Revolutions in Russia: A Century in the Making

1. CH. 30- Revolution and Nationalism: 1900-1939

2. Section 1- Revolutions in Russia • The Russian Revolution was like a firecracker with a very long fuse. • The explosion came in 1917, yet the fuse had been burning for nearly a century. • The cruel, oppressive rule of most of 19th-century czars caused social unrest for decades. • Army officers revolted in 1825. • Secret revolutionary groups plotted to overthrow the government. • In 1881, revolutionaries angry over the slow pace of political change assassinated the reform-minded czar, Alexander II. • Russia was heading toward a full-scale revolution.

3. Czars Resist Change • In 1881, Czar Alexander III succeeded his father Alexander II, and halted all reforms in Russia. • Alexander III clung to the principles of autocracy, a form of government in which he had total power. • Anyone who questioned the absolute authority of the czar, worshiped outside the Russian Orthodox Church, or spoke a different language other than Russian was labeled as dangerous.

4. Czars Continue Autocratic Rule • To wipe out revolutionaries, Alexander III used harsh measures such as, imposing strict censorship codes on publish materials and written documents, using a secret police to watch both secondary schools and universities, and sending political prisoners to Siberia. • To establish a uniform Russian culture, he oppressed other national groups within Russia. • Russian was made the official language of the empire and use of minority language was forbidden. • Also, Alexander made Jews the target of persecution. • A wave of programs- organized violence against Jews- broke out in many parts of Russia. • When Nicholas II became czar in 1894, he continued the tradition of Russian autocracy. • Unfortunately, it blinded him to the changing conditions of his time.

5. Russia Industrializes • Rapid industrialization changed the Russian economy. • Between 1863 and 1900 the number of factories more than doubled, but Russia was still behind Western Europe. • In the 1890s, Nicholas’s most capable minister launched a new program. • To finance the build up of Russian industries, the government sought foreign investment and raised taxes. • These steps boosted the growth of heavy industry, particularly steel. • By 1900, Russia was the world’s fourth largest steel producer. • In 1891, work began on the world’s longest continuous rail line- the Trans-Siberian Railway. • The railway was not complete until 1916. • It connected European Russia in the west with Russian ports on the Pacific Ocean in the east.

6. The Revolutionary Movement Grows • The growth of factories brought new problems to Russia, such as poor working conditions, low wages, child labor, and the government outlawing trade unions. • To try to improve their lives, workers organized strikes. • As a result of all of these factors, several revolutionary movements began to grow and compete for power. • A group that followed the views of Karl Marx established a following. • They believed the industrial class of workers would overthrow the czar. • These workers would then form “a dictatorship of the proletariat.” • This meant the proletariat- workers- would rule the country.

7. Mensheviks, Bolsheviks, & Lenin • In 1903, Russian Marxists split into two groups over revolutionary tactics. • The more moderate Mensheviks wanted a broad base of popular support for the revolution. • The more radical Bolsheviks supported a small number of committed revolutionaries willing to sacrifice everything for change. • The majority leader of the Bolsheviks was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. He adopted the last name of Lenin. • V.I. Lenin had an engaging personality, was an excellent organizer, and was very ruthless. • These traits helped him gain control of the Bolsheviks. • In the early 1900s, Lenin fled to western Europe to avoid arrest by the czarist regime. • For there he maintained contact with other Bolsheviks and waited until he could return safely to Russia.

8. Crisis at Home and Abroad • Between 1904 and 1917, Russia faced a series of crisis. • These events showed the czar’s weakness and paved the way for revolution.

9. The Russo-Japanese War • In the late 1800s, Russia and Japan competed for control of Korea and Manchuria. • The two nations signed a series of agreements over the territories, but Russia broke them. • Japan retaliated by attacking the Russians. • News of repeated Russian losses sparked unrest at home and led to a revolt in the midst of the war.

10. Bloody Sunday: The Revolution of 1905 • On January 22, 1905, about 200,000 workers and their families approached the czar’s Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. • They carried a petition asking for better working conditions, more personal freedom, and a elected national legislature. • Nicholas II’s generals ordered soldiers to fire on the crowd and more than 1000 were wounded and several hundred were killed. • This event was named “Bloody Sunday.” • Bloody Sunday provoked a wave of strikes and violence that spread across the country. • In October 1905, Nicholas promised more freedom and approved the creation of the Duma- Russia’s first parliament. • The first Duma met in May 1906 and its leaders wanted Russia to become a constitutional monarchy similar to Britain. • But because he was hesitant to share power, the czar dissolved the Duma after 10 weeks.

11. World War I: The Final Blow • In 1914, Nicholas II made the decision to drag Russia into WWI. • Russia was unprepared for war financially and because of its weak generals and poorly trained troops it was no match for the Germans. • Before, a year had passed more than 4 million Russian soldiers had been killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. • Russia’s involvement in WWI reveled the weakness of czarist rule and military leadership. • By 1917, the Russian will to continue fighting in the war had disappeared.

12. Rasputin • In 1915, Nicholas moved his headquarters to the war front and his wife, Czarina Alexandra, ran the government in his place. • She ignored the czar’s chief advisors and fell under the influence of a self-described “holy man”, named Rasputin. • When Nicholas and Alexandra’s son, Alexis, fell ill, Rasputin seemed to ease the boys symptoms. • To show her gratitude, Alexandra allowed Rasputin to make key political decisions. • Rasputin opposed reform and obtained power positions for his friends. • In 1916, a group of nobles murdered Rasputin because they feared his increasing role in governmental affairs.

13. Trouble at the War Front and Home Front • Meanwhile on the war front Russian troops mutinied, deserted, or ignored orders. • On the home front, food and fuel supplies were dwindling and prices were inflated. • People from all classes wanted change and to end the war.

14. The March Revolution • In March 1917, women textile workers in Petrograd led a citywide strike. • The general strike shut down all the factories. • For the next five days, riots flared up over bread and fuel shortages. • Nearly 200,000 swarmed the streets. • At first soldiers obeyed orders to shoot the rioters, but later sided with them.

15. The Czar Steps Down • The local protest exploded into a general uprising- The March Revolution. • It forced Czar Nicholas II to abdicate his throne and a year later revolutionaries executed Nicholas and his family. • The March Revolution succeeded in bringing down the czar, but failed to set up a strong government to replace his regime. • Leaders of the Duma established a provisional government, or temporary government. • Alexander Kerensky headed it and his decision to continue fighting WWI cost him support of both soldiers and civilians. • Socialist revolutionaries, competing for power formed soviets. • Soviets were local councils consisting of workers, peasants, and soldiers. • Soviets sprang up around the country, and were mostly made up of socialists. • In many cities, the soviets had more influence than the provisional government.

16. Lenin Returns to Russia • The Germans believed that Lenin and his Bolshevik supporters would stir unrest in Russia and hurt the Russian war effort against Germany. • So, they arranged Lenin to return to Russia after many years in exile. • Lenin returned to Petrograd in April 1917. • Lenin believed that the Bolsheviks should try to gain control of the soviets. • He saw the soviets as groups already in place that could help overthrow the provisional government. • The Bolsheviks promised to end the war, redistribute land to the peasants, transfer control of factories and industries from capitalists to the workers, and transfer government power to the soviets.

17. The Bolshevik Revolution • Lenin and the Bolsheviks soon gained control of the Petrograd soviet and the soviets in other major Russian cities. • By the fall of 1917, people in the cities were rallying to the call, “All power to the soviets.” • Lenin’s slogan- “Peace, Land, and Bread”- gained widespread appeal. • Lenin had decided to take action.

18. The Provisional Government Topples • In November 1917, armed factory workers stormed the Winter Palace in Petrograd. • Calling themselves the Bolshevik Red Guards, they took over government offices and arrested the leaders of the provisional government. • Kerensky and his colleagues disappeared almost as quickly as the czarist regime they had replaced.

19. Bolsheviks in Power • Within days after the Bolshevik takeover, Lenin ordered all farmland be distributed among the peasants and factories were turned over to the workers. • Lenin turned over power to the Congress of Soviets, which represented soviets throughout Russia. • He held on to the real power in a Council of People’s Commissars, however, which he ran. • The Bolshevik government also signed a truce with Germany to stop all fighting and began peace talks.

20. Treaty of Brest-Litovsk • In March 1918, Russia and Germany signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, in which Russia surrendered a large part of its territory to Germany and its allies. • Russia gave up territory in eastern Poland, Ukraine, Finland, and the Baltic provinces. • Lenin believed that these territories would eventually return to Russia as the socialist revolution spread through Europe. • The humiliating terms of the treaty triggered widespread anger among many Russians and they objected to the Bolsheviks, their policies, and the execution of the royal family.

21. Civil War Rages in Russia • The Bolsheviks now faced the new challenge of stamping out their enemies at home. • Their opponents formed the White Army, which was made up of very different groups including: those who support the return of a czar, those who wanted a democratic government, and even socialists who opposed Lenin’s style of socialism. • Only the desire to defeat the Bolsheviks united the White Army. • However, the different groups barely cooperated. • At one point 3 White Armies were fighting against the Bolsheviks’ Red Army.

22. Trotsky and the Red Army • The revolutionary leader, Leon Trotsky, commanded the Bolshevik Red Army. • From 1918 to 1920, civil war raged in Russia. • Several Western nations, including the U.S., sent aid to the White Army, but it was little help. • Russia’s civil war proved to be far more deadly than the earlier revolutions. • Around 14 million Russians died in the 3 year struggle and in the famine that followed. • In the end, the Red Army crushed all opposition and the victory showed that the Bolsheviks were able to seize power and to maintain it.

23. Comparing World Revolutions • In its immediate and long-term effects, the Russian Revolution was more like the French Revolution than the American Revolution. • The American Revolution expanded English political ideas into a constitutional government that built on many existing structures. • In contrast, both the French and Russian revolutions attempted to destroy existing social and political structures. • Revolutionaries in France and Russia used violence and terror to control people. • France became a constitutional monarchy for a time, but the Russian Revolution established a state-controlled society that lasted for decades.

24. Lenin Restores Order • War and revolution destroyed the Russian economy. • Trade was at a standstill, industrial production dropped, and many skilled workers left the country. • So, Lenin turned to reviving the economy and restructuring the government.

25. New Economic Policy • In March 1921, Lenin temporarily put aside his plan for a state-controlled economy. • Instead, he resorted to a small-scale version of capitalism called the New Economic Policy (NEP). • The NEP allowed peasants to sell their surplus instead of turning it in to the government. • The government did keep control of major industries, banks, and means of communication, but it let some small factories, businesses, and farms operate under private ownership. • The government also encouraged foreign investment. • Thanks partly to the NEP and the peace that followed the civil war, the county slowly recovered. • By 1928, Russia’s farms and factories were producing as much as they had before WWI.

26. Political Reforms • Bolshevik leaders saw nationalism as a threat. • To keep it in check, Lenin organized Russia into several self-governing republics under the central government. • In 1922, the country was named the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), in honor of the councils that helped launch the Bolshevik Revolution. • The Bolsheviks renamed their party the Communist Party. • The named came from Marx, he used the word communism to describe the classless society that would exist after workers had seized power. • In 1924, the Communists created a constitution based on socialist and democratic principles. • In reality, the Communist Party held all the power. • Lenin had established a dictatorship of the Communist Party, not “a dictatorship of the proletariat,” as Marx had promoted

27. Stalin Becomes Dictator • Lenin suffered a stroke in 1922. He survived, but the incident set into motion competition for heading up the Communist Party. • Two of the most notable men were Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. • Stalin was cold, hard, and impersonal. • During his early day as a Bolshevik, he changed his name to Stalin, which means “man of steel” in Russian. • Stalin began his ruthless climb to the head of the government between 1922 and 1927. • In 1922, as general secretary of the Communist Party, he worked behind the scenes to move his supporters into positions of power. • Lenin believed Stalin was a dangerous man. • Lenin died in 1924. • By 1928, Stalin was in total command of the Communist Party. • Trotsky was forced into exile in 1929 and was no longer a threat. He was exiled to Mexico, where he was killed in 1940, probably on Stalin’s orders. • Stalin now stood poised to wield absolute power as a dictator.

28. Section 2- TotalitarianismCase Study: Stalinist Russia • Stalin, Lenin’s successor, dramatically transformed the government of the Soviet Union. • Stalin was determined that the Soviet Union should find its place both politically and economically among the most powerful nations of the world. • Using tactics designed to rid himself of opposition, Stalin worked to establish total control of all aspects of life in the Soviet Union. • He controlled not on the government, but also the economy and many aspects of citizens’ private lives.

29. A Government of Total Control • The term totalitarianism describes a government that takes total, centralized, state control over every aspect of public and private life. • Totalitarian leaders appear to provide a sense of security and to give direction for the future. • In the 20th century, the widespread use of mass communication made it possible to reach into all aspects of citizen’s lives. • A dynamic leader who can build support for his policies and justify his actions heads most totalitarian governments. • Often the leader utilizes secret police to crush opposition and create a sense of fear among the people. • No one is exempt from suspicion or accusation the he or she is an enemy of the state. • Totalitarianism challenges the highest values prized by Western democracies- reason, freedom, human dignity, and the worth of the individual. • To dominate an entire nation, totalitarian leaders used terror, indoctrination, propaganda, censorship, and religious or ethnic persecution as methods of control and persuasion.

30. Totalitarianism

31. 1984 • George Orwell illustrated the horrors of a totalitarian government in his novel, 1984. • (George Orwell also wrote Animal Farm.) • The novel depicts a world in which personal freedom and privacy have vanished. • It is a world made possible through modern technology. • Even citizens’ homes have television cameras that constantly survey their behavior.

32. Police Terror • Dictators of totalitarian states use terror and violence to force obedience and to crush opposition. • Normally, the police are expected to respond criminal activity and protect the citizens. • In a totalitarian state, the police serve to enforce the central government’s policies. • They may do this by spying on the citizens or by intimidating them. • Sometimes they use brutal force or even murder to achier their goals.

33. Indoctrination • Totalitarian states rely on indoctrination- instruction in the government’s beliefs- to mold people’s minds. • Control of education is absolutely essential to glorify the leader and his policies and to convince all citizens that their unconditional loyalty and support is required. • Indoctrination begins with very young children, is encouraged by youth groups, and strongly enforced by schools.

34. Propaganda and Censorship • Totalitarian states spread propaganda, biased or incomplete information used to sway people to accept certain beliefs or actions. • Control of all mass media allows this to happen. • No publication, film, art, or music is allowed to exist without the state’s permission. • Citizens are surrounded with false information that appears to be true. • Suggesting that the information is incorrect is considered an act of treason and severely punished. • Individuals who dissent must retract their work or they are imprisoned or killed.

35. Religious or Ethnic Persecution • Totalitarian leaders often create “enemies of the state” to blame for things that go wrong. • Frequently these enemies are members of religious or ethnic groups. • Often these groups are easily identified and are subjected to campaigns of terror and violence. • They many be forced to live in certain areas or are subjected to rules that apply only to them.

37. Stalin Builds a Totalitarian State • Stalin aimed to create a perfect Communist state in Russia. • He planned to transform the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state. • He began by destroying his enemies- real and imagined.

38. Police State • Stalin built a police state to maintain his power. • His secret police used tanks and armored cars to stop riots. They also read mail, monitored telephone lines, and planted informers everywhere. (Even children told authorities about disloyal remarks they heard at home.) • The secret police arrested and executed millions of so-called traitors. • In 1934, Stalin turned against members of the Communist Party. • In 1937, he launched the Great Purge, a campaign of terror directed at eliminating anyone who threatened his power. • When the Great Purge ended in 1938, Stalin had gained total control of the Soviet government and the Communist Party. • Historians estimate during this time Stalin was responsible for 8 million to 13 million deaths.

39. Russian Propaganda and Censorship • Stalin’s government controlled all newspapers, motion pictures, radio, and other sources of information. • Many Soviet writers, composers, and other artists fell victim to official censorship. • Stalin would not tolerate individual creativity that did not conform to the views of the state. • Soviet newspapers and radio broadcasts glorified the achievements of communism, Stalin, and his economic programs. • Also, the arts were used for propaganda.

40. Education and Indoctrination • Under Stalin, the government controlled all education form nursery school through universities. • School children learned the virtues of the Communist Party. • College professors and students who questioned the Communist Party’s interpretation of history or science risked losing their jobs or faced imprisonment. • Party leaders lectured workers and peasants on the ideals of communism. • Also, they stressed the importance of sacrifice and hard work to build the Communist state. • State-sponsored youth groups trained future party members.

41. Religious Persecution • Communists aimed to replace religious teachings with the ideals of communism. • Under Stalin, the government and the League of the Militant Godless, an officially sponsored group atheists, spread propaganda attacking religion. • “Museums of atheism” displayed exhibits to show that religious beliefs were mere superstitions. • Yet many people clung to their faith. • The Russian Orthodox Church was the main target of persecution. • Other religious groups also suffered greatly. • The police destroyed churches and synagogues, and many religious leaders were killed or sent to labor camps. • Achieving the perfect Communist state came at a cost to Soviet citizens. • Stalin's total control of society eliminated personal rights and freedoms in favor of the power of the state.

42. Stalin Seizes Control of the Economy • As Stalin began to gain complete control of society, he was setting plans in motion to overhaul the economy. • In 1928, Stalin’s plans called for a command economy, a system in which the government made all economic decisions. • Under this system, political leaders identified the country’s economic needs and determined how to fulfill them.

43. An Industrial Revolution • Stalin’s Five-Year Plansset impossible high quotas to increase the output of steel, coal, oil, and electricity. • To reach these targets, the government limited production of consumer goods. • As a result, people faced severe shortages of housing, food, clothing, and other necessary goods. • Stalin’s tough methods produced impressive economic results, even though most of the targets fell short. • A second plan, launched in 1933, proved equally successful. • From 1928 to 1937, industrial production of steel increased more than 25%.

44. An Agricultural Revolution • In 1928, the government began to seize over 25 million privately owned farms in the USSR. • It combined them into large, government-owned farms, called collective farms. • Hundreds of families worked on these farms, called collectives, producing food for the state. • The government expected tat the modern machinery on the collective farms would boost food production and reduce the number of workers. • Resistance was especially strong among kulaks, a class of wealthy peasants, so the government decided to eliminate them. • Peasants actively fought the governments attempt to take their land, many killed livestock and destroyed crops in protest. • Soviet secret police herded peasants onto collective farms at the point of a bayonet. • Between 5 million and 10 million peasants died as a direct result of Stalin’s agricultural revolution. • By 1938, more than 90% of all peasants lived on collective farms. • That year the country produces almost twice the wheat than it had in 1928 before collective farming. • In areas where farming was more difficult, the government set up state farms. • These operated like factories, where workers received wages instead of a share of the profits. • These farms were much larger than collectives and mostly produced wheat.

45. Daily Life Under Stalin • Stalin’s totalitarian rule revolutionized Soviet society. • Women’s roles expanded, and people became better educated and mastered new technical skills. • However, the dramatic change came at a price. • Soviet citizens found their personal freedoms limited, consumer goods in short supply, and dissent was prohibited. • Stalin’s economic plans created a high demand for many skilled workers. • University and technical training became a key to a better life.

46. Women Gain Rights • The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 declared men and women equal. • After Stalin became dictator, women helped the state-controlled economy prosper. • Under the Five-Year Plans, women had no choice but to join the workforce. • The state provided child care for all working women. • Many women performed the same jobs as men, millions working in factories and construction. • However, men continued to hold the best jobs. • Given new educational opportunities, women prepared for careers in engineering and science. • medicine, in particular, attracted many women. • By 1950, 75% of Soviet doctors were women. • Soviet women paid a heavy price for their rising status. • In addition to work, they were responsible for housework and childcare. • Motherhood is considered a patriotic duty in a totalitarian regime. • Soviet women were expected to provide the state with future generations of loyal, obedient citizens.

47. Total Control Achieved • By the mid-1930s, Stalin had forcibly changed the Soviet Union into a totalitarian regime and an industrial and political power. • He stood unopposed as dictator and maintained his authority over the Communist Party. • Stalin would not tolerate individual creativity because be saw it as a threat to the conformity and obedience required of all citizens in a totalitarian state. • He ushered in a period of total social control and rule by terror, rather than constitutional government.

48. Animal Farm • Animal Farm  is an allegorical and dystopian novella by George Orwell, first published in England on August 17, 1945. • (George Orwell also wrote 1984.) • According to Orwell, the book reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then on into the Stalin era in the Soviet Union. • Orwell, a democratic socialist,was a critic of Joseph Stalin and hostile to Moscow-directed Stalinism, an attitude that was critically shaped by his experiences during the Spanish Civil War. • The Soviet Union, he believed, had become a brutal dictatorship, built upon a cult of personality and enforced by a reign of terror. -Wikipedia, 11/13/15

49. Section 3- Imperial China Collapses &Section 4- Nationalism in India and Southwest Asia Group Activity- Posters • The class will be divided into 3 Groups. Group 1- Nationalists Overthrow Qing Dynasty (pg 882-883) Sec.3 Group 1- The Communist Party in China (pg 883-884) Sec.3 Group 2- Civil War Rages in China (pg 884 & 886) Sec.3 Group 2- Indian Nationalism Grows (pg 887-888) Sec.4 Group 3- Gandhi's Tactics of Nonviolence (pg 888-889) Sec.4 Group 3- Britain Grants Limited Self-Rule (pg 889) Sec.4 Group 3- Nationalism in Southwest Asia (pg 890-891) Sec.4 • Day 1 & 2-Research: You and your group will read your group’s assigned section. After reading, your group will discuss what has been read. After discussing, your group will develop a verbal and visual presentation over your group’s section. Note: Be sure to include the main ideas from your group’s section in your group’s verbal and visual presentation. • Day 3 & 4?-Presentations: You and your group will give your verbal and visual presentations that was developed during Days 1 & 2. Everyone in the group must present verbally (Everyone must Talk!). A individual’s failure to present will result in a grade of 0.

50. Group Activity- Visual Display: Posters • 20 points available for the Group Activity • 10 points: Attendance- -5 points for attendance on Day1 & 2 -5 points for attendance on Day3 & 4? *NOTE- Students must be present for both days of the Group Activity, or they will have a make-up assignment. • 5 points: Participation- -Students works well with group mates and contributes to the development of the presentation. • 5 points: Presentation- -Students help develop and create the presentation and verbally present.