THE
MAKING
OF
MODERN
RUSSIA
1856-1964
1
THE MAKING OF MODERN RUSSIA
1856-1964
1.
Introduction
• Basic geography of Russia and her neighbours.
• Outline of Russia culture and history – key turning points.
2.
• The motives for the reforms of Alexander II, including the emancipation of
How
the serfs
successful
• The impact of Alexander II’s reforms on Russian society
were
• The extent to which Alexander became a reactionary before 1881
Alexander II’s • The significance of opposition to the Tsarist regime
reforms,
1855–1881?
3.
• The impact of industrialisation in Russia: the work of Vyshnedgradsky and
How much
Witte
political,
• The problems of the rural economy
social and
• The growth of internal opposition from liberals and revolutionaries,
economic
including the Social Democrats
change took
• The personal rule of Nicholas II and its impact on Russia’s stability
place, 1881–
1904?
4.
• War with Japan and the causes of the 1905 Revolution
Why was
• The 1905 Revolutions: the part played by liberals, revolutionaries and
there a
nationalists
Revolution in • The response of the Tsarist regime: Pobedonostsev, Witte and the
1905?
October Manifesto and the promise of reforms
• Fundamental Law, the Dumas; repression and reform under Stolypin
• The response of the Tsarist regime: repression and the recovery of Tsarist
authority
• The political, economic and social situation of Russia on the eve of war.
5.
• Character, attitude and abilities of Nicholas II;
How far did
• The work of the Dumas
Nicholas II
• The agrarian reforms under Prince Stolypin
reform
• Economic development in Russia to 1914
Russia, 1906– • The condition of Russia in 1914
1914?
6.
• The impact of the First World War: defeats, losses, economic dislocation,
Why were
food shortages, transport problems, inflation
there two
• The collapse of Tsardom - Tsar’s leadership; Rasputin; criticism in the
Revolutions
duma
in 1917?
• The February/March 1917 Revolution
• Provisional Government and Petrograd Soviet; return of exiles and April
Theses; July Days; Kornilov revolt
• The October/ November 1917 Revolution; roles of Lenin and Trotsky.
7.
• Constituent Assembly.
How well did • Civil War: White forces, foreign intervention, Red army, ‘war communism’
Lenin tackle
• Murder of Tsar; Red Terror; Kronstadt Rising
the problems • NEP; constitution and government
he faced,
• Strengths and weaknesses of Lenin as leader.
1917 and
1924?
2
8.
How did
Stalin rise to
power?
9.
How
successful
were Stalin’s
economic
plans?
10
What was
the impact of
Stalin’s
Terror on the
Russian
people?
11.
How far did
the Great
Patriotic War
unite Russia,
1941–1953?
12.
How
successfully
did
Khrushchev
reform the
Soviet Union,
1953–1964?
• Character and abilities of Stalin
• Stalin’s rise to power between the Death of Lenin and the beginning of the
Second Revolution of 1928–1929
• Stalin’s defeat of the Left and Right opposition and establishment of
personal rule between 1924 and 1929 - rivalries in communist party;
Trotsky, Bukharin, Kamenev, Zinoviev
• Stalin’s tactics; ‘socialism in one country’ v. ‘permanent revolution’
• The state of the NEP economy in 1928
• Stalin’s motives in launching rapid economic change
• Agricultural Revolution, 1928–1941 - Collectivisation and the war against
the peasantry between 1928 and the early 1930s - kulaks, voluntary and
forced collectivisation
• Industrialisation, 1928–1941 – Gosplan, Mechanisation, industrialisation
and the first two Five Year Plans;
• The successes and failures of the first three Five Year Plans, 1928–1941 economic, social and political effects of collectivisation and Five Year Plans.
• The impact of industrialisation on the Soviet economy and society to 1941
• The impact of collectivisation on the Soviet economy and society to 1941
• The Terror State, 1934–1941 - propaganda and Cult of Personality, growth
of police state (OGPU, NKVD, purges and gulags).
• The Kirov murder, 1934, and its effects
• The motives for the purges and the Great Terror
• The role of Stalin and other key individuals in the Terror
• The impact of the Terror on the Party, the armed services and the Soviet
population as a whole
• The role and impact of Stalinist propaganda
• The impact of Stalinism on ideology, culture and society
• The strengths and weaknesses of the USSR on the eve of war in 1941
• What was ‘Stalinism’ and its overall impact on the USSR in this period?
• The impact on the USSR of German invasion and Nazi ideology from 1941;
Stalin’s role in the management
of the war effort; the nature of the wartime Soviet economy; the actions of
the Communist regime to enlist mass patriotism for the war effort, including
propaganda and religious concessions
• The extent of wartime opposition within the USSR and the Stalinist
regime’s treatment of opposition; the
relationship between the Soviet people and Stalin’s regime by the time
victory was achieved in 1945
• High Stalinism: Stalin’s dictatorship, 1945–1953; the cult of personality;
economic recovery after 1945; the
impact of Cold War politics on the USSR
• The emergence of new leaders after the death of Stalin, and Khrushchev’s
victory in the power struggle
• The 1956 Party Congress and reaction to Khrushchev’s ‘secret speech’
• Khrushchev’s leadership; Khrushchev’s motives for industrial and agrarian
reforms and their impact; the reasons for the ousting of Khrushchev in 1964
• The impact of Destalinisation within the USSR and on Soviet relations with
the satellite states
3
Unit 4: Historical Enquiry
In this unit you will carry out a historical enquiry. This enquiry will be based on a
period of at least 100 years. While your teacher will teach a broad overview of the
chosen period, you will be able to select an aspect within this period which
particularly interests you, upon which to base your enquiry.
For example you could choose to base your enquiry on the significance of a
particular individual or event. You will need to examine significance of the chosen
factor, both in the short-term (about 20 years) and across the whole period studied.
Focus of the course:
 Similarities and differences between the rule of the Tsars and Communist
rule.
 The impact on the peasantry of the main economic changes throughout the
period.
You will learn about:
• The nature of Tsarist rule in Russia, 1856-1917.
• The structure of the Soviet system.
• The attempt to reform Stalin’s Russia to 1964.
• A comparison between dictators, Communist leaders and Tsars.
What will you have to hand in?
Two pieces of coursework, each about 2000 words.
Part A – an extended essay (2000 words) on the short-term significance of a key
event or individual within the period of study.
‘Short-term’ means from 12 months up to 20 years.
You will use contemporary sources to help your answer.
Part B – an extended essay (2000 words) which focuses on EITHER the significance of
a specific factor or the role of an individual in bringing about change across the
whole 100 year+ period OR whether or not a particular event was the key turning
point in the period.
4
Your coursework!
Part A
Choose from ...
Assess the short-term significance of Tsar Alexander II
for Russia’s government and people, 1861-81?
or
Assess the short-term significance of Vladimir Lenin for
Russia’s government and people, 1917-24?
or
Assess the short-term significance of Joseph Stalin for
Russia’s government and people, 1928-41?
Part B
To what extent you do consider that the revolutions of
1917 were the key turning point in the development of
a modern Russian state, 1856-1964?
5
Assess the short-term significance of Tsar Alexander II for the Russian government and
people, 1861-81?
An English traveller, Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace writing in 1905
The Crimean war had shown Russia’s problems; poor communication; undeveloped
resources, hopeless or dishonest officials and an education system that could not produce
even a good army.
There was so much to be done it was hard to decide what to do first. Administrative, judicial,
social, economic, and political reforms seemed all equally pressing. Gradually, however, it
became evident that precedence must be given to the question of serfdom. So long as serfs
existed, it was a mockery to talk about reorganising Russia. How could a system of evenhanded justice be introduced when millions of the peasantry were subject to the arbitrary
will of the landowners?
Tsar Alexander II (March 1856), talking to nobles in Moscow
But of course, you understand that the existing order of serfdom cannot remain unchanged.
It is better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait for the time when it will begin to
abolish itself from below.
Alexander II’s Declaration of Emancipating the Serfs (1861)
We, Alexander II, by the grace of God Tsar and Autocrat of all the Russias, King of Poland,
Grand Duke of Finland, etc., make known to all our faithful subjects...
The peasants now bound to the soil shall, be given the full rights of freemen. The
landowners, shall retain all the rights of ownership over all their lands, but shall transfer to
the peasants, the full use of their cottages, farm buildings, and gardens. Furthermore, in
order to assure to the peasants their subsistence, the landlords shall turn over to the
peasants a quantity of arable and other land. In return for these allotments the peasant
families shall be required to pay rent to the landlords. Under these conditions, which are
temporary, the peasants shall be designated as "temporarily owned."
Boris Chicherin, History of Political Theories (1868)
Alexander was called upon to execute one of the hardest tasks which can confront an
autocratic ruler; to completely remodel the enormous state which had been entrusted to his
care, to abolish an age – old order founded on slavery, to replace it with civic decency and
freedom, to establish justice in a country which had never known the meaning of legality, to
redesign the entire administration to introduce freedom of the press in the context of
untrammelled authority, to call new forces to life at every turn and set them on firm legal
foundations to put a repressed and humiliated society on its feet and to give it the chance to
flex its muscles.
Peter Kropotkin witnessed the assassination of Alexander II in 1881
He passed close by a young man, who detonated a bomb to kill both himself and Alexander
II. There Alexander II lay upon the snow, bleeding heavily, abandoned by every one of his
followers. Thus ended the tragedy of Alexander II's life. People could not understand how it
was possible that a Tsar who had done so much for Russia should have met his death at the
hands of revolutionaries. I witnessed the first steps of Alexander II becoming a reactionary
and his gradual deterioration ...
6
Alexander II Liberator, from Russia Now magazine, 2006
Censorship was relaxed, new education programmes drafted, independent press flourished.
But the Tsar realised he had to go far beyond that. Alexander began to think of bringing an
end to serfdom – an immense task advocated by many liberal intellectuals but fiercely
opposed by landowners. But he pushed ahead with the reform and in 1861 Russia became
one of the last countries in Europe to shake off serfdom. The change spurred other
innovations – education and judicial reforms followed, an elaborate scheme of local selfgovernment in large towns and rural districts was set up. The economy was boosted, railway
construction boomed, trade soared, banks and factories sprang up across the country.
Jaffer Zaidi, Alexander’s Domestic Policy (1997)
Alexander II’s next major reform was the introduction of the principle of the rule of law
throughout Russia, and basic judicial reforms in 1864. Alexander II was aware that the
judicial system promoted anything but justice for the lower classes - his view was definitely a
unique one in comparison to past Tsars, but it can be explained by his Western education.
Furthermore, the status quo made it easy for judges to be bribed, as they were paid low
salaries. His concern was that the discrepancies in the judicial system infuriated the lower
classes, creating much anti-government feelings. By instituting a jury system in the Russian
courts, and by raising the salaries of the judges, Alexander II almost completely eliminated
the problem.
Matt Thompson, Reforms of Alexander (2006)
These reforms improved the army, which was Alexander’s goal, yet they failed to solve
domestic problems. The emancipation didn't bring on any significant change in the condition
of the peasants. In some regions it took peasants nearly 20 years to obtain their land. As
Russia became more industrialised, larger, and far more complicated, the inadequacies of
autocratic Tsarist rule became increasingly apparent.
Russell Sherman, Russia 1815-81, 2002
The majority of historians would agree that Alexander II’s period of rule was of great
significance. However, agreement can be reached on little else . . . Alexander did
implement more far-reaching reform than any of his predecessors, with the possible
exception of Peter the Great. He certainly implemented more reform than any of his
successors . . . Russia was transformed from a semi-feudal society into (at least) a putative
modern state. It was an impressive achievement by any standards. In many ways,
therefore, he was both a liberator and a constructive reformer.
Geoffrey Hosking, Russia: People and Empire 1552-1917, 1997
Alexander II’s reforms had severely shaken the traditional personalised power structure but
had not managed consistently to replace it with institutions of civil society or the rule of law.
To plug the resulting authority gap, the regime had nothing else at hand but the police,
backed up by emergency powers. Having set out to demolish an old building and erect a
new one, Alexander had then changed his mind and started repairing the ruins: the resultant
hybrid architecture threatened the equilibrium of the entire edifice.
7
Assess the short-term significance of Vladimir Lenin for the Russian government and
people, 1917-24?
Lenin, instructions issued to the Bolsheviks on 6th November, 1917.
I am writing these lines on the evening of November 6th. The situation is critical in the
extreme. It is absolutely clear that to delay the revolution now will be inevitably fatal. I
exhort my comrades with all my heart and strength to realise that everything now hangs by
a thread, that we are being confronted by problems that cannot be solved by conferences
and congresses (even Congresses of Soviets) but exclusively by the people, the masses, by
the struggle of the armed masses. We must at all costs, this very evening, this very night,
arrest the Government, first disarming the nobles and so forth. We must not wait! We will
lose everything!
Decrees from Lenin, (October and November, 1917)
All private ownership of land is abolished immediately without compensation. All
landowners' estates and all lands belonging to the Crown, to monasteries, church lands with
all their livestock and buildings, are confiscated.
So-called "freedom of the press" will not be re-established. The return of printing presses
and paper would be surrender to the capitalists - poisoners of the people’s minds! - giving
up of one of the most important conquests of the Revolution.
Lenin, State and Revolution (1917)
During the transition from Capitalism to Communism suppression is still necessary; but it is
now the suppression of the exploiting minority by the exploited majority. A special machine
for suppression is still necessary. However, it is now a transitory state; the suppression of
the minority of exploiters by the majority of the wage-slaves of yesterday is comparatively
so easy, simple and natural a task that it will entail far less bloodshed than the suppression
of the risings of slaves, serfs or wage labourers, and it will cost mankind far less.
During the Civil war, Ernest Poole visited rural areas of Russia. He interviewed a farmer
who was a member of a village cooperative.
“Our cooperative store has still quite a stock of goods, and the steadier peasants all belong.
We have eighteen hundred members now. Of course, our progress has been blocked by the
war and the revolution. The price of goods has gone up to ruinous rates. Already we are
nearly out of horseshoes, axes, harrows, ploughs. Last spring we had not ploughs enough to
do the needed ploughing, and that is why our crop is short. There are not enough crops in
the district to take us through the winter, let alone to feed the towns. And so the town
people will starve for awhile. Sooner or later, I suppose, they will finish with their arguing,
start up their mills and factories, and make the ploughs and tools we need.”
Maxim Gorky, New Life (7th November, 1917)
Lenin and Trotsky and their followers already have been poisoned by the rotten venom of
power. The proof of this is their attitude toward freedom of speech and of person and
toward all the ideals for which democracy was fighting - it is a road toward anarchy.
Lenin and Trotsky and all who follow them are dishonouring the Revolution, and the
working-class. They imagine themselves Napoleons of socialism. Workers who follow Lenin
must understand that a pitiless experiment is being carried out with the Russian people
which is going to destroy the best forces of the workers, and which will stop the normal
growth of the Russian Revolution for a long time.
8
Victor Serge, Memoirs of a Revolutionary (1945)
The New Economic Policy was, in the space of a few months, already giving marvellous
results. From one week to the next, the famine was diminishing perceptibly. Restaurants
were opening again and, wonder of wonders, pastries which were actually edible were on
sale. The public was beginning to recover its breath, and people talked about the return of
capitalism, which was synonymous with prosperity. On the other hand, the confusion among
the Bolshevik party members was staggering. “For what did we fight, spill so much blood,
make so many sacrifices?” asked the Civil war veterans bitterly.
Official Soviet textbook (1934)
War Communism fully justified itself in conditions of civil war. But it would have been a
mistake to insist on a continuance of the policy of War Communism after those
circumstances had disappeared which had necessitated it. The New Economic Policy ... is the
normal economic policy of the proletariat after revolution.
‘The Socialist Alternative’ website (2009)
Lenin is one of the most vilified figures in history. This is the inevitable fate of those who
stand up and fight against the system of exploitation and oppression that is capitalism. To
the rulers of the world, Lenin represents the ideas and the forces that threaten their wealth
and power, their "right" to rule over and exploit the vast majority of humanity. But to those
who suffer exploitation and oppression, who hate war and poverty, who thirst for justice
and freedom and equality, Lenin is a hero. The Russian Revolution provided a practical
demonstration that the organised working class can defeat the power of the capitalists and
make a better world.
Robert Gellately, Lenin, Stalin and Hitler (2008)
Lenin remains entombed on Red Square as Russia's most distinguished corpse. There still
exists the myth of the “good Lenin”. This myth ignores Lenin's cruelty, his illegal and brutal
seizure of power, his glee in ordering executions, the institution of mass terror as a means of
political control and the construction of the first camps in what later became the gulag. Far
from perverting or undermining Lenin's legacy, as is sometimes assumed, Stalin was Lenin's
logical heir.
Richard Pipes, The Russian Revolution (1991)
Lenin owes his Historical prominence not to his statesmanship, which was of a very inferior
order, but to his generalship. He was one of history’s great conquerors...he was the first
head of state to treat domestic politics...as warfare, the objective of which was not to
compel the enemy but to annihilate him. The Communist regime was a monumental failure:
it succeeded in one thing only, staying in power.
9
Assess the short-term significance of Joseph Stalin for the Russian government and people,
1928-41?
Lenin’s Political Testament, 1923
Comrade Stalin, having become Secretary-General, has unlimited authority concentrated in
his hands, and I am not sure whether he is capable of using that authority with sufficient
caution. Comrade Trotsky, on the other hand...is perhaps the most capable man in the party.
Stalin is too rude. That is why I suggest that the comrades remove Stalin and appoint
another man in his stead who in all respects differs from Comrade Stalin; being more
tolerant, more loyal, more polite and more considerate to the comrades, less capricious, etc.
Stalin, speech made to the First Conference of Workers, 1931
The history of the old Russia has consisted in being beaten again and again, because of her
backwardness...military backwardness, industrial backwardness, agricultural backwardness.
If we are backward and weak, we may be beaten and enslaved. But if we are powerful,
people must beware of us. We are 50 to 100 years behind the advanced countries of the
West. We must make up this gap in 10 years. Either we do this or they crush us.
Speech by writer A.O. Avdienko, published in Pravda, 1936
Generations to come will regard us as the happiest and most fortunate men, because we are
contemporaries of a man who never had an equal in world History. Men of all ages will call
on thy name, which is strong, beautiful, wise and marvellous. Thy name is engraved on every
factory, machine, place on the earth, and in the hearts of all men. When the woman I love
presents me with a child, the first word it shall utter will be: Stalin.
O great Stalin, O leader of the peoples,
Thou who broughtest man to birth.
Thou who makes bloom the spring,
Thou who makest vibrate the musical chords...
John Scott describes the building of Magnitogorsk in his autobiography Behind the Urals:
An American Worker in Russia's City of Steel (1941)
In April it was still bitterly cold, everything was frozen. By May the city was swimming in
mud. Plague had broken out. People were in poor health because of lack of food and
overwork. Sanitary conditions were appalling. By the middle of May the heat had become
intolerable...I was welding when something swished down past me. It was a rigger who had
been working on the very top. He bounced off the pipe and landed on the main platform
about below me.
...The Russian people shed blood, sweat, and tears to create something worthwhile, a
modern industrial base and the foundations for a new society farther along the road of
human progress than anything in the West; a society which would guarantee its people not
only personal freedom but absolute economic security.
Statistics on Collectivisation, published 1936 – from the State Statistical Committee of the
USSR
Grain Harvest
(million tons)
Cattle
(million head)
Pigs
(million head)
Sheep/ goats
(million head)
1928
73.3
1929
71.7
1930
83.5
1931
69.5
1932
69.6
1933
68.4
1934
67.6
1935
75
70.5
67.1
52.5
47.9
40.7
38.4
42.4
49.3
26
20.4
13.6
14.4
11.6
12.1
17.4
22.6
148.7
147
108.8
77.7
52.1
50.2
51.9
61.1
10
NKVD report on the village of Donshino, 1937. The report lists 60 dead, 27 from hunger.
The Kinyakin family of non-kolkhoz peasants: Kinyakin himself died in December 1936. His
wife died in January 1937, followed by his 15 year old daughter and 13 year old son. The
Potemkin family of non-kolkhoz peasants: Potemkin himself left the village in search of work
while his wife and six children remained in the village. Four of them died in January, the rest
of them are bloated with hunger. The Lyubaev family of non-kolkhoz peasants: Lyubaev and
his 17 year old daughter died; his wife and other two children are bloated...
Soviet school textbook (1976)
The Soviet people achieved so much in such a short time. This happened because all the
country's wealth belongs to the working people who create this wealth. The Stakhanovite
movement spread all over the country. Thousands of workers produced more than their
quota. Miracles were created by the enthusiastic work of the Soviet people. These
achievements were a cause of rejoicing not only to the Party, and not only to the workers
and collective farmers, but also to our Soviet intelligentsia, and to all honest citizens of the
Soviet Union. The people saw the completion of the construction of a classless, Socialist
society.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn describes a 1938 Communist Party meeting in his memoir The
Gulag Archipelago (1973)
At the end of the conference, a tribute to Comrade Stalin was called for. Of course, everyone
leapt to his feet. However, who would dare to be the first to stop? After all, NKVD men were
in the hall waiting to see who quit first. And in that obscure hall, unknown to the Leader, the
applause went on – 6, 7, 8 minutes! They couldn’t stop now until they collapsed of heart
attacks! Aware of the falsity of the situation, after 11 minutes, the director of the paper
factory sat down in his seat. And a miracle took place! Everyone else stopped dead and sat
down. That, however, was how they found who the independent people were. And that was
how they set about eliminating them. They sent him to a gulag camp for ten years.
Alan Bullock, Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives (1991)
Stalin was obsessed by ‘gigantomania’. He demanded industrial complexes to be built on a
scale beyond Russia’s resources to construct or operate. His obsession with size was
matched by his unrelenting insistence on haste. Not only did he throw the Five Year Plan
into chaos by doubling the figures, but he then demanded that it should be completed in
four years. Confronted by failure to meet impossible dates and targets, Stalin denounced
those responsible as guilty of sabotage, wrecking and conspiracy, providing him with
convenient scapegoats. Stalin’s revolution from above was not the replacement of a
capitalist by a socialist economy, but using the power of the state to launch an assault on a
backward society. Centralisation allowed him to keep control.
Stephen F. Cohen, Bolshevism and Stalinism (1977)
Stalinism was excess, extraordinary extremism. It was not merely coercive peasant policies,
but a virtual civil war against the peasantry. It was not merely police repression, but a
holocaust by terror that victimised tens of millions of people. Not merely a leader cult, but
the deification of a despot. Excesses were the essence of Stalinism.
11
Recommended Reading
Russia and the Russians – Geoffrey Hosking
The Russian Revolution, a People’s Tragedy - Orlando Figes
Penguin History of Modern Russia – Robert Service
The Modernisation of Russia – John Laver
Plus – anything on Russia in the LRC! There is a whole shelf...
Tsar Alexander II
Alexander, the eldest son of Tsar Nicholas I, was born in Moscow on 17th April, 1818. Educated
by private tutors, he also had to endure rigorous military training that permanently damaged
his health.
In 1841 he married Marie Alexandrovna, the daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt.
Alexander became Tsar of Russia on the death of his father in 1855. At the time Russia was
involved in the Crimean War and in 1856 signed the Treaty of Paris that brought the conflict to
an end.
The Crimean War made Alexander realise that Russia was no longer a great military power. His
advisers argued that Russia's serf-based economy could no longer compete with industrialized
nations such as Britain and France.
Alexander now began to consider the possibility of bringing an end to serfdom in Russia. The
nobility objected to this move but as Alexander told a group of Moscow nobles: "It is better to
abolish serfdom from above than to wait for the time when it will begin to abolish itself from below.
In 1861 Alexander issued his Emancipation Manifesto that proposed 17 legislative acts that would free the serfs in Russia.
Alexander announced that personal serfdom would be abolished and all peasants would be able to buy land from their
landlords. The State would advance the the money to the landlords and would recover it from the peasants in 49 annual sums
known as redemption payments.
Alexander also introduced other reforms and in 1864 he allowed each district to set up a Zemstvo. These were local councils
with powers to provide roads, schools and medical services. However, the right to elect members was restricted to the wealthy.
Other reforms introduced by Alexander included improved municipal government (1870) and universal military training (1874).
He also encouraged the expansion of industry and the railway network.
Alexander's reforms did not satisfy liberals and radicals who wanted a parliamentary democracy and the freedom of expression
that was enjoyed in the United States and most other European states. The reforms in agricultural also disappointed the
peasants. In some regions it took peasants nearly 20 years to obtain their land. Many were forced to pay more than the land
was worth and others were given inadequate amounts for their needs.
Alexander was assassinated in 1881by terrorists of the ‘People’s Will’ organisation.
Vladimir Lenin (1870 - 1924)
Lenin was one of the leading political figures and revolutionary thinkers of the 20th century, who
masterminded the Bolshevik take-over of power in Russia in 1917 and was the architect and first
head of the Soviet state.
Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov was born in Simbirsk on the Volga River on 22 April 1870 into a well
educated family. He excelled at school and went on to study law. At university, he was exposed
to radical thinking, and his views were also influenced by the execution of his elder brother, a
member of a revolutionary group.
Expelled from university for his radical policies, Lenin completed his law degree as an external
student in 1891. He moved to St Petersburg and became a professional revolutionary. Like many
of his contemporaries, he was arrested and exiled to Siberia, where he married Nadezhda
Krupskaya. After his Siberian exile, Lenin - the pseudonym he adopted in 1901 - spent most of
the subsequent decade and a half in western Europe, where he emerged as a prominent figure
in the international revolutionary movement and became the leader of the 'Bolshevik' faction of
the Russian Social Democratic Worker's Party.
In 1917, exhausted by World War One, Russia was ripe for change. Assisted by the Germans, who hoped that he would
undermine the Russian war effort, Lenin returned home and started working against the provisional government which had
overthrown the tsarist regime. He eventually led what was soon to be known as the October Revolution, but was effectively a
12
coup d'etat. Almost three years of civil war followed. The Bolsheviks were victorious and assumed total control of the country.
During this period of revolution, war and famine, Lenin demonstrated a chilling disregard for the sufferings of his fellow
countrymen and mercilessly crushed any opposition.
Although Lenin was ruthless he was also pragmatic. When his efforts to transform the Russian economy to a socialist model
stalled, he introduced the New Economic Policy, where a measure of private enterprise was still permitted, a policy that
continued for several years after his death. In 1918 Lenin survived an assassination attempt. His long term health was affected,
and in 1922 he suffered a stroke from which he never really recovered. In his declining years, he worried about the
bureaucratisation of the regime and also expressed concern over the increasing power of Stalin. Lenin died on 24 January 1924.
His corpse was embalmed and placed in a mausoleum on Moscow's Red Square.
Joseph Stalin 1879-53
One of the most powerful and murderous dictators in history, Stalin was the supreme ruler of the
Soviet Union for a quarter of a century. His regime of terror caused the death and suffering of tens
of millions, but he also oversaw the war machine that played a key role in the defeat of Nazism.
Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili was born on 18 December 1879 in Gori, Georgia, which was then
part of the Russian empire. His father was a cobbler and Stalin grew up in modest circumstances.
He studied at a theological seminary where he began to read Marxist literature. He never
graduated, instead devoting his time to the revolutionary movement against the Russian monarchy.
He spent the next 15 years as an activist and on a number of occasions was arrested and exiled to
Siberia.
Stalin was not one of the decisive players in the Bolshevik seizure of power in 1917, but he soon
rose through the ranks of the party. In 1922, he was made general secretary of the Communist
Party, a post not considered particularly significant at the time but which gave him control over appointments and thus allowed
him to build up a base of support. After Lenin's death in 1924, Stalin promoted himself as his political heir and gradually
outmanoeuvred his rivals. By the late 1920s, Stalin was effectively the dictator of the Soviet Union.
His forced collectivisation of agriculture cost millions of lives, while his programme of rapid industrialisation achieved huge
increases in Soviet productivity and economic growth but at great cost. Moreover, the population suffered immensely during
the Great Terror of the 1930s, during which Stalin purged the party of 'enemies of the people', resulting in the execution of
thousands and the exile of millions to the gulag system of slave labour camps.
These purges severely depleted the Red Army, and despite repeated warnings, Stalin was ill prepared for Hitler's attack on the
Soviet Union in June 1941. His political future, and that of the Soviet Union, hung in the balance, but Stalin recovered to lead
his country to victory. The human cost was enormous, but was not a consideration for him.
After World War Two, the Soviet Union entered the nuclear age and ruled over an empire which included most of eastern
Europe. Increasingly paranoid, Stalin died of a stroke on 5 March 1953.
A short overview of Russian history
The Power of the Tsars - background
Russian Tsars had followed a fairly consistent policy of drawing more political power away from the nobility and into their own
hands. This centralisation of authority in the Russian state had usually been accomplished in one of two ways--either by simply
taking power from the nobles and braving their opposition, or by compensating the nobles for decreased power in government
by giving them greater power over their land and its occupants. Serfdom, as this latter system was known, had increased
steadily in Russia. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Russian Tsars enjoyed virtually autocratic rule over their
nobles. However, they had in a sense purchased this power by granting those nobles virtually autocratic power over the serfs,
who by this time had been reduced to a state closer to slavery than to peasantry.
Alexander II – The ‘Tsar Liberator’
By the nineteenth century, both of these relationships were under attack. In the Decembrist revolt in 1825, a group of young,
reformist military officers attempted to force the adoption of a constitutional monarchy in Russia by preventing the accession
of Nicholas I. They failed utterly, and Nicholas became the most reactionary leader in Europe. Nicholas' successor, Alexander II,
seemed by contrast to be amenable to reform. In 1861, he abolished serfdom, though the emancipation didn't in fact bring on
any significant change in the condition of the peasants. As the country became more industrialised, its political system
experienced even greater strain. Attempts by the lower classes to gain more freedom provoked fears of anarchy, and the
government remained extremely conservative.
Russia expands
As Russia became more industrialised, larger, and far more complicated, the inadequacies of autocratic Tsarist rule became
increasingly apparent. By the twentieth century conditions were ripe for a serious convulsion.
At the same time, Russia had expanded its territory and its power considerably over the nineteenth century. Its borders
extended to Afghanistan and China, and it had acquired extensive territory on the Pacific coast. The foundation of the port
cities of Vladivostok and Port Arthur there had opened up profitable avenues for commerce, and the construction of the TransSiberian Railway (constructed from 1891-1905) linked the European Russia with its new eastern territories.
13
The revolution of 1905
In 1894 Nicholas II acceded to the throne. He was not the most competent of political leaders, and his ministers were almost
uniformly reactionaries. To make matters worse, the increasing Russian presence in the Far East provoked the hostility of
Japan. In January of 1905, the Japanese attacked, and Russia experienced a series of defeats that dissolved the tenuous support
held by Nicholas' already unpopular government. Nicholas was forced to grant concessions to the reformers, including most
notably a constitution and a parliament, or Duma. The power of the reform movement was founded on a new and powerful
force entered Russian politics. The industrialisation of the major western cities and the development of the Batu oil fields had
brought together large concentrations of Russian workers, and they soon began to organise into local political councils, or
soviets. It was in large part the power of the soviets, united under the Social Democratic Party, that had forced Nicholas to
accept reforms in 1905.
War and Abdication
After the war with Japan was brought to a close, Nicholas attempted to reverse the new freedoms, and his government became
more reactionary than ever. Popular discontent gained strength, and Nicholas countered it with increased repression,
maintaining control but worsening relations with the population. In 1912, the Social Democrats split into two camps--the
radical Bolsheviks and the comparatively moderate Mensheviks. In 1914, another disastrous war once again brought on a crisis.
If the Russo-Japanese war had been costly and unpopular, it was at least remote. The First World War, however, took place
right on Russia's western doorstep. Unprepared militarily or industrially, the country suffered demoralising defeats, suffered
severe food shortages, and soon suffered an economic collapse. By February of 1917, the workers and soldiers had had
enough. Riots broke out in St. Petersburg, then called Petrograd, and the garrison there mutinied. Workers soviets were set up,
and the Duma approved the establishment of a Provisional Government to attempt to restore order in the capital. It was soon
clear that Nicholas possessed no support, and on March 2 he abdicated the throne in favour of his brother Michael. No fool,
Michael renounced his claim the next day.
The October Revolution
The Provisional Government set up by the Duma attempted to pursue a moderate policy, calling for a return to order and
promising reform of worker's rights. However, it was unwilling to endorse the most pressing demand of the soviets--an
immediate end to the war. For the next 9 months, the Provisional Government, first under Prince Lvov and then under Alexandr
Kerensky, unsuccessfully attempted to establish its authority. In the meanwhile, the Bolsheviks gained increasing support from
the ever more frustrated soviets. On October 25, led by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, they stormed the Winter Palace and deposed the
Kerensky government.
Lenin’s rule
Although the Bolsheviks enjoyed substantial support in St. Petersburg and Moscow, they were by no means in control of the
country as a whole. They succeeded in taking Russia out of the war (though on very unfavourable terms), but within months
civil war broke out throughout Russia. For the next three years the country was devastated by civil strife, until by 1920 the
Bolsheviks had finally emerged victorious.
The first few years of Soviet rule were marked by an extraordinary outburst of social and cultural change. Although the
Bolsheviks had maintained complete control of the economy during the civil war (‘War Communism’), Lenin decided at its end
that a partial return to a market economy would help the country recover from the destruction of the previous three years. His
New Economic Policy, or NEP, brought about a period of relative prosperity, allowing the young Soviet government to
consolidate its political position and rebuild the country's infrastructure.
Stalin – ‘The Red Tsar’
Lenin's death in 1924 was followed by an extended and extremely divisive struggle for power in the Communist Party. By the
latter part of the decade, Joseph Stalin had emerged as the victor, and he immediately set the country on a much different
course. The NEP was scrapped, to be replaced by an economic plan dictated from the top. Agricultural lands were collectivised,
creating large, state-run farms. Industrial development was pushed along at breakneck speed, and production was almost
entirely diverted from consumer products to capital equipment. Art and literature were placed under much tighter control.
Stalin purged all opposition to himself within the party as well as all opposition to party policy in the country.
Effects of WWII
The Soviet Union emerged from World War II considerably stronger than it had been before the war. Although the country
suffered enormous devastation and lost more than twenty million lives, it had gained considerable territory and now ranked as
one of the two great world powers along with the United States. Nonetheless, life in the country continued to suffer. Industrial
production was once again concentrated on heavy industry, agricultural failures produced widespread famine, political
freedoms were restricted even further, and another huge wave of purges was carried out. As the Cold War got underway, an
increasing proportion of the Soviet Union's resources were funnelled into military projects, further exacerbating the quality of
life. Stalin remained in power until 1953, when he died of a cerebral haemorrhage.
Khrushchev and Destalinisation
Almost immediately after the death of Stalin, many of the repressive policies that he had instituted were dismantled. Under the
leadership of Nikita Khrushchev, political controls were to some degree relaxed, and cultural life experienced a brief period of
revival. However, opposition to Khrushchev gradually gained strength within the party, and in 1964 he was ousted. In a notable
break with historical traditions, Khrushchev was permitted to quietly retire.
14
Revision notes
Tsar Alexander II (1855-1881)
Russia was the most backward of the 19th century major powers (had little industry, an autocratic gov. w/ no constitution and
mainly an illiterate peasant pop.)
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Brought the Crimean War (against Franco-British forces) to an end.
Instituted ‘Liberalization’ processes
Edict of Emancipation (1861): peasants had no obligations to nobles / peasants were given 50% of the agric. land /
the nobles were compensated through taxes for the loss of land / the commune (Mir) became a basis for tax
collection & distribution of land
The establishment of the Zemstvo, which was elected local councils with the resp. for collecting taxes, building
projects, levying rates…
Trial by jury (in public) was introduced / censorship lessened
Town councils were established (1870)
The army was reformed (conscription for all classes — 1870), service time was reduced, and training and education
facilities were improved.
The national budget became subject to audit and transparency / a state bank was established. (transparency was
not extended to the national gov. and the Tsar remained an autocrat)
Social protest:
The Populist (mainly students and intellectuals) / in 1866 a student attempted to assassinate the Tsar à tighter
control of education / reduction in # of poor at Univs. / increased censorship / power of Zemstvo reduced /
increased activity of the Secret police / political trials were taken to military court.
The Land and Liberty Party — rebellion from below (the peasants) led by the anarchist Michael Bakunin
Evaluation of his reign:
Serfdom was ended
Reduction in the power of nobles
Develop. of industry.
Failure to carry out political change à basis for revolution
Tsar Alexander III (1881-1894)
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Reaction (after father’s assassination in 1881)
A return to ‘orthodoxy and autocracy’: censorship of the press / reduction in the power of the Zemstvo / Pogroms
against Jews / increased secret police activities
Massive increase in industrial output (foreign capital flowing in) / Russia built up huge gold reserves.
Tsar Nicholas II (1894-1917)
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Easily influenced by those around him
Convinced of the suitability of autocracy in Russia (therefore inflexible on political change)
Accepted danger fatalistically (didn’t step to change things)
Had little experience of gov.
His wife had immense influence upon him (ie: w/ Rasputin)
Not as firm as Alexander III his father à increased opposition
This led to the rise of several political movements
The Liberal Movement : a middle class party
The Social Revolutionary Party: (from Land and Liberty Party) prepared to use violence but rather utopian
The Social Democratic Party: Mensheviks (believed in a mass movement of workers gradually progressing towards a
socialist state) and Bolsheviks (believed in revolution by a party of elite leading the workers)
The Revolution of 1905 (result of defeat against the Japanese in 1904-05 and Bloody Sunday)
General strike called
Tsar’s uncle assassinated by Social Rev.
Mutinies in the armed forces
Setting up of a workers council (Soviet)
Peasants seized the land of the nobles
The effects:
o
The October Manifesto which granted: Freedom of Speech / a Duma (parliament)
o
The Tsar made no move towards political change
o
The army remained loyal / this was not to be in 1917
o
The Duma only had limited power (couldn’t initiate constitutional change / could be suspended by the
Tsar)
o
The Duma was not fully democratic
o
The creation of the Duma split the opposition: Constitutional Democrats (wanted full constitutional gov.)
vs. Octobrists (satisfied w/ the October Manifesto)
Peter Stolypin (1906-11) (Prime Minister) ...
15
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Abolished payments by peasants for their gain in land from the nobles
Introduced low interest loans for peasants (so they could buy land)
Tried to establish a middle class of peasants loyal to the Tsar
Firm against non-parliamentary opposition
Assassinated in Sept. 1911
The End of the Tsars – Russian Revolution
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1913 - the Romanov dynasty celebrated 300 years of ruling over Russia
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“The Romanov dynasty presented to the world a brilliant image of monarchical power and opulence during its
tercentenary.” - Figes description of the celebrations.
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Many of Nicholas II’s methods were outdated and much of the pomp and ceremony was misplaced - attempted to
reinvent the past - to create the ‘popular Tsar’ - response to challenge of democracy - obsessed with cult of
Muscovy! Nicholas rejected the Petrine model of leadership (delegating responsibility) resorting instead to personal
rule
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Central theme of jubilee = communion between Tsar and people - attempt to quell growing discontent with Nicholas
and the Tsarist system as a whole.
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Nicholas major problems = instead of moving with the increasing pressure for democracy and modernising the
Tsarist system, he resorted instead to the methods of previous Tsar
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Nicholas’ own propaganda deluded him, he began to believe that his methods were working and that his people
loved him and he was in communion with them
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Reality - jubilee took place in midst of profound social and political crisis - even a revolutionary one?!? Increasing
repression had set people against Tsarist regime - wounds of 1905 not yet healed
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Peasant problem unresolved - no land reform
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Society becoming rapidly more educated, urban and complex - fossilized autocracy refused to concede to its political
demands.
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Nicholas II - always a disappointment to his father Alex III - never the strong man his father was, Alex new Nicholas
would make a poor Tsar, indeed he never wanted to become one - neither had father’s strength of character or
intelligence - became meddling autocrat, disrupting work of govt. - obsessed himself with the minutia, the trivial
matters. He was conscientious and diligent, but instead of delegating, attempted to do everything himself!
Mistrusted able ministers - Witte and Stolypin not given sufficient influence to save regime - preferred mediocrity not threat. Saw ministers one-top-one - led to more confusion but kept Tsar in control. After Stolypin’s downfall in
1911 - regime “drifted dangerously as one sycophantic mediocrity after another was appointed Prime Minister by
the Tsar.”
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Rasputin - acquired his influence over the Tsarina and he and she became the real ruler of Russia during the final
catastrophic years of the Romanov dynasty. Introduced to the Tsar and Tsarina in November 1905 as ‘a healer’, he
seemed to be able to check the bleeding of Alexis, the Tsar’s haemophiliac son, through some mystical power. In
October 1912, the Tsarevich suffered a particularly bad bout of bleeding and doctors were unable to do anything to
prevent a large and painful tumour from forming on his groin. They told the imperial family to prepare for his
imminent death. In desperation, Alexandra, the Tsarina, sent a message to Rasputin who replied by wiring the
Empress a message saying: “God has seen your tears and heard your prayers. Do not grieve. The little one will not
die.” Within hours, the Tsarevich was on the mend. The so-called ‘Spala miracle’ established Rasputin in an
unassailable position at the court of Alexandra. He became powerful and prestigious, he accepted bribes, gifts and
sexual favours in exchange for using his influence over the Tsarina. Whilst his power was at its zenith during the
First World War, he established a series of lucrative placements in government, the Civil service and the Church all
of which were under his control. Rasputin had a tremendous lust for power and it was this that motivated his
actions, he was a supreme egoist and boasted endlessly of his power and influence. ‘I can do anything’ was a
favoured saying. He took pride in his many and varied sexual exploits. His actions and demeanour were unbecoming
of a ‘holy man’, and he was even imprisoned after a night of drunken brawling, however, orders quickly came from
the Tsar for his release. His influence was assured at court because the empress believed that only he could save her
dying son. Even the Tsar believed that God had sent a man ‘from the people’ to save the Romanov dynasty. His
power rested on the Tsarina’s belief in his ‘healing powers’ and Alexander’s belief in the Byzantine trinity ‘God, Tsar,
People’ - part of the Tsar’s attempt to recast the regime along the lines of seventeenth century Muscovy. Rasputin,
whatever else may be said about him, was a shrewd operator, he played on the Tsar’s belief by referring to him in
folksy terms: ‘batiuska Tsar’ -‘Father Tsar’. Rumours about him were dismissed as those of jealous criticism from
those envious of his position! The Rasputin affair was significant in the downfall of the regime: “More and more it
poisoned the monarchy’s relations with society and its traditional pillars of support in the court, the bureaucracy,
the Church and the army...By the time of Rasputin’s eventual murder, the regime was on the point of collapse”
Nicholas II had become obsessed with a vision of himself as a Muscovite Tsar and in many ways he ran his court as
such:
Industrial strikes over poor conditions
Growing support for revolutionary parties
Outside deluded Muscovite court, growing sense of imminent crisis and catastrophe.
Regime fell under weight of own contradictions - lacked the will for real reforms (Nicholas II and Alex III “instead of
embracing reform, they adhered rigidly to their own archaic vision of autocracy
16
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The Tsarist system - Nicholas II: “I conceive Russia as a landed estate, of which the proprietor is the Tsar, the
administrator is the nobility and the workers are the peasants” He could not have chosen a more archaic metaphor
for the turn of the century. The Tsarist system was inefficient and bureaucratic; the ruling elite came from the rich
landowning classes. There was much red tape and formality of proceedure that led to inefficiency. They were also
too committed to the old Tsarist order to embrace reforms and the onset of the industrial age. The agencies of
government were not properly systemised nor was their work coordinated as it was in the Tsar’s interest to keep
them weak and dependent on him. The Tsarist system had resisted reform for the best part of the nineteenth
century, despite several opportunities to change, the result was that at the dawn of the twentieth century,
bureaucratic inefficiency still existed in Russia. Even the so-called ‘Great Reforms’ of the 1860’s introduced by
Alexander II had had only a superficial effect. Also the liberalising effect of these reforms had resulted in the death
of the Tsar, his two predecessors were to use this as a reason for repression and stagnation.
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The geographical extent of Russia - The bureaucrats in St. Petersburg were trying to rule an empire that was
geographically vast. The Tsarist Empire encompassed many nationalities and cultural groups. This diversity made
provincial government essential, the governors had power to resist reform initiated from St. Petersburg, and this
was a problem encountered by Stolypin with his local government reforms. Reformers quickly realised that
reforming Russia was difficult, as the conservative governors would resist the reforms as every step. Furthermore,
enforcing law and order was difficult as the number of police constables per head of population was roughly
1:50000 and therefore, even if something became law, it was often not enforced on a local level. Furthermore, poor
communications, and general backwardness further enhanced the problems. The landowners who had traditionally
helped to implement government decrees had largely fallen into debt after the emancipation of the serfs. Many had
sold off their land, mortgaged it, or rented it to the peasants. They were no longer a reliable force for law
enforcement.
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Solution to these problems: the zemstvos
Many people such as Prince Lvov who would later become the First Prime Minister of democratic Russia in 1917,
people who were not revolutionaries but simply liberal monarchists recognised the problems that the autocracy
were facing and began a peaceful campaign for reforms. His ideas were based on the ‘Great Reforms’ of the 1860’s.
The Russian Revolutions of 1917
Reasons for Rev. of March 1917:
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Defeat of Russia following entry in WWI
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Food shortages
Some argue that Rev. was inevitable regardless of WWI (terrible living standards)
Incompetence of the Tsar
Corrupt and inefficient Gov.
Weak ruler (Nicholas II)
Rasputin damage the reputation of the royal family in the eyes of other nobles (he was seen to be the de facto ruler
of the country)
Army losses in 1916 (the army morale declined)
The Tsar assumed command of the army and was associated with military defeat
Formation of the Provisional Gov.
Established by the Duma
A soviet committee was established
Causes of the October (Bolshevik) Rev.
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Weaknesses/mistakes of Prov. Gov. : failed to decisively — didn’t satisfy demands for change / the power of the
Soviets / allowed opposition to form / kept Russia in the war / handicapped by internal divisions (not efficient and
united)
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The power of the Bolsheviks
The return of Lenin
The Mensheviks supported the Prov. Gov. and opposition sided with the Bolsheviks as a result
Lenin adapted Marxist doctrine to fit revolutionary needs
The simple message of Bolshevism: "Peace, bread and land"
The Bolsheviks strengthened power in the cities as opposed to the countryside which meant success in elections.
They gained a military force (the Red Guards) which other political parties did not have
Benefited from divisions amongst their opponents
The Bolshevik Revolution
Timing was a result of Lenin’s belief that war with Germany must be ended at any costs.
Were the 1917 Revolutions inevitable?
17
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Improvement in living standards meant chances of revolution might fade: the establishment of a middle peasant
class / improvements in working conditions / lack of incentive in revolutionary parties
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BUT The Tsar had failed to carry out his promised reforms (the situation was deteriorating before WWI)
o Stolypin’s reforms failed to match a growing peasant pop.
o Little relaxation of secret police activities
o The royal family was discredited
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Growing agitation amongst the workers / combined with the fact that the army was not loyal to the Tsar following
Russian defeat in war.
The Civil War 1918-21 - Opposition came from:
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Politicians in favour of revolution but not Bolshevism
Former officers from the Tsars army
Nationalists seeking independence from Russia
Foreign allies of Russia who were anti-Bolshevik (i.e.: Czechs, G.B., Japan, USA, France)
Reasons for the success of the Bolsheviks:
1.
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Were united and had clear aims
They held the ‘inner lines of communication’
The ‘Whites’ were politically divided (lack of co-operation)
The ‘Whites’ had little appeal to the mass of the population (no desire to return to Tsarist rule)
White forces were often brutal (alienating themselves)
The bulk of the peasants were at least passive supporters of the Bolsheviks
The Allies began to lose interest in the Civil war (they no longer needed Russian help)
The Bolsheviks (fighting against the Allies) represented their fight as patriotic.
The Red Army proved a formidable fighting force.
The introduction of ‘war communism’ which allowed the freeing of necessary resources for the war effort.
Non-Russians w/in Russia had little reason to support the Whites since the Bolsheviks had announced that they
could seek independence.
War Communism:
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Private ownership of land was abolished
Industry was nationalized
Peasants forced to sell surplus grain to Bolsheviks at fixed prices.
Workers were no longer paid (were only allotted ration cards)
Forced labor was introduced in vital areas.
This gave Bolsheviks control but caused:
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Peasant unrest
Widespread famine w/ falling production
Decreased industrial output.
The Kronstadt revolt (when sailors rebelled against Bolsheviks and were crushed by the Red Army) led Lenin to realize action
must be taken that would improve the situation and might in the short term move away from communism.
New Economic Policy (NEP)
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6.
Farmers to contribute 10% of production to state and sell any surplus on open market for profit.
Small private businesses were allowed to operate.
State controlled industry operated under capitalist notions such as: the profit motive, the right to dismiss workers,
the right to reduce wages.
Trade passed into private hands (created a new middle class)
Currency reform w/ reintroduction of gold backing and balanced budgets
Confiscated property returned and loans made available to those willing to develop timber, oil and other resources.
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An Evaluation of the N.E.P.:
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Moved opposite to the goals of the communists but was necessary to avoid continuation of chaos and the possibility
of counter-revolution
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Disagreement w/in the party concerning NEP was quenched by Lenin but it was to reappear after his death.
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Lenin retained control of the ‘commanding heights’ of the economy, although many enterprises went back into
private hands.
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Lenin grouped state-controlled industries together assuming it would then be easier to more from this to socialism.
The Agricultural part represented a compromise between Lenin and a now majority of ‘middle class’ peasants
The return of capitalist managers was criticized but Lenin realized they were the only ones w/ the necessary
expertise
Food production increased.
Industrial production increased.
A massive electricity program was started.
Lenin also brought education under state control, introduced social security schemes, attacked the Church’s position, purged
opposing factions of the Party, and replaced the Cheka by the G.P.U. which had greater powers.
The Period of Lenin’s Rule (1917-24)
Lenin’s long term aims:
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Create a communist state w/ state control of industry & trade.
Nationalization of land
Ending of class barriers and the establishment of a republic of workers, peasants, and soldiers deputies with a
gradual transition to socialism and the ‘withering away of the state’
He was willing to adapt these goals b/c:
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Inside Russia the Bolsheviks had only minority support
Outside Russia revolution in advanced industrial states had not undergone revolution and the transition w/in Russia
from revolution to socialism would therefore be hard and long.
The establishment of a single party rule:
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Lenin dissolved the Constituent Assembly (which did not have a Bolshevik majority).
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The communist aimed to "suppress all attempts of the bourgeoisie to return to power: and this is what is meant by
the dictatorship of the proletariat."
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Lenin drew up a new constitution after dissolving the assembly.
Dictatorial methods before this had included: suppression of newspapers, banning of the Cadet Party, setting up a
secret police (Cheka).
Lenin’s Constitution:
Drawn up in 1918 but only accepted w/ adjustments in 1922 & 1924.
The ending of the war:
Lenin wanted to obtain peace and signed in March 1918 the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk:
Russia lost Poland, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, the Ukraine, part of Belorussia and Transcaucasia. (1,3 million sq. miles of
territory, a pop. of 62 million people, 1/3 of all her railways, of her coal and iron resources.)
Advantages:
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Bolsheviks did not have to deal w/ discontented minorities.
Bolsheviks could concentrate on control of Russia itself
End of war meant Lenin could concentrate on internal difficulties.
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The treaty was unpopular, the German ambassador was assassinated, and attempts to assassinate Lenin were made.
The Period of Stalin’s Rule (1924-53)
Why was Stalin able to obtain control?
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He was the link between the Party leadership and the administrative levels below (which carried out Politburo
decisions)
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And used this positions to ensure the appointment of loyal supporters
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Stalin was totally unscrupulous, whereas Trotsky was loyal to certain ideals which he would not betray
His opponents underestimated him.
He removed his opponents one at a time w/ others and then attacked those who had been his allies.
He was popular because he came from the peasant class.
He represented the view ‘Socialism in one country’ as opposed to ‘continuous revolution’ and this had a greater
appeal.
Trotsky was considered ambitious and arrogant
Collectivization and the Five Year Plans:
Stalin’s view: " Do you want our Socialist fatherland to be beaten and to lose its independence? If you do not want this you must
put an end to this backwardness as speedily as possible and develop genuine Bolshevik speed in building up the Socialist system
of economy. There are no other ways……We are fifty to a hundred years behind the advanced countries. We must make good
this lag in ten years. Either we do it or they crush us."
Collectivization of agriculture
The condition of agriculture in 1924:
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80% of pop. in agricultural sector
Farming methods were not up to date
The more productive peasants still used backward methods
Problems as a result of these:
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Peasants were conservative and Stalin saw them as holding back progress
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Peasants would not allow surplus to pay for imports
Industrial development could not occur w/out sufficient food prod.
The peasant labor force was to be redirected to industrial labor, and this was impossible w/out more efficient
farming
Stalin’s answer was to collectivize farming (this was carried out by force) and peasants rebelled against this, and destroyed
crops and animals.
The results of collectivization:
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In a very short time the bulk of the peasants were organized on collective farms
The Gov. gained greater control over production and allocation.
Modernization and use of machinery became possible
Food was made available for the Five Year plans (industrialization)
Supplies of food were ensured (even during the German invasion) and this gave the Soviets an advantage.
However:
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The immediate effect was a massive drop in production (w/ the destruction of crops and animals)
Collectivization had an enormous human cost (as opposition was eliminated / and as a result of starvation)
The kulaks (the most able farmers) were virtually destroyed
It proved inefficient in the long run b/c not responsive to changes in local/regional needs
The peasantry were heavily taxed
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The Five Year Plans for Industry
Stalin introduced a system of central planning w/ production determined by the Gov. and resources allocated accordingly. Each
Sector of the economy was given a five year target. This was believed to eliminate waste and concentrate upon vital areas of
the economy.
The first five year plan 1928-1933 (aimed to create an industrial base for further development)

Aimed to achieve rapid expansion of coal and steel production / electrical power / transport and other ‘capital
goods industries’.
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It called for 20% per annum increase, however this was not realistic / the peasants had little skill / central planning
involved a vast army of then inexperienced bureaucrats.
It met w/ some success b/c:
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There was enthusiasm on the part of the work force (probably as a result of propaganda)
Most of the required labour force was unskilled labour (which was in large supply)
Of the complete control of the Gov. and of its allocation of resources to progress in designed areas.
Standards of living decreased as a result, but a solid industrial base was developed.
The second five year plan 1933-1938: (diversification)
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The aim was more realistic: 14% increase in prod.
The planners had gainned more experience
The workforce was more experienced
Gov. control over labor increased
Growth in certain areas was excellent (i.e.: engineering and metal working sectors)
However:
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Growth in sectors such as the consumer goods was less successful.
Real wages did not increase
As Hitler came to power, more and more resources were aimed at weapon production.
The third five year plan 1938-1943:
This plan was obstructed by the need to speed up armament and the 1941 German invasion.
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The goal for growth was 12%
There were labor shortages
New plants were built in the East
Stalin’s purges led to disorganisation
An Evaluation of the 5 Year Plans for Industry
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Succeeded in turning the USSR into a major industrial power over a short period of time
In the early years there were many errors and much waste.
They allowed the USSR to resist the 1941 German invasion.
The methods used were harsh (i.e.: abolition of U. relief) although in addition to a high degree of Gov. control, there
were incentives.
Living standards declined at first and then improved slowly.
A new elite was created
It became increasingly cumbersome as the Soviet industry’s extent and complexity increased, by 1945 there was
need for reform.
The Purges and Show Trials
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Opposition to Stalin was removed, and this enabled him to act as a dictator until his death
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The ‘cult of personality’ around Stalin grew
Many of the most able people of Soviet society were eliminated
The purges had eliminated most experienced officers in the Soviet army (this encouraged Hitler’s 1941 attack)
Millions of innocents were executed or imprisoned, denouncing of others became common.
Initiative was thought to be dangerous and several areas of Soviet life stagnated.
Conclusion:
Abstractly Stalin was successful (the army grew in power, industry grew, etc.) but the costs imposed on the population for
these improvements was enormous (purges, massacres, etc.)
The Foreign Policy of the USSR to 1941
Dominated by two features:
1.
2.
Hostility towards the capitalist world (b/c of Marxist ideology and foreign intervention on the side of the Whites
during the Civil War)
Expansionist nationalism
The Bolsheviks revised their foreign policy when it became clear that the rest of the capitalist world would not undergo
revolution. The features of this revised policy were:
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Belief that in the long run world revolution was inevitable
Help to those struggling against western imperialism.
Exploiting the rivalries between the capitalist states
The use of Comintern to encourage labour unrest, etc.
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