Chapter 28: Revolution in Russia Melissa Mui Period F

1:Two Revolutions in Russia What was done. Nicholas II didn’t depend on his Duma to keep peace in his country. He relied on his secret police to take care of troubles caused by rebels. Rebels planned everything in secrecy. They went through ideas and did anything to make sure no one found out about their ideas of a soon to happen, rebellion.

Effects of World War I Russians suddenly had a strong pride toward Russia. But every one of their resources were used for the war. Items weren’t able to reach the front line which caused soldiers to not have necessities such as weapons and food. Nicholas II went to the front lines himself to encourage his men but leaves Russia to Alexandra to take care of.

Czarina Alexandra When Nicholas II left to help his men fight the war, Russia was Left in Alexandra’s hands. But many Russians didn’t like this since she was from Germany. She also didn’t know much about government issues.

Mad Monk, Gregory Rasputin Alexandra looked up to Gregory Rasputin. She believed he did miracles because he was able to save her son. On Dec 29, 1916 Prince Felix Yussoupov plotted to kill Rasputin. He laced Rasputin’s cake and wine and he shot him. But the way that Rasputin died after examining his body, he died from drowning not gunshots.

March 1917 On the war fields, their were shortages of food and weapons. People back home didn’t have enough food to eat and demanded bread. The king gave up his throne and temporary governments were started and a new constitution was being made for a new Russian republic. The army continued to fight Germany but the troops didn’t want to continue fighting.

Bolsheviks Bolsheviks a socialist group first worked with the government. But after time they took control of things. The leader was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov AKA Lenin.

Lenin His hatred started when he saw his older brother being hanged for trying to kill Alexander the III. He read the works of Karl Marx and spread his ideas to the middle class. He worked with Nadazhda Krupskaya. In 1895 they were arrested and sent to jail and got married there. Even when they were in jail they spread Marx’s ideas of a socialist world.

Lenin Returns When Lenin is released from jail Germany took him into their liking. They snuck him back into Russia by train. His followers met him there on April 16, 1917. When he steps off the train he says to the crowd “Dear comrades, soldiers, sailors and workers, I am happy to greet in you the victorious Russian Revolution, to greet you as the advance guard of the international proletarian army…”

November Revolution On November 17th the Bolsheviks make their move. Lenin had his own army consisting of sailors from Russia called the Red Guards. They were able to overthrow the government. They gave up after some time. Lenin had a new partner to help deal with everything, Leon Trotsky.

Russia wrapped around Lenin’s fingers. Russia signed the Treaty of Brestlitovsk. They gave away most of its territory and its population. The Red Guards were fighting a war against the Whites, soldiers who stayed loyal to Russia. The Allies sent help to Russia to take down the rebellions because they still needed help to fight the war against Germany.

Keeping things Lenin’s way. Lenin created a secret police called Cheka who had the right to arrest or even kill anyone who was trying to go against him. They adopted the policy of war communism. They took over everything such as banks, railroads, mines, and factories. Surplus food had to be given to the poor. And the poor had to go join the army.

Trotsky’s role in this. Trotsky helped with the Red Army. He created a effective fighting force. To make sure that he was seen as very serious, he shot every 10th man if a group of men did poorly.

Section 2: From Lenin to Stalin Lenin was aiming to create something exactly to what Marx was aiming for. He wanted to create a society where everyone was equal with no social classes. But in the end he created a communist country.

How things were run. A new constitution was created that fit as a democratic or socialist type of country. The Supreme Soviet was a elected legislature. Men were able to vote over 18. All political power resources and means of production went to workers and peasants. But in reality the reigned supreme, the Communist party had most power.

NEP Lenin created the New economic Policy AKA NEP. This policy is that the government took control of most money business but small businesses were able to have a small profit. Also peasants didn’t have to keep giving away their surplus of food. They were allowed to sell it for keep it for themselves.

Stolin Takes over. After the death of Lenin people thought that Trotsky would take his role. Trotsky was the better one because he agreed with all of Lenin’s ideas while Stolin went against them. But when it came to time to see who would take that seat, Stolin added his own people to the government so that the vote would all be for him.

Stolin has his own dreams. Stolin wanted to make a modern industrial power. He wanted to build heavy industry, improve transportation, and increase farming. He brought all of the economic under government control. The government made all the decisions.

Who did it help? His new policy didn’t do much for his people. Some people were able to work up the line and become managers by meeting the quota. But the quality of the products made were horrible. Some of the farming life went well but still in the end, not much has changed.

Farm life. Stolin didn’t think that people should be allowed to make a profit from their own farms. He made them work in collectives, large farms owned by peasants. All the food that was grown all had one set price that went through the country. The country helped by giving supplies needed but the peasants didn’t like the idea. They tried to rebel but Stolin countered with deadly punishments. The peasants usually only had enough to feed themselves but the government would come and take all their grain.

Assumptions Stolin was afraid that other parties would go and plot against him. He started killing the Old Bolsheviks (a party from the earlier days), army heroes, industrial managers, writers, and even ordinary citizens. During this time at least 4 million people died. He would do trials against anyone that seemed to be going against him in anyway. The old were replaced with new young men who were devoted follwers of Stolin.

Section 3: Life in a Totalitarian State Russians lived in a totalitarian state where everything is run by the government. Nothing is done without either the government or the secret police having a say. To keep things running in Stolin’s way he used his secret police, censorship, and most of all terror.

How far did they go? Propaganda was overly used during these times. People were told constantly of how a capitalist state is horrible. Anyone who did things to Stolin’s likings were quickly rewarded. Atheism was the religion for everyone. People of other religions were quickly killed. But Muslims were less bothered since Stolin had support from the Middle East.

Changes for the Rich A small group of Soviet citizens were able to join the communist party. Most of the people that joined only wanted to succeed in life. Not care about anything else.

Changes for the Poor People were able to get a free education, free medical help and free daycare for parents. Even adults that weren’t able to be educated in the past had a free education which included universities. There was inexpensive housing and public transportation.

One Woman Alexandra Kollontoi was the only woman who had a rank in Lenin’s government. She constantly helped fight for women rights. Finally they were allowed to get many jobs and be educated. In the long run they helped with the economy. But they were still expected to take full care of their family’s at home while still working all day.

Censorship Stolin made sure that all the writings had to do with boosting up a socialist world. The government controlled all of the things they wrote about. Stolin used censorship and propaganda to make himself and his country seem the best.

Questions Which is generally a characteristic of a communist economy? “A group of planners makes all economic decisions. The group assigns natural, human, and capital resources to the production of those goods and services it wants. The group decides how to produce them and to whom to distribute them” This description best applies to the Which situation resulted from the Russo-Japanese War of 1905? Stalin’s Five-Year Plans and his decision to form collectives are examples of A major cause of the Russian Revolution of 1917 was the

Answers 3. government agencies are involved in production planning A communist, or command economy, controls the means of production by having governmental agencies involved in production planning. 3.  command economy of the Soviet Union In a command economy, such as that of the communist Soviet Union, the government controls all aspects of production. 3.  dissident groups challenged the power of the Russian Czar Russia’s loss to Japan in the Russo-Japanese War (1905) indicated that there was a weakness in the Russian government which led to a series of confrontations between Czar Nicholas II and Russian dissidents. 1.  strategies to modernize the economy of the Soviet Union through forced communism 3.  existence of sharp economic differences between social classes A rigid class system existed in Russia which allowed landowning nobles, priests, and the Czar to live well, while the peasant class faced many hardships, including poor working conditions in urban areas, poverty, and constant food shortages.