Revolution in Russia

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Revolution in Russia

•        1917 Russia was in trouble because of
• 1.   Millions of Russians had died in WWI,
• 2.   Food shortage,
• 3.   Military defeats and
• 4. Power-hungry rulers (many people blamed Czar
  Nicholas II for the problems.

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Czar Nicholas and his People
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Czar Nicholas II and his Family
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Czar Nicolas II

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Czar Nicholas Car Outfitted for Winter Travel
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•        Czar Nicholas IIs wife, Alexandra,
  relied heavily on Rasputin, an illiterate peasant
  and self proclaimed holy man
• Rasputins influence over Alexandra
  had reached new heights and weakened confidence
  in the government. The nobles tired to kill him
  by poisoning him, shooting him on two different
  occasions, beating him and finally drowning him.

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Rasputin
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Revolution of March 1917

•        In March of 1917, a revolution erupted
  to overthrow the czar and set up a new Russian
  republic. (Soviets, or councils of workers and
  soldiers) first, the soviets worked
  democratically within the government, but before
  long, the Bolsheviks, a radical socialist group,
  took charge)
• The revolution of March of 1917 ended the czarist
  rule, brought about the beginnings of a
  constitution, and continued the war with Germany.
  

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Vladimir Lenin

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•     Vladimir Lenin, an enemy of the czar,
  returned to Russia in April from exile in
  Switzerland (by way of encouraging from Germany)
  
• Lenin and his followers, the Bolsheviks,
  started a second revolution in November of 1917.
• Lenin believed that a socialist revolution
  could succeed in Russia if a small group of
  dedicated revolutionaries controlled the
  government.

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Lenin at Second Congress of Soviets (Stalin is
behind)
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Karl Marx Classless Society

• Lenin called for a classless society based on
  socialist teachings of the German Karl Marx. They
  won control of the government, set up councils,
  called socialists, to govern the nation. Lenin
  made peace with Germany but for the next three
  years faced unrest in Russia.

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Karl Marx
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Lenins Ideal Vision of Russian Society
       The Communist party held absolute control
over the government in the Soviet Union under
Lenins leadership. Lenins ideal
vision of Russian society under communism was a
classless society in which land and factories
were owned by the workers. To reach his goal, he
ended private ownership of land and gave land to
the peasants and workers gained control of
factories.

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Brest-Litovsk TreatyLenin signed a peace treaty
known as the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March of
1918 with Germany and gave up a huge chunk of its
territory and its population

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Civil War Raged as a Result of the Bolshevik
Revolution

•        between the Reds Communists and the
  Whites counterrevolutionaries.
•        National groups in eastern European and
  Central Asia Japan and the Allied powers of WWI
  (Britain, France and U.S.) intervened in the
  civil war against the Reds (communists)
• By 1921, the Communists (Reds) had defeated the
  rebels. (Whites)

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Reds were the Communists during Russian Civil War

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USSR

•        In 1922, Lenin and the Communists
  controlled much of the old Russian empire they
  called it the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic
  (USSR)
• The USSR was made up of many republics, or
  states. Russia was the largest republic and
  controlled the other states

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New Economic Policy

• Lenins chief goal was to create a classless
  society with the production in the hands of the
  people. Lenins NEP (New Economic Policy)
  allowed some private profit. It let peasants own
  plots of land. The NEP improved business and the
  standard of living.

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Joseph Stalin

•        When Lenin died in 1924, Joseph Stalin
  became head of the USSR. He was cold and hard
  and destroyed all those he thought were against
  him.
• Stalin rose to power by building a loyal
  following among Communist party members.

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Joseph Stalin

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Stalins Command Economy

• Stalin's police arrested millions and had them
  shot or sent to labor camps. He brought all
  factories and farms under government control. In
  his command economy government officials made all
  basic economic decisions. Workers who met their
  production goals were rewarded. Those who did
  not were punished. Although some production
  levels went up, most Russians were poor

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       Under Stalins five-year plan, he set out
to make Russia a modern industrial power. Stalin
also brought agriculture under government
control. He forced peasants to give up their
private plots and live either on state owned
farms or collectives, large farms owned and
operated by peasants as a group. Peasants
resisted collectivization by killing farm
animals, destroying tools, and burning crops.
Stalin sought to destroy the kulaks, or wealthy
peasants. The government confiscated kulaks
land and sent them to labor camps.
.
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Russian Peasants on Collective Farms called Gulaks
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Soviet Union -totalitarian state

• Joseph Stalin turned the Soviet Union into a
  totalitarian state - one-party dictatorship that
  attempted to regulate every aspect of the lives
  of its citizen.

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• Stalin used propaganda, terror, censorship,
  reward, punishment, and promotion of atheism
  (belief there is no god) For example, Stalin
  forced artist and writers to conform to a style
  called socialist realism. Its goal was to boost
  socialism by showing Soviet life in a positive
  light.

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• When Stalin died in 1953, the Soviet Union had
  become a modern military and industrial power.

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Soviet Leaders at Stalins Funeral