DO NOW: Identify the important figures for Russian History

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DO NOW Identify the important figures for
Russian History
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• Joseph Stalin
• Karl Marx
• Leon Trotsky
• Rasputin
• Vladimir Lenin
• Nicholas II

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1. Revolutionary Rumblings

• After the Revolution in 1905, czar Nicholas II
  failed to solve any of Russias basic conflicts.
  Unhappiness spread throughout the country.
• Under pressure, czars had made small attempts to
  reform but too few to solve the nations crisis.
• The Duma, or the elected national legislature,
  had no real power at the time.
• The moderates pushed for a constitution and
  social change but the weak and ineffective czar,
  Nicholas II, blocked all attempts to limit his
  power.
• In secrecy under a rigid discipline,
  revolutionaries hatched radical plots.
  Dissatisfied peasants hoped to overthrow the
  czarist regime while Marxists also tried to stir
  up revolution among the proletariats.
• They knew a revolution was inevitable but the
  time was not yet ripe.

Nicholas II
By Haley Russo
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World War I

• With the arrival of war in 1914, also came
  national pride, and unity in Russia.
• Although soldiers were enthusiastic to fight, the
  war quickly drained Russian resources. By 1915,
  there were no rifles, no ammunition, no medical
  care and causalities reached 2 million.
• Nicholas II went to the front himself to take
  personal charge in an effort to help the
  situation, but he proved to be no better than his
  current generals.
• He left domestic affairs in the hands of the
  czarina, Alexandra, whom Russians distrusted b/c
  she was German born and knew little about
  government.
• As corruption and conspiracy increased, she came
  to rely on the advice of a notorious holy man
  named Gregory Rasputin.

Czarina Alexandra
Gregory Rasputin
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2, Dead of the Mad Monk

• Rasputin, from Siberia, was not actually a monk
  of the Russian Orthodox Church.
• His powerful personality helped him gain a
  widespread reputation of a healer.
• When healing the prince of Russia, Queen
  Alexandras son, he gained much control over the
  government. Many people feared him and called him
  the mad monk.
• Members of the Duma, nobles, and relatives of the
  czars hatched a plot to destroy him.
• The plot to kill Rasputin, consisted of Prince
  Felix Yussoupov feeding him poisoned cake and
  wine.

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• When this didnt work on him they shot him. He
  lay on the floor dying for half an hour and the
  abruptly jumped to his feet and fled.
• When running away, he was shot once again. The
  co-conspirators, that were with the Prince, threw
  him in the Neva River. He did not die from the
  poisoning nor the bullets, but from drowning.
• Before being murdered, Rasputin had written a
  letter to prince Alexandra, warning about his
  death and what came to be from it.
• He predicted that once he would be murdered, the
  rest of her family would be murdered by the
  Russians and they would lose their dynasty.
• The Romanov dynasty did end, but not from the
  reasons given by Rasputin, it fell because of the
  long unsolved problems and the strains of war.

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3THE MARCH REVOLUTION

• In March of 1917 battlefield disasters were
  greatly hurting Russia, leaving them with great
  fuel and food shortages.
• In St. Petersburg (Petrograd after war) workers
  were striking while women were demanding for
  bread.
• The troops refused to fire on these objectors,
  leaving the government with little power.
• Czar Nicholas II abdicates with advice from
  political and military leaders.

• The Duma politicians then set up a temporary
  government.
• Middle class liberals began the preparation for a
  new constitution in the government.
• Since they were still involved in the war
  against Germany, this wasnt a good decision.
• Russians were growing opposed to the war. Troops
  were desserting their mission and returning home.
  Peasants complaints and desiores for land grew,
  while city workers demanded food, sick of
  shortages.

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• Revolutionary Socialists, outside of the new,
  temporary government, began plotting their own
  courses.
• In Petrograd (former St. Petersburg) along with
  other cities, they set up soviets.
• Councils of workers and soldiers for the
  socialist government.
• At firs the soviets worked democratically within
  the government. Yet the Bolsheviks, a radical
  socialist group, took over.
• The Leader of the Bolsheviks was a determined
  revolutionist, V.I. Lenin.

• Objectors of government/war.
• V.I. Lenin and the soviets.

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4 Lenin and the Bolsheviks

• Lenins real name was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov and
  he was born into a middle-class family in 1870 .
• At age 17, her witnessed his brother being
  arrested and hanged for planning to kill
  Alexander III. Vladimir instilled great hatred
  toward the czarist government after this incident
  .
• As a young man , Vladmir read books by on Karl
  Marx. He also helped spread the ideas of Marx
  with the help of other socialists.
• Nadezhda Krupskaya was on of these socialists who
  would be imprisoned along side Vladimir and sent
  to Siberia.
• While being imprisoned ,they got married and
  after their release were exiled to Switzerland
  where they worked tirelessly to spread
  revolutionary ideas.

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An exile returns
The New View of Marx

• Lenin would adapt Marxist ideas to Russians
  conditions
• Lenin called for an elite group to lead the
  revolution and to set up a dictatorship of the
  proletariat .
• This revolutionary party would only be a small
  percentage of socialist, and would be called the
  Bolsheviks, meaning majority.

• Lenin would still be in exile on March 1917
• Germany saw a chance to bring Lenin home , while
  Russia was stumbling into a revolution.
• They would bring Lenin back across Germany to the
  Russian frontier.
• On April 16, 1917 , Lenin reached Petrograd, and
  was awaited by other fellow exiles and activists
  who had a also been released from czars prisons.
• At the station, Lenin would address the crowd
  triumphantly also stating .. Long live the
  International Socialist Revolution!.

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5 The November Revolution

• Lenin and Leon Trotsky (Marxist Revolutionary)
  decided to work on expanding the revolution.
• They promised Peace, Land, and Bread to the
  hungry and the war weary Russians.
• That summer, the government discharged another
  new disastrous offensive against Germany.

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• THE BOLSHEVIK TAKEOVER
• Nov. 1917, squads of Red Guards, armed factory
  workers joined sailors from the Russian fleet and
  attacked the provisional government. And in a
  couple of days they overthrew the provisional
  government.
• In Petrograd, in a meeting at the Winter Palace a
  cadet asked for orders and all the members could
  say was that they had given up.

• BOLSHEVIKS IN CHARGE
• It took a week of fighting to takeover Moscow,
  and they made it their Capital, and made Kremlin
  their headquarters.
• Ended private ownership of land and distributed
  land to peasants.
• Workers were given control of factories and
  mines.
• Created a new flag with an entwined hammer and
  sickle which symbolized union between
  peasants and workers.
• Russians thought they had won control over
  their lives.

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6, Under Siege

• Bolshevik Revolution
• - Red Army (Communist) - Whites (Citizens
  loyal to the Czar)
• In March, Russian signed the Treaty of Brest
  Litovsk, giving up huge chunks of territory and
  its population
• Allied Invasions - Foreign powers intervened
  - Japan seized land in East Asia - Britain,
  France, U.S. sent forces to help the Whites
  - The presence of these forces roused Russian
  nationalism - Allied invasion led to Communist
  distrust in the West
• War Communism - Communist took over banks,
  mines, factories, railroads, and forced peasant
  laborers to work in the military as well as
  factories

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Reign of Terror

• Both sides took brutal measures to the civil war
• Counterrevolutionary forces slaughtered captured
  Communist and tried to assassinate Lenin
• Communist unleashed a reign of terror against the
  enemy
• Cheka- Communist secret army
• Ordinary citizens were executed if they were
  suspected of counterrevolutionary activity
• The former Czar and his family were shot to keep
  them from becoming a symbol of counterrevolutionar
  y forces
• In the end the Communist defeated their foes
• Although triumphant, Lenin faced an immense job
  of rebuilding a nation and an economy in ruins

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Lenin Builds a Communist State

• Lenins first years as a leader had been
  occupied in putting down civil war but once his
  power was secured he began his main goal which
  was to build a classless society in which the
  means of production were put in the hands of all
  people which is known as Marxism.
• Lenin created an idea of a Supreme Soviet which
  gave all citizens over 18 the right to vote and
  put the responsibility of all political power
  resources and means of production in the hands of
  the workers and citizens.
• Lenin used the army and secret police to enforce
  its will among the people.
• Under Lenin Russia became the largest republic
  and dominated all others.

By Jonathan Chiarelli
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• Under Lenin Russias economy came to a near
  collapse because factory output had fallen and
  peasants stopped producing grain knowing it would
  only be seized by the government.
• Under these circumstances Lenin adopted the NEP
  which is a New Economic Policy which kept the
  government in control over the large industries,
  they kept control of banks, and foreign trade but
  the NEP allowed small businesses to reopen for
  private profit.
• Lenins compromise allowed the economy to become
  stable again and by 1928, food and industry
  production had climbed to prewar levels.

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Stalin Gains Power
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• After Lenin died in 1942, the chief contenders
  were Trotsky and Joseph Stalin.
• Stalin was not a scholar or an orator- but a
  political operator and behind-the-scenes
  organizer.
• Joseph Djugashvili was born to a poor family in
  Georgia and studied priesthood as a young boy.
• By 1900, Joseph joined the Bolshevik underground
  and took the last name Stalin.
• In the 1920s, Stalin was general secretary of
  the party.

• Taja Kysilovsky

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• According to Lenin, Stalin was too rude and
  urged the party to choose a more tolerant, more
  loyal, more polite and more considerate to
  comrades.
• After Lenins death, Trotsky urged for support of
  worldwide revolution while Stalin took a more
  cautious view.
• -he wanted to concentrate on building on
  socialism at home first
• Stalin put his own supporters into top jobs and
  isolated Trotsky within the party.
• In 1929, Trotsky was stripped of party
  membership, and fled into exile.

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9 - The Five-Year Plan

• Stalin sets out to convert Soviet Union into a
  more modern industrial power.
• Stalin believed that the reasoning behind all the
  suffering in Russia was caused by its economic
  backwardness
• 1928- Five year plan introduced
• Aimed at building heavy industry
• Improving transportation
• Increasing farm output
• Command Economy- idea developed by the Soviet
  Union.
• Government makes all basic economic decisions,
  and owns all businesses and allocates financial
  resources.
• By contrast, in a capitalist economy, the free
  market dictates economic decisions and businesses
  are privately owned and operated by individuals
  for profit
• Jazmarie
  Sanchez

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Mixed Industrial Results.

• 1939
• Industrial Improvement
• Large factories,
• Hydroelectric plants,
• And huge industrial complexes are in place.
• Increased Production
• Oil, coal, and steel production grow. Mining
  expands. New railroads on track.
• But standard of living stays poor. Wages are low.
  Consumer goods scarce.

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Revolution in Agriculture
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• Stalin brought agriculture under gov control.
  Under the NEP, peasants had held on to small
  plots of land.
• Stalin saw that system as inefficient as well as
  being a threat to state power, forcing peasants
  go give up their private plots and live on either
  state owned farms or on collectives.
• Peasants were allowed to keep their houses and
  personal belongings, but all farm animals and
  implements were to be turned over to the
  collective. The state set all prices and
  controlled access to farm supplies.
• On collectives, the gov. planned to provide
  tractors, fertilizers, and better seed, and to
  teach peasants modern farm methods. The gov.
  needed increased grain output to feed workers in
  the cities and extra grain would be sold abroad
  to earn money to invest in industrial growth.

Jessica Sanchez
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• Peasants started resisting collectivization by
  killing farm animals, destroying tools, and
  burning crops.
• The gov. responded with brutal force.
• Stalin targeted kulaks, wealthy peasant, for
  special treatment. The gov. confiscated kulaks
  land and sent them to labor camps, where many
  thousands were executed or died from overwork.
• Effect
• Angry peasants often grew just enough to feed
  themselves.
• In response, the gov. seized all the grain,
  leaving the peasants to starve. This ruthless
  policy, combined with poor harvest, led to a
  terrible famine. Millions died.
• Although collectivization increased Stalin's
  control, it did not improve farm output. During
  the 1930s, grain production inched upward, but
  meat, veggies, and fruit remained in short
  supply. Feeding the population would remain a
  major problem in the Soviet Union throughout it
  existence.

We will smite the kulak who agitates for reducing
cultivated acreage
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The Great Purge

• Purge- To rid of impurities
• Even though Stalin held absolute power, he was
  worried rival party leaders were plotting against
  him.
• In a reign of terror known as the Great Purge,
  Stalin first targeted leaders of parties, but
  soon began to call crimes against innocent
  citizens.

• The years between 1934 and 1938 are considered
  the worst in Russias history
• By Robert Camley

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• Under torture, former Communist leaders confessed
  to crimes they never committed during public
  trials.
• Not all purged party members were tried, some
  were sent to forced-labor camps and others were
  executed.
• In all, four million people were purged.
• Old revolutionaries were replaced with young
  party members who were loyal to Stalin, therefore
  increasing his power

• The majority of these were military leaders,
  which would come back to hurt Russia when Germany
  invaded in 1941.

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Foreign Policy

• As communists, both Lenin and Stalin wanted to
  bring about the worldwide revolution that Marx
  had predicted.
• However at the same time, Lenin and Stalin wanted
  to guarantee their nations security by winning
  the support of other countries.
• The Communist International AKA Comintern was
  established by Lenin which aided revolutionary
  groups around the world and urged colonial people
  to rise up against imperialist powers.

• By Jonathan Tran

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Foreign Policy

• The Cominterns propaganda against capitalism
  made western powers suspicious of the Soviet
  Union. This leads to the Red Scare in the 1920s.
• The Soviet Union eventually won recognition from
  western power and began to trade more with
  capitalist nations.
• Eventually the Soviet Union joins the League of
  Nations.

• By Jonathan Tran

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13)An Iron Age of Totalitarian ControlBy Bobby
Driscoll The Great

• Stalin turned Soviet Union into a totalitarian
  state to ensure obedience Stalin used secret
  police censorship and terror. The government used
  widespread propaganda such as movies and theatres
  to show the success of communism and the failure
  of capitalism.
• Atheism became the official policy of the state.
  The communist party seized most religious
  property and converted them into offices or
  museums.

• Totalitarian State -in this form of government a
  one party dictatorship attempts to regulate every
  aspect of the lives of its citizens

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• 15 Roman catholic priest were charged with
  counterrevolutionary activities
• Communist replaced religion with their own
  ideology. Portraits of Stalin replaced religious
  icons in the Russian homes.

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14 Changes in Soviet Society

• Communists destroyed the old social order of
  nobles on top and serfs on the bottom but they
  implemented a new system where a few elite groups
  emerged as dominant.
• The head of the society was the members of the
  Communist Party. Many joined the party to improve
  the social standing not because they believed in
  the ideology.
• The new elite also included industrial managers,
  military leaders and scientists who enjoyed
  benefits like the best apartments, vacation
  homes, and the chance to buy scarce goods at
  special stores.
• Those people not part of the elite still had nice
  benefits such as free education, free medical
  care, day care for kids, inexpensive housing, and
  public transportation and recreation.
• Industrial growth led many to move to the cities.
  Some drawbacks were housing was scarce so entire
  families had to live in one room and bread was
  plentiful but meat, fresh fruit, and other foods
  were in short supply.
• After the Russian Revolution, schools were built
  everywhere and all children were required to
  attend. They also had schools that taught adults
  to read and write. The Communists also supported
  technical schools and universities.

By Adin Avdic
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• Schools were important because educated workers
  were needed to build an industrial state. Schools
  also taught Communist values ( i.e. atheism,
  glory of collective farming, and love of Stalin).
  The youth organization Komsomol provided sports
  programs, cultural activities, and political
  classes.
• Before the revolution, Alexandra Kollontai noted
  that Russia cared little for women of the working
  class. After Stalin took over she was the only
  high ranking woman in his government and she
  campaigned for womens rights. Under the
  Communists women won equal rights under law like
  access to education and jobs. By the 1930s, women
  were working in medicine, engineering, and the
  sciences. Women contributed to economic growth by
  working in factories and so forth. They were
  however expected to not only have a job but also
  to do housework and care for the children.

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Summarizer What role did each of following
figures in Russian History play in the rise of
USSR?
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