r ussian r evolution the rise of modern communism
TRANSCRIPT
BACKGROUND
Russia had rich tradition in absolutism; Czars ruling with unlimited power
Feudalism still existed up until 1918 industrialization begins in 1880’s Russian people were mostly isolated from
European culture Two distinct classes- peasants and gentry Russia has been a sleeping giant…but will
soon be awakened…
CZARS
Alexander III “autocracy,
orthodoxy & nationality”
Harsh ruler; ruled with an iron fist
Avenged his father’s murder in peasant uprising
Issued pogroms against the Jews
CZARS Nicholas II
Son of Alex III & carries on his legacy
Goal: Industrialize Russia; be competitive with Europe; Steel Industry
Massive Industrialization raises taxes and creates harsh working conditions Social unrest and talk of
revolution Fuels acceptance of
communism
CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRATS
Active in provincial zemstovs Business and professional class and
supported by enterprising landowners Focused on need for a nationally elected
Parliament to control policies of state Favored by czarist police; less
dangerous Liberals, progressives, or
constitutionalists in the western sense, not concerned about workers or peasants
SOCIAL DEMOCRATS Internationalists Believed revolution would begin in Western
Europe Abhorred Social Revolutionaries Suspicious of peasants Urban proletariat was true revolutionary class Believed capitalism was necessary to develop
class struggle to perpetuate a revolution Ridiculed Mirs Disproved of sporadic terrorism/assassination Split into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks Marxists Leninism
SOCIAL REVOLUTIONARIES
Nationalists Populists Mystical faith in the inchoate might of the
Russian people Interested in peasant problems and
welfare Native revolutionary tradition Admired the Mir- socialist “commune” Did not believe the urban proletariat was
the only revolutionary class Capitalism was not necessary for
proletarian revolution; peasants would revolt given their situation
SOCIAL DEMOCRATS(RUSSIAN MARXISTS)
Mensheviks Means “minority” Wanted to implement
communism in Russia Believed in educating
the population about communism
Input and influence from membership
Slow process to gain popular support
Willing to compromise time for effectiveness
Grass roots movement
Bolsheviks Means “majority” Wanted to implement
communism in Russia Believed in radical quick
implementation w/out popular consent
WAR COMMUNISM Dictatorship of the
Proletariat Leader:
Vladimir Lenin
EMERGED AS DOMINANT SOCIAL REVOLUTIONARY GROUP
VLADIMIR LENIN
1870-1924 Leader of the
Bolsheviks First to implement
communism to any nation
Leninism: Marxism reworked to fit Russian culture
Father of Russian Communism
LENINISM
Goal: to orchestrate the overthrow of the existing government by force and seize power on behalf of the proletariat and then implement a dictatorship of the proletariat Strongly centralized authority determining
the “party line” and control personnel at all levels
CZAR NICHOLAS’S THREE MISTAKES
1. Russo-Japanese War- 1904 Meant to boost Russian morale, but Russia lost
badly Anti-czar underground movements
2.Bloody Sunday-1905 Unarmed rioters killed @ Czar’s Palace singing
“God Save the Czar” 8 hour work day, minimum wage, democracy
October Manifesto: Deceptive- really only to divide up the opposition Creation of the DUMA- dissolved in 10 weeks FAILURE: Conservatives afraid of Duma and Radicals
skeptical of it
3. World War I Russians unclear of Russian support of Serbia Devastated the economy; millions killed Misguided leadership of Rasputin in Czar’s
absence
MARCH REVOLUTION-1917
Workers rioted in Petrograd; eventually gained support from soldiers
Forces Czar Nicholas II to abdicate the throne
Creation of Provisional GovernmentLead by KerenskyLeader of Petrograd SovietDecides to continue Russia’s involvement
in WWI (mistake)Workers’ SOVIETS grow in numbers…
eventually more powerful that Provisional Government; this is due to the Bolsheviks
LENIN GAINS CONTROL
October 24, 1917 Lenin seized power and dissolved Provisional Government
NEW SOCIALIST ORDER (NSO) “PEACE, LAND, BREAD” Peace with Germany All farmland divided among peasants Soviet-run gov’t (Dictatorship of the Proletariat) Recognition of soviet power supreme over
Provisional Government
Lenin’s policies not widely accepted by upper class – leads to civil war
RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR: 1918-1920
White Army (loyalists)
Fighting to stop rise of Lenin and NSO
Received $$ aid from US and other European nations
Red Army (Bolsheviks)
Fighting to implement Lenin’s communism
Under the command of Leon Trotsky
Executed the Romanov FamilyOUTCOME: Red Army wins; Russian
economy in ruins15 million more Russians DEAD!!
EXECUTION OF ROMANOV FAMILY
During the early hours of July 17, 1918 Czar Nicholas II, his wife, children and servants were herded into the cellar of their prison house and executed
Liberation by the White Army was imminent and the Reds needed to get rid of the Czar and his family
EXECUTION OF ROMANOV FAMILY
In addition to the royal family, the executed included: their doctor, cook, valet, maid and dog.
8 days after the executions, the town of Ekaterinburg was captured by the White Army.
LENIN RESTORED ORDER
New Socialist Order (NSO) failed Due to Civil War and “war communism” Equality in economics was not working—no
competition
Lenin implements CHEKA (secret police) to restore order and combat resisters
NEW ECONOMIC POLICY (NEP) Created to fix the economic problems of NSO Brought in small amount of capitalism Successful and boosted economy
LENIN RESTORED ORDER
1922-Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Lenin creates self-governing republics in response to
vast amount of nationalities Soviets govern each Republic
Capital moved back to Moscow Changed party name from Bolsheviks to COMMUNIST
PARTY
Lenin’s new policies were improving and by 1928, production was where it was before 1914.
1924: Lenin dies after series of strokes…no successor named until 1928
JOSEF STALIN 1928-1953 Eventually wins support
from Communist Party to succeed Lenin in 1928
Was Secretary of the Communist Party
Leon Trotsky was his rival and Lenin’s choice Stalin has him exiled and
later murdered Personality:
Paranoid Quiet Ruthless ambitious
STALIN’S GOALS
“Socialism (Communism) in one country” Secure and centralize Soviet economy
Command Economy Industrialized Power Extreme discipline
“Russia was ceaselessly beaten for her backwardness…because to beat her was
profitable and went unpunished.” ~Stalin
POLITICAL IDEOLOGY
Totalitarianism: a political system in which government has total control over lives of individual citizens Stalin usurps total power to motivate and
promote his goals (not Marxist) Need to create incentive to meet industrial goals
and to motivate his workers Totalitarianism along with Marxism is what
becomes known as “STALINISM”
CHARACTERISTICS OF TOTALITARIANISM
Read over pages 654-57 in green text and identify examples that support Stalin’s implementation of each of the following characteristics.
1. One leader becomes symbol of government and state.
2. All opposition is suppressed.
3. Informers & secret police help ensure power of party.
4. Propaganda glorifies party’s leadership.
5. Party leaders appeal to nationalism to preserve party’s power.
ECONOMIC POLICIES
FIVE YEAR PLAN (1928-1932) Increase industry Limited production of consumer goods Increased production of military and industrial goods Increase agricultural production
Collective Farming
Problems?: 2nd FIVE YEAR PLAN (1933-1938)
Increased production of consumer goods Specialization of workers
Trained workers to become better skilled in specific areas More efficient and better quality
More successful; USSR up to par with Europe 2 more 5 Year Plans continued through and after
WWII
PURGES
to purify; to rid of a specific group Stalin’s paranoia becomes obsessive
Paranoid old Bolsheviks want to seize power so…
Stalin holds extensive trials and executes old Bolsheviks to weed out “conspirators”
1936-38: THE GREAT TERROR archive data in 1934-38: the number of death
sentences was 786,098; unknown #’s died in prison camps Communist Party members, Red Army leaders,
“saboteurs”
1930-53: 3,778,334 executed as “counterrevolutionaries”
GULAG PRISON SYSTEM
GULAG is the Russian acronym for The Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps and Colonies ( in Russian, of course)
Penal labor camp system of the USSR Forced labor camps under direction of State Security
476 separate camps all over USSR Most notorious in Arctic and Sub-Arctic regions
“SIBERIA” Estimated 20-40 million passed through camps 1928-
1953 Estimated 2 million died in camps from 1934-1953
Camps existed up through 1980’s Siberian Labor Camps house up to 1 million
prisoners