Stalin and russia dictatorship

Joseph Stalin and

Communist Russia

Totalitarian Dictators

&

Their Governments of Destruction

TotalitarianismNazism – GermanyFascism – ItalyCommunism – Russia (U.S.S.R.)

Dictatorships Often take root and thrive in countries where

people can see no other hope or way out One man holds absolute power over a

country The state, the country, the government must

be served – not the people In a democracy, the government is the

servant of the people – In a dictatorship, the people exist for the welfare of the country.

DictatorshipsA totalitarian dictatorship is a police

state – the dictator controls the police and the armed forces: used to destroy any opposition

People are arrested without warrants and punished without trials

Secret police spy on the people and use fear and distrust to control

Dictator relies on propaganda and force to control the people

DictatorshipsNewspapers, broadcast, radio, all forms

of communication medium are controlled by the dictatorship

Two major forms of totalitarianism: Communism Fascism

Russia Collapses – U.S.S.R. Rises

Czar and the Duma (their congress)Russia way behind the western powers

–far behind in agricultural and industrial development.

Russo-Japanese War 1905 – showed their weakness & WWI showed even more how poorly equipped they were.


Russian troops fought with poor equipment and training – yet they held back ½ of the central powers. 1,700,000 killed, 5million wounded (if Russia had

not fought so well, the allies might have lost the war)

1917 – Strikes and street riots – Czar orders the revolts put down.

Duma demands reforms – Czar dissolves the Duma


Army instead of stopping the rioters – joins the fight against the Czar

Unable to get back to the capital prevented in doing so by his own officers – Czar abdicate on March 15, 1917. (300 yr old Romanov monarchy ends)

Bolsheviks

Petrograd Soviet – moved in to take control. Organized by moderate socialist called the Mensheviks.

Within this group was a radical socialists group called Bolsheviks.

Mensheviks – called for immediate peace, land reform, and factories controlled by the workers.

These two groups jockeyed for power while the rest of the country was in chaos

Bolsheviks

Lenin Leader of the Bolsheviks – returns from

exile in Switzerland German gov’t helps Lenin get back to

Russia Intelligent, powerful, studied law, and his

brother had been killed by Czarist police Modified Marxism – Karl Marx philosophy

of communism

Bolsheviks Marxism

Overthrow of the Bourgeoisie by the working class (devoted Marxist)

Education by the Marxist to train the people in pure communism.

Lenin’s slogan – “Land, Peace, and Bread” During the summer of 1917 civil war between the

Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks November 17, 1917 Bolsheviks overthrow the

provisional government and seize control of Russia.

Spring 1918 – Bolsheviks renamed themselves the Communist Party

“The Reds”Color of the revolutionEven though there was Japanese,

British, and French attempts to get rid of the communist – by 1922 the country was given a new name USSR.

16 Soviets would eventually be created.The country was in ruins – it would take

strong, determined leadership to bring it back to life.