Communism in Russia 1900-1940 Vocabulary
Communism in Russia (1900-1940)
Context of Communism - Karl Marx:
The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital: foundational texts for communist ideology.
Inequality + industrialization: Bourgeoisie (owners) vs proletariat (workers): highlighted class divisions.
Class tensions → socialist revolution: dictatorship of the proletariat. (\text{Dictatorship = one party})
Values: equality, common good over individual freedom.
Government control: nationalization, profit spreading. Central planning.
Aim: classless, communist society. “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”.
Russia: mostly peasants, Trotsky & Lenin adapted Marx’s ideas to the Russian context. Marxism-Leninism
Timeline
1904-1905: Russo-Japanese War. Embarrassing loss for Russia.
1905: Workers revolution in Russia demanding reforms.
1914: WWI starts, Russia on Allied side. Allied powers: France, Britain; Central powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary.
1917:
February: Tsar Nicholas abdicates (February Revolution). Creates a provisional government
April: Lenin’s April Theses.
October: Bolsheviks under Lenin seize control (October Revolution).
1918: Civil War, Lenin instituted War Communism.
1921: Red Army victorious, Lenin introduces NEP. ends war communism
1922: USSR officially adopted.
1924: Lenin dies, Stalin in control.
1928: Stalin’s First Five Year Plan. Focus on collectivization and industry.
1933: Second Five Year Plan.
1934: Stalin’s Purges begin.
1938: Third Five Year Plan.
1939: WWII breaks out, Germany invades Poland. USSR signs non-aggression pact with Germany.
1941: Germany invades Russia.
1945: WWII ends.
Russia at the Beginning of the 20th Century
'Backwards': Serfdom recently abolished (1861). Socially behind compared to western Europe
Agricultural-based: low mechanization, food shortages.
Industrially underdeveloped.
Land owned by tsar, nobility, church. Very unequal society
Tsar Nicholas II: oblivious to modernization. Not a strong leader
Politically archaic, socially modernizing.
Revolutionary Sentiment
Revolutionary groups: illegal + underground.
Social Democrats (Marxists) → under Lenin (1897), split into Bolsheviks + Mensheviks. Bolsheviks means majority, more radical, Mensheviks mean minority, more moderate
Social Revolutionaries (Peasants) → land issue. Largest socialist group, advocated for giving land to the peasants.
Russo-Japanese War: angry population, increased suffering, 1905 Revolution.
The 1905 Revolution
February 1905: workers protest in St. Petersburg, shot by Tsar’s troops. Bloody Sunday
Result: strikes, riots organized by soviets. Soviets are worker councils
Tsar restored order, made concessions.
Consequences of the 1905 Revolution
October Manifesto: Russia’s first duma.
Elected state duma, freedoms promised, political parties legalized, adult men vote, pass new laws.
Opposition Split: some accepted reform, others disillusioned.
Duma’s limits: Tsar’s veto power, army control, unfair weighting, Tsar dissolved 1st 2 dumas.
Between 1905 and 1917
Increasing control over the Duma.
Peter Stolypin’s reforms: Prime minister
Peasants leave communes, independent farms. Stolypin wanted to create a class of peasant landowners
Improved education, healthcare, poverty relief.
Opposition suppressed (Stolypin’s Necktie).
Dissatisfied proletariat: slum housing, long hours, poor pay, no trade unions.
1912 Massacre: unarmed miners, reform seemed hollow. Demonstrates the government willing to use force
World War I
Allied side, initial patriotism.
6. 5 million soldiers in 1914, 15 million by 1917, but only 4.6 million rifles. Soldiers are ill-equipped
By 1916, people were upset, military/economic/social grievances.
Bad governing by Tsarina Alexandra, Rasputin’s influence. Nicholas was at the front.
Russia pushed back rapidly, many soldier deaths, deserters.
Food shortages, inflation, fuel shortages.
Agriculture + industry affected by conscription.
Factories close, terrible living conditions, -35 ° winter.
Causes of the February Revolution of 1917
Political: WWI defeats, bad Tsarist government, ineffective Duma.
Economic: terrible working conditions, inflation, food/fuel shortages.
Social: inequality, WWI deaths/desertions, unrest.
February 1917 Revolution
March to commemorate Women’s Day, worker demonstrations grew. Became a mass strike
Tsar ordered troops to open fire, soldiers supported demonstrations. Soldiers and workers unite
Tsar stepped down, Duma gave authority to Provisional Government. End of the Romanov dynasty
Freed political prisoners, allowed exiles to return, recognized freedoms, abolished privileges.
However: continued WWI participation (Major mistake), did not redistribute land.
Consequences of the February Revolution
Power went to bourgeoisie. Provisional Government = middle class.
Dual Authority: Petrograd Soviet vs Provisional Government. Petrograd Soviet = worker/soldier council that challenges the provisional government.
Bolsheviks returned from exile, Lenin formed Red Guards. Red Guards = Bolshevik paramilitary force
Absence of land redistribution, WWI made government unpopular, Bolsheviks increased in popularity.
Propaganda: “Peace, Bread, and Land”, “All Power to the Soviets”. Lenin’s April Theses. Lenin's promises
Causes of the October Revolution of 1917
Political: continued WWI, opposition to Provisional Government, dual authority, return of Lenin, Bolshevik propaganda, Red Guards, power of Soviets.
Economic: absence of land reforms, economic problems, poverty.
Social: desertions, inequality, crime.
October 1917 Revolution
Red Guards seized key points, stormed Winter Palace, Provisional Government surrendered. Relatively bloodless.
Lenin announced new Bolshevik government, communist rule.
Marxism-Leninism: political revolution from working class.
Bolshevik Consolidation of Power
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk harsh for Russia. Lost land to Germany
Land confiscated, redistributed (state property). All land owned by state
8-hour work day, 40-hour work week.
Insurance, free education, nationalities allowed to govern themselves, titles abolished, women’s reforms.
Other parties banned, ruthless execution by Cheka, labour camps. Cheka = secret police
The Civil War 1918-1921: Reds vs. Whites
Opposition parties (Whites): Supported by Britain, France, USA, Japan.
Reasons: anti-communism, Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, published secret treaties, refused to repay Tsarist loans.
Opposition: monarchists, landowners, liberals. All those who lost power from Bolsheviks
War Communism: resources to army, food rationing, nationalization, decline in production, strikes banned, private trade banned, hunger. Extremely harsh policies to supply army
Bolshevik Victory
War Communism played a role in the Red Army’s victory.
Resources channeled towards the army.
Food was rationed.
Most industries were nationalised.
Strikes + uprisings from previous supporters
Lenin’s New Economic Policy (NEP)
Compromise between capitalism + communism, deal with economic crisis. Temporary retreat from communism
Aim: return food + industrial production to pre-war levels.
Main Features:
Requisitioning grain swapped with tax paid in grain
Surplus grain allowed to be sold on the open market.
Trading for profit allowed.
Small businesses allowed to have private ownership.
Workers paid incentives + bonuses for good work.
Trade agreements made with the West
Kulaks (wealthy peasants) + Nepmen (business people) benefited
Women in Soviet Russia
Historical state of women in Russia: subservient to men.
Bolshevik aims for women: Rights for women to employment + education. Divorce legalized
Power Struggle After Lenin's Death
Lenin died in 1924, power struggle between Stalin + Trotsky.
Trotsky: military dictatorship by force? Wanted worldwide revolution
Stalin: Stalin accused Trotsky, Kamenev, + Zinoviev of plotting to overthrow the government. Wanted to focus on Russia first.
Stalin victorious in the battle for power
Stalin: A Cult of Personality
An individual uses mass media, propaganda to create an idealised, heroic, and at times a god-like public image.
Collectivisation: Stalin's Agricultural Policy
Agriculture mechanised to improve production. Farms merged together
Peasants opposed this, especially the kulaks. Kulaks resisted by destroying their crops
Stalin wanted to eliminate them as a class. Class warfare
Millions died as their produce was forcibly taken from them. Famine
Peasants were forced to stay on farms.
Stalin’s Political + Economic Policies
Wanted to turn the USSR into an industrial, modern world power. Focus on heavy industry
Improvement of infrastructure
The Great Terror + the Purges
Stalin became paranoid
Show Trials - false confessions, public executions
The Purges of the Communist Party: Old Bolsheviks killed
The Labour Camps: Gulags forced labour
The Purges of the Army:
The Coming of WWII
USSR signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Germany in 1939