Rise of Stalin

• Rise of Totalitarianism Russia - More than 80% of Russians were peasants/serfs. Czar Alexander II announced the emancipation of the serfs in 1862 by the government was slow to implement the changes. Thus the reforms did little to satisfy the Russian citizens.
• Peasants/serfs in Russia were low income farmers who worked and were bound to the land of wealthy landowners
• Rise of Totalitarianism Russia - From 1860-1900 Russia underwent massive change. Classical liberal economics policies led to rapid industrialization but Russia still lagged behind the rest of Europe. Remain autocratic as the monarchy did not want to relinquish power.
• Rise of Totalitarianism Russia - In 1881 Czar was assassinated and Czar Alexander III took power. He imposed stricter political control; exiled and persecuted dissidents using a secret police force. Russian Gulags --> forced labour camps.
• Bloody Sunday - January 1905 workers in Russia marched to present a petition to the Czar asking for recognition of basic human rights such as freedom of speech, press, religion etc. Also asked for state sponsored education, better working conditions, fairer wages, 8 hr workday, etc.
• Bloody Sunday - Hundreds were gunned down by the Tsar's soldiers. Russians were outraged and grew more dissatisfied. This eventually led to the Russian Revolution
• The Russian revolution - A rejection to the injustices of the authoritarian Czarist system and uncontrolled free-market capitalism which exploited the proletariats (workers) The Bolsheviks (communists), undr Vladimir Lenin sought to destroy this class based system.
• Lenin and the Rise of Communism: Czar's government was inefficient and authoritarian. Food shortages were common; the secret police were ruthless. Lenin appealed to the struggling workers.
• Lenin and the Rise of Communism: A revolution broke out (Bloody Sunday) and although it was suppressed, the Czar was forced to allow some reforms such as basic human rights, universal suffrage and the creation of an elected Legislative Assembly; Duma. These reforms weren't enough to satisfy the people. Czar limited the powers of Duma before its first session
• Lenin and the Rise of Communism: WWI broke out in 1914 which intensified the problems in Russia. Forced into the war by the Triple Entente and ill equipped to fight - no modern factories to support the military.
• Lenin and the Rise of Communism: In February 1917 discontent developed into an outright revolution. Lenin's commuist Bolsheviks took over the machinery of the government in an organized attack in October 1917
• Lenin and the Bolsheviks believe that violent revolution was the only way to overthrow the government an avoid further development of liberalism in Russia. But taking power was easier than staying in power; a civil war started and lasted 5 years.
• By 1992 the civil war was over and communism was established. Russia became the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR or Soviet Union) a dictatorial rule by the communist party.
• Lenin did not have full control over Russia. His army was called the Red army and was led by Trotsky. There were still supporters of Tsar (Whites) - majority of Russians supported the white army but there was fighting amongst themselves. Third group who were non-Russian and wanted out of Russia. Allied Troops want Russia back in WWI
• Living with Communism in the Soviet Union: Marx and Engels had developed theories of communism with Western European society in mind. Lenin believed Marxism had to be carried out differently in Russia. 1921, Red army had full control over Russia. Lenin became the first leader to establish a Communist country. Formation of USSR.
• Lenin's first economic policy was called?

  war communism
• War communism:

  1. Production should be run by the state (nationalization)
  2. State control over labor of citizens - geared towards feeding the army
  3. State should produce everything
  4. Extreme centralization - SEC Supreme Economic Council
  5. The state attempted to be the only distributor and producer of goods
  6. Attempted to abolish money as means of exchange
• Nationalization Russia Lenin: Minima private ownership, even private houses were to be confiscated. Workers should control the factory and peasants should control the farms, but this was under the control of the government
• Devaluing money as exchange Russia Lenin: Resulted in economic disaster, starvation of the peasants and Lenin was forced to move away from pure communist ideology. Hungry people are angry people.
• Living with Communism in the Soviet Union - In 1921 Lenin introduced the New Economic Policy which brought back some aspects of capitalism temporarily to stimulate the economy. This included a profit motive and it was a success. The state retained control of banking, large industries, transportation. Fear that the NEP went too far leading away from Communism. Lenin dies.
• Power Struggle after Lenin dies between Stalin and Trotsky. Stalin wins.
• Stalin power struggle - Wanted to strengthen communism in Russia before it can spread. Stays in Moscow. Appointed friends in high places. 1926, he controls the communist party
• Trotsky power struggle - Wanted worldwide revolution of Communism. Traveled across Russia explaining his ideas.
• Stalin 5 year plans and collectivization: "we are 50 to 100 years behind the West. we must make up this difference in 5 years, or we will be crushed"
• Stalin 5 year plans and collectivization: Stalin feared Capitalist countries and believed they were going to invade the USSR to stop the spread of communism. He believed that the USSr was so backwards that it would be easily defeated.
• Stalin's main goal of the 5 year plans and collectivization were to quickly modernize the military.
• First 5 Year Plan: Stalin continued with making Russia more communist by centralizing economic planning and implementing 5 year plans (industrial production increase by 20% per year). The government implemented collectivization - all land was taken away from private owned and combine into collectively worked farms.
• First 5 year plans: The profit from the increased agricultural output from collectivization to be used to pay for Russia's industrialization. Along with collectivization came the persecution of the Kulaks.
• Kulaks - a class of prosperous land-owning commoners in Ukraine. Kulaks who did not give up their property were arrested and deported, or in some cases executed; they became the scapegoats of collectivization.
• First 5 year plan: All these disruptions to agricultural production led to a major famine. In Ukraine, the breadbasket of the USSR, Stalin used the famine as a weapon to try to eliminate Ukrainian nationalism and identity. Millions of people died in this genocide; Holodomor.
• The Holodomor was one result of the first 5 year plan. It was a mass starvation. Most farmers were not happy with the 5 year plan, some destroyed crops and farm equipment and slaughtered their animals rather than give them up to the state. These disruptions in agricultural production led to food shortages. Stalin punished the farmers by taking everything they produced; starving them.
• Second Economic Policy was the 5 year plan geared towards the factories. All production was geared towards the military. Focus on coal, steel, oil, electricity.
• Second 5 year plan: Because of the nationalization of industry that happened under Lenin, industry ahd to follow the 5 year plan. Quotas were set for the end of each year. Ignored consumer products.
• Second 5 year plan: The USSR became famous of its long lineups to buy products as there were not enough goods to go around.
• Second 5 Year Plan: Long lineups for goods. Avoided in capitalism with the law of supply and demand. Flaw of too much government in the economy. But by the end of WWII the USSR went from a backwards country into one of the 2 world's superpowers.
• Stalin Eliminates Political Opposition: Some important officials became unhappy with Stalin's leadership. He responded with a period of political repression known as the great purge.
• Stalin Eliminates Political Opposition: The NKVD was tasked with regular police works as swell as prison and labor camps - secret police. Had a quota of people to arrest.
• The Great Purge: Political opponents were executed or sent into exile, it included most of the highest ranking officers of the Red Army. Almost 2 million were arrested, half of them executed; the rest sent to forced labor camps (Gulags) in Serbia.
• Farming in the USSR: Collective -> Russian farmers worked the land together. Having different jobs but combine crops and sell to the government. Land is owned by the government. Government sets all prices (low) so that workers can afford it. 90% of the land produce 70% of the food.
• Farming in the USSR: State-> Everything is owned by the government. Farmers are paid an hourly wage. No motivation to do extra work. Little pride in the work that they do.