THE RISE OF TOTALITARIAN
STATES
THE BOLSHEVIK REVOLUTION AND
THE CREATION OF THE SOVIET
UNION
THE SOVIET UNION
Karl Marx, a German philosopher, wrote The Communist Manifesto
along with Friedrich Engels. The work was published in 1848.
THE SOVIET UNION
THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO INCLUDED:
Philosophy of Cost
Elimination of Profit
Class Struggle
Class Warfare
Creation of a Classless Society
True Equality
Government Ownership of the Means of Production
THE SOVIET UNION
• Russia was a monarchy under the leadership
of Czar Nicholas II of the Romanov Dynasty.
He ruled with an iron fist and was out of touch
with the majority of the Russian people.
• Nicholas led his nation into WW I. Russia
suffered greatly at the front and at home.
Conditions worsened but Nicholas did not
seem to care.
THE SOVIET UNION
A follower of Marx, Lenin believed in the violent overthrow of the Czar in
Russia. Lenin believed that the Czar had lost touch with his people and
that the system of government was corrupt. Lenin became the leader of
the Bolshevik Party and plotted the overthrow of the Czar.
THE SOVIET UNION
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
• March 1917- popular revolution led to the
abdication of Czar Nicholas II.
• Russia becomes a democracy under the
Provisional Government.
• The Bolshevik Party along with other political
parties begin planning how they would take
over the government of Russia.
THE SOVIET UNION
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
- November 1917- the Bolshevik Party, led by
Lenin, staged a coup d’etat and overthrew the
Provisional Government of Russia.
- Russia dropped out of WW I.
- A 4 year civil war took place from 1917 to
1921(Reds vs Whites). The Bolsheviks(Reds)
won and the Soviet Union was born.
THE SOVIET UNION
• Vladimir Lenin-first leader of the Soviet Union.
• Official name: the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (U.S.S.R.).
• 1921-began New Economic Policy, injecting
small amounts of capitalism into the
communist system in light of system
weaknesses.
THE SOVIET UNION
Josef Stalin succeeded Lenin after a power struggle for control with Leon
Trotsky. Stalin gained control of the Soviet government in 1928. He was both
power hungry and paranoid. These characteristics influence many of his
decisions.
THE SOVIET UNION
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GOAL: to industrialize the Soviet Union.
5 Year Plans
Collective Farms
Command Economy
Secret Police (NKVD)
Purges
Created a fear/worship relationship with his
people.
THE SOVIET UNION
• Executed a majority of his military officers in
1936 purge.
• Made the Soviet Union an industrial nation by
1938.
• Signed Non-Aggression Pact with the Nazis.
• Soviets were almost conquered by the Nazis.
• Soviets defeated the Nazis in 1945.
• Stalin led the Soviets into the Cold War.