A Brief History of the Soviet Union

A Brief History of the Soviet Union

Animal Farm and Soviet History…

Hooray!

Animal Farm and Soviet History…

Hooray!

The Long 19th CenturyThe Long 19th Century From monarchies to revolutions, European people began looking to new

political ideologies to help them deal with new problems they faced in a new era. These ideologies, forming since the age of enlightenment (mid-17th century), would drastically change the face of the governments that rules over them

The ideas were as different as the cultures they came from…

From monarchies to revolutions, European people began looking to new political ideologies to help them deal with new problems they faced in a new era. These ideologies, forming since the age of enlightenment (mid-17th century), would drastically change the face of the governments that rules over them

The ideas were as different as the cultures they came from…

John Locke & Thomas HobbesJohn Locke & Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes Life is “brutish, nasty, & short People don’t know how to behave Society needs a big protector, a huge

Leviathan government to keep order

John Locke People can make good decisions on

their own People have rights no government

has the right to take away You have the right to life, the right to

liberty, the right to own property, and the right to rebel against an unjust law or unjust government

Thomas Hobbes Life is “brutish, nasty, & short People don’t know how to behave Society needs a big protector, a huge

Leviathan government to keep order

John Locke People can make good decisions on

their own People have rights no government

has the right to take away You have the right to life, the right to

liberty, the right to own property, and the right to rebel against an unjust law or unjust government

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Thomas Hobbes (left) and John Locke (right)…doesn’t Hobbes look old and crotchety?

Karl Marx…aka Old Major?Karl Marx…aka Old Major? Throughout history, there has been a

never ending battle “between two hostile and warring camps”: the workers and the bourgeois

The wealthy treat the workers poorly, and will always do so. Only workers can make decisions in the best interests of workers. So what is needed is revolution, but only at the right time…don’t rush. Let capitalism take its natural course and a communist revolution will occur naturally

Workers can own their own private property, but the means of mass production will belong to the workers and they will collectively decide how best the use the resources they have…no governments needed

Throughout history, there has been a never ending battle “between two hostile and warring camps”: the workers and the bourgeois

The wealthy treat the workers poorly, and will always do so. Only workers can make decisions in the best interests of workers. So what is needed is revolution, but only at the right time…don’t rush. Let capitalism take its natural course and a communist revolution will occur naturally

Workers can own their own private property, but the means of mass production will belong to the workers and they will collectively decide how best the use the resources they have…no governments needed

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Problems in RussiaProblems in Russia

Political emancipation, economic oppression Serfdom ended in 1861 Economic growth halted by the agricultural

communes created for former serfs Former serfs could not leave the commune

without permission, even to find better paying jobs in urban areas

Political emancipation, economic oppression Serfdom ended in 1861 Economic growth halted by the agricultural

communes created for former serfs Former serfs could not leave the commune

without permission, even to find better paying jobs in urban areas

Problems, con’tProblems, con’t Incompetence of the Imperial

government 1905 revolution, brought on by discontent peasants and

workers, along with Russia’s poor performance in the Russo-Japanese War, and capped of by the Bloody Sunday massacre of civilians by government forces, still did not persuade the government to allow democratic reforms, making the population more radical

The growing radical population swelled with the ranks of soldiers, peasants, and urban workers

The government tried to create a modern economy, but feared the effect of an educated population might have on imperial power

Incompetence of the Imperial government 1905 revolution, brought on by discontent peasants and

workers, along with Russia’s poor performance in the Russo-Japanese War, and capped of by the Bloody Sunday massacre of civilians by government forces, still did not persuade the government to allow democratic reforms, making the population more radical

The growing radical population swelled with the ranks of soldiers, peasants, and urban workers

The government tried to create a modern economy, but feared the effect of an educated population might have on imperial power

Revolution and a New OrderRevolution and a New Order

World War I does what the Russo-Japanese could not Russia sues for peace with Germany

after a disastrous start - Russia could not provide the resources to fight a war, let alone fight a war and feed its people

A new leader emerges from the vacated imperial government…

World War I does what the Russo-Japanese could not Russia sues for peace with Germany

after a disastrous start - Russia could not provide the resources to fight a war, let alone fight a war and feed its people

A new leader emerges from the vacated imperial government…

A Russian Revolution…A Russian Revolution… Vladimir Lenin

Promises “peace, land, and bread”

Promises a communist democracy

Knows the course of history and can speed up Marx’s natural course of history

Is willing to sell short communist ideology for political expediency

Vladimir Lenin Promises “peace, land, and

bread” Promises a communist

democracy Knows the course of history

and can speed up Marx’s natural course of history

Is willing to sell short communist ideology for political expediency

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…Deferred…Deferred

Lenin dies in 1924, not leaving a clear successor

Lenin leaves a legacy of setting aside political principles in the name of preserving the revolution, which was created in the first place to install its political principles

Lenin’s successor takes changing principle for power to a whole new level…

Lenin dies in 1924, not leaving a clear successor

Lenin leaves a legacy of setting aside political principles in the name of preserving the revolution, which was created in the first place to install its political principles

Lenin’s successor takes changing principle for power to a whole new level…

Joseph StalinJoseph Stalin Stats:

Real name: Iosef Besarionis dze Jughashvili

Born Dec. 1878 in Gori, Georgia (the country, not the state!)

In 1894, enrolled to become an Eastern Orthodox priest

Abandons the priesthood to become a full-time revolutionary

In 1905, he meets Lenin, and by 1928 is leader of the Soviet Union

Stats: Real name: Iosef Besarionis dze

Jughashvili Born Dec. 1878 in Gori, Georgia

(the country, not the state!) In 1894, enrolled to become an

Eastern Orthodox priest Abandons the priesthood to

become a full-time revolutionary

In 1905, he meets Lenin, and by 1928 is leader of the Soviet Union

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Stalin is the leader of a revolution waged in the

name of Marx’s communist ideas…

Stalin is the leader of a revolution waged in the

name of Marx’s communist ideas…

So what’s the problem?So what’s the problem?

Tale of the tapeTale of the tape What Marx said…

A communist revolution cannot be forced on people. The world must progress through the stages: Primitive communism, slave society, feudalism, capitalism, socialism, communism

If a revolution is forced on people, then the people won’t understand why communism is the final and best stage of society

What Marx said… A communist revolution

cannot be forced on people. The world must progress through the stages: Primitive communism, slave society, feudalism, capitalism, socialism, communism

If a revolution is forced on people, then the people won’t understand why communism is the final and best stage of society

What Stalin did… Force 5-year

industrialization plans upon workers and peasants, working communally

The aim of the 5-year plan were not to improve people’s lives, but to make the Soviet Union powerful and avoid future repeats of the Russo-Japanese War or World War I

What Stalin did… Force 5-year

industrialization plans upon workers and peasants, working communally

The aim of the 5-year plan were not to improve people’s lives, but to make the Soviet Union powerful and avoid future repeats of the Russo-Japanese War or World War I

Tale of the Tape…2Tale of the Tape…2 What Marx said…

Communism means the tearing down of national borders and creating a government based along the lines of workers interests, not the interests of individual countries

What Marx said… Communism

means the tearing down of national borders and creating a government based along the lines of workers interests, not the interests of individual countries

What Stalin did… Use the Nazi invasion

of the Soviet Union to harness nationalist Russian sentiment, which he used to hold onto power during and after the Second World War

What Stalin did… Use the Nazi invasion

of the Soviet Union to harness nationalist Russian sentiment, which he used to hold onto power during and after the Second World War

Tale of the tape…3Tale of the tape…3

What Marx said… Communism is a

dictatorship of the proletariat, which is essentially a collective decision making process made by workers for workers

What Marx said… Communism is a

dictatorship of the proletariat, which is essentially a collective decision making process made by workers for workers

What Stalin did… Create a Soviet

constitution offering democratic freedoms of speech and the press, basic ownership of property for individuals, and equality before the law…then he qualified it with the phrase “in the interests of the working class and for the purpose of strengthening the socialist system.”

What Stalin did… Create a Soviet

constitution offering democratic freedoms of speech and the press, basic ownership of property for individuals, and equality before the law…then he qualified it with the phrase “in the interests of the working class and for the purpose of strengthening the socialist system.”

Stalin’s LegacyStalin’s Legacy By saying he would end private property on a

large scale (national mass production, not small individual property), Stalin added purges were necessary because there were those who would fight the ending of such private property…

Stalin eventually carried those purges into the lives of ordinary Soviet citizens who owned small-scale private property (someone who had one too many farm animals, or who possessed more agricultural equipment than other Soviet citizens

By saying he would end private property on a large scale (national mass production, not small individual property), Stalin added purges were necessary because there were those who would fight the ending of such private property…

Stalin eventually carried those purges into the lives of ordinary Soviet citizens who owned small-scale private property (someone who had one too many farm animals, or who possessed more agricultural equipment than other Soviet citizens

Stalin’s Legacy, con’tStalin’s Legacy, con’t Between 1936 and 1938, an estimated one to two million

Soviet people were killed in what became known as “The Great Purge”

An unknown number more died both before 1936 and the time period of 1945 and 1953 (the period after World War II and Stalin’s death, when he was attempting to reconsolidate his control over the Soviet Union

Afterwards, the Soviet Union tried to put the past behind, putting in charge a leader who drastically curtailed the use of terror and purges to control people’s attitudes towards the government, but by then, the damage was already done

Between 1936 and 1938, an estimated one to two million Soviet people were killed in what became known as “The Great Purge”

An unknown number more died both before 1936 and the time period of 1945 and 1953 (the period after World War II and Stalin’s death, when he was attempting to reconsolidate his control over the Soviet Union

Afterwards, the Soviet Union tried to put the past behind, putting in charge a leader who drastically curtailed the use of terror and purges to control people’s attitudes towards the government, but by then, the damage was already done

The EndThe End