The Rise and Impact of
Authoritarianism
Emphasis on “authority of the state”
• Non-elected leaders
• Unregulated exercise of political power
• Limited civil liberties
• Lack of opposition
Communism
Nazism
Fascism
Ideology emphasising classlessness
Inspired by Marx and Engels’ The Communist Manifesto
• One party only – the Communist party
• Collective and planned economy
• No private ownership
• Everyone is equal in wealth and rank
in Russia
• On hindsight, Communism is seen as an
authoritarian system
• Russian leaders were not democratically
elected, especially in Joseph Stalin’s time
• Opposition was forcefully silenced
Tsar Nicholas II – 1868-1918
What can you infer
from this cartoon
about Russian society?
• Many levels of
hierarchy
• The poor (the
‘proletariat’) had to
support many people
•Middle-class do not
have much say
• Autocratic,
insufficient political
representation
MATI
Makan no
enough
Army no
good
• Not enough • Lousy
to eat,
leaders,
insufficient
training,
shelter, food
weapons
and
and morale
necessities
– led to lost
not well
men,
distributed
resources
and pride
Trouble at
work
Inflation at
home
• Workers
diverted to
the army factories
empty,
production
declines
• Basic
necessities
rise in
price,
Russians
cannot
afford
goods
Political discontent
• Alienated middleclass who wanted to
participate in
government
• Socialist
revolutionaries not
pleased with
autocratic system;
wanted to create a
socialist state
Social discontent
• Long hours, low pay,
terrible working and
living conditions
• Periodic famines,
insufficient to eat
• High cost of living
Inefficient and corrupt
Tsarist regime
• Weak, indecisive Tsar
obsessed with personal
affairs (his son’s medical
condition)
• Did not grant any political
concessions to the people
• Unable to meet people’s
needs
• Persisted with an
unpopular war
Poor economic conditions
• Poor harvests
• Economic adviser
implemented high taxes,
low wages
Outbreak of War
• 1915: Tsar personally took over the
war
• Worsened socioeconomic effects
• Insufficient people to fill factories
• Caused loss of Russian pride
• Caused shortages of fuel and food
 Took
over in March 1917
 Known as the ‘February Revolution’
 Forced the Tsar to abdicate
Did not carry out
land or economic
reforms
Put in most of
Russia’s resources
into the unpopular
war
Disunited and
weak – could
not reach out to
the masses
• Postponed
decisionmaking: did not
implement
reforms
• Peasants still as
poor as before
Did not carry
out land or
economic
reforms
Put in most of
Russia’s
resources into
the war
• Pledged to
continue the war
until victory was
won
• Did not call for
reparations
anymore
• Continued
socioeconomic
strife
• Initial head Lvov a
puppet leader
• Kerensky
government did
nothing to save the
economy
• Government was not
backed by the army
• Democratic ideals
not understood by
the people
• Had to struggle with
the increasingly
popular soviets
Disunited and
weak
The Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, established the new
Communist government in November 1917.
NAME: ______________________ [
]
CLASS: ________
Promised to help Russia regain
military status and end the war
Promised to
meet the
domestic needs
of the people
Promised to
reorganise and
revitalise the
economy
“Peace, Land, Bread”
“All power to the soviets”
 Bolsheviks
managed
to capitalise upon
the unrest in the
capital
 Overwhelmed
Kornikov (army
general) completely
 Seized power at a
critical moment
Social
factors
Political
factors
Failure of
previous
government
to carry out
their functions
Military
factors
Economic
factors
 Think
about short term and long term
factors
• What set the conditions for Communism?
• What events made everything come to light?
• Who/what made the revolutions happen?