Russian Revolution & Stalin Flashcards
causes of revolution
discontent had been brewing for decades, 19th century czars ruled absolutely and oppressively, workers wanted better working conditions, national minorities wanted freedom, radicals began to resort to the formation of secret societies
immediate cause of rev
radical students assassinate Czar Alexander II
alexander III
came to throne in 1881, halted all reforms and strengthened autocratic rule, non-conformists (non orthodox, non russian speakers) were considered dangerous, made censorship and a secret police system, targeted teachers, was anti-semitic, organized pogroms
died of cirrhosis of the liver
Nicholas II
ascends the throne at age 26, marries Queen Victoria’s granddaughter, Alexandra, a German princess
Alexandra advised him and was the dominant figure
had 4 daughters and one son, he was opposed to democracy and believed tradition would weather all the political changes
Alexei
heir to the throne, son of Alexandra and Nicholas, had hemophilia and was very weak and scrawny
pogroms
campaigns of violence against jews
Russia industrially
Russia lagged behind, taxes were raised to develop industry, especially steel, industrialization deepened the problems for the working class
Bolsheviks
russian radicals led by Vladimir Lenin
Russo-Japanese War
war over disputed land in Korea and Manchuria, Russia lost
Bloody Sunday
1905- 200,000 bolsheviks go to czar’s palace in St. Petersburg, he’s not there, they start to protest and petition and security forces opened fire and killed 1000
Duma
russian parliament
Russia in 1914: entering WWI
alliances with france and serbia bring Russia into the war, the duma supports the war, russia is ill-equipped and isolated
within 1 year, russia suffered 4 million casualities
Russia in 1915: Nicholas and Czarina
Nicholas II fires generals, dissolves the Duma and entered the eastern war front
Czarina was in charge while he was at war
Rasputin
philosopher who heavily influenced Czarina
was murdered by Russian nobles
Russia in 1916: AWOL soldiers and caos
thousand of soldiers mutinied and went AWOL (absent without leave), lack of fuel, high inflation and uprisings, protests and strikes become problems
Revolution was imminent
The March Revolution
consisted of 2 revolutions and a civil war
armed AWOL soldiers joined the protestors
the Czar was forced to abdicate leaving no gov’t to take his place
the Duma sets up a provisional gov’t
Alexander Kerensky
leader of the provisional gov’t set up by the duma during the march rev
Vladimir Lenin
leader of the Bolsheviks
was exiled from Russia and returned in april 1917
germany thought he was their secret weapon to defeat russia
slogan of the bolsheviks
“Peace, Land, Bread”
Storming of the Winter Palace
in November 1917, the bolshevik red guards storm the winter palace, headquarters of the provisional govt
Kerensky flees
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
treaty of 1918 that took Russia out of WWI, Russia lost Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and lots of its population, iron and coal to Germany
Civil War between Whites and Reds
“whites” - supporters of the provisional gov’t
“reds” - communist Bolsheviks
15 million russians die during war
“reds” win but Russian economy is in shambles
The New Economic Policy (NEP)
temporarily allow some capitalism
peasants were allowed to sell surplus goods for profit
communist gov’t still had control of major industries but some farms and industries were in the hands of private owners
The U.S.S.R (C.C.C.P)
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Lenin organizes Russia into republics
USSR slowly recovers economically but new problems are cause by Lenin’s death in 1924
Joseph Dzhugashvili
aka Stalin aka Man of Steel
cold, harsh, ruthless General Secretary of the Communist Party
uneducated and uncultured, from a poor background in Georgia
responsible for killing many in purges
took complete control over the CCCP after Lenin’s death
Trotsky
main rival of Stalin who was forced into exile and eventually assassinated, poised to become dictator
Totalitarianism
complete control over all aspects of people’s lives- economic, social and political, challenges the values of western democracies
Stalinist economics
opposed the NEP
wanted command economy- total gov’t control of the means of production
5-year plans
gov’t plans that identify economic needs and set goals or quotas
used to improve industrial output and defense
set high quotas on basic industrial goods by limiting the production of consumer goods
had mixed results
Collective Farms
the CCP seized 25 million private farms and turned them into state owned Collective Farms aka Communes
90% of peasants lived on communes
lots more wheat
Kulaks
wealthy, land-owning peasants who resisted firecely
were executed and exiled by the thousands
Great Purge of 1934
Stalin eliminated anyone who he thought was an enemy of the state
4 million were killed
Indoctrination
instruction in the gov’ts beliefs aka brain-washing or molding peoples brains to communist ideals
