Winsheimer 10H
The Russian Revolution
Karl Marx
 German political philosopher named Karl Marx published the Communist Manifesto
 Believed the wealthy were greedy and ignored the poor
 Wanted to eliminate poverty by distributing all goods and services equally
 Predicted a revolution of the proletariat against capitalists that exploit them
Marxism
 Marxism was the theory coming from the Communist Manifesto
 Communism was the practice of these ideas
 A society with no classes
 Workers ruled over themselves
 Absolute fairness and no abuse
 Everyone is equal
 Karl Marx dies and the revolution begins!
Russia 1900-1922
 Was ruled by Czars
 Claimed to be sent by God
 Mostly made up of poor, illiterate farmers with little food or land
 Hungry workers were led in massive protests by Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky in a
revolution
 Lenin was able to take over the government and civil war breaks out!
 They overthrow Czar Nicholas II in the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917
The Civil War
 Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin organize the Red Army to defeat anti-communists and proczars
 Civil War ends in 1921
 Joseph Stalin starts to rise in power and popularity
 1922-Lenin dies, both Trotsky and Stalin want to be the new leader
Trotsky
 Wants to spread ideals
 Outside of Russia
Stalin
Winsheimer 10H
 Industrialization
 Gets exiled by Stalin
USSR under Stalin
 Stalin was a complete dictator
 Turned the country totalitarian
 Two classes instead of three: Super rich, super poor
 Everything controlled by the state
 Pretended to listen to the people, but only followed their own interests
 Control through the KGB: Russian secret service
Stalin’s Reign
 Propaganda used to make people think Stalin was right
 5 Year Plan: raise production by unrealistic lengths to keep up with capitalists
 Put more pressure on the lower class
 People thrown in Gulags (prisons that deprived basic needs) for any dissenters or straight
out murdered
 Was adored and worshipped by many due to his absolute control over the people
Reign of Terror
 1934- Stalin began political “purges,”
 officials and intellectuals suspected of opposing him were arrested, forced to
confess to crimes they hadn’t committed, and executed.
 2-7 million people were killed with many more imprisoned
 Signed a treaty with Hitler in 1939, but was unprepared when they were attacked by
Germany in 1941.
 20 million Russians were killed in WWII
 After WWII, USA and Soviet Union were superpowers leading to the Cold War
Terms to Know
 Allegory- a story that can be read on multiple levels, typically for a moral lesson
 Satire-a literary technique in which ideas, customs, behaviors or institutions are ridiculed
for the purpose of improving society
 Fable-a brief tale, told to illustrate a moral or teach a lesson, typically with animals being
the characters