Revolution + Nationalism Ch 30 1900-1939
Jan 21, 2016
Revolution + Nationalism
Ch 30
1900-1939
Russia U.S.S.R.• Rule of
the Czars• Russia was an autocracy (a gov.’t in
which the ruler has unlimited power + uses it in an arbitrary manner)
• Anyone who questioned the czar’s authority, spoke a language other than Russian, or didn’t practice the Russian Orthodox Christian faith was considered dangerous
• Jews were especially persecuted• When Czar Nicholas II came into power,
Russia was modernizing, but it was still behind Western Europe
• He rapidly industrialized Russia• Led to bad living + working
conditions which angered many Russians
• of the Bolsheviks
• A group that followed the views of Karl Marx formed
• They believed industrial workers (proletariat) would overthrow the czar
• The radical Bolsheviks were willing to sacrifice everything to make that change
• Led by Vladimir Lenin
“Comrade Lenin Cleanses the Earth of Filth”, a Communist
poster from 1920.
• Crises Cause the Czar to Lose Support
1. Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)• Loses angered Russians
2. Bloody Sunday (Jan. 22, 1905)• 200,000 workers + their families
marched to the czar’s palace w/ a petition asking for better working conditions, more personal freedoms, + an elected national legislature
• Czar’s generals ordered soldiers to fire on the crowd + hundreds died
• Provoked violence + so Czar Nicholas II granted more personal freedom + created the Duma (Russian parliament) - which he would later dissolve
• 3. WWI – Russians suffered numerous defeats + casualties
• 4. Rasputin, a corrupt “holy man” was able to treat Prince Alexis (heir to the Russian throne) for his hemophilia. B/c of that, while the czar was fighting in WWI, the czarina let Rasputin make important political decisions
• He was despised by Russians + murdered
• The March Revolution
• 200,000 workers go out into the streets + protest the gov.’t
• Soldiers will side w/ them• Led to revolution + the abdication of
Czar Nicholas II (last czar of Russia)• A provisional gov.’t (temporary gov.’t)
was established. It was weak + kept Russia in WWI
• The Bolshevik Revolution
• (1918-1920) Lenin returned to Russia + led the Bolsheviks. They toppled the provisional gov.’t + took over
• Signed truce w/ Germany + surrendered a lot of land
• Russians angry + civil war breaks out
• The Red Army (Lenin’s Bolsheviks) fought against the White Army (Some supported a czarist gov.’t, some wanted democracy, + some were socialists who didn’t like Lenin)
• 14 mil Russians die from war + famine
• Red Army won
• Formation of the U.S.S.R.
• Lenin revived economy by establishing a socialist economy (system in which the gov.’t controls major industries)
• Lenin ordered the deaths of the czar + his family
• Lenin reorganized gov.’ts w/in the country + renames Russia the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR or Soviet Union)
• Bolsheviks rename themselves the Communist Party
End Section 1
30.2
Joseph Stalin takes power of USSR after Lenin + establishes a totalitarian state…
• Totalitarianism • A gov.’t that takes total, centralized, state control over every aspect of public + private life
• Totalitarian leaders appear to provide a sense of security + give direction for the future
• Challenges the highest values of Western democracies (reason, freedom, human dignity, + worth of individuals)
• Characteristics of a totalitarian gov.’t include: • Police Terror – crush opposition, spy +
intimidate, often use brutal methods• Indoctrination – instruction in the
gov.’t’s beliefs (control education to glorify the leader, his policies, + establish loyalty)
• Propaganda + Censorship – gov.’t controls media + only shows info that reflects positively on the gov.’t (much of it is lies)
• Religious or Ethnic Persecution – often create “enemies of the state” (someone to blame for any of the gov.’t’s failures), usually a member of a minority group who are often subjected to campaigns of terror
• Stalin Builds a Totalitarian State
• His secret police monitored phone lines, read mail, + planted informers everywhere
• In 1934, he launched the Great Purge, a campaign of terror to eliminate anyone who threatened his power (real or imagined)
• “enemies” were found guilty of “crimes against the state” + sent to labor camps or executed
• Controlled all sources of media + the arts – had to glorify Stalin + the USSR
• Controlled education from nursery schools to college
• Tried to achieve a atheist state by persecuting different faiths (many still clung to their religious beliefs though)
• Stalin Controls the Economy
• Proclaimed that USSR was far behind western powers in development + tried to close the gap quickly
• Established a command economy (system where the gov.’t makes all economic decisions)
• Sought to speed up industrialization w/ the 1st 5-year plan (plan for the development of the USSR). It set impossibly high goals for production for items like steel, coal, oil, etc…
• Led to shortages of consumer goods, + although most goals weren’t met, many gains were made.
• Launched a 2nd 5-year plan w/ similar results
• Also sought to control agricultural production• Seized private farms + combined them
into large, gov.’t owned farms called collective farms. The crops were given to the state to redistribute
• Effects on Society
• + Effects: • People became better educated +
mastered new technical skills• Women were treated more equally
• Many held important jobs (but typically not the best jobs)
• - Effects:• Personal freedoms limited, shortage
of consumer goods, dissent prohibited • Women, in addition to holding a full
time job, were still responsible for all housework + childcare
End Section 2
30.3
China• After the
Fall of the Emperor
• China had suffered years of humiliation by foreigners + experiences a in nationalism
• China’s last emperor is overthrown by nationalist gov.’t in 1911
• The Kuomintang (Nationalist Party of China – also known as Guomindang) come into power + establish a republic
• Supported modernization + nationalism
• The president isn’t strong enough to secure national unity + turns the gov.’t over to a general – chaos ensues
• He dies + civil war breaks out
• China supports Allies in WWI, but is angry when Treaty of Versailles gives lands it wanted to Japan
• Start to turn away from democracy in favor of communism
• of 2 Chinese Gov.’ts
• The Chinese Communist Party was organized in 1921, one of the founding members was Mao Zedong
• He wanted a communist revolution to begin in the country w/ the peasants as the revolutionaries
• A new leader in the Kuomintang, Chiang Kai-Shek (or Jiang Jieshi) promised democracy, but his gov.’t became increasingly corrupt + most peasants turn towards Mao’s communists
• (1927) Chiang’s Nationalist troops go into Chinese cities + killed many Communist leaders nearly wiping out the Communist Party in China
• (1928) Chiang became president of China – surviving Communists enraged
• Civil War • By 1930, civil war had broken out
• Mao + the Communists base themselves in the countryside + recruit peasants
• Frequently attacked by Chiang’s Nationalists, but never defeated
• 1933, Chiang + an army of 700,000 surrounded the Communists’ base. 100,000 communists fled + made a 6,000 mi journey called The Long March.
• Japanese Invade China
• While the Communists + Nationalists are fighting, the Japanese invade Manchuria (NE China) in 1931 – this is the beginning of WWII in Asia
• In 1937, Japan launches an all-out invasion of China (known as the 2nd Sino-Japanese War) + would eventually control a large part of China
• This would lead to a temporary truce b/w the Communists + the Nationalists as they united to fight the Japanese
End Section 3
30.4
India + SW Asia• India • Nationalism had been growing since mid 1800s.
Many Indians went to British schools + learned European views on nationalism + democracy. They took those ideas home w/ them.
• 2 groups had formed to promote Indian indep.:
1. Indian National Congress (or Congress Party) – Mostly Hindus
2. The Muslim League• During WWI, millions of Indians served in the
British Army w/ Britain’s promise of reforms leading to Indian indep. afterwards
• Britain didn’t keep its promise + Indian radicals commit acts of violence
• Britain passed the Rowlatt Acts (1919) which allowed the gov.’t to jail protestors w/o trial up to 2 yrs
• Amritsar Massacre
• To protest the Rowlatt Acts, 10,000 Hindu + Muslim Indians gathered at Amritsar + held a festival (non-violent, intended to pray, fast, + listen to political speeches)
• Most didn’t know public meetings were banned
• British commander thought they were openly defying the ban
• British ordered to fire on the crowd w/o warning for 10 min.
• 400 Indians died + 1,200 wounded• Immediately after, millions of
Indians begin to support the Nationalist movement
• British officers responsible weren’t punished
• Gandhi • Mohandas Gandhi became the leader of India’s indep. movement
• Became known as “Mahatma” (Great Soul)
• He urged a policy of noncooperation w/ British gov.’t
• (1920) Congress Party endorsed nonviolence + civil disobedience (deliberate + public refusal to obey an unjust law) to achieve indep.
• He called on Indians to refuse to attend gov.’t schools, not to pay British taxes, + boycott British goods esp. cloth which was very important to the British. He encouraged Indians to make their own cloth.
• (1930) He organized The Salt March in which he + his followers walked 240mi to the sea to make their own salt by collecting seawater + letting the water evaporate rather than buying salt + paying the British salt tax
• They then marched to a saltworks where the British processed salt, intending to shut it down but were brutally attacked by police
• Gandhi + 60,000 others were arrested
• (1935) Britain passed the Gov.’t of Indian Act which allowed local self-gov.t’ but not total indep.
• Turkey• Formerly Ottoman Empire, lost territory after WWI• 1919, Greeks invade Turkey but were defeated by
Turkish Nationalists led by Mustafa Kemal.• He then overthrew the sultan + became 1st
president of the Republic of Turkey-1st republic in SW Asia
• To modernize Turkey he:
1. Separated laws of Islam from laws of state
2. Abolished religious courts + created a legal system based on European law
3. Gave women right to vote + hold public office
4. Gov.’t funded industrialization• He also required Turks to dress in a more western
manner + changed the alphabet from Arabic to Latin• Kemal given the name Ataturk (Father of the Turks)
• Iran • Persia had been divided into British + Russian spheres of influence
• Britain tried to take over all of Persia during the Russian Revolution
• Triggered a Persian nationalist revolt
• Persian army officer Reza Pahlavi seized power
• To modernize his country he:
1. Established public schools
2. Built roads + RRs
3. Promoted industrialization
4. Extended women’s rights
- But he kept all the power
• He changed Persia’s name to Iran
• Saudi Arabia • In 1902, Abd Al-Aziz Ibn Saud unified Arabia + renamed it the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after his family
• Carried on Islamic traditions• Modernization was limited
to religiously acceptable areas
• No efforts to practice democracy were made
End Section 4