Russian Revolution of 1905
Uprising that was instrumental in convincing Tsar Nicholas II to attempt the transformation of the
Russian government from an autocracy into a constitutional monarchy. For several years before 1905
and especially after the humiliating Russo-Japanese War (1904–05), diverse social groups demonstrated
their discontent with the Russian social and political system. Their protests ranged from liberal rhetoric
to strikes and included student riots and terrorist assassinations. These efforts, coordinated by the
Union of Liberation, culminated in the massacre of peaceful demonstrators in the square before
the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, on Bloody Sunday(January 9 [January 22, New Style], 1905).
In St. Petersburg and other major industrial centres, general strikes followed. Nicholas responded in
February by announcing his intention to establish an elected assembly to advise the government. But his
proposal did not satisfy the striking workers, the peasants (whose uprisings were spreading), or even the
liberals of the zemstvos (local government organs) and of the professions, who by April were demanding
that a constituent assembly be convened.
The revolt spread to non-Russian parts of the empire, particularly to Poland, Finland, the Baltic
provinces, and Georgia, where it was reinforced by nationalist movements. In some areas the rebellion
was met by violent opposition from the antirevolutionary Black Hundreds, who attacked the socialists
and staged pogroms against the Jews. But the armed forces joined in on the side of the revolt as well:
army units situated along theTrans-Siberian Railroad line rioted, and in June the crew of the
battleship Potemkin mutinied in the harbour at Odessa.
The government decree on August 6 (August 19) announcing election procedures for the advisory
assembly stimulated even more protest, which increased through September. The rebellion reached its
peak in October-November. A railroad strike, begun on October 7 (October 20), swiftly developed into
a general strike in most of the large cities.
The first workers’ council, or soviet, acting as a strike committee, was formed at Ivanovo-Vosnesensk;
another, the St. Petersburg soviet, was formed on October 13 (October 26). It initially directed the
general strike; but, as social democrats, especially Mensheviks, joined, it assumed the character of a
revolutionary government. Similar soviets were organized in Moscow, Odessa, and other cities.
The magnitude of the strike finally convinced Nicholas to act. On the advice of Sergey Yulyevich Witte,
he issued the October Manifesto (October 17 [October 30], 1905), which promised a constitution and
the establishment of an elected legislature (Duma). He also made Witte president of the new Council of
Ministers (i.e., prime minister).
These concessions did not meet the radical opposition’s demands for an assembly or a republic. The
revolutionaries refused to yield; even the liberals declined to participate in Witte’s government. But
some moderates were satisfied, and many workers, interpreting the October Manifestoas a victory,
returned to their jobs. This was enough to break the opposition’s coalition and to weaken the St.
Petersburg soviet.
At the end of November the government arrested the soviet’s chairman, the Menshevik G.S. KhrustalevNosar, and on December 3 (December 16) occupied its building and arrested Leon Trotsky and others.
But in Moscow a new general strike was called; barricades were erected, and there was fighting in the
streets before the revolution was put down. In Finland order was restored by removing some unpopular
legislation, but special military expeditions were sent to Poland, the Baltic provinces, and Georgia,
where the suppression of the rebellions was particularly bloody. By the beginning of 1906 the
government had regained control of the Trans-Siberian Railroad and of the army, and the revolution was
essentially over.
The uprising failed to replace the tsarist autocracy with a democratic republic or even to convoke a
constituent assembly, and most of the revolutionary leaders were placed under arrest. It did, however,
force the imperial regime to institute extensive reforms, the most important of which were
the Fundamental Laws (1906), which functioned as a constitution, and the creation of the Duma, which
fostered the development of legal political activity and parties.
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles, signed in the Versailles Palace outside Paris on June 28, 1919, between the Allied and
Associated Powers on the one hand and Germany on the other, brought World War I to an end. From the moment
of its signature, the treaty ignited a continuing controversy over its treatment of Germany, with some arguing from
the beginning that it was far too harsh, and others that it was too lenient to ensure a lasting peace.
The treaty, negotiated between January and June 1919 in Paris, was written by the Allies with almost no
participation by the Germans. The negotiations revealed a split between the French, who wanted to dismember
Germany to make it impossible for it to renew war with France, and the British and Americans, who did not want
to create pretexts for a new war. The eventual treaty included fifteen parts and 440 articles. Part I created the
Covenant of the New League of Nations, which Germany was not allowed to join until 1926. Part II specified
Germany's new boundaries, giving Eupen-Malm[eacute]dy to Belgium, Alsace-Lorraine back to France, substantial
eastern districts to Poland, Memel to Lithuania, and large portions of Schleswig to Denmark. Part III stipulated a
demilitarized zone and separated the Saar from Germany for fifteen years. Part IV stripped Germany of all its
colonies, and Part V reduced Germany's armed forces to very low levels and prohibited Germany from possessing
certain classes of weapons, while committing the Allies to eventual disarmament as well. Part VIII established
Germany's liability for reparations without stating a specific figure and began with Article 231, in which Germany
accepted the responsibility of itself and its allies for the losses and damages of the Allies "as a consequence of the
war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies." Part IX imposed numerous other financial
obligations upon Germany.
The German government signed the treaty under protest. Right-wing German parties attacked it as a betrayal, and
terrorists assassinated several politicians whom they considered responsible. The U.S. Senate refused to ratify the
treaty, and the U.S. government took no responsibility for most of its provisions.
For five years the French and the Belgians tried to enforce the treaty quite rigorously, leading in 1922 to their
occupation of the Ruhr. In 1924, however, Anglo-American financial pressure compelled France to scale down its
goals and end the occupation, and the French, assented to modifying important provisions of the treaty in a series
of new agreements. Germany in 1924 and 1929 agreed to pay reparations under the Dawes Plan and the Young
Plan, but the depression led to the cancellation of reparations in 1932. The Allies evacuated the Rhineland in 1930.
Germany violated many disarmament provisions of Part V during the 1920s, and Hitler denounced the treaty
altogether in 1935. From March 1937 through March 1939, Hitler overturned the territorial provisions of the treaty
with respect to Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Memel, with at least the tacit consent of the western powers. On
September 1, 1939, he attacked Poland to alter that frontier, as well.
One can never know whether either rigorous Franco-British enforcement of the original treaty or a more generous
treaty would have avoided a new war. Certainly the British and American governments after 1945 sought to avoid
many of the problems that had been raised by the Treaty of Versailles, especially regarding reparations, and the
division of Germany and the Cold War enabled them generously to rebuild the western zones and to integrate
them into a western alliance without renewing fears of German aggression. Meanwhile, they deferred certain
fundamental issues for so long that no formal peace treaty was ever written to end World War II.
The League of Nations
The League of Nations came into being after the end of World War One. The League of Nation's task was simple to ensure that war never broke out again. After the turmoil caused by the Versailles Treaty, many looked to the
League to bring stability to the world. However, the US never joined the League of Nations.
Mohandas Gandhi
Known as 'Mahatma' (great soul), Gandhi was the leader of the Indian nationalist movement against
British rule, and is widely considered the father of his country. His doctrine of non-violent protest to
achieve political and social progress has been hugely influential.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869 in Porbandar in Gujarat. After university, he
went to London to train as a barrister. He returned to India in 1891 and in 1893 accepted a job at an
Indian law firm in Durban, South Africa. Gandhi was appalled by the treatment of Indian immigrants
there, and joined the struggle to obtain basic rights for them. During his 20 years in South Africa he was
sent to prison many times. Influenced primarily by Hinduism, but also by elements of Jainism and
Christianity as well as writers including Tolstoy and Thoreau, Gandhi developed
the satyagraha ('devotion to truth'), a new non-violent way to redress wrongs. In 1914, the South
African government conceded to many of Gandhi's demands.
Gandhi returned to India shortly afterwards. In 1919, British plans to intern people suspected of sedition
- the Rowlatt Acts - prompted Gandhi to announce a new satyagraha which attracted millions of
followers. A demonstration against the acts resulted in the Amritsar Massacre by British troops. By 1920,
Gandhi was a dominant figure in Indian politics. He transformed the Indian National Congress, and his
programme of peaceful non-cooperation with the British included boycotts of British goods and
institutions, leading to arrests of thousands.
In 1922, Gandhi himself was sentenced to six years' imprisonment. He was released after two years and
withdrew from politics, devoting himself to trying to improve Hindu-Muslim relations, which had
worsened. In 1930, Gandhi proclaimed a new campaign of civil disobedience in protest at a tax on salt,
leading thousands on a 'March to the Sea' to symbolically make their own salt from seawater.
In 1931, Gandhi attended the Round Table Conference in London, as the sole representative of the
Indian National Congress, but resigned from the party in 1934 in protest at its use of non-violence as a
political expedient. He was replaced as leader by Jawaharlal Nehru.
In 1945, the British government began negotiations which culminated in the Mountbatten Plan of June
1947, and the formation of the two new independent states of India and Pakistan, divided along
religious lines. Massive inter-communal violence marred the months before and after independence.
Gandhi was opposed to partition, and now fasted in an attempt to bring calm in Calcutta and Delhi. On
30 January 1948, he was assassinated in Delhi by a Hindu fanatic.
Benito Mussolini
Mussolini's Rise to Power
The new state of Italy was far from being a great success in the years before 1914; the strain of the First
World War on her precarious economy and the bitter disappointment at her treatment by the Versailles
Treaty caused growing discontent. Between 1919 and 1922 there were five different governments, all of
which were incapable of taking decisive action that the situation demanded. In 1919 Benito Mussolini
founded the Fascist party which won 35 seats in the 1921 elections. At the same time there seemed to
be a real danger of a left-wing seizure of power; in an atmosphere of strikes and riots, the fascists staged
a 'March on Rome' which culminated in King Emmanuel III inviting Mussolini to form a government in
October 1922. Mussolini remained in effective power until July 1943.
Fascism
Extreme Nationalism - an emphasis on building up the greatness and prestige of the state, with the
implication that one's own nation is superior to other.
Totalitarian System of Government - that is a complete way of life in which the government attempted
to control and organize with strong discipline as many aspects of people's lives as possible. This was
necessary to promote the greatness of the state, which was more important than the interests of the
individual.
One-Party State - there was no place for democracy. Fascism was particularly hostile to communism,
which accounts for much of its popularity. The fascist party members were the elite of the nation and
great emphasis was places on the cult of the leader/hero who would win mass support with thrilling
speeches and skilful propaganda.
Economic self-sufficiency- (autarchy) was vitally important in developing the greatness of the state; the
government must therefore direct the economic life of the country (though not in the Marxist sense of
the government owing factories and land).
Military Strength and Violence - were an integral part of the way of life. Mussolini himself
remarked, "Peace is absurb: fascism does not believe in it."
Mussolini's Italy
1. All parties except the fascists were suppressed. Opponents of the regime were either exiled or
murdered. Socialist leaders Giacomo Matteotti and Giovanni Amendola were both beaten to
death by the fascists. After 1926, when Mussolini felt secure in power the violence was greatly
reduced. Although the parliment still met, all important decisions were taken by the fascist
Grand Council which did as Mussolini told it; in effect Mussolini, who adopted the title Il Duce
(the leader), was the dictator.
2. In local government elected town councils and mayors were abolished and towns run by
officials appointed from Rome. In practice the local fascist party bosses, known as ras, often had
as much power as the government officials.
3. A strict press censorship was enforced in which anti-fascist newspapers were
either
suppressed or their editors replaced by fascist supporters. Radio, films and the
theatre
were similarly controlled.
4. Education in schools and universities was closely supervised, teachers had to
wear
uniforms, new textbooks were written to glorify the fascist system. Children
were encouraged to criticize teachers who seemed to lack enthusiasm for the party. Children and young
people were forced to join the government youth organizations which indoctrinated them with the
brilliance of the Duce and the glories of war.
5. Corporate State - The government tried to promote co-operation between
employers
and workers and to end class warfare in what was known as the Coporate State.
Fascist
controlled unions had the sole right to negotiate for the workers and both unions
and
employers' associations were organized into corporations and were expected to cooperate to settle disputes over pay and working conditions. Strikes and lockouts were not allowed. By
1934 there were 22 coporations each dealing with a seperate industry, and in this way Mussolini hoped
to control the workers and direct production. To compensate for their loss of freedom, workers were
assured of such benefits as free Sundays, annual holidays with pay, social securtity, sports and theatre
facilities and cheap tours and holidays.
6. Catholic Church - Mussolini left religion outside the control of the government. He
had
his children baptized and married their mother in the church. He passed laws to
make
swearing in public a crime and allowed crosses to be hung in public buildings. He
made
religious education compulsory in Italy. In 1929 he signed a treaty with Gasparri.
The
Lateran Treaty gave the Pope 750 million lire in compensation for the land taken from
him
when Italy was united in 1870. It made the Vatican City an independent state with its
own
army, police force, law courts, and post office. The ending of the long lasting
breech
between the church and Italian government was Mussolini's most lasting and
worthwhile
achievement.
Successes
1. Industry - gave government subsidies where necessary so that iron and steel production doubled by
1930 and artificial silk production tenfold. Hydro-electric power doubled by 1937.
2. Battle of Wheat - encourages farmers to concentrate on wheat production in a drive
for
self-sufficiency; by 1935 the wheat imports had been cut by 75 per cent.
3. Land Reclamation - a program was started and the Pontine Marshes around
Rome
were drained and reclaimed.
4. Public Works Program - this was designed to reduce unemployment. It included
the
building of motorways, bridges, blocks of flats, railway stations, sports stadiums, schools
and
new towns on reclaimed land.
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin was born Josef Vissarionovich Djugashvili on December 18, 1878, or December 6, 1878,
according to the Old Style Julian calendar (although he later invented a new birth date for himself:
December 21, 1879), in the small town of Gori, Georgia, then part of the Russian empire. When he was
in his 30s, he took the name Stalin, from the Russian for "man of steel."
Stalin grew up poor and an only child. His father was a shoemaker and alcoholic who beat his son, and
his mother was a laundress. As a boy, Stalin contracted smallpox, which left him with lifelong facial
scars. As a teen, he earned a scholarship to attend a seminary in the nearby city of Tblisi and study for
the priesthood in the Georgian Orthodox Church. While there he began secretly reading the work of
German social philosopher and "Communist Manifesto" author Karl Marx, becoming interested in the
revolutionary movement against the Russian monarchy. In 1899, Stalin was expelled from the seminary
for missing exams, although he claimed it was for Marxist propaganda.
After leaving school, Stalin became an underground political agitator, taking part in labor
demonstrations and strikes. He adopted the name Koba, after a fictional Georgian outlaw-hero, and
joined the more militant wing of the Marxist Social Democratic movement, the Bolsheviks, led by
Vladimir Lenin. Stalin also became involved in various criminal activities, including bank heists, the
proceeds from which were used to help fund the Bolshevik Party. He was arrested multiple times
between 1902 and 1913, and subjected to imprisonment and exile in Siberia.
In 1906, Stalin married Ekaterina "Kato" Svanidze (1885-1907), a seamstress. The couple had one son,
Yakov (1907-1943), who died as a prisoner in Germany during World War II. Ekaterina perished from
typhus when her son was an infant. In 1918 (some sources cite 1919), Stalin married his second wife,
Nadezhda "Nadya" Alliluyeva (1901-1932), the daughter of a Russian revolutionary. They had two
children, a boy and a girl. Nadezhda committed suicide in her early 30s. Stalin also fathered several
children out of wedlock.
Joseph Stalin's Rise to Power
In 1912, Lenin, then in exile in Switzerland, appointed Joseph Stalin to serve on the first Central
Committee of the Bolshevik Party. Three years later, in November 1917, the Bolsheviks seized power in
Russia. The Soviet Union was founded in 1922, with Lenin as its first leader. During these years, Stalin
had continued to move up the party ladder, and in 1922 he became secretary general of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party, a role that enabled him to appoint his allies to government jobs and
grow a base of political support.
After Lenin died in 1924, Stalin eventually outmaneuvered his rivals and won the power struggle for
control of the Communist Party. By the late 1920s, he had become dictator of the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union Under Joseph Stalin
Starting in the late 1920s, Joseph Stalin launched a series of five-year plans intended to transform the
Soviet Union from a peasant society into an industrial superpower. His development plan was centered
on government control of the economy and included the forced collectivization of Soviet agriculture, in
which the government took control of farms. Millions of farmers refused to cooperate with Stalin's
orders and were shot or exiled as punishment. The forced collectivization also led to widespread famine
across the Soviet Union that killed millions.
Stalin ruled by terror and with a totalitarian grip in order to eliminate anyone who might oppose him. He
expanded the powers of the secret police, encouraged citizens to spy on one another and had millions
of people killed or sent to the Gulag system of forced labor camps. During the second half of the 1930s,
Stalin instituted the Great Purge, a series of campaigns designed to rid the Communist Party, the military
and other parts of Soviet society from those he considered a threat.
Additionally, Stalin built a cult of personality around himself in the Soviet Union. Cities were renamed in
his honor. Soviet history books were rewritten to give him a more prominent role in the revolution and
mythologize other aspects of his life. He was the subject of flattering artwork, literature and music, and
his name became part of the Soviet national anthem. His government also controlled the Soviet media.
Adolf Hitler
1.
20 April 1889
Adolf Hitler is born on April 20th in Braunau am Inn in the empire of Austria-Hungary.
His parents' families are both of poor peasant backgrounds. His father, Alois, regarded as strict and distant, becomes a
customs official and expects Adolf to follow a career into the civil service. Hitler’s mother, Klara, is of a more
compassionate nature, adoring and indulging her son.
At the age of six Adolf attends school and, while clearly intelligent, he is uninterested in formal education, eventually
leaving with a poor educational record of achievement.
The death of his father when Adolf was 13, releases the pressure on him to get a job working for the civil service,
Adolf is able to pursue his preferred choice of study, that of art. He attends art school and regards himself as an artist,
absorbing diverse cultural influences, the opera, theatre, reading and drawing.
2.
1907
Hitler moves to Vienna with the aim of attending the Vienna Academy of Art, but his application is rejected. His
disappointment is compounded by his failure to also get into the Vienna School of Architecture due to his inability to
provide a school leaving certificate.
3.
1909—1913
Without any means of money, Hitler struggles to survive in Vienna, living in a men’s hostel. He sells postcards which
he’s drawn, of famous sights, and undertakes a series of menial jobs,to earn money.
During this period of poverty, Hitler engages in much political activity, attending meetings, absorbing political
newspapers and literature.
4.
1913
Faced with military service for the Habsburg Empire, Hitler takes action to evade this by moving to Munich in
Southern Germany. This move is possible in part due to his inheritance of a small legacy from his father’s estate.
Here his life continues much as before, until world events changed the course of Hitler’s life.
5.
1914
At the outbreak of the First World War, Hitler volunteers for service in the German army and joined the
16th Barvarian Reserve Infantry Regiment. He distinguishes himself in service, being promoted to corporal and
decorated with the Iron Cross for services as a runner on the western front.
6.
1918
At the time of the armistice, Hitler is lying in hospital suffering from temporary blindness due to a British gas attack
in Ypres Salient. He returns to his regiment in Munich, later in the year.
7.
1919
Intent on remaining in the army, having found real purpose to his life, Hitler is appointed to the
Intelligence/Propaganda section where he undertakes political training. His activities involve making speeches to the
troops advocating German nationalism and anti-Socialism, where he developed further his oratory skills.
He also acts as an army informer, spying on small political parties. He joins the German Workers’ Party, an extreme
anti-communist, anti-Semitic right wing organisation.
8.
1920
Hitler is discharged from the army. In the German Worker’s Party he undertakes responsibility for publicity and
propaganda. He changes the party’s name to the National Socialist German Workers Party, (or Nazi for short) The
party represents a combination of intense hatred for the politicians who they considered had dishonoured Germany by
signing the Versailles Treaty and exploiting local grievances against a weak federal government.
9.
1921
Hitler challenges Anton Drexler to become leader of the Nazi party. After initial resistance, Drexler agrees and Hitler
becomes the new leader of the party.
10.
1923
Along with other right wing factions and General Ludendorff he attempts to overthrow the Bavarian government with
an armed uprising. The event became known as The Beer Hall Putsch. Hitler and 2000 Nazi’s march through Munich
to the Beer Hall, to take over a meeting chaired by three of the most important individuals in Bavarian politics.
The following day, the Nazis march in the streets, the police open fire. Hitler escapes but is captured, tried for treason
and serves 9 months in Landsberg prison. It was during his imprisonment that he began dictating his thoughts to
Rudolf Hess, which emerged in the book Mein Kampf (my struggle). It is a mixture of autobiography, political
ideology and an examination of the techniques of propaganda.
11.
1925
Hitler re-founds the Nazi party.
12.
1928
Hitler's half-sister (Angela Raubal) and her daughter Geli, move into Hitler's home on the Obersalzburg. Hitler's
relationship towards Geli initially kindly, eventually borders on the obsessive, fueling rumours that they were
romantically linked; Hitler denied this.
13.
September 1930
In the General Election, the Nazi Party increases its representatives in parliament from 14 to 107. Hitler is now the
leader of the second largest party in Germany.
14.
1931
Hitler challenges Paul von Hindenburg for the presidency, but fails to win.
15.
September 1931
Geli Raubal found dead at Hitler's flat in Munich. She was 23. Verdict: suicide.
16.
1932
Hitler becomes a German citizen—enabling him to stand in the Presidential election against Hindenburg.
Became the first person to electioneer by aircraft, the campaign (masterminded by Josef Goebbels) was
entitled 'Hitler over Germany'.
17.
January 1933
Hitler becomes chancellor of a coalition government, where the Nazis have a third of the seats in the Reichstag.
18.
February 1933
The German Reichstag is destroyed by fire. The plot and execution is almost certainly due to the Nazis but they point
the finger at the communists and trigger a General Election.
19.
March 1933
The Enabling Act passed—powers of legislation pass to Hitler’s cabinet for four years, making him virtual dictator.
He proclaims the Nazi Party is the only political party permitted in Germany. All other parties and trade unions are
disbanded. Individual German states lose any autonomous powers, while Nazi officials become state governors.
20.
April 1933
Communist party banned.
21.
May 1933
Socialists, Trade Unions and strikes banned.
22.
October 1933
Hitler withdraws from the League of Nations. In the following months, he trebles the size of the German Army and
ignores the arms restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles.
23.
June 1934
Night of the Long Knives. Hitler crushes all opposition within his own party—thus eliminating any of his rivals.
24.
July 1934
After the death of President Hindenburg, Hitler becomes “Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor” and abolishes the title of
President.
25.
1935
Hitler re-arms Germany with the aim of undoing the Treaty of Versailles and uniting all the German peoples. Military
conscription is introduced.
26.
March 1938
The Austrian Chancellor, leader of the Austrian Nazi Party, invites the German army to occupy Austria and proclaim
a union with Germany.
27.
September 1938
British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain meets Hitler in Germany. Britain, France and Italy sign the Munich
Agreementwhich gives the Sudetenland (the German populated borderlands of Czechoslavakia), to Germany.
28.
October 1938
German army occupies the Sudetenland.
29.
November 1938
In what is historically referred to as Crystal Night, 7,500 Jewish shops are destroyed and 400 synagogues are burnt.
The attack is portrayed as a spontaneous reaction to the death of a German diplomat by a Jewish refugee in Paris. It is
actually orchestrated by the Nazi party who also kill many Jews and send 20,000 to concentration camps.
Crystal Night is considered to be the beginning of the Final Solution and the Holocaust. The mass killing represented
by the Holocaust raises many questions concerning the development of European civilisation during the twentieth
century.
Why did people support Hitler?
People supported Hitler because he promised them what they wanted and needed to hear.
The Weimar Republic appeared to have no idea how to solve the problems of
the Depression. The Nazis on the other hand promised to solve the problems. Hitler
promised most groups in Germany what they wanted. Hitler used the Jews and other
sections of society as scapegoats, blaming all the problems on them. To Germans at the
time Hitler made sense, he united everyone by providing explanations for Germany's
problems.
People in Germany were tired of their poor quality of life. Hitler promised to make Germany
proud again - it was exactly what people wanted to hear. Hitler pledged something for
every part of Germany society:
Group
Promise
Farmers
Higher prices for their produce - making up
for all their losses during the Depression.
Unemployed workers
Jobs building public works such as roads and
stadiums.
Middle Class
To restore the profits of small business and
the value of savings. To end
the Communist threat.
To all Germans he promised to restore German honour by tearing up the hated Treaty of
Versailles and by making Germany great again.