THE BOLSHEVIK REVOLUTION AND THE

USSR

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In 1887, when Lenin’s older brother, Aleksandr, a

university student at the time, was arrested and

executed for being a part of a group planning to

assassinate Emperor Alexander III.

During World War I Lenin went into exile again, this

time taking up residence in Switzerland.

In 1917, assisted by the Germans, who hoped that he

would undermine the Russian war effort, Lenin

returned home and started working against the

provisional government led the October Revolution.

Almost three years of civil war followed. The

Bolsheviks were victorious and assumed total control

of the country.

Lenin suffered a stroke in May 1922, and then a second

one in December of that year.

On March 10, 1923, Lenin suffered an additional

stroke, this one taking away his ability to speak and

concluding his political work. Nearly 10 months later,

on January 21, 1924 he died. His corpse was embalmed

and placed in a mausoleum on Moscow’s Red Square.

WLADIMIR ILICH ULJANOV: LENIN

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WORLD WAR I: RUSSIA.

Russia was unprepared militarily and technologically for the new concept of

total war. Russian industry was unable to produce the weapons needed for the

army. Soldiers were sent to the front without rifles and told to pick one up from

a dead comrade. Russia had no competent military leaders and Czar Nicholas II

insisted on taking personal charge of the armed forces despite his obvious lack

of ability and training. Between 1914 and 1916 two million soldiers were killed

and more than four million were wounded or captured by the germans.

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At the beginning of march 1917, there were a series of strikes led by working-class women in the

capital city of Petrograd (formerly, Saint Petersburgh). That was the reaction of the people

against the bread rationing and the increased in the price of the bread. On March 8th, about

10.000 women marched through the city demanding “Peace and bread” and “Down with

Autocracy”. A general strike shut down all the factories. Nicholas II ordered troops to shoot the

crowds, however, soldiers joined the demonstrators and refused to fire.

The Duma (Parliament) established a provisional government and urgen the Czar to resign. As

he had no support from the army or the aristocracy, Nicholas II abdicated on his brother, Grand

Duke Michael.

FEBRUARY 1917 REVOLUTION.

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Left Banner: the

children of the

defenders of the

Motherland.

Right Banner: Increase

payments to the

soldiers’ families;

defenders of freedom

and world peace.

The Duma appointed a provisional

government led by Alexander

Kerensky. Pressured by the Allies

(France, UK) Kerensky decided to

carry on the war, which unsatisfied

workers and peasants, who wanted

above all the end of the war.

The government also faced the

opposition of the soviets: councils

composed of representatives from

the workers and the soldiers. The

soviet of Petrograd was the most

powerful, led by the Bolsheviks.

Leon Trotsky was the head of the

Soviet6

Alexander

Kerensky

Trotsky

The Provisional Goverment had lostsupport because of the failures in thewar. Dessertions increased.

The Bolsheviks obtained support afterLennin’s April theses.

By the end of october the Soviets werestrong enough to claim power. Duringthe night of November 6th, Bolsheviksforces seized the Winter Palace and theprovisional government quicklycollapsed. As the overthrow of thegovernment coincided with a meeting of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets (which represented local soviets fromall over the country), Lenin turned overthe power o f the government to theCongress of Soviets led by the Council of Commissars, headed by Lenin and including Trotsky and Stalin.

THE BOLSHEVIK’S REVOLUTION: OCTOBER

1917

The Provisional

Government has been

overthrown. The cause for

which the people have

fought has been made safe:

the inmediate proposal of a

democratic peace, the end of

land owner’s rights,

worker’s control over

production, the creation of a

Soviet government. Long

live the revolution of

workers, soldiers and

peasants.

Proclamation of the Petrograd

Soviet, 8 November 19177

LENIN’S GOVERNMENT

AprilTheses

• Withdraw of World War One.

• Redistribution of Church, nobility and monarchy lands toall peasants.

• Control of the factories by workers committees.

• Political power: congress of the Soviets.

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Free elections in late 1917.

Bolsheviks (supported byworkers mainly) did notgain a majority.

The SocialistRevolutionaries (supportedby peasants mainly) werethe biggest party in theAssembly.

ELECTIONS TO THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY

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Lenin sent the Red Guard to closedown the assembly and instituted thegovernment of the Congress of Soviets mainly formed by Bolsheviks.

As Lenin hadpromised peace, onMarch 3rd, 1918, signed the Treaty of Brest Litovsk withGermany and gave up Poland, Ukraine, Finland and the BalticStates.

Russia lost a 34% of its population and a 26% of the coalmines

They had to pay a fine of 300 millions goldroubles.

BREST LITOVSK PEACE TREATY.

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Government in the hands of the Congress of Soviets (mainly Bolsheviks).

Civil War:

The Whites (a coallition of oppositors of theRevolution: Tsar loyalists, liberals, anticommunists, foreign forces)

The Red Army.

By 1921 the Bolsheviks had controlled Russia.

They won the war because:

They forced peasants to hand over food to the

army and the factories and rationed supplies.

The Red Terror developed by the Cheka (secret

police) mantained strict control over the

population.

Propaganda convinced the population that the

Whites’ victory would mean a return to the Tsar,

the landlords and the Old Regime.

They were united while the Whites were a

coalition with different aims.

Communists appealed to patriotism to fight the

White Army as thousand of foreign troops were

stationed in Russia in support of the Whites. The

presence of foreign troops made it easy for the

Communist to call on patriotic russians to fight

foreign attempts to control the country.

The Tsar and his family were executed.

By the end of 1920, most of White Forces had

been defeated and Ukraine retaken.

THE CIVIL WAR: RED VS WHITES.

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War Communism: economicmeasures adopted by theBolsheviks during the Civil War.

Objectives:

To put Communist theories intopractice by sharing out the wealthamong Russian people.

To supply the Red Army duringthe Civil War.

The communist governmentcontrolled the banks, industries and seize of grain from peasants.

THE CIVIL WAR’S ECONOMY: WAR

COMMUNISM

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War Communism

TheGovernment

controlsproductivemeans and organizes

labour

Large faries are controlled by

the government

Production isplanned and organized by

thegovernment

Free enterprise isillegal and all

production and trade is controlledby the government

No strikes allowed

Food is rationed and agricultural

production has to betaken to the cities so that the government

can distribute it.

An autarkicpolicy is

developed toavoid theexternalblockade

Large factoriesare controlled bythe government

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THE WHITES.

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Even before the Red Army was

formed, Lavr Kornilov promised,

"the greater the terror, the greater

our victories." He vowed that the

goals of his forces must be fulfilled

even if it was needed "to set fire to

half the country and shed the blood

of three-quarters of all Russians."

His government was based in Omsk

(southwestern Siberia). For a year and a half,

Kolchak was the internationally recognised

leader of Russia. He ruled as a dictator but his

government proved weak and ineffective. For

example, it lost track of the imperial gold

reserves and much of it disappeared. He also

failed to unite the anti-Bolshevik elements and

also relied too heavily on foreign aid. As his

White forces fell apart, he was betrayed and

captured by independent units who handed him

over to local Bolsheviks, who executed him.

The Bolsheviks controlled the key central

area of Russia - between Petrograd and

Moscow. This gave them a number of key

advantages.

Most of Russia's railways were in this area.

This made communication between the

various battlefronts much easier. Trotsky

was able to move troops and supplies

rapidly to areas under attack. As

Commissar for War, he was able to visit the

battlefronts in an armoured train, and to

take personal command.

The large population of the major cities in

this central area was a key resource for the

Bolsheviks. The cities provided recruitment

for the Red Army.

Much of Russia's industry and raw

materials was located in this area. This

made it possible for the Bolsheviks to keep

their troops supplied and equipped with

weapons, ammunition and supplies.

Civil WarCasualties:

During the Civil War, the Bolshevik Secret

Policy executed250.000 people.

100.000 Jews werekilled in Ukraine,

mostly by theWhites.

As a consequence of bad weather conditions(droughts) and seize of

the grain by theArmies, famines and

diseases killed about 8 million people.

It is estimated that about 800.000 soldiers died during the war.

Half million of cossacks were

killed ordeported.

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THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR.

1921: Lenin decides to bring back capitalism for some sections. Lenin

called this kind of economy «STATE CAPITALISM».

Peasants are allowed to sell surplus grain for profit but paying a tax

on what they produce.

Small factories were handed back into private ownership.

The most important industries and banks were still controlled by the

state.

Production increased.

THE NEW ECONOMIC POLICY (NEP)

“The Russia of the NEP will

become Socialist Russia”

(Lenin)

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The Russian economy was devastated by

the war, with factories and bridges

destroyed, cattle and raw materials pillaged,

mines flooded, and machines damaged. The

industrial production value descended to one

seventh of the value of 1913, and agriculture

to one third. It is estimated that the total

output of mines and factories in 1921 had

fallen to 20% of the pre–World War level. For

example, cotton production fell to 5%, and

iron to 2% of pre-war levels.

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War Communism saved the Soviet government during the Civil War, but

much of the Russian economy was ruined. The peasants responded

to requisitions by refusing to till the land. By 1921, cultivated land had

shrunk to 62% of the pre-war area, and the harvest yield was only about

37% of normal. The number of horses declined from 35 million in 1916

to 24 million in 1920, and cattle from 58 to 37 million. The exchange rate

with the U.S. dollar declined from two rubles in 1914 to 1,200 in 1920.

Harvest yield

37% of pre-war

62% declined in cultivated land

Industrial output fell to 20% of

pre-war.

Ruble-DollarRate: from 2 to 1,

to 1200 to 1.

Cattle declinedfrom 58 to 37

million

LENIN DEATHLenin suffered a stroke in May 1922, and then a second one in December of that year.

On March 10, 1923, Lenin suffered an additional stroke, this one taking away his ability to

speak and concluding his political work. Nearly 10 months later, on January 21 1924 he died

His corpse was embalmed andplaced in a mausoleum onMoscow’s Red Square

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Leon Trotsky- Brilliant speaker, military leader andthe Communist Party’s best thinker

- Hero of the Bolshevik Revolutionand military leader of the Red Army.

- Main Objective: SpreadCommunism through the world

-Arrogant. Offended senior partymembers

- Understimated Stalin

Joseph Stalin-General Secretary of theCommunist party: put hissupporters into importantpositions and his enemiesin remote posts

- Main objective:Socialism in onecountry

- He claimed to be Lenin’ssuccessor.

USSR LEADERSHIP: TROTSKY OR STALIN?

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Lenin's Testament is the name given to a document written by Vladimir Lenin in the last weeks of 1922 and the first week of 1923.

Lenin wanted the testament to be read out at the XII Party Congress of the Russian Communist Party to be held in April 1923.[1]However, after Lenin's third stroke in March 1923 left him paralyzed and unable to speak, the testament was kept secret by his. Only after Lenin's death she turned the document over to the Communist Party.

Lenin's testament presented the ruling triumvirate or troika (Stalin, GrigoryZinoviev and Lev Kamenev) with an uncomfortable dilemma. On the one hand, they would have preferred to suppress the testament since it was critical of all three of them as well as of their ally Nikolai Bukharin and their opponents Leon Trotsky and Georgy Pyatakov. Although Lenin's comments were damaging to all Communist leaders, Joseph Stalin stood to lose the most since the only practical suggestion in the testament was to remove him from the position of the General Secretary of the Party's Central Committee.

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LENIN POLITICAL TESTAMENT.

STALIN

ZINOVIEV

KAMENEV

Lenin appointed Stalin General Secretary in 1922. This post enabled Stalin to appoint many of his allies to government positions.

Lenin's Testament, with its warning against Stalin and suggestion that he be removed from leadership, was read at the next Central Committee meeting. This was a critical moment: if his rivals had demanded compliance with the testament at this point, Stalin would not have survived their attacks--his support base was not yet large enough. However, Trotsky kept silent and Stalin's allies, Kamenev and Zinoviev, came to his defense; Stalin retained his post as General Secretary.

By October 1926 Kamenev and Zinoviev were expelled from the Politburo(government of the Communist Party). In 1927 Trotski was expelled from theParty and sent to exile in Central Asia. Stalin gets rid of his opponents byaccusing them of treason and killing them.

THE STALIN

ERA.

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