10/19/2021 NCERT Class 9 History Chapter 2: Socialism in Europe and the Russia YouTube Lecture Handouts- Examrace

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NCERT Class 9 History Chapter 2: Socialism in Europe and the
Russia YouTube Lecture Handouts
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Timeline
1850՚s -1880՚s: Debates over socialism in Russia.

1898: Formation of the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party.

1905: The Bloody Sunday and the Revolution of 1905.

1917: 2nd March - Abdication of the Tsar & 24th October - Bolshevik uprising in
Petrograd.

1918 - 20: The Civil War.

1919: Formation of Comintern.

1929: Beginning of Collectivization.

18th Century: Divided into estates and orders & aristocracy and church controlled
economic and social power

In India, Raja Rammohan Roy and Derozio talked of the significance of the French
Revolution

Liberals wanted a nation which tolerated all religions. It opposed uncontrolled power of
dynastic rulers. They argued for a representative, elected parliamentary government,
subject to laws interpreted by a well-trained judiciary that was independent of rulers
and officials. But these were not democrats (not believed in universal adult suffrage)
and believed that man of property should vote.

Conservatives: wanted change but wished for a gradual shift, respected past

Radicals: restructured society radically, wanted right to vote for everyone including
women, opposed privilege of landowners and factory owners, against private property
and concentration of property in hands of few

Industrial Society & Social Change

New industrial regions developed

Railways expanded

Industrial revolution occurred

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Brought men, women and children to factories – issues of poor wages, unemployment,
housing and sanitation

Value of individual effort, labor and enterprise and not by birth

Bring end to the kind of government established in Europe in 1815

Socialism: against private property (individuals owned property for personal gains but
didn՚t thought of those who made it productive) , change for social interest

Robert Owen: build cooperative community called New Harmony of Indiana (USA) ,
encouraged governments for cooperatives

Louis Blanc in France: encourage cooperatives (association of people and divide profit
according to work done by members)

Marx argued that industrial society was ‘capitalist’ . Capitalists owned the capital
invested in factories, and the profit of capitalists was produced by workers. Workers
must construct socialist society where all property is socially controlled. This is called as
communist society.

Support for Socialism

Second International: international body formed for socialism

Workers in England and Germany formed associations to better out living and working
conditions – reduction of working hours, right to vote

Germany: Social Democratic Party won seat in parliament

1905: socialists and trade unionists formed a Labour Party in Britain and a Socialist
Party in France

Paris Commune of 1871: when the town council (commune) of Paris was taken over by a
‘peoples’ government′ consisting of workers, ordinary people, professionals, political
activists and others – occurred due to discontent of policies of French state. Two
important legacies:

Association with the workers′ red flag – that was the flag adopted by the communards
(revolutionaries) in Paris

‘Marseillaise’ , originally written as a war song in 1792, it became a symbol of the

Commune and of the struggle for liberty

Russian Revolution
October Revolution of 1917, fall of monarchy in Feb 2017 and events in October as
Russian Revolution

Russian Empire in 1914 – ruled by Tsar Nicholas II included Finland, Lativia,

Lithuania, Estonia, parts of Poland, Ukraine and Belarus. It stretched to the Pacific and
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comprised today՚s Central Asian states, as well as Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan

Main religion: Russian orthodox Christianity (grown from Greek Christianity)

85 % population thrived on agriculture in Russia as compared to 40 - 50 % in France

Industrial pockets in St. Petersburg and Moscow; craftsmen near large factories;
factories were set up in 1890՚s, railway expanded and foreign investment increased;
coal production doubled and iron and steel output quadrupled.

Govt. supervised large factories to ensure minimum wages and limited work hours
(craftsman worked 15 hours while in factories people worked 10 or 12 hours)

Workers were divided social group – metal workers required more training and skill;
women included 31 % factory labor force by 1914 but were paid less than men

Strikes about dismissals or work conditions in 1896 - 97 & in metal industry in 1902

Peasants were also divided and were religious; nobles got to power and position
through service to Tsars & not by local popularity

Peasants refused to pay rent and murdered landlords (in 1902 in south Russia and in
1905 in overall Russia)

They pooled their land together periodically and their commune (mir) divided it
according to the needs of individual families

Socialism in Russia
All political parties were illegal in Russia before 1914. The Russian Social Democratic
Workers Party was founded in 1898 by socialists who respected Marx՚s ideas.

Because of government policing, it had to operate as an illegal organization. It set up a

newspaper, mobilized workers and organized strikes.

Peasants became the main force of revolution

Socialist Revolutionary Party in 1900 – struggled for peasants rights and demanded
that land to nobles must be transferred to peasants

Lenin (led Bolshevik group) - believed that peasants were not united (were rich and
poor) with differentiation – party must be disciplined, control number and quality of its
members

Mensheviks (in Germany) – party should be open to all

1905 Revolution
Russia was autocracy and Tsar was not subject to parliament

Social Democrats and Socialist Revolutionaries along with peasants and workers
demanded constitution
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They were supported in the empire by nationalists (in Poland) and in Muslim-
dominated areas by jadidists who wanted modernized Islam to lead their societies

1904: price of essential goods rose, real wages declined by 20 %

4 members of the Assembly of Russian Workers, which had been formed in 1904, were
dismissed at the Putilov Iron Works – next day 110,000 workers in St. Petersburg went
to strike for reducing working hours to 8 hours, increasing wages and improving
working conditions

Father Gapon led procession to Winter Palace – 100 killed and 300 wounded –
incidents were known as Bloody Sunday with
Strikes across country

Universities closed down

Demand for civil liberty & constituent assembly

Allowed creation of elected consultative Parliament or Duma (large number of trade

unions and factory committees made up of factory workers)

After 1905, many committees worked unofficially, 1st Duma dismissed within 75 days
and next re-elected in 3 months (not wanted any questioning) ; changed voting rights
and packed 3rd Duma with conservative politicians

1st World War & Russian Empire

1914 war b/w two alliances:
Germany, Austria and Turkey (Central powers)

France, Britain & Russia (later Italy and Romania)

Russia - high anti-German sentiments (renamed St. Petersburg to Pterograd) . Tsarina

Alexandra՚s German origins and poor advisers, especially a monk called Rasputin, made
the autocracy unpopular.

Russia՚s armies lost badly in Germany and Austria between 1914 and 1916. There were
over 7 million casualties by 1917. While retreating they destroyed crops and buildings –
led to 3 million refugees in Russia

1st world war – eastern front (armies moved) and western front (armies fought from
trenches stretched along eastern France)

Impacted industry – industrial equipment disintegrated more rapidly in Russia, by 1916

– railway lines broke down, riots at bread shops, bread and flour became scarce in cities

February Revolution in Petrograd

1917: conditions of Petrograd were grim with division among people

River Neva – right bank (quarters and factories) & left bank (fashionable areas)
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Shortage of food supply

Excessive cold winters with heavy snowfall

People wanted to preserve elected government and oppose Tsar՚s desire to dissolve Duma

22 Feb: lockout on factory at right bank

23 Feb: strike in 50 factories for sympathy and was called International Women՚s Day,
workers crossed to center of capital Nevskii Prospekt, curfew was imposed

25 Feb: government suspended Duma

26 Feb: Demonstrators on left bank

27 Feb: Police headquarters were ransacked – slogans were raised

Cavalry refused to fire on workers; 3 regiments mutinied and joined striking workers

Striking workers met to form “soviet” or “council” and was called as Petrograd Soviet

2 March: Tsar abdicated, Soviet leaders and Duma leaders formed a Provisional
Government to run the country

Monarchy was brought down in Feb 1917

After February
Soviets were set up everywhere with no common election system

Restrictions on public meetings and associations were removed

April 1917: Lenin returned from exile – opposed war since 1914, war must close, land to
peasants and banks should be nationalized (3 demands as Lenin՚s “April theses” )

Bolshevik Party renamed itself the Communist Party to indicate its new radical aims

Factory committees were formed – questioned industrialists

Trade unions grew

Soldier committees were formed in army

500 Soviets sent representatives to an All Russian Congress of Soviets

Resisted attempts by workers to run factories and began arresting leaders

July 1917: demonstrations by Bolsheviks were repressed

Land committees were formed for redistribution of land (b/w July & Sept 1917)

October Revolution, 1917

Russia followed the Julian calendar until 1 February 1918. The country then changed to
the Gregorian calendar, which is followed everywhere today. The Gregorian dates are 13
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days ahead of the Julian dates. So by our calendar, the ‘February’ Revolution took place
on 12th March and the ‘October’ Revolution took place on 7th November.

Conflict b/w Provisional government and Bolsheviks grew – Lenin feared Provisional
Government would set up dictatorship

Bolshevik supporters in the army, soviets and factories were brought together

16 October 1917: Lenin persuaded the Petrograd Soviet and the Bolshevik Party to agree
to a socialist seizure of power. A Military Revolutionary Committee was appointed by
the Soviet under Leon Trotskii to organize the seizure. The date of the event was kept a
secret.

24 Oct: Uprising started, military under Prime Minister Kerenskii seized two Bolshevik
newspapers, troops sent to protect Winter Palace

By night – city under committees control and ministers surrendered, at a meeting of the
All Russian Congress of Soviets in Petrograd, the majority approved the Bolshevik
action.

By December – Bolsheviks controlled Moscow-Petrograd area

After October Revolution

Bolsheviks opposed private properties

Nov. 1917: Industries and banks were nationalized

Land declared social property & peasants allowed to seize land of nobility

Banned old titles under aristocracy

Enforced partition of large houses according to family requirements

New uniform for army – after competition and Soviet hat (budenovka) was chosen

Bolshevik Party was renamed the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik)

November 1917: Bolsheviks conducted elections to the Constituent Assembly, but they
failed to gain majority support.

January 1918: Assembly rejected Bolshevik measures and Lenin dismissed the
Assembly & All Russian Congress of Soviets was more democratic

March 1918: Bolsheviks made peace with Germany at Brest Litovsk

Later, Bolsheviks became the only party to participate in the elections to the All Russian
Congress of Soviets, which became the Parliament of the country

Russia became one party state

Trade unions were kept under party control

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Secret police (Cheka first, OGPU and NKVD) punished those who criticized Bolsheviks

Civil War
When Bolsheviks ordered land redistribution, Russian army began to break up

Non-Bolshevik socialists, liberals and supporters of autocracy condemned the Bolshevik

uprising. Their leaders moved to south Russia and organized troops to fight the
Bolsheviks ( ‘reds’ ) .

During 1918 and 1919, the ‘greens’ (Socialist Revolutionaries) and ‘whites’ (pro-Tsarists)
controlled most of the Russian empire. They were backed by French, American, British
and Japanese troops – all those forces who were worried at the growth of socialism in
Russia.

Looting, banditry and famine became common.

Whites took harsh steps with peasants who seized land

By Jan 1920: Bolsheviks controlled most of Russia

In Khiva, in Central Asia, Bolshevik colonists brutally massacred local nationalists in

the name of defending socialism.

Non-Russian nationalities were given political autonomy in USSR (created by

Bolsheviks) in Dec 1922

Bolsheviks had harsh discouragement of nomadism (attempts to win different

nationalities were partly successful)

Socialist Society
Industries and banks were nationalized

Cultivate land that was socialized

Confiscated land to demonstrate what collective work could be

Centralized planning was introduced – officials assessed economy and set targets for 5-
year period (made five year plans)

Govt. fixed prices to promote industrial growth during first two plans

Centralized planning led to economic growth

Industrial production increased

New factory cities came into being

Extended schooling system developed & arrangements made for factory workers to
enter universities

Creches were established in factories

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Cheap public health care

Model living quarters

Factories became symbol of socialism

In Magnitogorsk, construction of a steel plant was achieved in three years. Workers

lived hard lives and the result was 550 stoppages of work in the first year alone

Stalinism and Collectivisation

1927 - 28: towns of Soviet Russia were facing acute problems of grain supplies – govt.
fixed the prices but peasants refused to sell it at that price

Stalin after death of Lenin – introduced emergency measures – rich peasants were
holding stock in hope of price rise and aimed to stop speculation and confiscated
supplies

1928: kulaks (well to do peasants) were raided, grain shortage was due to small size of
holdings and decision was taken for collective farms & eliminate kulaks

Collectivization Program – 1929 – all peasants to cultivate in collective farms (kolkhoz)

; land and implements were transferred to ownership of collective farms

Peasants worked on the land, and the kolkhoz profit was shared.

Who resisted collectivization were punished, deported and exiled

Bad harvests of 1930 - 1933 led to one of most devastating famines in Soviet history
when over 4 million died (despite collectivization)

Critics: 2 million in prison and labor camps

Global Influence of Russian Revolution & USSR

Encouraged Communist Party of Great Britain

Non-Russians from outside the USSR participated in the Conference of the Peoples of
the East (1920) and the Bolshevik-founded Comintern (an international union of pro-
Bolshevik socialist parties)

Indian Views
M. N. Roy was an Indian revolutionary, a founder of the Mexican Communist Party and
prominent Comintern leader in India, China and Europe

Jawaharlal Nehru and Rabindranath Tagore wrote about Soviet Socialism.

In Hindi, R. S. Avasthi wrote in 1920 - 21 Russian Revolution, Lenin, His Life and His
Thoughts, and later The Red Revolution.

S. D. Vidyalankar wrote The Rebirth of Russia and The Soviet State of Russia. There
was much that was written in Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu.
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✍ Manishika

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Mam plz tell something about USSR

( - Te...@ on 31-Dec-2020)

1 Answer

The Soviet Union officially known as USSR was a federalist state in Northern Eurasia
that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was a one-part state (until 1990) governed by the
Communist Party. You can visit Examrace YouTube channel for lectures covering
some very important topics of Class 9 History. One of the lectures has been shared
below

- Te...@ on 31-Dec-2020

which guide should we prefer for social science for class 9 and how we
can plan ourselves to study at this lockdown .

( - js...@ on 27-Jul-2020)

1 Answer

You an visit Examrace YouTube channel for several lectures related to Social Studies,
one of the lectures has been shared below

- js...@ on 27-Jul-2020

pls tell difference b/w liberals radicals and conservatives

( - an...@ on 13-Jun-2020)

1 Answer

Liberals, radicals and Conservatives were of different point of view altogether.

Liberals were in support of individual rights for the citizens, religious tolerance, and
an elected parliament, Radicals were opposed to the fact that only wealthy people
should be allowed to vote, Conservatives were in favour of slow changes with due to
respect to the past.

- an...@ on 13-Jun-2020

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10/19/2021 NCERT Class 9 History Chapter 2: Socialism in Europe and the Russia YouTube Lecture Handouts- Examrace

what do you mean by the term socialism? also please tell some important
questions from ch- socialism in europe and the russian revolution, forest
society and colonialism

( - su...@ on 07-Jan-2019)

1 Answer

Refer https://www.flexiprep.com/NCERT-Exercise-Solutions/History/Class-9/

- su...@ on 07-Jan-2019

Developed by: Mindsprite Solutions

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