Russia’s Communist Revolution

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Add stuff about New Econ Policy etc. from Mastering TEKS book

Russia’s Past: Why there is a Revolution

Czar Nicholas II was a weak leader who had a history of violent suppression and ignoring the needs of his people.

Most Russian people lived hard lives and were very poor

Under Nicholas II, Russia’s economy fell further behind and the former military power was embarrassed repeatedly in wars

Nicholas II blocked any attempts to limit his power

During World War I, Nicholas II went to the warfront to lead, but only further embarrassed himself

Czar Nicholas II

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMGrIwLj7gU&feature=related

It gets worse

By March 1917, disasters on the battlefield, combined with food and fuel shortages in Russia, spelled the end for the Czar.

Nicholas II abdicated the throne

The Duma (a government council set up in 1905) set up a temporary government, which decided to continue the war

Most Russians wanted the war to end. City workers demanded food. Peasants wanted land.

People want: Peace, Land, BREAD

As the war became deadlier and more embarrassing, those at home found food harder to come by.

Bolsheviks

Vladimir Lenin became a follower of socialism and Marxist ideas as a young man.

In 1895, he was arrested and exiled for trying to spread revolutionary ideas

In April 1917, he returned to Russia and teamed with fellow revolutionaries to instigate a communist Revolution

To the hungry, war-weary people, Lenin and the Bolsheviks promised “Peace, Land, and Bread.”

November Revolution

In November 1917, squads of red guards (armed factory workers) attacked the provisional (temporary) Russian government

The provisional government gave up without a struggle

Soon Lenin and his Bolsheviks controlled all of Russia and established their capital in Moscow

Russia goes Communist

The Bolsheviks ended private ownership of land and distributed land to peasants.

Workers were given control of the factories and mines

A new red flag with an entwined hammer and sickle symbolized the union between peasants and workers

Bolsheviks were renamed Communists & Reds.

After a three year civil war ended in 1921, Lenin and his communists were the clear masters of all of Russia.

War Communism (Marx’s Phase 2)

Communists took over banks, mines, factories, and railroads (No private ownership)

Peasants were forced to deliver “surplus” food to hungry people in the cities (Redistribution)

Peasants were drafted into the military or factory work. (Absolute government control)

Leon Trotsky turned the Red Army into an effective fighting force.

Trotsky’s passionate speeches roused soldiers to fight.

So did the order to shoot every tenth man, if a unit underperformed.

Leon Trotsky: Communist Military leader and Lenin’s # 2 Man

The U.S.S.R.

In 1922, a constitution was formed where Russia & surrounding republics became the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), or the Soviet Union

In theory, the constitution gave people certain powers and rights, like the right to vote

In practice, the Communist Party ruled with absolute authority imposing its will on the people with the help of its military and Secret Police

Lenin Dies Suddenly: 1924

Lenin’s death sets off a power struggle between Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin

Trotsky Stalin

Leon Trotsky Joseph Stalin

Brilliant Marxist Thinker

Great Speaker

Wanted a worldwide revolution against capitalism

Not a scholar or a good speaker; shrewd politician

Lenin warned that Stalin was “too rude” and urged that his successor be someone “more tolerant, more loyal,… and more considerate to comrades”

Wanted to focus on USSR, before World

The Struggle for Power

Stalin wins: Is Supreme Leader of USSR

With his political skill, Stalin put his own supporters in top jobs and alienated Trotsky.

Trotsky fled the country in 1929

In 1940, Trotsky was murdered in Mexico by one of Stalin’s agents.