Download Soviet Union

Chapter 14
The World Before WWII:
Nationalism &
Revolution!
1900-1939
What is a Revolution?
• Think back: French Revolution
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Rise up against ______________
revolt
People want _______________
Extreme measures…. ______________
Background: Russia
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Absolute power of rulers
Remember : Russification?
One “uniform Russian culture”
Everyone has to speak Russian
Orthodox Church= very strict religious beliefs
Government censored speech to stop any type
of revolt against authority
The Russian Revolution
• Russia was an Allied Power in WWI
• Russia did not have enough factories or railroads for
the war effort
• Many soldiers died and civilians suffered from lack of
food and fuel
• March 1917 Russian people revolted demanding
“bread and peace”.
• The Czar gave up his throne after 300 years of
Romanov rule
Early 20c:
Russian
Social
Hierarchy
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I. Revolutions in Russia
1. Cruel & oppressive rule of most Czars caused
widespread social unrest
2. Army officers revolted in 1825
3. Secret revolutionary groups plotted to
overthrow the government
4. Czar Alexander III wanted to strengthen
"autocracy, orthodoxy, & nationality" in
Russia.
a) Pogroms —organized violence against Jews
1) citizens loot & destroy Jewish homes, stores, &
synagogues
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The Romanovs
• From 1613 to 1917
– Romanov Dynasty in Russia
• Czar Nicholas II ruled Russia during World War I
– He failed to solve Russia’s political, social and
economic problems after the Revolution of 1905
• Two revolutions would topple the Romanov
Dynasty
2. Nicholas II resisted all efforts for
reform.
a) the last Romanov Czar of Russia.
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C. Russia Industrializes
1. The Revolutionary Movement Grows
a) “Proletariat” working class
1) growing population class of factory & railroad
workers, miners, urban wage earners
2) The growth of factories brought new problems
3) grueling working conditions, miserably low wages,
and child labor
4) The government outlawed trade unions
5) Lower class= workers= unhappy!
6) Wanted a dictatorship ruled by the working class!
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Why did the Russians want Revolution?
• Peasant population was in stark poverty
• Czars reforms did little to ease the nation’s crisis
• Effects of Russo-Japanese War and World War I
– 2 million casualties in 1915 alone
• Nicholas’s Reaction
– Nicholas took charge of military
– Left his wife Alexandra in charge of domestic
affairs
• Both decisions were a disaster
Defeat in Wars
Makes Russia WEAK
-susceptible to revolution!
Russo-Japanese War [1904-1905]
The “Yellow Peril”
•Russians wanted warm
water port for trade
•Dispute over areas
around Japan, Korea,
Yellow Sea
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Russia Is Humiliated
•Japan succeeds in
controlling Korea
•Russia loses
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WWI Russia Cant Get Supplies
Losing on the Eastern Front!
Nicholas moved his headquarters to the
war front
-hoped to rally his discouraged troops to
victory
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c) His wife, Czarina Alexandra, ran the
government while he was away.
1) She ignored the czar’s chief advisers.
2) Fell under the influence of Rasputin
(a) Self-described “holy man”
(b) Claimed he had magical healing powers
(c) Alexandra let him make political
decisions because she trusted him
(d) A group of Russian nobles murdered him
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Out of Defeat Comes Chaos!
• Radical revolutionary leaders are
going to take charge
• Uprisings are going to increase
Who is Vladimir Lenin?
–Student of Karl Marx
•Exiled to Siberia for plotting against the government in
1895
–Able to return in March 1917
•He felt only revolution could bring about changes
• Promised to get the Russians out of the war and give the
government to the Soviet Union (communism)
• an engaging personality and was an excellent organizer
• Ruthless
• In the early 1900s, Lenin fled to western Europe to avoid
arrest by the czarist regime.
• Leader of the Bolsheviks after the Russo-Japanese War
1903 Revolutionaries Split!
Mensheviks – wanted popular support for the
Revolution
Bolsheviks - radical Russian Marxist
revolutionaries
Remember Karl Marx… he supported
__________________
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The Bolsheviks Begin to Seize
Power
• 10 Bolshevik uprisings took place
between 1905 &1917
a) After many uprisings the Bolshevik /
Red Guards (armed factory workers)
took over government offices
b) arrested the leaders of the provisional
government.
Revolution of 1905
•Bloody Sunday (1/22)
•200,000 workers revolt
•Went to Czar’s Winter Palace in St.
Petersberg
•Wanted more right, freedoms, better
conditions
–Police/Soldiers fire into crowd!
–Demonstration that resulted in
over 1,000 people killed
–Provoked massive
demonstrations
–People called for more
democratic reforms
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Bloody Sunday continues
–Czar created the Duma [Russia’s First
Parliament] - a constitutional monarchy that
would offer workers more freedom and take
away some of the czar’s power
•Dissolved it after ten weeks
The March Revolution
•March 1917 – food, fuel and
battlefield disasters
–People in the street chanted
“Bread, Bread”
•Czar steps down
–Replaced by a temporary
government
–Local governments set up
Soviets - Councils of workers
and soldiers ran by socialists
•Bolsheviks were radical socialists
(aka communists)
–Leader was Lenin
The November Revolution
• Lenin and Leon Trotsky promised “Peace, land and
Bread” for the people
• November 1917 – Bolsheviks overthrew the Russian
government
– Ended private ownership
– Distributed land to peasants
– Workers were given control of factories and mines
• Eventually came to be called Communism
The Creation of the Soviet Union
• The Soviet Union was a “multinational” state ruled
by Russia the most powerful state
– Numerous nations now under the control of Russia
• In Theory (Marx) – The Soviet Union was suppose to
give political power and the means of production
would belong to the workers and peasants
• In Reality – It gave political power and the means of
production belonged to The Communist Party
– Used the army and secret police to achieve and keep
power
a) Nationalism was a threat to unity &
party loyalty
1) Lenin organized Russia into several
self-governing republics under the
central government.
2) In 1922, the country was named the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
(USSR)
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The Soviet Union
• Also known as the USSR
• USSR – Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
• The flag symbolized the union between the
workers (hammer) & the peasants (sickle)
(1) Factory control returned to the workers
(2) Farmland was distributed among the peasants
Russian Civil War (1918-1921)
•“Red” communists vs. “White” czar loyalists
–Communists organized the Cheka or secret police
–Executed Nicholas II his wife and 5 children
–“War communism” policy – took over banks, mines, factories and
railroads (government control)
•1921 communists defeat the czar loyalists
–14 million Russians died as a result of the war
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The New Soviet Union
From Lenin to Stalin
• Lenin died suddenly in 1924
• Power struggle within the Communist Party
– Leon Trotsky vs. Joseph Stalin
– Both Communist officials under Lenin
– Stalin ultimately gains control of the Party
• Has Trotsky assassinated
H. Stalin Becomes Dictator
1. Stalin – “Man of Steel”
a) After Lenin’s death, Stalin
transforms the Soviet Union into a
totalitarian state. [total centralized
control of entire state!]
b) Revolutionizes the economy & uses
terror, propaganda, & censorship to
maintain power.
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c) Stalin worked to establish total control
of all aspects of life
d) “Command Economy”= government
makes all ECONOMIC decisions
1) the government
2) the economy
3) many aspects of citizens’ private lives.
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Stalin’s Five Year Plans
• Aimed to make USSR an industrial power
• Command Economy
– Government officials made all basic economic
decisions – owned all businesses
• Government pushed workers and managers to
meet goals
– Received bonuses and punishments
• Economy improved but standard of living for
peasants remained poor
2. Police Terror
a) the police serve to enforce the central
government’s policies.
b) may do this by spying on the citizens
or by intimidating them.
c) Sometimes they used brutal force &
even murder
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3. Indoctrination
a) Instruction in the government’s
beliefs—to mold people’s minds.
b) Control of education is essential
1) To glorify the leader & policies
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4. Propaganda & Censorship
a) Biased or incomplete information
used to sway people to accept certain
beliefs or actions
b) Control of all mass media
c) Individuals who dissent must retract
their work or they are imprisoned or
killed
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Soviet Propaganda – Stalin
“We will achieve prosperity”
“Our Great Stalin is the banner of
friendship of the peoples of USSR”
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Soviet Propaganda – Stalin
“We will defeat the drought, too!”
“Let the indestructible
friendship and cooperation of
Chinese and Soviet live and prosper!”
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Soviet Propaganda – Anti-US and Capitalism
In capitalist countries: / the way of talent...
In our socialist country: / give way to talent!
"European community": The worth of this
community is clear for everyone: smile on their
lips, balm in their speeches, lies in their
thoughts, a knife behind their back!
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Soviet Propaganda – Anti-US and Capitalism
The dreams of our people have become true!
Two Worlds, Two Plans: We Sow Life
on the sack: "seed acorns“
on the map: "plan of forest shelterbelts"
They Sow Death
on the map: "map of military bases“
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Soviet Propaganda – Anti-United States
"American Freedom".
Upper Right – "personal freedom" / Lower Right – "freedom of gatherings & meetings"
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Lower Left – "freedom of opinions" / Upper Left – "freedom of press"
Soviet Propaganda – Unity
“Be vigilant on your working post!”
“Forever together (Russians & Ukrainians)”
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Soviet Propaganda – Unity
“With every day, our life is getting happier”
1917-1955:
“From the first decrees of the Great October
to the bloom of the socialist agriculture”
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5. Religious or Ethnic Persecution
a) enemies are members of religious or
ethnic groups
b) subjected to campaigns of terror and
violence
c) forced to live in certain areas or are
subjected to rules that apply only to
them.
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C. Totalitarianism
1. Stalin Builds a Totalitarian State
a) Police State
1) secret police used tanks & armored
cars to stop riots.
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2) monitored telephone lines, read mail,
& planted informers everywhere
3) children told authorities about
disloyal remarks they heard at home
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The Great Purge
(a) a campaign of terror directed at eliminating anyone who
threatened Stalin’s power
Stalin harbored obsessive fears that rival party leaders were plotting
against him. In 1934, he launched the Great Purge.
• At least four million people were purged during the Stalin years.
• The purges increased Stalin’s power.
• The victims of the purges included most of the nation’s military
leadership. This loss of military leadership would weigh heavily
on Stalin in 1941, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union.
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Revolution in Agriculture
•Agriculture under
government control
–Forced peasants to give
up their private plots and
live on collectives –
•Large farms owned
and operated by
peasants as a group
•Peasants resisted
collectivism – killed animals,
destroyed tools and burned
crops
Threats to Collectivization
• Ukrainian land-owning farmers did not want to give
up land to the government
– Known as “kulaks”
• Thousands were arrested and forced to labor camps
– Often to the concentration camps in Siberia
– Subject to firing squad executions
• 1931- Stalin imposed an unrealistic grain quota
– Allowed him to penalize the kulaks for their failure to
meet the quota
– Began artificially imposed Famine in Ukraine
• 1932- Stalin ordered Ukraine’s borders to be sealed
to outside world
– He exported grain and agricultural products to be
out of Ukraine
– Used to feed the rest of the Soviet Union and for
foreign export
– This left little food in Ukraine to feed the people
• Results
– Estimated deaths: 3-6 million people
– Current population: 40 million people
– Known as Holodomor (crime against humanity)
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Holodomor Images (Ukraine)
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