RUSSIA: WORLD’S FIRST COMMUNIST STATE
Russian Revolution read pages and complete an outline
Russian Revolution 1917 Peace, Land and Bread Lenin, Trotsky and Bolsheviks CAUSES Romanov Dynasty Absolutism Hardships of WW I Hunger/unrest Need for land reform Marxist ideas Anger at Czar and Czarina & Rasputin’s influence EFFECTS Provisional govt. set up and overthrown by Lenin Execution of Czar and family Russia withdraws from WW I and signs Treaty of Brest-Litovsk 1 st Communist nation USSR Command economy – government owns means of production and distribution
LENIN 1917 – 1924 Promises “peace, bread, land” Pulls devastated Russia out of WWI with Treaty of Brest- Litovsk Nationalizes (puts under ownership and control of state) land and industry Soviets – councils are set up to govern nation
LENIN
CIVIL WAR “Reds” – communists “Whites” – counterrevolutionaries loyal to czar U.S. Britain, France support Whites Reds win, take control
NEW ECONOMIC POLICY (NEP) After chaos of WWI, Civil War and war communism, Lenin uses NEP to rebuild nation Private control of land, business, production allowed (capitalism) More freedom in arts and lit.
U.S.S.R. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics formed in 1922
STALIN (Man of Steel)
CHIEF GOAL To make U.S.S.R. into a modern, industrial power, with all production under government control
PLAN Create a command (planned) economy using 5 year plans, emphasis on heavy industry, war materials
RESULT Consumer goods neglected, needs of state come first By 1953, nation is modern industrialized
PLAN FOR AGRICULTURE Also under government control Peasants forced to give up farms to join collective farms
RESULTS Millions who oppose policy were killed or sent to prison camps in Siberia Opposition strong in Ukraine where wealthiest peasants (kulaks) lived Stalin seized all food supplies of people who opposed plan and millions starve to death, Ukrainian Terror Famine Standard of living drops for most
LIFE IN A TOTALITARIAN STATE Stalin ruled as a dictator with unlimited power Secret police and “purges” used to clean out “disloyal” communist party members Censorship, propaganda, KGB Religion and arts controlled, socialist realism Execution, imprisonment (gulag archipelago), exile for millions
STALIN’S LEGACY One party, totalitarian dictatorship regulates every aspect of citizen’s lives Communist ideology replaces religion Communist party members the new elite State provided free medical care, daycare, inexpensive housing, but still shortages Women equal under law
BY 1953 Soviet Union is a superpower and leader in industry But, people pay a heavy price under ruthless, brutal leadership Responsible for as many as 20 million deaths