A combination of the nationality problem, the labour problem, the agrarian problem, and the educated class problem created the circumstances possible for a revolution. Russia was also plunging deeper and deeper into economic debt. Political dissatisfaction aimed at the Tsar, spread throughout Russia, and people began to demonstrate this through industrial strikes and the rise of opposing political parties. The beginning of the revolution took place on January 22 when a peaceful protest asking for the Tsars help, ignited into a massacre known as “Bloody Sunday”. This event furthered the people’s demands for change and by October 26th, the St Petersburg Soviet of Workers' Deputies was formed. The State Duma of the Russian Empire was also created but with limited powers. The October Manifesto was written and presented to the Tsar as a demand for civil rights, political freedom, for the Duma to be the central legislative body, and the extension of universal suffrage. Fundamental laws were formed limiting constitutional monarchy. The Tsars regime was threatened but was not overthrown. The revolutionaries were satisfied but not for long.
A peak moment at the beginning of the Revolution of 1905 that exposed the brutality of the Tsarist regime and how the demand for political change was increasing. A mass group of demonstrators gathered together to present a petition to the Tsar. The demonstrators were unarmed and marched to the city center in a peaceful manner. Soldiers from the Imperial Guard fired at the crowd, stopping them from reaching the Palace Square. It is estimated that over 1000 people were killed or severely injured.
A book full of major philosophical work written by Vladimir Lenin during his time spent in exile in Geneva, 1908. Lenin wrote the book as a counteraction to Alexander Bogdanov’s work Empiriomonism, which was written just four years prior. The book was published in Moscow, in May 1909. In the book, Lenin explains materialism and how it relates to capitalism and how the only solution to this psychological demand for material possessions was Communism. The book has been used as a subject of study in the Soviet Union at every institution of higher education in the Marxism-Leninism curriculum. Lenin’s theories and Marxism quickly spread throughout the political parties, and he gained plenty of support from political members. The book has been published in over twenty languages and it has achieved proclaimed status in Marxist-Leninism philosophy.
WW1 left Russia's economy extremely damaged. Workers were unsatisfied with wages, and the lack of food throughout Russia was becoming unbearable. Throughout February, people who were unsatisfied and against the political and economic state that Russia was in, gathered in large demonstrations to promote change. The movement gained more momentum, and by March 10, almost all industrial enterprises in Petrograd were shutdown, along with commercial and social enterprises. As riots grew, the Tsar used military force to subdue the protesters. Soldier could not handle the massive crowds and all government authority fell to pieces. The Tsar had no choice but to resign. Two forms of government emerged amidst the revolution: The Provisional Government and The Petrograd Soviets. The revolution was necessary and the change helped the nation move ahead. The social movement reshaped Russia’s political landscape, which led to the powerful rise of their economy.
Formed-March 15, 1917. Dissolved-July, 1917. The provisional government was formed and brought into a shared-power agreement with the Petrograd Soviets after the abdication of the Tsar and during the revolution of 1917. The period is commonly referred to as Russia’s period of Dual Government. It replaced the Council of Ministers of Russian Empire. The provisional government consisted of former leaders of the Duma. The government promoted freedom of political freedom, press censorship, unions, free speech, and was strongly against religious discrimination. Local self-governments were decided by equal, direct, universal, and secret vote. The provisional government represented the middle and upper class, and did very little for the poor. It believed that Russia should not desert their allies in the war, so they continued the country’s participation in the war even though desertions were increasing. The government did nothing to solve the land problem, and even though peasants were becoming more desperate for land, the government denied. The provisional government received a lot criticism, hatred, and lost much support from all classes, especially the lower class. They were unable to make any real beneficial change in Russia and did not address the more serious problems. The provisional government was overthrown during the October revolution by the Bolsheviks.
Lenin was the founder and leader of the Bolsheviks. Under the leadership of Lenin, the Bolsheviks overthrew the provisional government in the October revolution, Lenin came to power and transformed Russia into the world’s first communist’s government. His government was the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The party sought for “collective security” with western powers. Lenin’s ideas were developed from Marxism – "From each according to his or her ability, to each according to his or her need." Lenin believed in direct-democracy, the rise of the proletariat, and Marxism. When Lenin's government came to power it shut down all opposing press and political parties, and put Communist reforms into power. This ensured that his government had complete, wide-spread control. Lenin demanded that everyone must work and participate in the progress of the economy, and in return, he promised Peace, Land, and Bread. His government withdrew Russia from WW1, allowed peasants to take over land, and created a bureaucratic body known as the Labour Committee. He introduced the New Economic Policy, and declared the dictatorship of War Communism. He proved that the proletariat had power and that a government overthrow could be based on equality and social justice. These achievements inspired future revolutionaries. Lenin created a new form of ideology known as Marxist-Leninism. It became highly influential throughout the 20th century and has been used in different countries across the world.
After the Bolsheviks and Lenin rose to power in 1917, many groups formed such as the monarchists and militarists who opposed the government. These two sides were known as the reds (Bolsheviks) and the whites (anti-Bolshevik forces). The Bolsheviks had just come to power, and at that time their army consisted of mostly lower class and former Tsarist officers. The uprising of anti-Bolsheviks drove the Bolshevik government to quickly make peace with the central powers and the German empire. Anti-Bolsheviks sought support from the global powers, and they were willing to give help because they were interested in re-establish an Eastern Front. The White Armies were made up of Russian conscripts and soldiers from the British, US, French, and Japanese armies. The White forces fought for many different reasons. To restore the monarchy, for a liberal or capitalist government, some wanted an anti-Jewish republic, or a socialist republic. The Reds were outnumbered and the odds weighed against them, but the Whites major weakness was that they were un-unified and each group had different aims. This lack of unity cost them the revolution. Trotsky, the War Commissar for the Bolsheviks, was also a brilliant war tactician. Over 300,000 men died in combat during the civil war, and another 450,000 died from diseases. Factories, machines, bridges, railways, and raw materials across Russia were destroyed during the civil war deeply devastating its economy and industries. After the war, the Soviet government had no more military threats making it easier for growth. The damage done had permanent effects on the development of the Soviet Union, Russia’s society, the growth of its economy, and the relationship between the government and its people.
Russia’s economic, political, and social relations were straining. The rate of unemployment was drastically rising with approximately 50 percent of all enterprises closing down within industrial centers. Wages were cut-down 50 percent from 1913 and the national debt was high and rising still. Russia’s economic, political, and social relations were straining. The rate of unemployment was drastically rising with approximately 50 percent of all enterprises closing down within industrial centers. Wages were cut-down 50 percent from 1913 and the national debt was high and rising still. The nation was on the verge bankruptcy making state power vulnerable to overthrow. The Bolsheviks decided that an armed government overthrow was necessary, and the time to do that was now. They began by taking over government facilities than switched their aim over to the Winter Palace. These assaults were led by Vladimir Lenin. The Bolsheviks were successful in securing central powers in Petrograd and only two people were killed, and eighteen arrested. This revolution led way for the Soviet Union and for the rise of communism.
On January 14th, 1918, Lenin was leaving in his automobile after giving a speech in Petrograd when he was ambushed by assassins. Several shots were fired and others travelling with Lenin had been injured but not Lenin. A second attempt at assassination took place on August 30th 1918 while Lenin was waiting at his automobile after a speech. A Socialist Revolutionary Fanya Kaplan called to Lenin then after getting his attention she fired three shots. One struck Lenin in the jaw and neck, another hit his arm and the third one missed him and hit a woman with whom he was talking to. Lenin became unconscious and was quickly rushed to the hospital. His wounds were not life-threatening but the neck wound did spill blood into a lung. These assassination attempts led Lenin to commence the Red Terror to eliminate all counter-revolutionaries and threats.
Lenin implemented War Communism during the civil war to combat the effects that it was having on Russia’s economy. Under War Communism all industries and land were nationalized, the state controlled all foreign trade, commodities and food were rationed, private enterprise became legal, strikes were prohibited and people worked under strict discipline. All of these policies were introduce during the civil war, so participation from the public was very poor. The public’s animosity towards the Bolsheviks only grew. Even with the martial law against profiteering a black market took form in Russia. By 1921, the output levels of heavy industries fell by 20%, factory production greatly declined, bartering was becoming the new medium of exchange and workers’ paychecks consisted of goods rather than money. War Communism devastated almost every aspect of the economy and made it fall lower than in was in 1914. Foreign countries were unwilling to trade with the Bolshevik leaders making foreign trade come to a standstill. After the civil war Russia’s economy was in dire conditioned, and War Communism was quickly replaced by Lenin’s New Economic Policy. Some believe that War Communism was used as a stepping stone towards socialism, but others argue that the Bolsheviks used it to win the civil war. The policies did stop the White Army from advancing and allowed the Bolsheviks to reclaim former Russian Empire territory.
The economy was in a very dire condition after the Civil War and to make matters worse, a famine, drought, and frost caused millions of deaths and severe hardships. Lenin’s solution to the poor economy was his new economic policy. It was a major change from the former Czarist and War Communism economic policies. Another goal of Lenin’s was to bring capital to state, which this policy achieved. The plan allowed capitalism to exist under the control of communism, but once the economy was strong enough, only socialism would remain. It was designed to be a temporary measure to create a stable foundation for a socialist economy. Under Lenin’s New Economic Plan, foreign trade and the leasing of enterprises were permitted. The policies sanctioned the co-existence of private and public sectors. A major problem with the New Economic policy was that it wasn’t creating an urban working class and it failed to modernize Russia’s economy as fast as was desired and viewed necessary. However, the production of agriculture greatly increased, but this only created an imbalance in the economy. Four years after Lenin’s death, the New Economic Policy was abandoned and replaced by Stalin’s Five-Year Plan.
Lenin was an extreme workaholic and rarely rested which led to fatigue and severe headaches. In May 1922, Lenin suffered his first stroke that left his right side almost unmoveable and he couldn’t speak for weeks. He was able to recover enough to continue in politics, but after his second stroke in December 1922, his right side became partly paralyzed and he had to resign. On March 1923, Lenin suffered his third and final stroke that rendered him completely bed-ridden and mute until his death. Lenin died on January 21 1924, at age 53, in his home. His body has been preserved since his death and is held at Red Square open to the people.
They were a series of economic plans used by the Soviet Union to help boost its economy. The plans were based on the Theory of Productive Forces (A guideline of the Communist Party) and were designed to make the nation completely self-sufficient industrially, militarily and financially. The Soviet Union was far behind the more advanced countries and the plans were used to fill the gap between these distances in less time. The plans worked on every aspect of development such as transportation, communications, education, health, welfare, consumer goods, and capital goods. Certain goals were created for each plan and they were to be achieved at the end of the five years. If necessary, the government would go to extreme measures such as lying about productivity or causing brutal suffering to reach the deadlines. The main focus and goals of each plan varied but they mostly all centered on power, agriculture, and capital goods. The first five-year plan’s focused largely on the Soviet Union’s heavy industry and pushing the country into rapid industrialization. The third five-year plan lasted for only three years due to Operation Barbarossa, but while active, the plan worked on making resources into armaments. The fourth and fifth plans had to repair the nation after the devastating effects of the war. The later plans focused on the growth of production, economy, and furthering industrialization. The thirteenth plan was the last plan, but it ended after only one year due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The plans were successful economically, politically, but not so much socially. Many new jobs were created but there was a lot of workers abuse. Without the success the Soviet Union would have been much more vulnerable to Germany and may not have been able to successfully defend itself from Operation Barbarossa. Major cultural changes had to be made to allow the new communist society to rise and for the Soviet Union to eventually modernize. .............................. WE ARE FIFTY OR A HUNDRED YEARS BEHIND THE ADVANCED COUNTRIES. WE MUST MAKE GOOD THIS DISTANCE IN TEN YEARS. EITHER WE DO IT, OR THEY WILL CRUSH US. –JOSEPH STALIN
Stalin feared that the Bolshevik party still had enough power to possible overthrow his government. He wanted to remove any threat. In December 1934, Sergei Kirov one of the main political leaders of Leningrad and one of Stalin’s rivals was assassinated, supposedly under Stalin’s orders. Ordinary citizens and politician were executed or imprisoned and force to work at labour camps. Stalin was driven by his intense paranoia to obliterate any potential opponents and secure his role as absolute power. Leaders of the old Bolshevik party were put to trail under false accusations and sentenced to death or long-term imprisonment. The military was not free from the purges either, over 35,000 military officers were shot or imprisoned. However, the greatest impact that the purges had on the social body was on the ordinary Soviet citizens. Millions of ordinary people were imprisoned and forced to work at labour camps where many died. Churches were closed down and thousands of religious leader were imprisoned. Propaganda was used everywhere brainwashing the people into believing that Stalin was hero and a great leader. Everything was strictly censored to ensure that no light was every shined upon Stalin’s wrong-doings. By the time the purges subsided in 1938, it is estimated that between 3 and 12 million people had been executed, imprisoned, or exiled. It is considered one of the worst gendercides of the twentieth century.
An agreement that Russia and Germany made prior WW2 that promised complete non-aggression between the two countries. An economic agreement was also signed 4 days earlier on August 19, 1939 that promised the exchange of German manufactured goods for Soviets raw materials and produce. This was an opportunity for the USSR to gain land and strengthen its economy. Germany agreed to these pacts not just because of the economic benefits but this pact also guaranteed that Germany would not face a two front war. When Germany began to expand by invading Poland, the pact promised that there would be no aggressive involvement by the Soviet Union, and when Poland was conquered, the land was divided between the two countries. The Soviet Union gained new territory which provided more protection from invasions from the west. When the Western countries declared war on Germany, the Soviets did not immediately enter the war because of the pact. The non-aggression pact was meant to last for 10 years but it ended on June 22, 1941 when Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa (The largest military operation in human history). Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the USSR by the Axis Powers. The invasion was a failure and it proved to be the pivotal moment that drastically hindered Germany.
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