Revolutions and Time Between The Wars (1918-1939)
Russia
• Russia in the 1700’s
– Czar (Russian king) controls everything
– Peter the Great and Catherine the Great attempt to
modernize Russia
– Need warm- water ports for trade
• Russia in the 1800’s
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Czar controls everything
Industrial Revolution comes late to Russia
Europe fears Russia’s large army
Russia still a feudal society (nobles/serfs) while the rest of
Europe has industrialized but are
• Serfs are eventually freed (200 years after the rest of Europe)
– Russia is still “backwards” (has not improved/developed) and
hasn’t changed much since the 1700s.
• Early 1900s
– Romanov Dynasty had ruled since
1613
– Czar (means monarch) Nicholas II
was on the throne
– People started to lose faith after
“Bloody Sunday” massacre in Jan
1905
• 1905
– Russia is defeated by Japan in the
Russo- Japanese War
– Russian peasants protest peacefully,
but are shot by czar’s soldiers
– A widespread revolt forces the czar
to allow more rights, but he quickly
cancels them
• World War I
– Russia enters to back Serbia, they join the Allied
Powers
– With little industry they are not prepared to fight the
1st modern war (lack technology & ability to make
weapons on mass scale)
• Shortage of supplies- Russian railroads can’t deliver supplies
to cities
• Lack of food and coal
– Czar Nicolas I attempts to lead the troops personally,
but fails miserably
– Czarina handles the government (she is German, and
not trained to rule)
• Leaves control in the hands of Rasputin
– They lose the most people with 5.5 million casualties
• Rasputin and the Royal Family
– Rasputin (“Mad Monk”) called to heal the
Prince of hemophilia (blood disease),
succeeds and gains family confidence
– Royal family members worry about the
power in the hands of the untrustworthy
Rasputin
– Plan to have him assassinated
• The conspirators invited Rasputin over to royal
palace and feed him cake and wine laced with
poison
• Rasputin talks on for hours
• Conspirators become nervous and shoot him,
after they thought he was dead he leaps up
and he is shot again
• His body is dumped in the near frozen river
• Cause of death: Drowning
• What led to the Revolutions?
***Causes were very similar to French Revolution***
– Rigid social class with a large peasant population
• Denied the majority (peasant class) basic rights
• Peasant class = farmers and factory workers
– Spreading of liberal ideas–
• New ideas changed how people thought about their government –
Russian Czars were very harsh
• Russian Czars attempted to westernize Russia, without importing
French revolutionary liberal ideas.
• Czars tried to retain power by harsh and oppressive rule. Increased
discontent against absolute monarchy
– Declining Economy –
• Czars spent too much on luxury (ex. City of St. Petersburg)
• Unable to industrialize efficiently (ex. transportation poor)
• Too many losses in wars, especially World War I
• Revolt of March 1917
March: Czar Nicholas taken out of
power –
Revolt started over:
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Failure of 1905 reforms
shortages in food, fuel and housing
too many defeats during World War I
Czar abdicates (gives up) his throne
• A provisional (temporary) government
led by the middle class are put in
place, they promise democracy
– Soviets- groups of workers and soldiers
revolted in the major cities and ruled
themselves that support riots
– The Duma, or parliament created a
temporary provisional government to
rule run by Alexander Kerensky
– This new government continued to fight
Germany and Austria- Hungary
• 1917 November: “Communist Revolution”
– Provisional government prove to be very ineffective,
people still poor, hungry, and dying in WWI
– Bolsheviks (communist), want to overtake government
& make everyone equal (**no more poor vs. rich**)
– 1918 Russia pulls out of WWI (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk)
– Lenin and other communists are secretly shipped to
Russia by Germany
• They are called Bolsheviks, communists that wanted revolution
– Lenin promises “Peace, land and bread” in protest in
Russia
1918-1921 civil war breaks out Red Army (communist) vs.
White Army (Czar supporters). Reds win.
• Soldiers riot and are helped by soviets
• Lenin tries immediately to end the war
• Communist Russia under Lenin
(1917- 1928)
– Background:
• Lenin’s family background instilled in
him a hatred of the Czar and Czar
government policies. He was
influenced by the ideas of Karl Marx
and as a young man he helped
spread Marxist ideas.
– Main Features
• Leads Russian communists called
Bolsheviks
• First years are spent fighting a civil
war- Reds vs Whites
• Sets up a dictatorship to help
triumph in the war
– Red Army set up by Leon Trotsky
– Secret police to catch bourgeois
traitors
– Lenin (adaptation of
Marxist) ideas:
– Russia had a lack of large
population of urban
workers
– Lenin called for a/an elite
group to lead a revolution.
(Bolsheviks)
– According to Lenin – only
revolution could bring
about change NOT small
steps
• Communism (1917- 1921)
– One Party Government – Communist party the
only legal party allowed.
– Government structured with a constitution and
elected legislature. THE REAL POWER IS HELD BY
THE PARTY not the people.
– People controlled by force (Military and Secret
Police)
– Created a new system where the government
owned business
– Farmers had to give their crops to the
government
• Distribute land to the peasants
• Give workers control of the factories
• New Economic Policy
(1921)
– During the Civil War the
Bolsheviks took back
control of the factories.
– Lenin sets up New
Economic Policy (NEP)
• Government controlled all
banks, large industry and
foreign trade.
• Some privately owned
business were allowed (This
form of selective capitalism
was to assist in the economic
recovery and not meant to
be forever)
• Soviet Union
– By 1922 Lenin gains control over most of Russia and
creates the “Union of Soviets Socialists Republics”
(USSR) – Soviet Union
• Moscow = Capital
– Lenin Organized the nation into several self – governing
republic, under the control of the central government.
– Bolshevik party renamed the Communist
– Party-Held total power
– Lenin established a Dictatorship
– By 1928, USSR farms and factories were producing as
much as before WWI.
– Lenin dies suddenly in 1924. A power struggle emerged
for control of the Communist Party and the USSR.
• Communist Russia under Stalin
Background
– Real name – Joseph Djugashvili, from
poor family and educated in the
Priesthood. Lived a very harsh
existence in his younger years.
– Became a radical Revolutionary
Socialist after reading Karl Marx.
– By 1900 he joined the Bolsheviks and
took the name Stalin. (Means “Man
of Steel”)
– By 1920 he works his way into
becoming general secretary of the
party. He appoints loyal friends into
key jobs which gave Stalin allies in the
Government when he needed them.
– Lenin did not want Stalin to be his
successor. Told followers to “beware”
of him.
• New Party Leader:
– Stalin competes with Trotsky (leader of Red Army and
Lenin ally), after Lenin Dies, to succeed Lenin.
Trotsky vs. Stalin:
– Trotsky – scholar, great speaker, key figure in Revolution
and Civil War (Well respected)
– Stalin – Street smart, lacked people skills and had a
minor role in the revolution.
– Stalin forces Trotsky into exile by isolating
– Him in the party. Installs supporters as key members in
the Government.
– Stalin takes control and begins his plans to modernize
Russia.
• Stalinism: Stalin’s version of Communism
Five Year Plans:
– Stalin’s idea to set production quotas / Goals that needed to
be achieved in 5 years.
– Focus was Industry & Agriculture
↓
Hammer &
↓
Sickle
Symbol of Communism and also the Soviet flag
– The Soviet Union implemented
the first 5 year plan in 1928,
but they never achieved their
quotas despite the
propaganda and Stalin’s
words.
– Slackers were punished
severely and strictly.
– Industry focused on steel,
machinery and Iron made
goods.
– Agriculture focused on Wheat.
Collectivization: (Also called Collective Farming)
– Stalin NATIONALIZED all farmland (arable land) and
made it property of the government. This went against
Lenin’s promise to give land back to the peasants.
– Peasants (especially in Ukraine) were placed on large
communal farms called collectives. These were run and
financed by the state. (Government)
– Crops would be taken by the government and this left
the peasants with very little of the crops. There was no
incentive to work hard.
– In 1934, Stalin punished Kulaks and peasants in the
Ukraine with a forced starvation in which 10-20 million
starved to death.
• The Great Purge- Stalin’s Version of the Holocaust
– Stalin suffered from paranoia, or a fear of others.
– Stalin conducted “Purges” (systematic eliminations) of
people who challenged Stalin’s ideas or were thought by
Stalin to conspire against him.
– Major Groups targeted in Stalin’s Purges
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Kulaks
Government Officials
Friends
Intelligentsia
Army Officers (by 1938, 90% 0f Russian military officers were
purged)
– Approximately 25 million purged, killed or were exiled to
Siberia. (Northern Russia – mostly above the Arctic Circle –
Cold, harsh environment) Those exiled worked in forced
labor camps called Gulags.
– Most starved or froze to death
– Similar to Nazi concentration camps or Chinese labor camps
under Mao Zedong.
• Foreign Policy
– Many nations hated the
communist government
of the USSR
– Comintern- group set up
to spread revolution all
over the world
– Effects: USSR was
isolated for most of the
1920’s and 1930’s
Worldwide Issues
• colonies had fought in the war and
denied promises of freedom
• Global Depression strikes in 1929 and
quickly effects the entire world
• European nations do anything to
avoid war
Nationalism Between the Wars in Latin
America and Africa
• Africa
Problems
– nations are colonies of Europe
and were promised freedom
Solutions
– Nationalist groups begin
forming to gain independence
• Kwame Nkrumah- Ghana
• Jomo Kenyatta- Kenya
– Pan- Africanism – goal to unite
all of Africa
• Mexico
Problems
– Most Mexicans are poor farmers
working for creole landholders
– Frequent revolutions and
dictatorships
– Foreign nations intervene to protect
their property
Solutions
– Nationalize businesses and land to
distribute to the poor
– PRI formed to help the poor and
stabilize the government with a oneparty democracy
– Government begins to provide
education to poor
Middle East Between the Wars
Building a Modern Turkey
Problems
– The Ottoman Empire lost World War I and was divided
– His people were behind the modern times
– Many people wanted an Islamic government
Solutions
– Kemal Ataturk manages to remove Western powers from his
nation
– He changes Turkish culture
• Separated church and state
• Bans Islamic dress and traditions like polygamy
• Instituted a Western calendar, alphabet, schools and government
– He modernized Turkey
• Hired Western experts to improve technology
• Built roads, factories and railroads
– Created a modern economy
• Divisions in Palestine
Problems
– Jews had been moving
in since the Zionist
movement of the late
1800’s began
– (Zionism’s goal is to
find a Jewish
homeland)
– After World War I,
Britain promises the
land to Arab
Palestinians and Jews
– Both sides begin a
conflict that has lasted
until today
• Indian Nationalism
Problems
– economy controlled by
Britain
• couldn’t trade freely
• forced to make and buy
British products
– many fought in World War I
and were promised
independence
– British “Raj” was sometimes
cruel
• Amritsar Massacre- British
troops fired an unarmed
peaceful demonstration
killing 379
Solutions
– Gandhi
• Lawyer, who got his start by helping Indians
in South Africa oppose unfair laws
• Promoted Hindu idea of ahisma or nonviolence used satyagraha or passive
resistance (Civil disobedience)
– Inspired Indians to make their own goods and
boycott British goods
– Wore traditional clothes, but balanced Indian
values with Western ones
– Encouraged women to make cloth to avoid
British taxes
– Salt March- in 1930 he and many followers
avoided a British salt tax by taking it from the
sea
Independence
– World War II and Gandhi’s movement
led to independence
– Success was temporary, since Muslims
and Hindus battled one another
China Between the Wars
• Chinese Problems 19111949
– Unstable Government
• Fall of the Qing Dynasty
• Warlords- local strongmen rule
their areas
– Civil War
• fighting, between rival groups.
Chiefly the Guomindang and
Communists
– Foreign Invasion
• Japan is rewarded in the
Versailles Treaty with control of
Germany’s land in China.
• Sun Yixian
– After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, he attempts to
lead China with his Three Principles-Nationalism,
Democracy and livelihood
– 1912- He was briefly president of China, but steps
down in favor of the stronger, Yuan Shikai
– 1916- Leads a revolt when Shikai tries to set up a
new dynasty
– 1916- 1925 Created and led the Guomindang, or
nationalist party until his death in 1925
• Chang Kai- Shek (Jiang Jieshi)
– 1925- takes over leadership of the Guomindang
after the death of Sun Yixian
– Attempts to unite China, and keep Communists
out of power.
– 1927- Attempts to kill communists by attacking
their members in many Chinese cities.
– He helps battle the Japanese from the early
1930’s until 1945.
– He will lead a civil war against the Communists
until he loses and retreats to Taiwan in 1949
• Mao Zedong
– Leader of Chinese Communists
– He retreats from the stronger
Guomindang.
– 1934- Long March- he is forced to
lead his people through the
mountains of China, of 100,000
followers, only 20,000 survive
– Promises peasants land and during
his struggle he takes supplies from
the rich and gives any left over
supplies to the poor.
– He will be successful and lead
China after 1949 until his death in
1976