The Russian Revolution and the
birth of the Soviet Union
Totalitarian Government in the
Soviet Union
Totalitarian government is the exact opposite
of liberal democracy…
•
•
•
•
Suppress individual liberties
Abolish all competing political parties
Eliminate or regulate private property
Use the bureaucracy and technology to
impose its ideology and enforce its
commands
-the ultimate goal of a totalitarian state is…
• Total control of the individual- what is
believed, what values are held…
• There are no private moral judgements,
no individual thought, no individual
conscience…
• People have no natural rights…, they are
building blocks for a new social order...
• Czar Nicholas II “Autocracy, Orthodoxy
and Nationalism”
• Unlike his predecessors,
he was weak,
incompetent and
suspected of being under
the influence of his
German-born wife
Alexandra, and a halfcrazed monk named
Grigori Rasputin.
• There were two revolutions in 1917:
• The February (March-western calendar)
• The October (November…)
The November 6th Revolution…
• The second revolution was instigated
and inspired by a radical socialist party
then known as the Bolsheviks. Its leader
was Vladimir Lenin.
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov
• 1870-1924
• Third of five children
to a respectable
middle class family
Alexander Ulyanov – idolized by his younger brother
• Implicated in an
attempted conspiracy to
kill Czar Alexander III,
he was executed.
• Vladimir was
arrested and
exiled to Siberia
in 1887 for
participating in
anti-government
demonstrations
• In 1890, Lenin was
given permission to
enter the law school
at St. Petersburg.
• By 1897, exiled
again for his antigovernment
speeches and
pamphlets
• In 1900 exiled to
Switzerland
Vladimir Ulyanov became a folk legend…
• All Soviet books
called Lenin a genius
and the greatest
thinker who ever
lived.
World War One: The Battle of Tannenberg, 1914
• In 1915, Czar
Nicholas decided
to go and direct
the war from the
front lines
• Czarina allowed
a crazed monk
named Rasputin
to run the
homefront
Demonstrators gathering in front of the Winter Palace in Petrograd, just
prior to the Russian Revolution, January 1917.
Economic Causes
•
•
•
•
Illiterate and oppressed peasant majority
Striking workers shut down industries
Inefficient transportation system
Food and fuel shortages
Social Causes
• Extreme differences in classes
• Peasants’ desire for land
• Deprivations resulting from the war
Political Causes
• Autocracy - weak and ineffectual ruler
• Spread of Marxist ideas
• Charismatic leaders such as Lenin and
Trotsky
• Enormous losses in The Great War
Abdication: March, 1917
Nicholas Romanov became a private citizen
• The provisional government
the “Kerensky Government”
[because its primary figure was
Alexander Kerensky] made a fatal
mistake – it remained in the war.
• Lenin (living in
Switzerland) was
secretly aided by
the German govt
to return to Russia
Upon returning to Russia, Lenin promised “Peace, Bread
and Land” …and “All Power to the Soviets.”
Lenin.
October.
Power to Soviets.
Land to Peasants.
Factories to Workers.
Peace to all Nations.
Leon Trotsky- architect of the October (November) Revolution
• Seized the
headquarters of the
Provisional
Government; as well
as key govt buildings,
railway stations,
telephone exchanges,
electric generating
plants
• Next morning, all
soviets approved the
takeovers.
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, March 1918
• Lenin gave up 1/3 of the population, 3/4 of
Russia’s iron resources and 9/10 of its coal
supply plus a huge indemnity to Germany
• The Bolsheviks accepted Germany’s harsh
conditions in order to focus on securing
power…the real revolution was yet to come.
• News of the treaty contributed to a civil war – the
Reds vs the Whites - which lasted until 1921.
• Czar Nicholas
II and his
family were
first exiled to
Siberia but
later, in July of
1918 were
killed
“The Bolsheviks didn’t cause a revolution, they captured it.”
Lenin suffered a stroke and paralysis in 1922;
his health slowly deteriorated until his death in 1924
Iosef Vissarionovich
Dzhugashavili
1879-1953
• “Stalin” transformed
the Russian Empire”
into the Soviet
Union; from a poor,
undeveloped
agricultural country
into one of the
world’s industrial
and military giants.
• Stalin’s early
years…
1888-1894
attended local
church school
• Tiflis Theological Seminary
Stalin arrest records…
As a revolutionary, Stalin .…
• helped organize workers’ strikes…
• set up a secret press to spread Marxist
ideas…distributed illegal pamphlets…
• participated in train and bank robberies…
• by 1912, was a member of the inner circle
of the Bolshevik party.
• Lenin
and
Stalin
in
Finland
Stalin’s “second death” strategy
• 1927 expelled from
the Communist party
• 1928 exiled to Siberia
• 1929 deported to
Turkey/Mexico
• 1940 murdered
Planned Economy or Command Economy
Stalin’s Industrial policies
• Initiated five year plans
to promote the
production of heavy
machinery
• Focused on building
steel mills, cement
plants and oil
refineries.
• Limited production of
consumer goods like
clothing and
cosmetics.
Stalin’s Agricultural policies
• Eliminated wealthy,
land-owning kulaks
• Initiated
Collectivizationlarge government
farms called
“collectives”
replaced private
plots.
Stalin’s Political policiesDictatorship of the Communist Party
• Created a secret police with unlimited power to
crush dissenters critical of Soviet life
• Strictly controlled the minority nationalities
• Used “show trials” to eliminate and intimidate all
potential rivals
• Used art & literature to glorify himself and the
Communist State
Stalin’s Social/Cultural policies…
“The Cult of personality”
• Mandated & expanded education at all levels
• Promoted educational opportunities for women
• Censored all forms of creative thinking and
expression
• Replaced religious teachings with Communist
ideals
• THE END…….
any questions
my comrades?
Any Questions?
The End