1. “Sometimes - history needs a push” -Lenin
Russian Revolution
“Sometimes - history needs a push”
-Lenin

2. WWI
Poor equipment, poorly trained soldiers, food and fuel shortages at home
Did not play well at home
Low Morale, Czar and court took the blame

3. February Revolution (1917)
Unrest of the common people towards the Czar
Poor working conditions, poor economy, food shortages, military failures
What military failures?
During a demonstration, troops fired upon crowd
Caused strikes, riots, and mutiny on Battleship Potemkin
1905- Czar Nicholas created 1st Constitution and Duma
(elected parliament) Called the Provisional Gov’t

4. Provisional Government
Where else have we seen this? How successful was it?
Run by the Romanovs, Radical organizations had a lot of influence and support
Situation of chaos and no true leader
In comes Lenin

5. Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov
Strong supporter of Socialism (enemy of Czar)
Along with his other supporters, The Bolsheviks, they begin to gain support of the masses
“Peace, Land and bread”

6. October Revolution Russian Politics in disarray Planned a Coup D’etat
Oct. 10, 1917 meeting was held
Began to take over positions all over city
Banks, railroad stations, post offices, bridges
By the 26th the Bolsheviks had won

7. Reforms NEP: Politics: National Economic Policy
Small scale capitalism
Peasants would sell surplus allowed small businesses to continue
Gov’t kept major industries
Politics:
Bolsheviks renamed the Communist Party
Communism = Classless society
Dictatorship of the proletariat

8. Aftermath Russian Civil War Established the Soviet Union in 1922
Reds (Communist) vs. Blues (Nationalists, Conservatives and other Anti-Bolsheviks)
4 years later, Lenin won.
Established the Soviet Union in 1922
USSR
1923 Lenin Died

9. Totalitarianism in Russia with Stalin as their “fearless leader”
Russian Revolution

10. Trotsky v. Stalin
Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin were the two rivals competing for the top position.
The winner in this struggle was Joseph Stalin
Stalin turned the Soviet Union in to a totalitarian state
What’s Totalitarianism?

11. Totalitarianism
Government takes complete, central control over every aspect of public and private life
It challenges the values of democratic states of the Enlightenment
reason, freedom, human dignity, and the worth of the individual
(Please refer to page 875for a chart on Totalitarianism)

12. Police State
Not even the slightest bit of dissent was allowed, before the secret police arrested you
If there was even the slightest suspicion you were planning to overthrow the government or failed to meet your quota…Bye, Bye!
Stalin became more powerful than any of the previous Russia czars

13. Religious Persecution
State encouraged (no…demanded) atheism
Police destroyed churches and synagogues
Persecuted religious leaders
But people still clung to their faiths

14. Great Purge
Stalin arrested many Bolsheviks who participated in the revolution & almost every leader in Stalin’s government for “crimes against the Soviet state”
These killings were called the Great Purge
8 to 13 million deaths occurred

15. Command Economy
Stalin changed Lenin’s NEP to an economy controlled by the government
Wanted to catch up to Great Britain and Germany, as well as the rest of Europe, in industrialization

16. First Five Year Plan and Worker’s Lives
1928: Stalin outlined Five-Year Plan
The government take drastic steps to promote rapid industrial growth and strengthen military defenses (remember just lost WWI)
Set impossibly high quotas for the output of steel, coal, oil, and electricity
To reach goals, Russia limited the production of consumer goods – thus hurting the population
Government controlled every aspect of a worker’s life-who, where and when they work

17. The Agriculture Revolution
The Agriculture Revolution was very successful, but far more brutal
In 1928, Stalin began to seize 25 million private farms and combine them into huge collective farms. Peasants worked on these farms.

18. The Agriculture Revolution
The Peasants were angry-they revolted by destroying crops and livestock
Stalin struck back with the secret police, sending peasants to work at the threat of death
Between 5-10 million peasants were killed with millions more sent to Siberia.
The kulaks, wealthy peasants, revolted and their entire class was sent to death or work camps

19. Success!
In 10 years:
Wheat production was doubled due to collective farming
Electricity production was up 800%
Steel production increased from 4 to 18 million metric tons
The USSR was becoming a major industrial power

20. In the Long Run Stalin responsible for Russia’s industrialization
Russia was able to stand up to Germany in WWII
Stalin changed Russia from an agricultural backwater into a world-power industrial giant
But the people paid the price for these gains
Communist Party ruled until 1991