Russian History

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Russian History

• Animal Farm
• By George Orwell

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Communism

• Communism is both a form of government and
  economy.
• In communism there is no class system.
• Every works to produce and goods and services are
  distributed evenly.
• Instead of trying to acquire goods for oneself,
  one instead tries to produce goods for the
  benefit of everyone.

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What type of government and economic system do we
use in the United States?
How does this differ from Communism?
Can you think of something that would be both an
advantage and disadvantage to communism?
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Czar Nicholas the Second

• Russias ruler before the advent of Communism.
• Czar Nicholas the Second lived in extreme luxury
  while the peasants of Russia lived in severe
  poverty.
• There was a large gap between the ruling class
  and the peasant class.
• In 1904 Russia goes to war with Japan over land
  in the far East, this war extended the gap
  between the rich and the poor.
• There was a series of small rebellions until The
  February Revolution in 1917.

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Carl Marx The Father of Communism

• Carl Marx (a German) published a series of essays
  that became the basis of Russian communism, or at
  least the ideals that Russian communism is based
  on.
• Marx was opposed to private land ownership.
• Vladimir Lennon adopted Marxs ideas and brought
  them to Russia.

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Leon Trotsky

• Leon Trotsky was an excellent public speaker who
  excelled at inspiring people.
• Trotsky and Lenin helped overthrow the Czar and
  went on to create the Council of the Peoples
  Commissars.
• Lenin was president and Trotsky was the Commissar
  of Foreign Affairs.

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Could any troubles arise from this split of
power? If so what do you predict they could be?
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1918 - 1921

• From 1918 through 1921 there was no ruling
  government in Russia.
• Foreign countries (United States, Britain and
  France) are shocked to see how fast communism
  spread across Russia.
• Eventually Russia becomes the USSR.
• Union of Soviet Socialist Republic.

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Death of Lenin

• When Lenin dies there was a power struggle
  between the two top officials in Russia, Leon
  Trotsky and Joseph Stalin.
• Trotsky and Stalin disagreed as to what was the
  best way to rule the USSR.

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vs.
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How to rule the USSR

• Trotsky believed the best way to rule the USSR
  was to focus on expanding Communism throughout
  the world.
• Stalin believed the best way to rule the USSR was
  to focus on the power within the country.

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What would be one advantage and one disadvantage
to how Trotsky wanted to rule?
What would be one advantage and one disadvantage
to how Stalin wanted to rule?
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Banishment

• Stalin succeeded in banishing Trotsky from the
  USSR in 1929.
• Trotsky ended up in Mexico and was not allowed to
  return to the USSR.
• Though he was across the world Stalin still
  viewed Trotsky as a threat to his power.
• Later Trotsky was found murdered in his Mexican
  Villa with an axe in his head.
• This murder was committed by the NKVD, the
  precursor of the KGB.

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Joseph Stalin

• Stalin believed in the same ideals of Communism
  as Marx and Lenin, however Stalin was corrupted
  by power.
• Stalin gave himself excessive power and lived in
  luxury, however the peopled lived in poverty.
• Conditions were worse than they were before the
  revolution.

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Joseph Stalin

• Because of Stalins quest for power the USSRs
  reputation and power in the world grew.
• Though the USSRs power was growing outside of
  the country, inside conditions remained stagnant.

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Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts
absolutely.

• What do you think this quote means?

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Stalin vs. Trotsky continued

• Even after Trotsky was banished, and killed,
  Stalin would illicit (get) confessions from
  citizens who claimed to be loyal and support
  Trotsky.
• These confessions were often false, but a way for
  Stalin to rule by fear.
• Stalin would use these false confessions to
  systematically assassinate his enemies.