Item 8.

The Russian Revolution

1
Item 8. THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION.
I. THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION.
To understand what happened in 1917, it is necessary to begin in 1905. 1. The re
volution of 1905. At the beginning of s. XX Russia was an autocracy. politic
al immobility (few political freedoms) Dominated by bureaucracy, the gentry an
d the Orthodox Church. ascends the throne 1895 Tsar Nicholas II. New social
forces begin to birth: Fragile bourgeoisie wanted a representative political s
ystem. Peasant discontent with lack of land but disorganized. Increased fact
ory workers by industrialization (2,000,000 out of a population of 100,000,000)
born 1898 Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, 1904 is divided into Menshevik
s and Bolsheviks. War of 1904, (Russian-Japanese) weakens the power of the Tsa
r. 1.1. The stages and consequences of the 1905 revolution. January 22, 1905 B
loody Sunday. Petition shot Pope Gapon dissolved. strikes, riots and uprisings
(Battleship Potemkin). Phases Revolution 1905: By the end of October, liber
al bourgeois collaboration with the labor movement. October 30 universal suffrag
e and the creation of a House of Representatives. The Duma. From October to De
cember only labor movement, organization or soviet cells. Strikes. 1.2. Conseq
uences of 1905 Impairment of the figure of the Czar, the "little father tsar goo
d deceived by his wicked ministers." Education for the strategy of the labor m
ovement, especially the Bolsheviks. The liberal bourgeoisie retreated once col
lected limited improvements. The army remained loyal to the Tsar. The peasan
try remained passive. Division of the workers in several games. Completion o
f Lenin: only the alliance of the peasantry and the working class podrís transfo
rm a socialist bourgeois revolution and usher in the dictatorship of the proleta
riat. 2. The frustration of the reforms. In 1906-1914 two processes further de
epened the crisis of the Tsars. Frustration of parliamentary rule. AutoCAD and
palatial lobbies. Land Hunger increased peasant discontent. 1906 Tsar's opp
osition to structural reforms (liberal bourgeois opposition) Acts of 1906 and
1910, allows the abandonment of collective farms or mir, and access to land owne
rship. 30 000 kulaks were left with 50% of the land, the other 50% from 82 milli
on farmers. Camarilla Palace: Rasputin, the Empress, landlords and bureaucrats
(the majority in the Duma). It is excessive to speak of a revolutionary situa
tion in 1914, light workers organization and spontaneity in the peasantry. 3. Th
e effects of World War. According to Lenin was the accelerator in history. T
he gang thought to unite the Russian people around the Tsar, but the military se
tbacks and the prolongation of the war has the opposite effect. The recruitmen
t of peasants froze the field. The famine affected cities. The shortage coll
apsed morale of the troops and the rear. emerged a lot of different voices opp
osition: The liberal bourgeoisie wanted a parliamentary system. The labor mo
vement wanted revolution. soldiers and peasants wanted peace, bread and land.
The Tsar and his entourage offered only more war. 4. The revolution of 1917. 4
.1. The February Revolution and the fall of the Tsar. February 23 in St. Peter
sburg, demonstration for peace and bread.
Item 8. The Russian Revolution
2

February 25 general strike. February 26, rebellion in the barracks. February 27,
provisional government, headed by Luov, Minister of War Kerensky. Emergence of
Soviet workers and soldiers. March 1917 abdication of the Tsar. Alternative form
s of government Tsarism: The interim government, bourgeois liberal, Western-st
yle parliamentary republic. The Soviets demanded a political solution more adv
anced. 4.2. Lenin's theory of revolution. April Theses: Socialist Revolution w
ith two fundamental premises, rejection of war and partition of land, to force t
he worker-peasant alliance. Rejection of any kind of cooperation with the Duma.
Lenin adapted Marxism to the conditions of the Russian empire. Works: 1901
What to do? Definition of the party that could lead a revolution. A party of pr
ofessional revolutionaries. 1916 Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism.
The 1st GM imperialist conflict at the stage of financial capitalism that can o
pen the door to the revolution in Russia. 1917 The State and Revolution. Sets
the role of the soviets in the construction of socialism and the nature of the d
ictatorship of the proletariat. 4.3. The conservative shift and continuation of
the war.€ During 1917 the policy influenced by the war Respect for the milita
ry commitments to allies. Summer Offensive of 1917 caused the popular uprising
in Petrograd, June 3. Failure of the uprising and exile of Lenin. August 21,
occupation of Riga by the Germans. Confronting Kerensky (President) and Kornilov
(general). September 7 attempted coup Kormilov. Interim Government Response
and the Soviets. The initiative in the hands of the Soviets. 4.4. The Bolshevik
revolution of October. October 9, decision of armed insurrection (10 to 2).
October 15 creation of the Military Revolutionary Committee (Trotsky) sent 23
new regiments stationed in Petrograd Kerensky. 1924-1926 Take the Winter Pala
ce. Kerensky fled. November 2 the Soviets take control of Moscow. months fol
lowing occupation of cities, but large parts are still under the control of the
former authorities. Prolegomena to the civil war. 4.5. The Bolsheviks in power.
26 first administration of Commissioners established the town. Chaired by Leni
n with Trotsky, Rykov, Lunatcharski and Stalin. Government Actions: Problem (d
istribution) of land, peace firm and the monopoly of political power. Decree 1
: distribution of land to poor farmers. After a year of war ended with a policy-
based requisition decrees instituting the socialist ownership. Withdrawal of t
he war with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 3), 1918. Russia lost huge tracts
, but the prevailing view of Lenin to save the revolution at any price. Allied a
rgument for further intervention. To ensure the Bolshevik power was removed by
the bourgeois parties and then among themselves soviets (Bolsheviks, Social Rev
olutionaries and Mensheviks) Elections to the Constituent Assembly. Bolsheviks
in the minority (Menshevik majority) January 6, 1918 dissolution of the Assem
bly by the government. Finally achieved the hegemony of the Bolsheviks. In a
ll power to the Soviets, he spent the entire power to the Communists. Disappeara
nce of Mensheviks, SRs and anarchists. July 1918 final constitution of the Soc
ialist Federal Republic and Soviet Russia, based on the dictatorship of the prol
etariat.
II. CONSTRUCTION OF THE SOVIET UNION.
1. The early years. 1.1. The Civil War.
Item 8. The Russian Revolution
3
1918 The revolution had triumphed only in urban and industrial centers. Huge are
as controlled by the counterrevolutionary civil war. Division of Bolshevik Russi
a from an area (organized) and a counter divided by Czarist, Provisional Governm
ent advocates and dissidents from the October Revolution. White Army in Siberi
a, the Volga, the Caucasus, Ukraine, the Baltic and the North, with the help of
British troops, French, American and Japanese. Answers Bolsheviks war communis
m (nationalization of industry and socialization of the field) and creation of t
he Red Army by Trotsky. Foreign intervention by spreading revolution, disinteg
ration of the Russian empire. Ended in 1919. 1920 initiative by the Red Army,
shipment of the remains of the white army in the autumn of 1920 in Crimea. 1.2.
The consequences of civil war. Impaired plans Lenin: War Communism need, suppr
ession of dissent, foreign intervention, the failure of revolution in Europe.
Lenin envisaged the cooperation with other leftist forces, particularly with the
Socialist by its implementation in the field. In economics war communism war so
lution, as Lenin had foreign capital and technology. 1.3. The problem of nationa
lities. Russia a conglomeration of languages, religions and cultures. Admiss
ion to the principle of self-determination to spread communism worldwide. Sinc
e 1918, federal structure, sanctioned by the constitution of 1923 which formed t
he USSR. Russian Republic, Ukraine and Belarus, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in 1
924. Taykistán 1929. Self-government of the republics, but Russian predominanc
e. With Stalin political centralization, Tsarist Russification practices by ma
ssive population displacements. 1.4. The revolution broke out worldwide. For L
enin the Russian Revolution the first step of world revolution, the next step in
Germany. Third International of 1919, Zinoviev. The Russian revolution isolat
ed in their struggle against counterrevolution and foreign intervention. 2. The
period of the NEP. 1921 terminates the civil war.€ Until 1928 most constructi
ve period (it is creating a new state) but contradictory. (The positions of the
creators of the state are facing). Examples: centralization of power (in the
hands of the Communists) or democratization of the state in building socialism.
Economically, slow transition or acceleration of the process (following the p
hases of the civil war). 2.1. The New Economic Policy (NEP). 1921. balance of
the civil war: The state is about 1913 one third of agricultural production, 13%
of industrial production, 12% of rail traffic. In addition there are still outb
reaks of social protest. Planning of a New Economic Policy. NEP. Mixed (capi
talist and socialist) allowed the existence of rural private property (to supp
ly the cities and gain support among the peasants). Incorporation of market me
chanism (free prices for certain products). Reconstruction of the money supply
(overcoming hyperinflation). denationalization of small enterprises. Certai
n doses of self-management in large companies. 1926 The Soviet economy had rec
overed but: Increase the differences in the field (the kulaks.) hoarding and
supply problems. Reconstruction of capitalism. Struggle for power after Len
in's death. 2.2. The debate within the culture. To know only the struggle betw
een the avant-garde and social realism.

Item 8. The Russian Revolution

4
III. THE ERA OF STALIN.
Lenin wanted a collegial governance. 1. The rise of Stalin. Georgian. Raised
in Orthodox seminary. Social Democratic 1898; 1912 Central Committee. Siberia 1
913. Petrograd 1917, of the nationalities. 1922 Secretary general of the party.
Secretary general of the party, bureaucratic position first, then the power ke
y. Removal of Trosky 1925. Expulsion 1929, 1940 murder. Zinoviev (left) dism
issed, Bukharin (right) dismissed in 1929. 1929 Stalin's government alone. 2.
Political Stalinism. This characterized: communist party stranglehold on the
state and Soviet society. planning imperative of the economy. Socialism in
one country (not exportable) with rapid industrialization. Charges been occupi
ed by members of the Communist Party. The party dominated by the central commi
ttee. The central committee dominated by the Politburo. The Politburo domina
ted by Stalin. Cult of personality Constitution of 1936. Identification betw
een party and state and personal dictatorship of Stalin. 2.1. The dynamics of te
rror. Practical dominant political terror: Both the party and in society. In
the game: movement of elites and physical elimination of opponents. Company:
forced collectivization, population displacement and incarceration in internment
camps. The purges (1935-1939), an instrument of terror was the NKVD. 3. Econo
mic Stalinism. By Five-Year Plans (1928-1932) (1933-1937). Success, from 192
6 to 1937 the Soviet income is multiplied by 4. 3.1. The economic structure. F
eatures: Planning imperative: levels of production, wages, savings, prices.
Etc. rejection of any form of self-management. Working exclusively in the dome
stic market. The agricultural sector in financing the industrial sector. Dev
elopment of heavy industry. Existence of a black market. 3.2. The agricultural
collectives. collectivization of agriculture. Forms of socialist property:
 State farm (state farm) kolkhoz (collective ownership controlled by the stat
e). Resistance to collectivization was achieved through deportation or physica
l eliminations. Delay in the Soviet camp, very low yields, livestock did not h
ave the 1928 levels in 1935. 3.3. The socialization of the industry. Disappear
ance of craft. Disappearance of private trade (banned in 1932) 1931-1935 Eli
mination of the market economy. 1937 Soviet national income (99'1) came from t
he socialized sector. 4. The balance of Stalinism. Deep industrial revolution
in 10 years. Uneven: Industry 90% was achieved as scheduled. Agriculture 2
5%. Appearance bureaucrats body subordinate to the wishes of the dictator. The
nomenklatura. radical change in Soviet society. Growth of urban society, the
incorporation of women to work, end illiteracy. Huge social cost.