioactivity, winning two Nobel Prizes.
Her work provided the foundation for discoveries in nuclear physics and radiation for cancer treatment.
Relativity (Albert Einstein, 1905):
Space and time are not always constant; perception of time and movement is relative.
Time and space depend on a person’s perception and cannot always be measured perfectly.
Psychoanalysis (Sigmund Freud):
Freud theorized the existence of the unconscious mind, full of irrational desires influencing behavior.
Early childhood events greatly impact adult behavior.
Psychoanalysis involves analyzing dreams and fantasies to understand unconscious problems.
The Age of Anxiety: Scientific uncertainties spilled over into art and literature, marking the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as the 'Age of Anxiety.'
Modern Literature:
Freud’s theories influenced literature through stream-of-consciousness.
Stream-of-consciousness aimed to portray the disorganized, non-logical way the mind actually works.
Modern Art:
Art became more abstract; artists aimed to convey impressions, moods, or concepts rather than reproduce reality exactly.
Impressionist artists used dabs of paint to create images that emerged when viewed from a distance.
Surrealist paintings presented dreamlike images influenced by Freud.
Flappers:
The Victorian Era (1800s) was characterized by politeness, propriety, and repression.
Flappers challenged Victorian ideals by showing their ankles, cutting their hair short, smoking, drinking, and dancing in jazz clubs.
These acts sparked a full century of argument about how women should behave, what their goals in life should be, and what rights they should have and began the Womens Rights Movement after World War I.
World Economy in the 1920s and 1930s
Post-World War I Economic Problems:
Wars tend to disrupt economies, and World War I was no different.
The Treaty of Versailles exacerbated economic problems.
The Twenties: Years of Plenty?
In America, the 1920s seemed like a time of prosperity (The Roaring Twenties), but overproduction and credit buying brought about the Great Depression.
Overproduction:
Overproduction occurred because people produced more items than they could sell.
During World War I, American farmers increased production to meet European demand.
Post-war, European countries recovered, decreasing demand for American crops and causing prices to fall.
Farmers produced even more crops to try to compensate for low prices, further increasing supply and pushing prices lower.
Reduced demand for manufactured goods led to factory layoffs, further decreasing consumer spending.
Credit Buying:
Increased credit buying exacerbated the supply-and-demand situation.
People made purchases on installment plans but couldn’t pay their bills as the economy weakened.
Stocks were sold on margin, which meant that the investor would only pay for part of the stock and the stockbroker would loan the investor the rest. The idea was that the value of the stock would rise enough to pay back the stockbroker and earn money for the investor.
When stock values started to drop slightly, stockbrokers started calling the investors who owed them money for stocks leading to an increased supply of stocks.
Because no one wanted to purchase losing stocks, the demand decreased causing the price of the stocks to drop even more.
The stock market crashed on October 29, 1929 ('Black Tuesday'), triggering the Great Depression.
The Thirties: Depressing and Dirty:
The stock market crash led to bank runs.
Banks had invested in the stock market, and when the market crashed, people panicked and withdrew their money.
Banks ran out of money and closed, causing people to lose their savings.
A bank run was a time of panic when many people were going to withdraw their money from banks. Ironically, people’s worry about banks closing caused more bank runs, which caused more banks to fail.
Banks all over the country failed and closed.
Worldwide Depression:
Major world economies had become interdependent.
The US had lent money to other countries during World War I and demanded repayment, further destabilizing their economies.
The Depression spread worldwide.
Countries responded differently to the Depression.
The US began a program of public works called ‘the New Deal’ which used large amounts of tax money to create jobs for people.
England and France created coalition governments.
Aggressive new regimes took over the governments in Germany, Italy, and Japan, leading to World War II.