The Russian Revolution pt II
Lecture
From Lenin to Stalin
Lecture Notes
The Russian Civil War
• After Lenin seized control of Russia in October
1918, the country fell into a 3 year Civil War
– White Army –loyalists to the Czar
– Red Army –Communists workers and soldiers
• In the onslaught of the Red Army, Kerensky helped
Nicholas II and his family to escape the Red Terror
• The Red Army soon found them in a basement and
executed Nicholas and his entire family
The Russian Civil
• The war claimed 15 million Russian lives during
the fighting
• Most of the Russian economy had been
completely destroyed ie factories, bridges,
roads, and farms
• In the end, the Lenin and the Bolsheviks had
beaten back the Whites and formally declared
Russia a Communist State
Russia after the Revolution
• A new Constitution for a "democratic"
socialist country with an Elected
Legislature and all citizens had the right
to vote
• United all Russian Republics under one
Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic
• In reality the Communist party remained
supreme, used secret police and held
most of the power
Lenin's Policies
• Lenin needed to rebuild the economy and
industry after the Civil War
• Created New Economic Plan (NEP)
• Small business could remain in private
ownership for profit; some capitalism
• The state controlled banks, trade and large
industries
• The Russian Economy slowly gained strength
again
The Death of Lenin
• The years of revolution and civil war had
severe effects on Lenin’s health
• After 2 strokes and an assassination
attempt, Lenin resigned from active
politics in 1922.
• In March 1923, he suffered a 3rd stroke
and was no longer able to speak
• He died in January 1924 at the age of 53
Stalin's Rise to Power
• Lenin preferred Leon Trotsky as a successor
• Lenin believed Stalin was too powerful and not
tolerant enough
• Trotsky was a scholar and leader of the
Communist Revolution
• Stalin was a politician in the Communist
party that had amassed great power through
organizing his loyal group of followers.
Stalin's Rise to Power
• Stalin was from the peasant class so he had a
lot of support from the Russian people.
• Stalin pressured Trotsky out of the Communist
Party
• Trotsky left the USSR in 1929 and fled to
Mexico
• He was murdered by a secret agent of
Stalin's
Stalin’s Plan
• Soviet citizens would work not for the individual for the
overall good of the working class
• He called the economic plan the FIVE-YEAR PLAN.
– The government decided the quantity, and price of all products such as
tanks, airplanes and tractors.
• All private industry is state owned.
• He called for construction of massive industrial centers to
support military buildup and a strong economy.
• Peasants had to give up their small plots of land for stateowned farms- Collectivation
Totalitarianism in Russia
• Stalin had brought the Soviet Union into a
complete totalitarian state
• Russians lost their freedoms, could not earn a
better life, and lived in fear of the government
• Stalinist Russia set the stage for other
Totalitarians to rise up and establish complete
control over their countries and their people