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Summary communism in russia study notes/summaries
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Communism in Russia When Russia became the Union Soviet Socialist Republics, a one-party totalitariangovernment in which the government has total control over its people.
Living conditions worsened for working people as prices rose and food became scarce
because of the war.
Key Question: How was communism applied in Russia under Lenin Stalin? A priest, Father George Gapon, led thousands of workers in a peaceful protest
1905 Revolution and the Issues outside the Winter Palace in St Petersburg to bring their economic grievances to the
The Russian Revolution was one of the most important events of the 20th century; it attention of The Tsar on Sunday, 9 January 1905.
was the first attempt in modern history to create a socialist society which the states Russia still held a very traditional political and social structure during the late 19th The crowd was attached by troops and many were killed in an event that went on to
hold all the wealth on behalf of the people and shares it fairly among them. century. become known as ‘’Bloody Sunday’’ which also marked the beginning of the 1905
The idea was that everyone should share more or less equality in the country’s The Tsar Emperor, who was an autocratic monarch ruled by divine right and had the Revolution.
wealth. support of the most landed nobility. Bloody Sunday was followed by student demonstrations, workers strikes, peasant
And the government in return give then whatever the needed to live decently. The peasants were generally poor and oppressed. disorders, mutinies in the armed forces, and unrest in the non-Russian parts of the
Vladimir Lenin was greatly influenced by Marx’s ideas, but he adapted them to Empire.
The authorities: Taxed the heavily, forced them to do military service, allowed
Russian conditions. • Like Marx, Lenin believed that the government of a socialist In August 1905, the Tsarist regime was able to breathe a sigh of relief when peace
landowners to punish them by beating them, banned them from traveling to other parts
country should have absolute control over a country’s economy and all its wealth. was made with Japan by the Treaty of Portsmouth.
of the country without a passport.
Like Marx he believed that for communism to be achieved, the country’s wealth Loyal troops could now be brought back by rail from the Far East to strengthen the
1861 saw the emancipation liberated from serfdom as free citizens of the serf’s
needed to be shared equally among its citizens. regime’s position, once it had brought striking railwaymen under control.
peasants who had to stay on the noble’s land where they had been born.
At this point there would be no conflict in society. The October Manifesto, a declaration to provide a constitution and allow a nationally
This meant they were now free citizens and could own property, buy land, and run
The Russians state set up by the Bolsheviks was called The Union of Soviet Socialist elected parliament. The Duma was signed by Tsar Nicholas II in October 1905.
businesses.
Republican (USSR), not Communist Republics, because communism had not yet been In effect, most liberals withdrew from the Revolution and began to prepare for
However, they had to pay redemption dues. (repaying the value of the land they had
achieved. elections while the more radical elements, continued the struggle.
been given by the landlord when they were emancipated.)
Russia’s attempt in setting up a socialist state and striving to achieve communist as In October, the St Petersburg Soviet was established, with Leon Trotsky as a
The Russians state set up the Bolsheviks called USSR because communism had not
well as its ultimate failure to achieve this, when the USSR collapsed at the end of 1991. prominent member, to act as town council and provide a place where the workers could
yet been achieved.
The state must organise and control society in order to achieve communism. discuss political ideas.
Each village, had village commune, that divided the land among the peasants, paid
taxes on behalf of the whole community, and decided who might seek seasonal work in The police closed down the St Petersburg Soviet in December with the troops putting
The Writings of Karl Marx down an armed uprising by the Moscow Soviet in support of the St Petersburg Soviet.
towns,
The peasants remained largely uneducated and illiterate. While peasants began pasturing their animals and cutting timber illegally on the
It was in the 19th – century German thinker, Karl Marx, who first articulated the property owners’ estates.
modern idea of communism. The merchants, artisans, government officials and seasonal workers lived in the
Some estates were looted and burned while property owners and officials were
Its slogan was: ‘Workers of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your towns which were still relatively small.
attached. • In April 1906 the government issued the Fundamental Law.
chains.’ Russia was still under the Tsar’s autocratic rule.
Since the Industrial Revolution, which began in Britain, in the late 18th century, Marx Economic Developments
said that in industrial countries there were two economically important classes of The Link between the 1905 and the 1917 Revolutions
people. From about 1890, Russia began industrialising rapidly, more than a century after
One was the bourgeoisie, which owned the ‘means of production’ and the other was Britain.
Between the 1906 and early there was regular disagreement between the elected
proletariat, the industrial working class, which was employed by the bourgeoisie and Rapid industrialization, however, brought with it much social and political change.
Duma and the other Tsar’s appointed government.
worked for low wages while their labour made huge profits for their bosses. The government also put pressure on peasants to produce more grain for export so
The Tsar then changed the franchise to favour the traditionally conservative classes,
Marx predicted that the people would eventually rebel against their leaders. that it could raise money to import more foreign machinery.
especially the landed nobility.
This would be the first revolution; however, the first two classes were eventually This factor often led to hunger.
From the July 1906, Peter Stolypin acted as the Tsar’s prime minster.
bound to clash in class welfare, which the proletariat would win. This grievance made the peasants angry with local landholders.
His reforms included:
In the second socialist revolution, power would be seized by the proletariat and form Industrial workers had grievances too:
Land reform.
a ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ They worked for little pay for long hours and in dangerous and uncomfortable
The government’s aim was to establish prosperous middle-class of peasants, who
Marx argued that after a while, the bourgeoisie would disappear and there would be conditions.
would resist revolution because they would want to hold onto their land.
a classless society. Housing was in short supply and very basic.
Improvements in:
This would be true communism. Food and drink were expensive.
Education
heath care
Lenin’s interpretation of Marxism The Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)
poverty relief.
At the same time as these reforms, Stolypin put down opposition by terrorist and
Because more than 80% of Russia’s population were peasants, revolution in Russia It was in these conditions that Russia went to war against Japan in February 1904.
revolutionaries by force, many of these were hanged.
could not be achieved by the proletariat alone. The peasants would have to join in if the Japan and Russia were competing for land in the Far East.
This was a time of enormous progress in Russia, fuelled by military spending and a
Tsarist government was to be overthrown. Russia went to suffer major defeats both on land and at sea.
foreign credit.
Russia could move quickly from a first bourgeoise and liberal revolution to a second These defeats added to the government’s unpopularity at home.
This caused a rush of peasant to the towns to work in new factories.
and final proletarian and socialist one without a long period of bourgeoisie rule in As a result, worsening conditions for workers- slum housing, long working hours,
between the two. poor pay.
After the revolution, the state would control the wealth of the country and supervise In 1912 the miners on the Lena goldfields went on a strike.
its redistribution under the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’. The Communist Party should The Revolution 1905
The police opened fire and killed 200 and wounded many more.
control the estate, as it was the ‘vanguard’ of the proletariat, its frontline.
, As in the case of Blood Sunday in 1905, millions of people right around the country In order to commemorate International Women’s Day on February 1917, women The executive committee of the Petrograd Soviet issued order Number One to the
were horrified. came out onto the streets of Petrograd in a march where they were joined by striking Petrograd soldiers and sailors the day before the February Revolution.
metalworkers and female textile workers. This order instructed them to set up their own committees.
Reform seemed to be at an end On 26 February, under the Tsar’s orders, troops opened fire on the crowds, and many The Provisional Government immediately introduced major liberals’ reforms:
were killed. Freedom of Speech and the press
o The government would not allow workers to form trade unions. In February the demonstrations turned into a revolution, when many troops sided Abolition of all privileges
o Workers and peasants could not influence the Duma because they could no longer with the people. Amnesty for all political prisoners.
elect their representatives to it. In March, it issued Order Number One, which put the troops under its direct Freedom of assembly(meeting)
o Deeply conservatives’ classes of people, such as landowners, controlled the Duma command. The right to strike.
and would not vote for significant reforms. On 2 March, the Temporary Committee of the Duma set up ‘Provisional Government Russia in wartime became freer than any other country.
‘and on the same day the Tsar abdicated in favour of his brother, the Grand Duke Lenin was allowed to return to Russia from Switzerland where he had been in exile by
Trotsky’s role Michael, who refused to take up the post and for the first time in 300 years. the Germans in April 1917.
He took a different cause of action.
In February 1905, after the Bloody Sunday, Trotsky returned from exile to Russia. He Causes of the February Revolution political, economic and social He immediately called for an end to support for the Provisional Government and
joined the St Petersburg Soviet and was later elected as chairman. However, in made the following demands.
December 1905 he was arrested and deported to Siberia, but managed to escape from • There were 3 main causes: Political causes, Economic causes and social cause. Down with the Government!
Russia. All power to the Soviets!
He was to return to Russia only in May 1917, after the overthrow of the Tsar in Political Causes: End the war!
February of that year. Land, Peace, and Bread!
He joined the Bolsheviks and, in October 1917 and was once again elected as the The Tsar remained an authorised monarch after the 1905 reforms.
chairman of the Petrograd. The fundamental Law of 1908 had made this clear:’ Supreme Autocratic Power The October 1917 Revolution
During his years away from Russia, Trotsky had developed his theory of ‘Permanent belongs to the Emperor of all Russia’
Revolution’. The Dumas elected after 1905 were too critical for the Tsar’s liking so he dissolved • In July 1917, the Russian army launched a new offensive, but the Germans and
This idea would later clash with Stalin’s idea of ‘Socialism in one Country.’ them. Australians pushed them back with huge losses.
He then changed the electoral law in 1907 to give the more conservative classes.
Influence on Lenin’s Revolution Theory World War I added to the deteriorating political conditions which were already made • Some regiments mutinied and deserted.
worse by the fact that Tsar was away taking command at the front.
• During the 1905 Revolution, Lenin moved between Finland and Russia in unsuccessful This led to ineffectiveness in government, and growing unhappiness and frustrations • There was mass demonstration in Petrograd in protest against harsh living conditions,
attempt to influence the course of events, while escaping arrest. in all parts of the populations. but the protestors were chased away by loyal troops.
• He later called the 1905 Revolution the great ‘dress rehearsal’ for the final, successful Economic causes: Causes of the October Revolution:
Revolution.
Peasants were brought to the town to work in new factories due to the rapid growth • Political causes, economic causes and social causes.
• The main lesson that Lenin learnt during the course of the Revolution were, that the of industry, where they suffered from very poor living conditions.
proletariat should take the lead in the next revolution. Peasants and workers suffered the most because of World War I with the rising Political causes:
inflammation and growing shortage in food and fuel.
World War One, 1914- 1918 Economic desperation was the spark that lit the fire of revolution with the shortage The sharing of the power between the Petrograd Soviet and the Provisional
of breed in Petrograd in February 1917 begin an immediate cause of the revolution. Government under the Dual Authority arrangement weakened the Provisional
In August 1914, World War I broke out. Government from the beginning.
Russia was immediately involved, fighting on the side of Britain and France against Social causes The election of the Petrograd Soviet by the workers and armed forces meant that it
Germany and Austria Hungary. had more power than Provisional government.
In the first year of the War, Russia lost 4 million men and its army was being pushed There was an ancient division in Russia between the different classes. The Provisional Government made its own situation worse by extending full political
back rapidly by the end of 1915. In politics, the liberal and socialist intellectuals, on the one hand, opposed the freedoms to all.
In August 1915 Tsar Nicholas II decided to take personal command of the army. conservatives and traditionalist, on the other, eventually these differences were bound When Lenin returned from exile, he immediately calls for an end to support for
He left his German born wife, Alexandra in charge of the government. to boil over into conflict. provisional Government.
This made for poor government, which made the Russian people even more Worsening economic conditions during World War I would be the immediate cause
dissatisfied. of the revolution. Economic causes
The war caused prices rise.
The war also caused food and fuel shortages. The October 1917 Revolution The economic conditions of the workers and peasants got worse
In November 1916, the Liberal deputy, Miliukov attacked the government’s The continuation of the war meant the worsening of the peasants’ economic
incompetence. In October 1917, a second revolution occurred resulting in the Bolsheviks taking conditions.
By the end of 1916 people were dissatisfied and frustrated with Russia’s government. power. Inflation and the cost of living rose sharply while critical shortages of food, fuel, and
Between February and October 1917, two different groups competed for power in many other items continued.
The February and October Revolution Petrograd. Poverty got worse for the masses and drove them to political action in the streets.
The Petrograd Soviet set up executive committee to control the city.
The temporary committee of the Duma became the Provisional Government of Social causes
Russia.
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