THE RISE OF AUTHORITARIAN REGIMES: COMMUNIST RUSSIA

THE TSAR

• Russia was under the rule of a monarch, Tsar Nicholas:– The Tsar was a weak ruler

who controlled the entire country.

– Failure of his ‘reforms’ to set up a parliament or the ‘Duma’

DISCONTENTED POPULATION• The population was unhappy

with the Tsar:– Unhappy workers:

• There were poor working and living conditions.

• There were many strikes and protests which were violently dealt with.

– Unhappy peasants:• They were poor because of earlier

reforms.

• Agriculture was backward and peasants did not have enough food to pay themselves.

WORLD WAR ONE

• Russian failures in World War One:– Russian armies

suffered many defeats and casualties in World War One.

– Russian army lost confidence in the Tsar.

COMMUNISTS

• Tsar was opposed by the Communists:– Communists believed in the ideas of Karl Marx. – Marx claimed that history is all about the struggles between the

classes. – He claimed that the capitalist system was unfair because the

factory owners (bourgeois) made profits from the toils of the workers (proletariat).

– Marx predicted that the proletariat would violently overthrow the bosses and take control of the country on behalf of the people.

• The Communists were divided into the Bolsheviks (Lenin) and Mensheviks (Trotsky).

FEBRUARY REVOLUTION

• Spontaneous uprising against the Tsar by the people and the army refused to shoot demonstrators.

• Tsar abdicated and the Provisional Government under non-communists was set up.

OCTOBER REVOLUTION

• Provisional government failed to act on the unhappiness of the population.

• The Bolsheviks under Lenin were able to seize on this weakness and launch a revolution in October 1917.

• The Provisional Government was overthrown.

RUSSIA UNDER COMMUNIST RULE, 1917-1924

• Bolsheviks managed to establish control:– Lenin closed down the parliament.– Set up the Cheka or Secret Police– Made concessions to Germany and left World

War One.– Fought and won a civil war against the non-

communists.– Imposed war communism on Russia.– Executed the Tsar.

• Lenin died in 1924, he had been very successful in imposing a communist in Russia

• 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.

TROTSKY VS STALIN

THE WINNER!!

Lenin did not favour Stalin – But Stalin was able to consolidate his hold on power and

defeat Trotsky.

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INQUIRY – WHAT WAS THE IMPACT OF STALIN’S RULE?

EFFECTS OF STALIN’S RULE• Collectivisation had limited

success:– Terrible human cost,

between 10 to 15 million people died as a result.

– Between 1931 and 1932, there was a famine in Russia as not enough food was being produced.

– By 1939, Russia was producing the same amount of food as it had in 1928.

– However, enough food was produced to keep industry going.

– Collectivisation and use of machines allowed millions to work in the industrial cities.

EFFECTS OF STALIN’S RULE

• Five-year Plans:– Three Five Year Plans

set targets between 1928-1941 to increase production.

– Russian industry changed enormously. The USSR became a major industrial country.

– The human cost was high. Forced labour killed millions, working conditions were poor and hours of work were long.

EFFECTS OF STALIN’S RULE

• Purges and Terror:– Stalin conducted a policy of

purges between 1934-1938. • Millions were arrested,

executed or sent to labour camps.

– Stalin used the NKVD, the secret police, to undertake the ‘Great Terror’. Stalin purged:

• 90% of the army’s top officers,

• Every admiral in the navy,• 1 million Communist Party

members,• 20 million ordinary Russians.

EFFECTS OF STALIN’S RULE

• Propaganda:– Stalin sought to create a

cult of personality.– Propaganda was used to

spread information about Stalin and the ‘role’ that he played in their daily lives.

– Propaganda used to paint a picture that Stalin’s policies such as the five-year plans and collectivisation were successful.

STALIN’S RULE

• Positive:– Built up industrial power of the USSR.– Ensured cheap supply of food.– Development of social services, e.g. schools.

• Negative:– Human cost – Millions died whilst trying to

achieve these aims.– Purges on the party and military were to have

severe consequences during World War Two.