SOC 30-1 Readings: Chapter 5 – parts on Russia SOC 30-2 Readings: Chapter 7, pg. 161-172.

SOC 30-1 Readings: Chapter 5 – parts on Russia

SOC 30-2 Readings: Chapter 7, pg. 161-172

Nature of Totalitarian (Dictatorship) Regimes:Totalitarian regimes are responding to what they

see as dangerous and destabilizing changesExisting society is in need of a complete

transformation

In the case of the Soviet Union, it became RadicalThe change desired is a move toward the far left of

the economic spectrum (a classless society with state [public] ownership of property) and a COMPLETE REJECTION of the political and economic traditions of the past

Nature of Totalitarian (Dictatorship) Regimes:Just like liberalism, dictatorships are simply

ideologiesThe focus is about control over your citizens

Control is maintained through:Extensive local, regional, and national organizationsYouth, professional, cultural and athletic groups

(forced participation)A secret police, using terrorIndoctrination through educationCensorship of the mediaRedirecting popular discontent (scapegoating)

Nature of Totalitarian (Dictatorship) Regimes:If Liberalism embraces…

LawIndividual Rights and FreedomsPrivate PropertySelf InterestEconomic FreedomCompetition

Then dictatorships reject some of these principlesBut which ones…?

•Weakness of Tsar Nicholas II•Failure of the Duma•Discontent of the workers•Failures during WWI•Rasputin and Scandal•Opposition of the Communists•February Revolution, 1917

Weakness of Tsar Nicholas IIWas the absolute monarch of

Russia. He had total powerNicholas II was a weak man

His secret police, the Okrana, were used to persecute opponents

Books and newspapers censoredThe Church supported the Tsar

Nicholas II ruled a vast country that was almost medieval compared to other countriesHis undemocratic government

also caused tension

Failure of the DumaIn 1905, Russia lost a war with Japan

The defeat caused strikes throughout RussiaNicholas II offered to call the Duma, or parliament,

with free electionsWhen the Duma met, it began to criticize the Tsar

and demanded the changes. Nicholas II didn’t like thisThe Duma was dismissed and new elections,

controlled by the Tsar were calledIt became clear that the Duma would be shut

down if it criticized the Tsar – as long as the Tsar had control of the army, his power could not be broken.

Workers’ DiscontentIndustrialization began much later in Russia than in

Western EuropeHuge iron foundries, textile factories, and engineering

firms were set upMost were owned by the government or foreignersBy 1900, 20% of Russians were workers living in cities

Working conditions in towns was very hard, pay was lowIllegal strikes often took place, with strikers being shot

by the Tsar’s soldiers or even secret police

‘The whole day we pour out our blood and sweat.

Every minute we are exposed to danger.’-Union leaflet 1898

Workers’ DiscontentTraditionally, Russia was a rural society with

over 90% of the people being poor peasantsUntil 1861, peasants had belonged to their

masters, who could buy and sell them like animalsWhen the peasants were freed in 1861, they were

given small amounts of land for which they had to pay back the government

Most peasants were in a state of poverty. Agriculture was in desperate need of modernization

In contrast, a small number of upper-class people held most of the wealth and power. This aristocracy had large town houses and country estates

Russian Failures in WWIRussia fought very well early on in the

war In 1915, Tsar Nicholas II assumed

personal command of the Russian forces Risky- any defeats would be blamed

on him It turned out that he was a poor

commanderThe Russian army lost confidence in

him after a string of defeatsThe Russian soldiers were poorly

equipped and trained; thousands deserted Lacked basic items such as rifles and

ammunitionWithout the support of the army, the

Tsar’s position became precarious

Rasputin and ScandalWhile Nicholas II was commanding

the Russian forces, he left the day-to-day running of Russia to his wife: Tsarina Alexandra

Alexandra came under the influence of Gregory Rasputin Seen as a ‘holy man’ Was apparently able to heal the

hemophilia of Prince Alexis, the heir to the throne

Rasputin used his power to win effective control of the Russian government This aroused envy and he was

murdered in 1916 Rasputin’s influence undermined

the prestige of the royal family

Opposition of the CommunistsMany middle-class Liberals and social

revolutionaries who supported the peasants opposed the TsarBut the social democrats/communists were the

most revolutionaryRussian Communists are divided into two groups

Bolsheviks – led by Lenin Believed that a small party of Bolsheviks should seize

power and control Russia on behalf of the peopleMensheviks – led by Trotsky

Before 1917, Lenin and many other communist leaders were in exile abroad, plotting revolution

February & October Revolutions, 1917Russia did so poorly in WWI that a

spontaneous uprising occurred in FebruarySparked by food riots, poor working

conditions, and failure to win the warThe Russian army refused to shoot at the

demonstrators and joined forces with them

Lenin, in exile in Switzerland, raced to Petrograd so that he could attempt to seize control of the revolution

In March 1917, the Tsar was forced to abdicate and a provisional government was set up Lenin believed that this new government was weak and would not

impose communism on the Russian people In October 1917, Lenin led an armed uprising against the

Provisional Government

•Abandoning the Constituent Assembly•The Cheka•Success of the New Economic Policy•The Kronstadt Revolt, 1921•War Communism•Execution of Tsar Nicholas II, 1918•Civil War: 1918-1921•Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 1918

Abandonment of the Constituent Assembly, 1917Immediately after the October Revolution, Lenin

promised to hold elections for a parliament to be known as the Constituent Assembly

Lenin renamed the Bolshevik Party as the Communist Part in order to win wider support. However, the Communists only won 175/700 seats –

not enough for a majorityTherefore Lenin shut down the Constituent Assembly

after only one day!Lenin was not prepared to share power with

anyone. This was the first step in setting up a Communist dictatorship

The Cheka (secret police)In December 1917, Lenin created

the ChekaCheka agents spied on the Russian

people in factories and villagesAnyone suspected of being anti-

Communist could be arrested, tortured, and executed without a trial

When opponents tried to assassinate Lenin in 1918, he launched the Red Terror campaign against his enemiesEstimated 50,000 people were

arrested and executed in this period

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 1918To impose Communist control, Lenin needed to

bring Russia out of WWIThe Russian army was weakened by poor morale,

desertions, and a lack of discipline. It could not resist the Germans

In March 1918, Russia signed a humiliating peace treaty with GermanyRussia lost a huge amount of Western lands,

including 1/6 of its population (60 million people!)Also lost ¾ of its iron & coal mines, and over ¼ of

its best farmland!The Treaty came at a high price, but Lenin knew

he could not defeat Germany and his opponents in Russia at the same time

Treaty ofBrest-Litovsk

1918

Germany

Russia

.Brest-Litovsk

Ukraine

Estonia

Latvia

Lithuania

Russian territory ceded to Germany

Civil War: 1918-1921Two groups

“Reds” – Lenin & the Communists“Whites” – aristocrats, royalists, churchmen,

army officers, many others Also supported by Britain, France, Japan, and the USA;

countries alarmed at the possible spread of Communism

The Reds managed to win the civil war. How?The Whites were divided, while the Reds

controlled the key cities, industrial centers, and communication links

Leon Trotsky’s tough leadership of the new Red Army also proved to be a decisive advantage

Allied armies

White Russian armies

Polish armies

Japanese armies Finns

Communist Russia Communist Russia besieged during the besieged during the Civil War 1918-1921Civil War 1918-1921

• Moscow

• Petrograd

Czechs (ex-prisoners of war)

Civil War: 1918-1921Leon Trotsky – founder

and commander of the Red Army

“Every scoundrel who incites anyone to retreat or to desert will be shot!”

“Every soldier who throws away his rifle will be shot!”

Execution of Tsar Nicholas IIAfter abdicating the throne, Nicholas II and

his family were arrested and sent to SiberiaIn July 1918, the Romanovs were in

Ekaterinburg, with a White army closing in on the townLocal communists were worried that the Tsar

might be a rallying point for the WhitesThus the Tsar, his wife, their five children, and

four attendants were shot and bayoneted

Lenin replaced War Communism with his NEP in 1921

He never saw it as a permanent policy, but as a temporary retreat from socialism that would give Russia a chance to recover economically and socially

New Economic PolicyProvisions

State retained ownership in large industryPrivate enterprise allowed in small industries and retail tradePeasants freed from forced requisitions

Had to pay tax in kind to the government, but were otherwise free to sell the rest of their produce on the free market

Farmers given a strong incentive to produce moreThe NEP was a tremendous success and it

quickly revived the Russian economy

New Economic Policies“Dangers”75% of all retail trade fell into

private hands during the NEPCaused the rise of “Nepmen”

It was feared that they would become the new “bourgeoisie”

Caused the rise of “kulaks”Peasants had grown wealthy

because of private enterprise provisions of the NEP

Debate over the NEP would become linked to the power struggle after Lenin’s death

Ban on “Factions”In response to criticisms of the

NEP, Lenin and Politburo ban all “factions” in 1922Any party member who joined

others to oppose or criticize any party policy would be expelled

Stalin would later use this policy to eliminate rivals

Leaders who would later suffer because of this policy all voted for it in 1922

Lenin suffered a series of increasingly serious strokes between 1921 and 1924.

These left him speechless and paralyzed.

He also made two mistakes 1) Supported the ban on factions 2) Appointed Josef Stalin as General Secretary of the Communist Party

Lenin Moves to get rid of StalinLenin discovered that Stalin had

used terror and murder to stifle peaceful opposition of local communist leaders in GeorgiaLenin criticized Stalin’s “Moscow

chauvinism” and began to meet with Trotsky to kick Stalin out of the party

Stalin learned of the meeting and berated Lenin’s wife, Krupskaya, when she would not let him meet with Lenin

Lenin’s Last TestamentBegan in 1922 – Lenin did not name a successor, but

offered his personal evaluation of all possible candidatesStalin: should be replaced with someone “more patient,

more loyal, more courteous, and less capricious”Trotsky: most pre-eminent member of the party but

suffered from excessive self-confidence and highhandedness

Highly praised Nicholas Bukharin and Felix PyatokovNo one was fit to succeed him

He wanted Trotsky and several other party members to form a caretaker government until Bukharin and Pyatokov were ready to take over

Death of LeninLenin took final steps

to eliminate StalinBut a final stroke on

March 10, 1924 completely paralyzes Lenin before he could get rid of StalinLenin died in early

1924 at the age of 54

Death of LeninWhen Lenin died, he had been

very successful in imposing a communist dictatorship in Russia

He had defeated all of his opponents and established a strong communist government As each of the areas formerly

belonging to the Tsar came under communist control, they were turned into socialist republics

In 1923, these became the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)

But, Lenin failed to provide a clear successor on his death. This led to four years of bitter struggle

Stalin VS TrotskyAfter Lenin’s death, a four-year power struggle

emerged as to who would lead the Communist partyTrotsky believed that under his leadership, Russia

would become a catalyst for the spread of Communism across the worldHe had also been very successful as the commander of

the Red Army and appeared to have Lenin’s supportStalin had not played a significant part in the

Revolution of 1917, but had since gained a number of key posts in the Communist partyStalin had no interest in international communism; he

wanted to make Russia strong, with himself at its head

Reason’s for Stalin’s SuccessStalin’s strong position

As General Secretary of the Communist party, Stalin had the job of appointing posts in the party He could remove opponents and replace them with

supportersHe was also popular since he wanted to concentrate

on turning Russia into a modern, powerful stateTrotsky was much less popular

He had been a Menshevik and had only joined the Bolsheviks in 1917

He gradually lost positions during the struggle and was forced into exile in 1929 Stalin had him assassinated in Mexico in 1940

Other leading figures of 1917: Kamenev, Zinoviev, and Bukharin were also removed by Stalin

Stalin’s Dictatorship:Purges & Propaganda

Even with his opponents removed, Stalin felt insecure

He conducted a policy of purges between 1934-1938Millions arrested, executed, or sent

to labour campsStalin used the NKVD, secret

police, to undertake the “Great Terror”. Stalin purged: 90% of the army’s top officers Every navy admiral 1 million Communist Party

members 20 million+ ordinary Russians

He also encouraged a cult of personality – propaganda was used to make people constantly aware of Stalin

A foreigner describes the glorification of Stalin in the USSR“Stalin’s face is everywhere. His name is spoken by everyone. His praises are sung in every speech. Every room I entered had a portrait of Stalin hanging on the wall. Is it love or fear? I do not know.

Socialism in One CountryStalin’s victory also had an ideological

componentOf three possible views, only his had the most

attraction for rank-and-file party membersCommunist Right: told people to bide their time to

become powerful (Bukharin)Communist Left: made Russia and its revolution

seem ineffective and unimportant (Trotsky)Only Stalin offered a program and goal that could

be achieved by SovietsTo underline this point, the 15th Party Congress

also adopted measures that ended the NEP and began a new era of Five-Year Plans

Overview:•Made Russia a great industrial nation

• Russia was 5th in industrial production in 1928• It became neck-and-neck with the USA in 1980!

•New system of collective farming introduced•A vast social transformation aaccompanied the economic changes

Reasons for giving up the NEPNEP viewed as a temporary retreat from socialism

Unacceptable to most CommunistsIndustry had gained prewar levels, but future growth

depended on massive investmentPeasants felt state prices were too low and refused to sell,

and felt prices were manufactured products were too high and refused to buy

Five-Year Plans would fix the situation by ensuring a steady supply of food at low prices and squeezing necessary capital for industrial growth out of peasants

Stalin knew that war with Germany and Japan was inevitableVictory depended on absolute control of population and

industrial strengthFive-Year Plans would collectivize agriculture and put

peasants in centralized areas where they could be watched and would increase industrial production

First Five Year Plan (1928-1932)Projected that industrial production

would increase by 200%Emphasis on heavy industry

Investment capital would come from collective farms20% of agricultural production

would be performed on collective farms Large consolidated blocs of land made

up of formerly independent peasant smallholdings

Peasants would live and work together on these farms and equally share income from them

Collective Farms: AdvantagesWould halt growth of “petty capitalist

mentalities” among peasants Would make the peasants easier to

watch and educate them Increased productivity through

mechanizationCreation of large industrial

workforce – increased mechanization has fewer peasants farming

Provide Capital for industrial development State would pay farms 1/8 market

value for products Difference diverted into industry Farmer would also pay sales tax and

this would be invested into industry

Collectivization Gets RoughCollectivization was supposed to be voluntary

But it was clear that peasants would not voluntarily give up their small parcels of land

Stalin then abruptly announced the abandonment of his 20% collectivization goal and states that ALL peasants would be collectivized – by force if needed Also announced his intention to liquidate all kulaks

Thousands of kulaks had their property and possession confiscated Many sent to labour camps or deported to Siberia All this was done with a great deal of armed force

Very High Price of Collectivization98% of all farmland collectivized

by 1941Peasants slaughtered livestock –

huge drop in # of sheep, cattle, and hogs

Urban communist party members sent to manage farmsIgnorant of agricultureHuge drop in agricultural famine

Famine hits again in 1932-33Crime of “pilfering” imposed on

starving peasants who stole their own grain

At least 5 million people died during collectivization

IndustryThe Industrial labour force doubled during the first Five Year Plan

Peasants were moving to citiesUncooperative factory managers who argued

that goals were too high were imprisoned and replaced with more enthusiastic men and women

Stalin declared the Plan fulfilled in 1932All targets were under fulfilled, but production

had drastically increased Coal & iron by 200% (target of 300% though)

First Five Year PlanThe most glaring shortfall occurred in consumer

goodsTargets had been low to begin with, but they were

still not met Textile production actually declined Urban housing went from bad to abysmal

Waste, chaos, and mismanagement accompanied rapid industrializationExpensive equipment was ruined by trying to

produce too much too fast, or by using untrained workers

Blame was put on “saboteurs” Often technically educated men of pre-1917 generation

Second Five Year Plan (1933-1937)Had to be scaled down after one year

Realization that a limit had been reached as to what the economy could do and what people could take

Emphasis placed on improvement of efficiency and improving living standards

Things got better for three years and then leveled offDue to increased emphasis on military

production and chaos of the Great Purges

Third Five Year Plan (1938-1942)Projected 200% increase in production and

increase in consumer productsNeither goal is fulfilledThe outbreak of WWII causes an oil shortage

and severe labour shortageMain goal had been achieved by 1941:

Although demoralized and exhausted, the Soviet Union had become one of the world’s great industrial superpowers

Problems Of CentralizationHuge planning bureaucracy

Tons of paperworkStalin interfered with planning

& caused problemsHired flunkies who gave him

the numbers he wanted No one would point out the

mistakes, thereby guaranteeing that when a mistake was made, it would be a giant one

Centralized planning failed to make the Soviet Union competitive in the world marketplace

Effects of Stalin’s Rule on men and womenPro’s Con’sSchools builtSocial insurance

schemes introducedRussia became a modern

industrial country

Millions suffered in Stalin’s purges

Brutality, persecution, executions, forced labour

Millions died of starvation and over-work

Shops empty, clothes dull and badly made

Household items difficult to find

The Great Patriotic War (1941-1945)

When Germany attacked the USSR in 1941, Stalin used the same ruthlessness to defend his countryThis defense was the bloodiest

war in history and cost millions of lives and the destruction of thousands of villages, towns and cities

The final victory was, like everything else, attributed to Stalin by the Soviet propaganda machine

After the war, Stalin built up the USSR as a superpower, in opposition to the USAThis conflict is known as the Cold

WarStalin died in 1953