The Russian Revolution and the birth of the Soviet Union

1
The Russian Revolution and the birth of the
Soviet Union

• Totalitarian Government in the Soviet Union

2
Totalitarian government is the exact opposite of
liberal democracy

• Suppress individual liberties
• Abolish all competing political parties
• Eliminate or regulate private property
• Use the bureaucracy and technology to impose its
  ideology and enforce its commands

3
-the ultimate goal of a totalitarian state is

• Total control of the individual- what is
  believed, what values are held
• There are no private moral judgements, no
  individual thought, no individual conscience
• People have no natural rights, they are
  building blocks for a new social order...

4
(No Transcript)
5
(No Transcript)
6

• Czar Nicholas II - Autocracy, Orthodoxy
  and Nationalism
• Unlike his predecessors, he was weak, incompetent
  and suspected of being under the influence of his
  German-born wife Alexandra, and a half-crazed
  monk named Grigori Rasputin.

7

• There were two revolutions in 1917
• The February (March-western calendar)
• The October (November)

8
The November 6th Revolution

• The second revolution was instigated and inspired
  by a radical socialist party then known as the
  Bolsheviks. Its leader was Vladimir Lenin.

9
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov

• 1870-1924
• Third of five children to a respectable middle
  class family

10
Alexander Ulyanov idolized by his younger
brother

• Implicated in an attempted conspiracy to kill
  Czar Alexander III, he was executed.

11

• Vladimir was arrested and exiled to Siberia in
  1887 for participating in anti-government
  demonstrations

12

• In 1890, Lenin was given permission to enter the
  law school at St. Petersburg.
• By 1897, exiled again for his anti-government
  speeches and pamphlets
• In 1900 exiled to Switzerland

13
Vladimir Ulyanov became a folk legend

• All Soviet books called Lenin a genius and the
  greatest thinker who ever lived.

14
World War One The Battle of Tannenberg, 1914
15
(No Transcript)
16

• In 1915, Czar Nicholas decided to go and direct
  the war from the front lines
• Czarina allowed a crazed monk named Rasputin to
  run the homefront

17
(No Transcript)
18
(No Transcript)
19
Demonstrators gathering in front of the Winter
Palace in Petrograd, just prior to the Russian
Revolution, January 1917.
20
Economic Causes

• Illiterate and oppressed peasant majority
• Striking workers shut down industries
• Inefficient transportation system
• Food and fuel shortages

21
Social Causes

• Extreme differences in classes
• Peasants desire for land
• Deprivations resulting from the war

22
Political Causes

• Autocracy - weak and ineffectual ruler
• Spread of Marxist ideas
• Charismatic leaders such as Lenin and Trotsky
• Enormous losses in The Great War

23

• Abdication March, 1917
• Nicholas Romanov became a private citizen

24

• The provisional government the Kerensky
  Government because its primary figure was
  Alexander Kerensky made a fatal mistake it
  remained in the war.

25

• Lenin (living in Switzerland) was secretly aided
  by the German govt to return to Russia

26
Upon returning to Russia, Lenin promised Peace,
Bread and Land and All Power to the Soviets.
27

• Lenin.
• October. Power to Soviets.
  Land to Peasants. Factories to Workers. Peace to
  all Nations.

28
Leon Trotsky- architect of the October (November)
Revolution

• Seized the headquarters of the Provisional
  Government as well as key govt buildings,
  railway stations, telephone exchanges, electric
  generating plants
• Next morning, all soviets approved the takeovers.

29
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, March 1918

• Lenin gave up 1/3 of the population, 3/4 of
  Russias iron resources and 9/10 of its coal
  supply plus a huge indemnity to Germany
• The Bolsheviks accepted Germanys harsh
  conditions in order to focus on securing
  powerthe real revolution was yet to come.
• News of the treaty contributed to a civil war
  the Reds vs the Whites - which lasted until 1921.
  

30

• Czar Nicholas II and his family were first exiled
  to Siberia but later, in July of 1918 were killed

31
The Bolsheviks didnt cause a revolution, they
captured it.
32

• Lenin suffered a stroke and paralysis in 1922
• his health slowly deteriorated until his death in
  1924

33
(No Transcript)
34
Iosef Vissarionovich Dzhugashavili1879-1953

• Stalin transformed the Russian Empire into the
  Soviet Union from a poor, undeveloped
  agricultural country into one of the worlds
  industrial and military giants.

35

• Stalins early years
• 1888-1894 attended local church school

36

• Tiflis Theological Seminary

37
Stalin arrest records
38
As a revolutionary, Stalin .

• helped organize workers strikes
• set up a secret press to spread Marxist
  ideasdistributed illegal pamphlets
• participated in train and bank robberies
• by 1912, was a member of the inner circle of the
  Bolshevik party.

39

• Lenin and Stalin in Finland

40
(No Transcript)
41
Stalins second death strategy
42
(No Transcript)
43

• 1927 expelled from the Communist party
• 1928 exiled to Siberia
• 1929 deported to Turkey/Mexico
• 1940 murdered

44
Planned Economy or Command Economy
45
Stalins Industrial policies

• Initiated five year plans to promote the
  production of heavy machinery
• Focused on building steel mills, cement plants
  and oil refineries.
• Limited production of consumer goods like
  clothing and cosmetics.

46
Stalins Agricultural policies

• Eliminated wealthy, land-owning kulaks
• Initiated Collectivization- large government
  farms called collectives replaced private
  plots.

47
Stalins Political policies- Dictatorship of the
Communist Party

• Created a secret police with unlimited power to
  crush dissenters critical of Soviet life
• Strictly controlled the minority nationalities
• Used show trials to eliminate and intimidate
  all potential rivals
• Used art literature to glorify himself and the
  Communist State

48
Stalins Social/Cultural policiesThe Cult of
personality

• Mandated expanded education at all levels
• Promoted educational opportunities for women
• Censored all forms of creative thinking and
  expression
• Replaced religious teachings with Communist ideals

49
(No Transcript)
50
(No Transcript)
51
(No Transcript)
52
(No Transcript)
53
(No Transcript)
54
(No Transcript)
55
(No Transcript)
56
(No Transcript)
57
(No Transcript)
58
(No Transcript)
59
(No Transcript)
60
(No Transcript)
61
(No Transcript)
62
(No Transcript)
63
(No Transcript)
64
(No Transcript)
65
(No Transcript)
66
(No Transcript)
67

• THE END. any questions my comrades?

68
Any Questions?The End