Russia 1917-1941 Revision

If you click on the yellow pointers, you will reveal all the facts that you ought to remember.
Try to remember BEFORE you click!

 

The Russian Revolution

  •  CAUSES OF THE MARCH [FEBRUARY] REVOLUTION OF 1917 [Why Was There A Revolution In February]?
    • Weakness of Russia (7 things)
      • Size
      • Peasants
      • Poverty
      • Corrupt autocracy
      • Okhrana
      • Censorship
      • = lack of support.
    • War (4 things)
      • army badly led
      • army poorly equipped
      • huge defeats at (2 battles):
        • Tannenberg
        • Masurian Lakes
      • = anger and unrest.
    • Tsar and Tsarina unpopular (6 things)
      • hated after Bloody Sunday 1905
      • Tsar blamed for WWI defeats
      • Tsarina left in charge while Tsar commanded army
      • Tsarina gave great power to Rasputin
      • incompetent government
      • = Nicholas and Alexandra hated.
    • Attacks and opposition (3 points)
      • Duma [The Cadets]
        • angry over lack of power
        • = Duma didn’t support Government.
      • Social Revolutionary Party
        • = wanted peasant revolt,
      • Social and Democratic Labour Party split into (2 parties)
        • Mensheviks
        • Bolsheviks
        • = wanted Communist government
    • Reforms failed (3 things)
      • Prime Minister Stolypin had tried reform (2 reforms)
        • let kulaks buy own land
        • tried to improve conditions for workers
      • but was murdered 1911
      • = last chance to reform was lost.
    • Industrialisation (3 things)
      • created huge urban workforce
      • terrible conditions
      • = disaffection in Petrograd.
    • Famine (5 things)
      • Trains diverted to war effort so fewer supplies to cities
      • 15 million men joined army
      • high prices
      • bad winter 1916-17
      • = demonstrations and bread riots.
  •  EVENTS OF THE MARCH [FEBRUARY] REVOLUTION OF 1917
    • 7 March
      • Steelworkers on strike.
    • 8 March
      • International Women’s Day – bread riots.
    • 10 March (2 things)
      • Half workforce on strike
      • Tsarina orders army to stop them.
    • 11 March (2 things)
      • Troops fired on crowds
      • Tsar dissolves Duma.
    • 12 March (3 things)
      • Soldiers joined riots
      • Duma sets up 12-man ‘ Provisional Government’ led by Kerensky.
      • Soldiers and workers set up ‘Petrograd Soviet’.
    • 15 March
      • Tsar abdicated.
  •  THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT [Government That’s Provisional Will Be Killed]
    • Government (2 things)
      • Petrograd Soviet issues Order Number 1
        • workers and soldiers only obey Provisional Government if Soviet agrees
      • = government has little power.
    • Terrible conditions (2 things)
      • Continuing war led to worse inflation and food shortages
      • = people feel let down.
    • Peasants (3 things)
      • Took nobles land
      • Provisional Government sent in troops
      • = anger.
    • War (3 things)
      • Russian defeat in Austria
      • deserters executed
      • = naval mutiny, desertions increased.
    • Bolsheviks (5 things)
      • Lenin returned
      • Lenin Published his ‘April Theses’:
        • 'Peace, Bread Land'
      • ‘July Days’ riots,
      • Provisional arrested leaders but allowed Bolshevik Party to continue
      • = continued power for Bolsheviks.
    • Kornilov (3 things)
      • Attempted right-wing coup August 1917
      • Provisional Government had to ask Bolsheviks to help
      • = appeared weak.
  •  EVENTS OF THE BOLSHEVIK REVOLUTION OF NOVEMBER [OCTOBER] 1917
    • Nov. 6
      • Red Guards take over bridges/telephone exchanges.
    • Nov. 7 (3 things)
      • Red Guards take over banks, government buildings, railway stations,
      • Winter Palace [shelled by Cruiser Aurora]
      • Provisional Government leaders arrested.
    • Nov. 8
      • New Communist Government declared.
  •  WHY THE BOLSHEVIKS SUCCEEDED [Perhaps Seven Powers Gave Lenin An Opportunity]
    • Provisional Government weak (see: Government That’s Provisional Will Be Killed).
      • Government
      • Terrible Conditions
      • Peasants
      • War
      • Bolsheviks
      • Kornilov
    • Slogans appealed to people (2 slogans):
      • ‘Peace Bread Land’
      • ‘All Power to the soviets’.
    • Propaganda
      • Party newspaper Pravda [means ‘Truth’]
    • German Money
      • financed publicity campaigns
      • the Germans supported Lenin to remove Russia from the war.
    • Lenin (3 things)
      • brilliant leader
      • brilliant organiser
      • single-minded (to overthrow government).
    • Army (3 things)
      • Red Guards
      • well trained
      • dedicated.
    • Organisation (2 things)
      • Central committee sent orders to soviets who sent them to factories.
      • Demanded total obedience.

 

Lenin's Russia

  •  ESTABLISHING COMMUNIST RULE [Great Big Changes Create Terrible War]
    • Government changes (3 things)
      • election Nov. 1917 results:
      • Bolshevik=175 seats, Social Revolutionaries = 370 seats
      • Lenin did (3 things):
        • closed Assembly
        • killed objectors
        • ruled by decree.
    • Brest-Litovsk (3 things)
      • Bolsheviks ended war 1917
      • Treaty gave good agricultural and industrial land to Germany
      • Russia lost (4 regions):
        • Ukraine
        • Estonia
        • Latvia
        • Lithuania.
    • Communist state (2 things)
      • Land taken from nobles and given to peasants
      • Elected committees of workers controlled factories.
    • Communist society (4 things)
      • Religion banned (= 2 things)
        • churches destroyed
        • priests killed
      • Labour Law (=3 things):
        • 8 hour day
        • unemployment pay
        • pensions.
      • Education (=3 things):
        • Science encouraged
        • History and Latin banned
        • people taught to read.
      • Communist morals = (3 things):
        • Divorce allowed
        • abortion allowed
        • greater equality for women.
    • Terror (3 things)
      • CHEKA [secret police] arrested and killed opponents
      • Censorship
      • Lenin said a ‘Dictatorship of the Proletariat’ was needed until Russia was fully Communist.
    • War Communism (6 things)
      • introduced during Civil War, very harsh:
      • large factories taken over by government
      • strikes illegal
      • strikers shot
      • rationing
      • peasants forced to give surplus food to government.
  •  CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR [Causes Civil War]
    • Challenge to Bolsheviks (8 groups):
      • Political opponents
      • Social Revolutionaries
      • Mensheviks
      • Tsarists
      • former army officers
      • former landlords
      • ‘White’ armies led by generals Yudenich and Deniken attacked from west,
      • Admiral Kolchak attacked from east.
    • Czech Legion (3 things):
      • Czech prisoners of war mutinied as they were being taken across Russia
      • took control of Trans - Siberian railway
      • supported Kolchak.
    • World Revolution (2 things):
      • Comintern set up with stated aim to cause communist revolutions across the world
      • Britain, America, France supported ‘whites’ against Bolsheviks.
  •  EVENTS OF THE CIVIL WAR 1918–1921
    • 1918
      • Tsar and family put to death
    • 1919 (2 things):
      • Red Army defeated Admiral Kolchak
      • British, French, Americans went home.
    • 1920
      • Last White army defeated in Crimea.
    • 1921 (3 things):
      • Red Army invaded Poland, defeated.
      • Famine, disease and atrocities throughout
      • Millions died.
  •  WHY THE BOLSHEVIKS WON [Why The Bolsheviks Won The War]
    • Whites' armies (3 things):
      • Were disunited
      • Thousands of miles apart
      • = easy to fight one by one.
    • Trotsky (3 things):
      • brilliant leader of Red Army
      • excellent war strategist
      • = clever tactics.
    • Beliefs (3 things):
      • Many Russians believed they were fighting for a better world
      • others hated foreign armies
      • = army enthusiastic and determined.
    • War Communism (6 things):
      • factories nationalised
      • military discipline in factories
      • strikes illegal
      • surplus food handed over to government
      • rationing
      • = sufficient army supplies.
    • Terror (2 things):
      • Cheka murdered Whites,
      • terror was used to ensure loyalty and unity.
    • Wherewithal (3 things):
      • Bolsheviks held Moscow/Petrograd = factories/supplies
      • Controlled railways = communication/supplies
      • Army of 300,000 men.
  •  THE NEW ECONOMIC POLICY
    • Causes
      • 1921 Kronstadt Mutiny (2 things)
        • Sailors at Kronstadt naval mutinied
        • They demanded (4 things):
          • free speech
          • free elections
          • free trade unions
          • end to War Communism.
      • Bolsheviks concerned, brought in NEP (2 things):
        • It was opposed by some members of government as capitalism,
        • but it restored some prosperity.
    • The New Economic Policy (NEP)
      • New Small businesses (2 things):
        • Small factories returned to owners
        • small private businesses allowed.
      • Experts
        • brought in to increase production in the nationalised industries (4 industries):
          • coal
          • iron
          • steel
          • railways.
      • Peasants (2 things):
        • allowed to sell surplus and pay tax
        • Some peasants became rich [the Kulaks].

 

Stalin's Russia

  •  The STRUGGLE FOR POWER AFTER LENIN DIED IN 1924 [Stalin Takes Power]
    • Secretary
      • as General Secretary of Com. Party installed supporters in important positions.
    • Trotsky was unpopular (3 things):
      • brilliant but big-headed.
      • missed Lenin’s funeral (Stalin told him wrong date).
      • ideas of world revolution worried some Russians - too soon.
    • Played off 2 sides of Politburo against each other (3 steps):
      • First (2 things):
        • Stalin allied with Zinoviev and Kamenev [Leftists]
        • = got Trotsky dismissed 1925.
      • Next (3 things):
        • he called for ‘Socialism in one country’
        • allied with Bukharin, Rykov and Tomsky [Rightists]
        • = got Zinoviev and Kamenev dismissed 1927.
      • Then (2 things):
        • he said the NEP wasn’t socialist
        • = got supporters of it [Bukharin, Rykov, Tomsky] dismissed 1929.
  •  STALIN'S TERROR
    • The Purges (Stalin Takes Total Control)
      • Secret police (2 things):
        • The Cheka became OGPU in 1924
        • became NKVD in 1934.
      • The First Purges 1930-1933 (2 victims):
        • anyone who opposed industrialisation
        • anyone who opposed collectivisation.
      • The Great Purges 1934-1939
        • Triggered by murder of Kirov
        • Political Opponents (2 things):
          • thousands arrested/found guilty of treason
          • at ‘Show trials’ (2 examples):
            • Zinoviev/Kamenev 1936
            • Bukharin/Tomsky/Rykov 1938
        • Army (2 things):
          • Commander-in-Chief of Red Army shot
          • dozens of other generals admirals and officers executed or imprisoned
        • Church (2 things):
          • leaders imprisoned
          • churches closed
        • Ethnic groups (2 things):
          • ‘Russification’
          • mosques closed
        • Ordinary people (3 things):
          • tens of thousands arrested, sent to Gulag [labour camps]
          • 20 million died
          • Apparatchiks [loyal supporters] given new homes.
      • Cult of Stalin (4 examples):
        • pictures
        • statues
        • constant applause
        • history books changed
    • Reasons For The Purges (Why Unnecessary Purges?)
      • Whole country
        • belief in ‘strength in unity’.
      • Urgency
        • Stalin said Russia had 10 years to catch up the west before Germany invaded
      • Paranoia
        • Stalin saw plots everywhere and became power-mad.
    • Results (Result Of The Terror – Insane Stalin Grabs All The Power)
      • Russification
      • Orthodox Church attacked
      • Twenty million dead
      • Terror & fear
      • Industry-affected by loss of top scientists & engineers
      • Stalin cult
      • Gulag
      • Army and navy lost leading officers
      • Purges
  •  COLLECTIVISATION
    • Why? [Six Factors Now To Collectivise Kolkhoz]
      • Soviet agriculture backward (4 problems):
        • subsistence farming
        • no machinery
        • too small
        • inefficient.
      • Food was needed for workers in towns
        • essential for success of 5 year plans
      • NEP not working
        • by 1928 20 million tons of grain short to feed towns.
      • Town workers were needed
        • peasants needed to work in industry in towns.
      • Cash crops were needed
        • for export to raise money to buy foreign machinery and expertise.
      • Kulaks (3 problems):
        • not Communists
        • had private wealth
        • Stalin wanted to destroy them.
    • Enforcement (5 key dates):
      • 1927 (2 things):
        • voluntary scheme ignored
        • = food shortages
      • 1929 (3 things):
        • compulsory collectivisation
        • peasants burned crops
        • = famine
      • 1932-33 (6 things):
        • two-thirds of villages collectivised
        • more resistance
        • government took food for towns
        • = more famine [5 million died in Kazakstan and Ukraine]
        • Stalin blamed Kulaks
        • = shot/sent to labour camps in Siberia/land taken.
      • 1934
        • all 7 million Kulaks ‘eliminated’
      • 1939 (2 things):
        • 99% of land collectivised
        • ¼ million Kolkhoz.
    • Results [Quite Modern Govt Technology Encourages Collectivisation - Poor Foolish Kulaks]
      • Quarter of million Kolkhoz
      • More modern methods (3 things):
        • machinery
        • modern farming methods/ideas
        • large-scale
      • Grain
        • by 1937, 97 million tons plus cash crops
      • Town workers
        • 17 million peasants moved to work in towns
      • End of nobles
      • Complete Communist control
      • BUT
      • Production fell at first
      • Famine
      • Kulaks destroyed
  •  INDUSTRIALISATION
    • Reasons (Make And Catch Up)
      • Many regions of the USSR were backward
        • Machinery was needed to mechanise agriculture
      • Armaments (3 points)
        • would be needed to defend Russia
        • Stalin believed Germany would invade
        • ‘Either we make good the difference in 10 years or they crush us’.
      • Compete with Western world (3 points):
        • Stalin believed the USSR should ‘overtake the capitalist countries’
        • then the USSR would take over the rest of the world.
        • (=‘Socialism in one country’)
      • Useful propaganda
        • for Communism and for Stalin.
    • 5 Year Plans
      • 1928 – 32
        • heavy industry
      • 1933 – 37
        • agricultural machinery + mining, transport
      • The Plans (9 elements):
        • Targets set by GOSPLAN for every industry
        • Foreign experts brought in
        • Propaganda (4 things):
          • Posters
          • Slogans
          • Bonuses
          • encouraged to be Stakhanovites
        • Fines for not meeting targets
        • Women encouraged to work (2 points):
          • Crèches set up
          • 1932-37 4 out 5 new workrs recruited were women
        • Slave labour used
        • Education and training
        • Harsh conditions
        • Industry not consumer goods.
    • Successes
      • The USSR was turned into a modern state.
      • There was genuine Communist enthusiasm among the young ‘Pioneers’.
      • Huge increases in production, 1927–1937 (3 industries):
        • Electricity
          • up 5–36,000m kw
        • Coal
          • up 35–128m tons
        • Steel
          • up 4–18m tons
      • Many achievements (13 things):
        • new cities
        • dam/ hydroelectric power
        • transport & communications
        • the Moscow Underground
        • farm machinery
        • electricity
        • coal
        • steel
        • fertilisers
        • plastic
        • no unemployment
        • doctors & medicine
        • education.
    • Failures/Criticims
      • Poorly organised (3 problems):
        • Inefficiency
        • duplication of effort
        • waste.
      • Appalling human cost (9 problems):
        • discipline (sacked if late)
        • secret police
        • slave labour
        • labour camps (for those who made mistakes)
        • accidents & deaths (100000 workers died building the BelomorCanal)
        • few consumer goods
        • poor housing
        • wages FELL
        • no human rights
      • Some historians claim the tsars set up the basis for industrialisation.