Russia and the Soviet Union 1917-1941

• The generals did not support the Tsar
• People stopped working and were rioting
• Bolshevik originated from the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, split into Lenin's Bolshevik group (majority) and Juliana Martov's Menshevik group (minority) in 1903
• Russia used the Julius Caesar Calendar, leading to 2 different dates for the revolutions
• A provisional government was in place until elections could be held, made up of members from the Duma
• Peasants moved to factory towns/cities, becoming a new social grouping called workers
• Bolshevik revolution began in 1903 with The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
• Russia did not industrialize in the 1900s, remaining economically and politically backward
• The Soviet council system was established for political transformation
• The Communist Party emerged strong after the Civil War, with Lenin as a key figure
• NEP restored money, allowed peasants to hold land and pay tax, and increased industrial output by 1926
• Market-oriented New Economic Policy followed War Communism
• The Romanovs were overthrown by a lay army and people
• The Tsar abdicated due to lack of army support
• The army refused to stop the riots
• There were 2 revolutions in Russia in Feb/March


  1916
• Dual System of government

  • Duma - provisional government
  • Soviet - members of socialist parties
• Social classes in the beginning of the 1900s

  • Landowners/aristocrats - upper class
  • Factory owners - new upper class
  • Shop owners and small business - new class of bureaucracy - middle class
  • Workers - lower class
  • Peasants - lower class
• Pre-industrial revolution: 10% wealthy owned land, 90% peasants worked land
• Marxist Theory: Stage 1 - Overthrow, create middle class government, create capital through capitalism, Stage 2 - Workers overthrow middle class and rule
• In 1917, there were two Revolutions in Russia causing the creation of the Provisional government and Soviet combining and becoming a Dual Government
• The Bolsheviks changed policies to ensure their survival in power, putting survival before ideology
• The Bolsheviks had to defend the revolution through the Civil War
• Progressive gender policies were introduced in 1917, supporting women employment and abortion rights
• War Communism (1918-21) nationalized the economy, followed by the New Economic Policy (NEP, 1921-28)
• Soviet foreign policy prioritizes survival over ideology
• Social and cultural transformation

  1. Introduction of progressive gender policies in 1917

  2. Kollontai helped found the Communist party's Women Section in 1919

  3. Strong official support of women employment

  4. Abortion became freely available in hospitals in the 1920s

  5. Family Code of 1918 made divorce easier and dealt with property rights in marriage

  6. Abortion was banned and divorce became more difficult in the 1930s

  7. Stalin imposed repressive control over literature, music, history, and the social sciences from 1928
• By 1929, Stalin had entrenched his powerful position as a dictator within the Communist Party
• Leadership struggle

  1924-1929
• Classic theory of communism outlined by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the 1840s involved class struggle
• Lenin's modification of Marxist theory led to the concept of 'The Dictatorship of the Proletariat'
• Lenin Era

  1917-1924
• Stalinist Era

  1930-1941
• Stalin's goal was to create 'socialism in one country' within the Soviet Union
• Communist and anti-communist forces were followed by market-orientated New Economic Policy


  1921
• Ideological goals of Soviet foreign policy

  • Free the whole world from democratic capitalist countries such as Germany
  • Treaty of Brest-Litovsk - Bolsheviks made peace with Germany under harsh terms
  • Soviet Union joined the League of Nations in 1934
• Conditions in Russia during early WW1 led to the February Revolution in 1917
• Russia early WW1: The army lacked advanced technology
• The Tsar had essentially lost control by 1917
• As mass demonstrations grew, the Tsar lost the support of the army and was quickly forced to abdicate