The Nature Of Government Flashcards
Alexander II
Ideologies: Autocracy, Dictatorship and Totalitarianism
- didn’t waver from autocratic sentiment despite reformist tendencies which appeared to represent a dilution of autocracy
- After assassination attempt 1866, he adhered to autocracy very strongly.
- hoped that by freeing the serfs they would be happier and less likely to riot.
- introduced the Zemstva = proven to be unrepresentative of the population as a whole. Thus to label him the ‘Liberator’ and his son, Alexander III, the ‘Reactionary’ is misleading.
Alexander III
Ideologies: Autocracy, Dictatorship and Totalitarianism
- blamed moves towards liberalism for his fathers eventual assassination = was very repressive
- changes of the previous Tsar was reversed.
Nicholas II
Ideologies: Autocracy, Dictatorship and Totalitarianism
- liberal concessions in 1905, forced on him because of an economic crisis and the Russo-Japanese War
- Nicholas II introduced the National Duma to quieten those who clamoured for constitutional reforms, but undid most of this in the Fundamental Laws.
- The Fundamental Laws (1906) reiterated need for preservation of autocracy and reduced the Duma to a talking shop frequented ONLY by politicians committed to autocracy by 1917. -
Lenin
Ideologies: Autocracy, Dictatorship and Totalitarianism
ASPECTS OF MARXISM-LENINISM:
1. Dictatorship of the Proletariat
2. Vanguard Party
3. Imperialism as the Highest Stage of Capitalism
4. Socialist Revolution
5. Centralization of Power
6. Planned Economy
7. Internationalism
- HOWEVER Once October revolution was over, Communists more interested in consolidating power using the political system they had created.
- Political change under Lenin and Stalin mainly came about through the constitutions of 1924 and 1936. These extended the range of influence over a number of republics but also suggested that each member state would have a degree of autonomy.
- A more marked change occurred with De-Stalinization and a move back to a form of democratic centralism
Stalin
Ideologies: Autocracy, Dictatorship and Totalitarianism
- Although constitutions were issued that did appear to give greater autonomy to certain regional groups in the Soviet Union, under Stalin power became more centralised.
- Stalin seemed intent on introducing totalitarianism using tools of extreme repression to do so.
Stalin, after Lenin’s death in 1924 and a struggle for power until 1927, promoted Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism:
- Stalin argued that the ‘base’ of society could only be permanently changed by utilising a particular type of ‘superstructure’, highly personalised and under total control of one individual to prevent infighting.
- implement this through a command economy centred on Five Year Plans and collectivisation.
- Disagreement would be labelled bourgeois and dealt with quickly, while propaganda, the cult of personality and repression would enforce Stalin’s ideology. Marxism to serve his own megalomania, or continue the work of Lenin who had used the Cheka?
What was the extent and impact of reform? It was made clear that reforms like collectivisation involved tremendous sacrifices that were for the good of the motherland and there was little room for dissent and questioning of its efficacy. Anyone who did was exiled or executed.
Khrushchev
Ideologies: Autocracy, Dictatorship and Totalitarianism
- great willingness to embrace political change by De-Stalinising Russia and shifting authority to the party
- Stalin associated with great Terror = NEEDED to stamp his own personality on the Russian Government and change the image of Russia created by Stalin, as well as attempted to deal with the non-communist world view of Russia as an enemy of the ‘free world’.
- Agriculture = mess BUT heavy industry progresse BUT to the detriment of living standards.
- centralised planning of the economy, more focus on light and consumer industries.
- Virgin lands campaig aimed at increasing the amount of land under the plough.
- important social improvement programmes = focus on housing
BUT STILL use of repression to maintain law and order.
Key features of De-Stalinisation
- Rehabilitation of Victims of Stalin’s Purges
Example: Prominent Soviet figures, such as Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky, who had been executed during the Great Purge, were posthumously exonerated.
- Reduction of the Secret Police’s Power
Example: The KGB was restricted from arbitrary arrests and purges, and surveillance policies were scaled back, particularly for Communist Party members.
- Cultural Thaw
Example: Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, which depicted life in a Soviet labor camp, was published in 1962 with official approval.
- Economic Reforms and Shift in Focus
Example: The Virgin Lands Campaign was launched to boost agricultural output by cultivating unused land in Kazakhstan and Siberia, though it had mixed success.
- Decentralization of Power
Example: The division of the Communist Party apparatus into separate industrial and agricultural branches in 1962 aimed to increase efficiency and responsiveness to local issues.
- Closure of the Gulags
IMPACT:
- more open and less repressive Soviet society = fostered a period of cultural, intellectual, and political reform
- policies met resistance from hardliners
- did not entirely eliminate authoritarianism = protests and strikes for even greater freedoms (Yugoslavia, Hungary, Poland)
BUT Khrushchev, like Alexander II, did not intend to move too far away from authoritarian rule, seen when tanks were sent into Hungary in 1956 and the dismissal of rebellious politicians like Zhukov and Bulganin.
- New rules were issued, limiting how long a party official could stand for.
- Membership was expanded to 11 million Russians in 1964.
- further democratisation = weakening the traditional bureaucracy to give more responsibility to the people.
Alexander II
Developments in Central Administration
- 1855 to 1905 = largely the same
- 1861, the Committee of Ministers was established
- 1882, Alex III abandoned it
Nicholas II
Developments in Central Administration
- pressure of the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05 AND assassinations of key political figures, a massacre of a group of workers by state troops (Bloody Sunday), strikes, a naval mutiny (Potemkin) and other incidents of social unrest in 1905, Led Nicholas, to release the October manifesto, which confirmed that a more representative form of government will be established, centring on the Duma.
- BUT Council of Ministers chaired by a prime minister selected by the tsar and ultimately had little power over him.
- The Duma was not given the authority to pass laws, but it could block proposed legislation.
- The election process was made deliberately complex, favouring those with property and discriminating against workers and peasants.
Between 1906 and 1917, four Dumas were elected:
1. April to July 1906 (land distribution; backlash from duma about “compulsory redistribution was not an option” = Nicholas II claimed that the actions of the lower chamber were illegal, and disbanded it after two months.
2. February to June 1907 (more right wing BUT tsar and Stolypin continued to mistrust over land reform and the management of the Russian army)
3. November 1907 to June 1912 (mainly consisted of people loyal to the crown due to electoral reform ; major reforms strengthened the army and navy. The judicial system was further improved with the reinstatement of justices of the peace and the abolition of land captains. For the first time, state-run insurance schemes for workers were introduced. All of this occurred because Nicholas II and his ministers showed more trust in the lower chamber.
- November 1912 to February 1917 (far right; infamous for putting pressure on the tsar to abdicate; members formed backbone of Provisional Government BUT STILL ‘old guard’. By 1915, a ‘Progressive Bloc’ of Duma representatives demanded a National Government to take charge of the war effort - SUSPENDED August 1915
- Dumas and the Council of Ministers made very little difference to the underlying nature of the Russian state - left were largely ignored by the government, and majority in the lower chamber remained loyal to the principle of autocracy.
Lenin
Developments in Central Administration
- new constitution in July 1918.
- In order to avoid opposition, the Bolsheviks allowed elections to a Constituent Assembly in November, they failed to win a majority (2nd to the SR) and thus Lenin claimed the CA was ‘elected on the old register’, justifying shutting the assembly down after one day. There were no popular demonstrations.
- In January 1918, the Third All-Russian Congress of Soviets sanctioned this and proclaimed the establishment of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR)
- THE DECREE ON LAND sanctioned the requisition of private land by peasants, but stated that the division and redistribution could only be carried out by village Soviets. It won over SR support, who had previously suggested something similar.
- THE DECREE ON PEACE called for an immediate truce and a peaceful settlement, laying the foundation for an armistice that was signed on 2nd December 1917. On 3rd March 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed, ceding a huge proportion of territory (a third of European Russia) to Germany, including Ukraine, Russia’ most important grain-producing region. Russia also agreed to pay 3 billion roubles in reparations.Trotsky called the treaty a diktat.
- the summer of 1918, Mensheviks and SRs were expelled from the Executive Committee and it became dominated by Bolshevik’s ( most already members of Sovnarkom) and thus Russia was not far being ruled as a one-party state, especially as the Council no longer consisted of left wing SRs.
- December 1917, Cheka formed, headed by Dzerzhinski, a Polish communist,
- The new system appeared to be democratic; members of the Sovnarkom were the products of a chain of elections (village elected district who elected provisional Soviet’s to elect them).
Membership of Bolsheviks was the only way to get into politics and was now seen as a priveledge, a way to social mobility THUS it grew: 1922 there were 730,000 but in 1928 this was a million. Nomenklature, approved officials who possess specialist skills in regime, gave many new careers BUT by 1929, the party had become very hierarchical.
- 1930s: 10% party made up of apparatchiki (full time, educated,paid party organisers)
- 30% employed as other administrators, educated people largely part of growing middle class
- Rest of party was workers and partners who is spare time were activists
- The political regime became less democratic with centralisation and nepotism. Officials became detached from grass roots affairs and workers showed less interest in politics. Recruitment campaigns such as the Lenin Enrolment had little effect on this structure.
Stalin
Developments in Central Administration
Stalin wished to continue democratic centralism since this was essential to the implementation of his economic policies and dealing with internal enemies.
- new constitution 1936 which built on earlier ones of 1918 and 1934
- Suggested there would be more freedom
- 1924 constitution changed RSFSR to USSR
- republics were given the right to administer their own education system and the power to break away from USSR
- even so the CPSU still dominated the union and republic governments and dissent from party line was never tolerated
- The new constitution was similar that that since 1918 and this was clear in Article 126 of the Stalin Constitution which stated that the party was the** ‘nucleus** of all the public and state organisations of the working people’
- Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Moldova were joined to the USSR from 1939 to 1940.
Khrushchev
Developments in Central Administration
1977 constitution introduced elements of liberalism.
- For example, the previous aim of creating an integrated Soviet Nation was omitted, suggesting that demands by individual republics to secede would be carefully listened to.
- organisation and structure of the central Government remained virtually the same during the period up to 1964.
Alexander II
Changes in Local Government
Before 1861, provinces were largely under the jurisdiction of noble landowners, and village issues were discussed by the mir. This changed with the Emancipation of the Serfs. The nobility ceased to play a political role and the management of local affairs were left in the hands of local police constables appointed by the interior minister. In 1864, Alexander II also introduced the Zemstvo or regional council:
- This included an elected membership voted in by a mixture of landowners, Urban, dwellers and peasants. Electors were mainly selected by a property qualification.
- Zemstva were located only in areas considered to be part of Great Russia
JUDICIARY:
☐1864 legal reforms: the introduction of a jury system for criminal cases; the creation of a hierarchy of courts to cater for different types of case; better pay for judges (lessening the chances of corruption); public attendance at courts was allowed.
☐ 1877: following an assassination attempt on Alexander II’s life, a new department of the Senate was set up to try political cases. The Vera Zasulich case and the eventual murder of the tsar in 1881 indicated that the new policies of the Senate had failed.
Alexander III
Changes in Local Government
JUDICIARY: 1881: Alexander III moved away from the ‘liberal’ approach to law and order that had been adopted by his father. The police were centralised under the minister for the interior, special courts were designed for political cases, and justices of the peace were replaced by land captains.
Nicholas II
Changes in Local Government
Before October 1917, the Zemstva and Duma flourished, providing important services in the fields of education, public health and transport. However, the central government increasingly found Zemstva members irritating. By the end of the nineteenth century, the councils in some provinces were dominated by teachers, lawyers and doctors who demanded that the central government should be remodelled on the lines of the Zemstva and Duma. This liberal voice was named the ‘Third Element’.
Lenin
Changes in Local Government
The first workers’ council or soviet emerged in St Petersburg at the time of the October Manifesto. Its aim was to coordinate strikes and protect factory workers. Fairly quickly, SRS and SDs looked to gain representation on the executive committee, and influence how the council was run. In 1917, the council was officially referred to as the Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ Deputies, and the Bolsheviks began to dominate the executive committee.
From March to October 1917, some historians have claimed that the Petrograd soviet controlled Russia. It dictated when, where and how strikes would occur. Essential services, especially those connected with transport, were largely in the hands of the soviet. Petrograd Soviet Order No. 1 placed ultimate authority over soldiers in the hands of the soviet.
In April, the Bolshevik party had 80,000 members in 78 local organisations; by July, these figures had risen to 200,000 in 162 organisations. Petrograd alone had 41,000 members. In comparison, during the same period the Mensheviks (the party that had been favoured by the Soviet) had just 8000 members in total. The implication is that the Soviets had no choice but to yield authority to the Bolsheviks, and it is unsurprising that at the end of July the Bolsheviks no longer adopted the slogan ‘All Power to the Soviets’.
Despite some reforms, the Russian legal system remained archaic compared with that of the West…1917 onwards: the period of communist rule was dominated by the idea of ‘revolutionary justice’. This was epitomised by the new criminal code of 1921 that legalised the use of terror to deter crime (that is, all anti-revolutionary behaviour). The whole judicial system rested on this principle to the end of the period in question.
Alexander II
Measures of Repression and Enforcement
He replaced the Third Section of the Imperial Chancellery with the ‘softer’ Department of State Police (Okhrana) in 1880. Russia experienced ‘glasnot’ (openness) for the first time under him. In 1865, censorship was relaxed, although the government retained the right to withdraw publications of a ‘dangerous orientation’. This increased circulation of newspapers and books: in 1855, 1020 books were published, vs in 1894 when there were 10,691.
Alexander III
Measures of Repression and Enforcement
The People’s Will was ruthlessly suppressed. He used the Okhrana for spying on and arresting opposition. Russification led to the army having an enhanced role as a peace-keeping force and regulator of regional frontiers. He clamped down on publications and officials censored written material before it was realised, closing down educational institutions and newspapers.
Nicholas II
Measures of Repression and Enforcement
Often the army’s use of excessive force such as in Bloody Sunday, 1906, caused outrage. They were used to dismantle strikes, protests and riots, in particular the social unrest of February 1917. Nicholas reverted to the ‘glasnot’ of his grandfather. A considerable expansion of the press took place in 1894, and periodical circulation increased three-fold 1900-14. Prepublication censorship disappeared although publishers could still be fined or closed down for circulating subversive material. Proletariat newspearres emerged, including ‘Kopek newspaper’ which after 2 years reached a circulation of 25,000. Political matters discussed in the Duma were also reported in print, though details were occasionally omitted or changed. Censorship reappeared during the First World War.
Lenin
Measures of Repression and Enforcement
THE CHEKA: By the summer of 1917 the Cheka had begun their claims down on left wing SRs especially after members of this group were linked with an attempt to assassinate Lenin in August 1918.
They were different from previous secret police since they used terror to victimise people based on who they were not actions. They formally implemented the Red Terror under guidance from Trotsky. Part of this involved enforcing War Communism, especially grain requisitioning, and the ‘Labour Code’, the elimination of the Kulaks, the administration of labour camps and the militarisation of labour
THE ARMY: It is estimated that about 150,000 members of the Petrograd Garrison supported the revolution at the time, thus Lenin encouraged them to form the Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC) which was to become the vanguard of the revolution.
During the October Revolution, the MRC and Red Guard seized power from Kerensoy, commandeering transport and public buildings and later the Winter Palace with minimal strategic buildings. Trotsky noted that if a few hundred soldiers had remained loyal to the Provisional Government the revolution could have been averted.
The Bolsheviks used the military to consolidate power, dealing with flash strikes by civil servants and financial workers. The issue of how to end Russia’s involvement in WW1 was tackled by replacing General Dukhonin with General Krylenko.
The red guard, under Trotsky, was instrumental to winning the Civil War, though hardly existed at the start. By the end it had over 5 million conscripts while the White opposition only had 500,000. Trotsky faced problems of desertion and revolution despite being more disciplined and helping to impose War Communism. See February 1922 when sailors mutinied at Kronstadt, though the themes were captured eventually after 50,000 troops were sent and 10,000 Red Guards died.
CENSORSHIP: In WW1, Bolsheviks abolished press freedom in or set to suppress counterrevolutionaries. In 1921, the Agitation and Propaganda Department (Agitprop) was founded to promote an idealised picture of Russian life. School and cinemas and radios and libraries were all under surveillance to prevent the dissemination of counter revolutionary material, like Zemyatin who was labelled subversive.
PROPAGANDA: Bolsheviks used slogans like “Peace, Bread and Land” and “All Power to the Soviets” and like the tsarists used pamphlets, newspapers, photographs, posters and statues.
Stalin
Measures of Repression and Enforcement
The NKVD was formed in 1934, headed by Yagoda to create a permanent form of terror and combat opposition to Stalin’s personal dictatorship. It was crucial to the imposition of ouvres and was notable for gathering evidence against high ranking communists like Trotsky. It helped administer the Gulags where 40 million were sent under Stalin. However he suspected them of conspiracy and in 1938, Yagoda/Yezhov was blamed for an anti-purge campaign, was replaced by Beria. By WW2, the NKVD had been purged of around 20,000 members.
In 1943, they were replaced by the People’s Commissariat for State Security (NKGB), then replaced by the MGB (responsible for ensuring that the general population was kept in line) and MVD (another version of the NOVD) in 1946.
THE ARMY: Stalin used the military to implement economic policy, requisition grain as part of collectivisation and administering purges in the Great Terror. Stalin saw them as a threat and removed a number of key military figures in the Great Purge (over 40% by the end) 1936-8 including the Great Civil War hero Tukhachevsky which seemed illogical given the rise of Hitler.
In WW2, there were many casualties and deserters but Stalin’s ‘fight to the last drop of blood’ was a policy responsible for the defence of Stalingrad and Moscow. After the war, military leaders were treated with suspicion despite their heroics. Marshal Zhukov, the chief of staff during the war, was removed, for example, from the Party Central Committee and exiled from Moscow.
CENSORSHIP: Under Stalin, censorship increased. By 1932 all literary groups were closed down and anyone wanting to write had to join the Union of Soviet Writers (USW), in which they had to only write “socialist realism” - depicting ordinary people overcoming oppression. Work had to be approved by the party otherwise writers would be exiled or executed. This continued in WW2, where news about the rest of the roof was limited, with Radio airways districted and news fictionalised. Writes were “engineers of men’s souls” so long as they promoted the New Soviet Man and Russia’s achievements.
PROPAGANDA: Lenin and Stalin both used the cult of personality, using imagery, embalming and displaying Lenin’s body in Red Square, the renaming of Petrograd to Leningrad and Tsaritsyn to Stalingrad, the slogan “Stalin is the Lenin of Today” 1924 and depictions of Stalin in peasant clothes as a man of the people.
Under the communists, the Pravda and Izvestiya magazines promoted the achievements of the 5 year plan and were great propaganda. Pecuak youth organisations were established to protect youths from the “degeneracy of bourgeois cultures”. Membership of Komsomol and Pioneers increased 5 fold from 1929 to 1941, and the members were encouraged to tell on those who criticised their leaders. Jazz music was banned. The Stakhanovite movement was one of many propaganda campaigns created to raise productivity. The Stakhanovite movement was based on the extraordinary efforts of the Donbas miner Alexei Stakhanov, who produced way above the normal quantity of coal per man shift. He was turned into a model worker for others to copy. Those who did were given special awards such as red carpets and holidays and Moscow. The Dynamo and Spartan Moscow football teams were used to show the world how successful Russian people were under communism.
There were 1000 cinemas by 1917, film indicated only starting in 1907. Stalin used cinema to promote collectivisation and the 5 year plans.
VIOLENCE:
•20-30 million shot or sent to Labour Camps
•850,000 purged from the Party
•by 1939, only 4 out of 163 Bishops were not in prison
•25% citizens of Leningrad were in Labour Camps
•1,108 out of 1,966 delegates of 17th Party Congress arrested
•98 out of 139 members of the Central Committee were arrested
•only one of Lenin’s original Politburo remained
Khrushchev
Measures of Repression and Enforcement
SECRET POLICE: The MGB and MVD merged into a large MVD in 1953, remaining in the hands of Beria, who was later executed in December by Khrushchev, soon after he gained control of the Party Central Committee. Thus began the reorganisation of the MVD: in March 1954, it was reorganised into two departments, the new MVD (mainly civil disorder and ordinary criminality) and KGB (internal and external security, very important due to Cold War). These were Inde redirect administration of the party and it became much easier to monitor security measures. The new structure AND Khrushchev’s genuine desire to move away from severe repression meant political arrests plummeted, use of Gulags and the torture of dissidents largely disappeared; only 11,000 counter-revolutionaries in captivity in 1960 vs 1930 - 40s.
THE ARMY: Far more focused in resolving international conflict. With detente, an easy if tensions occured, which in turn led to a reduction is the size of the army from 3.6 million to about 2.4 million. Nevertheless, flashpoints such as the shooting down of a US spy plane over Russian airspace in 1960 and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 illustrated that Russia required a significant military presence.
CENSORSHIP: Eased. Books and libraries proliferated so that by the late 1950s nearly 65,000 books were being published per year, twice the number that came out in the mid-1920s. By 1959, there were 135,000 libraries containing around 8000 million books, a tenfold increase on the numbers for 1913. Newspapers also flourished, with a total readership of nearly 60 million by the early 1960s.
PROPAGANDA: Under the guidance of the Council of People’s Commissars, Soviet cinema was immersed in ‘social realism’, and greater creative freedom was allowed under Khrushchev after the ‘secret speech’. In 1959, 145 films were made and the number of cinemas had increased to nearly 59,000.
Alexander II
The Nature, Extent and Effectiveness of Opposition
> GROUPS
PEASANTS AND WORKERS
The populists (Narodniks), led by Nikolai Chernyshevsky and Pyotr Lavrov and inspired by Karl Marx, consisted of Russian intellectuals, who were given greater freedom to criticise tsarist rule following Alexander II’s reforms.Chernyshevsky’s ‘What is to be Done?’ had a profound impact on Lenin in its messages about socialism. Lavrov organised a ‘Going to the People’ campaign, 1873-74, where 4000 university students went into the Russian countryside to educate the peasants politically. This became more organised when Land and liberty was formed, 1876, but the scheme nonetheless failed.
The People’s will was a terrorist group that emerged from the Land and Liberty movement, formed in 1879. They used ‘the propaganda of the deed’, i.e. violence, as a means to spark revolution. Their primary objective was to assassinate the star: four attempts were made on Alexander II’s life before he was killed in 1881. In this sense populist popotin was successful although the assissination did not prompt a complete overthrow of tsarism, or even more liberalism.
Worker Strikes before the 1880s tended to be localised and small scale affair. HOWEVER…
Worker opposition over the time grew and was effective in the sense that:
- Average working day was reduced from eleven and a half hours in 1897 to seven hours in the 1960s.
- Official inspection and administration of working conditions were established
- A change in the political system in 1917 promised a dictatorship of the proletariat that would lead to full worker control of the country.
BUT living standards continually fell + were often repressed!
The 1861 emancipation edict unleashed a number of disturbances among peasants.
Alexander III
The Nature, Extent and Effectiveness of Opposition
At the start of this period, liberal ‘Westernisers’ (as opposed to Slavophiles) wanted Russia to be governed in a similar way to West European liberal democracies such as Britain. Liberal ideas were supported by the emergence of the Zemstva and the mid-1890s’ revival of the concept of a Zemstvo union.
A worker strike in 1885 at the Morozov dye works involved over 8000 workers.
There was peasant unrest in the 1890s (emancipation edict surrounding), and revolts were quelled with the help of land captains.
Nicholas II
The Nature, Extent and Effectiveness of Opposition
> INTERNAL
GROUPS
PEASANT AND WORKER
Both the tsarist and communist ruling elites experienced opposition from within. The tsars favoured removing opponents and dissidents from their posts; those who suffered this punishment tended to remain loyal to the autocracy. For example, Sergei Witte, the finance minister from 1892 to 1903, was unexpectedly demoted to chairman of ministers. This did not dissuade him from accepting the more important role of prime minister from 1905 to 1906.
The Socialist Revolutionary Party was formed in 1901, led by Victor Chernov, emerging from the populist movement and wanted to improve the urban prolteriat’s living conditions. Nicholas II made political parties legal in 1905, but by then they had split into a more radical left and moderate right wing SRs. The left employed direct action: 1901-1905 they were responsible for 2000 political killings. The right worked with other parties and groups, gathering support and momentum after the 1905 revolution. The right appealed to peasants, whereas the left focused on the plight of industrial workers. Despite the divisions, the SRs had the most support and were the biggest threat to tsarist rule before the October 1917 revolution.
In 1898, the All-Russian Social Democratic Workers’ Party was founded in Minsk. The group was influenced by an interpretation of Marx’s work made by George Plekhanov, who emphasised the need to encourage working-class consciousness. However, since few workers had the time or inclination to engage with Marxist theory, some SD supporters focused on improving pay and reducing working hours. By 1905, there were signs of division between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks.
The Union of Liberation, founded in 1904, wanted fairer land distribution, a representative Constituent Assembly, and improved conditions for industrial workers.
After the so-called revolution of 1905, the clamour for constitutional monarchy gathered pace with the formation of the Constitutional Democrats (Kadets). Led by Paul Milyukov, this was the intellectual arm of the liberal movement and went on to play a very important role as opposition within the first Duma. The more moderate liberal group, the Octobrists, led by Alexander Guchkov and Mikhail Rodzianko were loyal to the tsar, but wanted changes to the system of government. The two groups supported Nicholas II’s October Manifesto and were therefore much maligned by more revolutionary organisations.
Opposition to tsarism before February 1917 was divided between those who wanted change within the tsarist system and those who wanted to overthrow it. The major political changes promised by the October Manifesto were largely cancelled out by the Fundamental Laws of 1906, and the Romanov dynasty remained intact until Nicholas II found it impossible to cope with the effects of the First World War. The lack of effective opposition before 1917 was due partly to the control exerted by successive tsars, but also to the lack of unity within and between opposition groups.
PEASANT UNREST…
There weer peasant rebellion. 1900-7 prompted by unsatisfactory attempts to deal with redemption payments, land distribution and rising prices. They became more inventive in their rebellion = appropriating private and state land, refusing yo pay tax, robbing warehouses and stores, physically attacking landowners and setting fire to property.
The revolts of 1906-7, especially in the Black Earth regions, were initially put down with a great deal of force. However, Stolypin subsequently carried out land reforms to appease peasant grievances, indicating that peasants were successful in employing direct action on a wider scale. From 1908-1914, Stolypin’s reforms seemed to pacify peasant leaders, but the upheaval of the First World War ignited another phase of peasant revolt. From 1916, peasants protested against high food prices and the pressure of rising demand for food from urban dwellers. This was exacerbated by the lack of technology and materials needed to improve productivity. Peasants were integral to the revolutionary events of 1917, launching attacks on landowners, destroying public utilities in provincial towns, and engaging in peasant vigilantism. The peasantry was more organised than before, often aided by army deserters and educated peasants who formed peasant soviets.
Although strike activity was frequently banned or dealt with using extreme force, workers continued to employ direct action up to and during the First World War. The most famous strike during the war period started on 23rd February 1917 at the Putilov Works, the largest private factory in Russia by the start of the century. It specialised in iron production and became very important during the First World War by providing artillery. The average working day in 1897 was eleven and a half hours.
Lenin
The Nature, Extent and Effectiveness of Opposition
> ELECTIONS
CIVIL WAR
INTERNAL OPPOSITION
POWER STRUGGLE
PEASANT & WORKER
Although Bolsheviks had started to claim de facto rule, they failed to win a majority in elections to the Constituent Assembly showing the substantial degree of opposition to them. (They got 175 seats while the SRs got 370 out of 717), THUS…
Lenin used military to shut down elections
- Opposition because Lenin wanted out of WW1 = Left SRs saw him as traitor to revolution and German collaborator
- Lenin MAY HAVE welcomed Civil War = provided opportunity to destroy opposition = groups that made up the White armies were essentially political opponents from the Constituent Assembly. BUT existence of Green armies suggests war was not simply about party politics, but also concerned conflicts about nationalities and regions.
- After the Red Army victory, Lenin presented a paper ‘On Party Unity’ in 1921; this laid the base for making all other parties illegal, and banned factionalism within the Bolshevik Party. From 1921 to 1964 (and beyond), Russia remained a one-party state.
- WORKER OPPOSITION: Civil War as turning point = workers died in the fighting = shift of peasants from agricultural to industrial work = factory work force of the 1920s = THIS + emergence of the NEP = DOCILITY BUT not much better conditions than tsars except trade Union representation
- PEASANTS: Rioted in attempt to better their position = quasi-independent, peasant army is established, led by heroes such as CHAPAYEV that sympathised with the Bolsheviks = BUT peasants supported white armies AND mounting resentment of grain requisitioning and war communism THUS NEP introduced to appease ( like 1861 emancipation and Stolypin’s land reforms)
PROBLEMS UNDER LENIN =
- a number of prominent Bolsheviks, including Kamenev, Zinoviev and Rykov, called for a coalition to be formed with other socialist groups.
- signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk opposed by the left, especially Trotsky.
- adoption of War Communism was considered harsh by some party members. Lenin conceded to pressure for change and introduced his NEP = heightened tensions and widened divisions. Right Bolsheviks favoured this temporary concession towards capitalism, while left Bolsheviks saw it as a betrayal of revolutionary principles.
- Lenin’s failing health before 1924 started a power struggle: Triumvirate (Troika) instigated within the Politburo, consisting of Zinoviev, Kamenev and Stalin. Its purpose was to combat the growing influence of Trotsky, whom Lenin seemed to favour as a successor.
Stalin
The Nature, Extent and Effectiveness of Opposition
> PARTY
Zinoviev and Kamenev
Bukharin
PURGES
PEASANT UNREST
WORKER UNREST
- Leading Bolsheviks disagreed over 3 key issues: continuation of the NEP, many demanded that a more openly democratic form of government should be adopted AND link between ideology and the future of communism (The left, under Trotsky = permanent revolution, the right = need for socialism in one country)
…BUT LEADERSHIP SKILLS: Stalin displayed skill in manipulating debates and individuals to consolidate his position, thereby paving the way for a personal dictatorship. - Zinoviev and Kamenev attacked Stalin for foreign policy BUT removed as secretaries of their local party. The Politburo was simultaneously expanded from 6 to 8 members and reinforced with Stalinists.
THIS LED TO… Trotsky, Kamenev and Zinoviev responded by forming the United Opposition group = excluded from the Politburo = 1927 Trotsky expelled and exiled to Kazakhstan, January 1929 expelled from the USSR altogether. - grain requisitioning opposed by right because resembled aspects of war communism. Bukharin was particularly vocal in expressing his concerns and as a result of joining forces with Kamenev, was branded a factionalist.
- 1929, Bukharin was ousted from his position as president of Comintern. Tomsky and Rykov also suffered demotions.
- Stalin simply gained the agreement of a core of loyal party members in order to remove critics from positions of power, this was similar to how tsars dealt with opposition. Thus, with both the left and the right removed from key jobs, Stalin was free to dominate proceedings.
- 1929 = difficult to distinguish between serious and imaginary challenges to Stalin’s authority.
PURGES: 1930s =
- Party members who failed to implement collectivisation adequately or who disagreed with Style’s attempt to liquidate the kulaks as a class lost their party card, reducing total membership by about 1/10.
- During the mid 1930’s, the party shed a further third of its members who were seen to be resisting the pace of industrialization and collectivization.
- From the mid 1930s, some prominent politburo members were exiled or executed after being called oppositionists. By 1939, Kirov, Kossior, Ordhonikze, Kuibyshev and Radzutaks were all dead.
- By the beginning of the Second World War, Stalin’s paranoia over those who believed to be challenging authority had receded.
THUS… internal opposition was more limited in scope and achievement during the Stalinist era than at any other time in 1855 to 1964.
- Stalin’s collectivization and dekulakisation program ignited peasant unrest = Thousands of peasants died as a result of the different phases of collectivization = opposition to the scale and speed of reform and loss of the mir as an organising institution in 1930. At the height of collectivisation, significant numbers of peasants refused to cooperate and showed outright dissent by slaughtering large numbers of cattle and horses.
QUESTION: worker protests as political opposition or economic grievance?
- 1920s and 30’s, authorities quickly dealt with agitation, and Stalin’s purges ruthlessly removed disruptive trade union officials.
- In general, workers accepted five-year plans = economic policy = way of controlling worker behaviour = 1940s, rise in no. worker suicides associated with the pressures of failing to meet production targets.
Khrushchev
The Nature, Extent and Effectiveness of Opposition
- little rural unrest BUT agricultural policies were unsuccessful = by end of his rule food shortages
- WW2, in contrast to 1914-17 = no strikes BUT early examples of lack of support for the conflict.
- Industrial reactions were stable, although there were riots by workers over a perceived fall in living standards E.G. 1962, workers at Novocherkassk protested against food shortages and rishon food prices = the authorities killed 20 workers, and a number of ringleaders were later executed.
