SOCIALISM IN EUROPE AND

THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

HISTORY – LESSON 2
 INTRODUCTION

• PART (I)- SOCIALISM IN EUROPE :-

• WHAT IS SOCIALISM? RESOURCES SHOULD BE DISTRIBUTED EQUALLY
AMONG THE PUBLIC.WE SHOULD MOVE TOGETHER.OPPOSITE TO
CAPITALISM.
• WHY EUROPE?
• PART (II)- THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION- WHAT IS THE RELATION BETWEEN
SOCIALISM AND RUSSIAN REVOLUTION.
• WHAT WE ARE GOING TO STUDY IN THIS CHAPTER?
BACKGROUND FOR SOCIALISM? HOW DID IT EVOLVED?
WHO WERE ITS PROPOUNDER?( WHO EXPLAINED THIS IDEOLOGY- KARL
MARX)
IDEOLOGY.
 WHOLE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
WHICH WILL INCLUDE:
 BACKGROUND
 THE 1905 REVOLUTION
 FEBRUARY REVOLUTION
 RUSSIA AFTER REVOLUTION – USSR
 STALIN AND RUSSIA UNDER HIM
 THE AGE OF SOCIAL CHANGE
 RECALL THE STORY OF FRENCH REVOLUTION – IDEAS OF LIBERTY, EQUALITY AND
DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS.
PEOPLE STARTED DISCUSSING THE POSSIBLITY –THESE IDEAS OF FRENCH REVOLUTION
CREATED A POSSIBILITY OF CHANGE IN THE SOCIETY.
BUT THE IDEA FOR CHANGE VARIED ALL OVER THE EUROPE.

 SOME WANTED GRADUAL [ SLOWLY] CHANGE AS SOME WANTED THE CHANGE

RADICALLY [RAPIDLY].

SO WE CAN SAY THERE WERE DIFFERENT POLITICAL TRADITIONS SUCH AS

‘CONSERVATIVES’ , ‘LIBERALS’ AND ‘ RADICALS’.

THE DIFFERENT POLITICAL TRADITION PLAYED A VERY IMPORTANT ROLE IN

INFLUENCING CHANGE IN THE HISTORY OF EUROPE AND WORLD.
 LIBERALS, RADICALS AND
CONSERVATIVES
• LIBERALS
 WANTED A CHANGE IN SOCIETY.
* EQUALITY AMONG RELIGIONS AND NATIONS SHOULD TOLERATE ALL
RELIGIONS.
*OPPOSED THE UNCONTROLLED POWER OF DYNASTIC RULER.
* LIBERAL BELIEVED THAT INDIVIDUAL’S RIGHTS SHOULD BE PROTECTED
AGAINST GOVERNMENT.
* ARGUED FOR A REPRESENTATIVE, ELECTED PARLIAMENTRY GOVT.
* SUPPORTED JUDICIARY WHICH MUST BE WELL TRAAINED AND INDEPENDENT.
 HOWEVER THEY WERE NOT DEMOCRATS?
BECAUSE THEY DID NOT BELIEVED IN UNIVERSAL ADULT FRANCHISE AND
WANTED ONLY MEN WITH PROPERTY SHOULD HAVE RIGHT TO VOTE. POOR AND
WOMEN WILL NOTNHAVE VOTING RIGHTS.
 RADICALS:
 WANTED A GOVERNMENT WHICH MUST BE BASED ON MAJORITY.

THEY SUPPORTED WOMEN’S SUFFRAGETTE MOVEMENTS.

THEY OPPOSED THE PRIVILEGES OF GREAT LANDOWNERS AND WEALTHY

FACTORY OWNERS.

BECAUSE THEY DISLIKED CONCENTRATION OF PROPERTY IN THE FEW

HANDS.

BECAUSE THIS WAS CREATING DISPARITY IN THE SOCIETY.

THEY WANTED A RADICAL CHANGE.
 CONSERVATIVES:
GROUP OF RULING CLASS AND PERSON IN POWER WHO INITIALLY OPPOSED
THE CHANGE [ LIBERAL AND RADICALS].

BUT AFTER FRENCH REVOLUTION THEY WERE READY TO CHANGE.

BECAUSE THEY UNDERSTOOD THEY THE CHANGE WAS INEVITABLE.

BUT THEY BELIEVED THAT THEIR PAST HAD TO BE RESPECTED AND CHANGE
HAD TO BE BROUGHT ABOUT THROUGH A SLOW PROCESS.

ALL THESE DIFFERING IDEA PLAYED A VERY IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE WORLD
POLITICS.
 INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY AND SOCIAL CHANGE
 SOCIETY WAS CHANGING ( 19TH CENTURY)BECAUSE OF INDUSTRILISATION

SOCIO – ECONOMIC CHANGE – NEW CITIES WITH INDUSTRIES AND INDUSTRIAL REGION , EXPANDING
RAILWAYS, ETC.

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION – HOWEVER THIS BROUGHT MANY PROBLEM WITH IT.

LONG WORKING HOURS ,POOR WAGES, UNEMPLOYMENT , HOUSING AND SANITATION
PROBLEM.

LIBERALS AND RADICALS WANTED A CHANGE --- BECAUSE THEY WERE OFTEN PROPERTY
OWNERS AND EMPLOYERS.AND THEY BELIEVE THAT EDUCATED AND HEALTHY POPULATION = GREAT
PROFIT FOR THEM.

BUT THEY HAD A PROBLEM OF OLD ARISTROCRACY AND CONSERVATIVE REGIME ESTABLISHED IN EUROPE
AFTER 1815
• CONSERVATIVE REGIMES ESTABLISHED AFTER 1815 [ CONNECTED WITH THE FALL OF
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE (RULED FROM 1804-1815)]

• REVOLUTIONARIES (GROUP WHO NEED CHANGE- LIBERALS AND RADICALS) FROM

FRANCE , ITALY, GERMAN AND RUSSIA WORKED TO OVERTHROW EXISTING
MONARCHY.

• ***THEY TALKED OF “ NATIONS” [NATIONALIST]

• ***EQUALITY AMONG CITIZENS.
• ***EXAMPLE: ITALIAN NATIONALIST GIUSEPPE MAZZINI
 THE COMING OF SOCIALISM IN EUROPE
• THE IDEA OF SOCIALISM
• BY MID 19TH CE THE IDEA OF SOCIALISM ATTRACTED WIDESPREAD ATTENTION AND THOSE
WHO FOLLOWED THIS IDEA COME TO KNOWN AS SOCIALIST.

• SOCIALIST WERE AGAINST PRIVATE PROPERTY , THEY CONSIDERED PRIVATE PROPERTY AS

THE ROOT CAUSE OF ALL PROBLEMS IN THE SOCIETY.

• INDIVIDUALS OWN PROPERTY (PRIVATE PROPERTY) AND WORKERS WORK UNDER THEM.
(WORKERS PRODUCE AND MAKE PROFIT)

• BUT THEY ARE CONCERNED WITH PERSONAL GAINS [ PROFIT] ONLY AND NOT WITH THE
WELFARE OF THOSE WHO MADE THE PROPERTY PRODUCTIVE. (WORKERS) .

• SOCIALIST WANTED A SOCIETY AS A WHOLE SHOULD CONTROL THE PROPERTY.

• SOCIALIST WANTED A CHANGE
• WHO WOULD HAVE GIVEN THE IDEA FOR CHANGE?
• ROBERT OWEN
• LOUIS BLANC
• KARL MARX
• FRIEDRICH ENGELS

• HOW COULD A SOCIETY WITHOUT A PROPERTY OPERATE?

• WHAT WOULD BE THE BASIS OF A SOCIALIST SOCIETY?
 IDEAS OF ROBERT OWEN AND LOUIS BLANC

• SOCIALISTS HAD DIFFERENT VISION OF THE FUTURE ---- SOME BELIEVED IN THE IDEA OF
COOPERATIVES.
• COOPERATIVES: ASSOCIATION OF PEOPLE , WORKING TOGETHER----- EARNING A\PROFIT
AND DIVIDING PROFIT ACCORDING TO WORK DONE.
• ROBERT OWEN ( 1771 - 1858) IN ENGLAND.
• SOUGHT TO BUILD A COOPERATIVE COMMUNITY . NEW HARMONY IN INDIANA ( U.S.A).
• THROUGH COLLECTIVE INDIVIDUAL INITIATIVE.( no need of any govt. or a leader…all just do
their part of work).
• LOUIS BLANC ( 1813- 1882)
• HE SUPPORTED GOVT. ENCOURAGED COOPERATIVES TO REPLACE CAPITALIST
ENTERPRISE.
• GOVT. SHOULD BE THERE TO FACLITATES COOPERATIVES.
 IDEAS OF KARL MARX AND FRIEDRICH ENGLES
• THEY ADDED SOME MORE ARGUMENTS IN THE IDEA OF SOCIALISM

• INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY – CAPITALIST-----OWNERS INVESTED CAPITAL IN FACTORIES AND

PROFIT WAS PRODUCED BY WORKERS.

• BUT THE PROFIT GOES INTO THE HANDS OF OWNER AND THE CONDITION OF THE WORKER
WOULD REMAIN SAME [ MAIN MOTIVE PERSONAL GAIN NOT THE WELFARE OF WOKERS]

• MARX BELIEVED THAT WORKERS ARE REQUIRED TO FREE THEMSELVES FROM

CAPITALIST EXPLOITAION, AND FOR THIS---WORKERS HAD TO CONSTRUCT A RADICALLY
SOCIALIST SOCIETY.

• BY OVERTHOWING RULE OF PRIVATE PROPERTY AND CONTROLING THE PROPERTY

SOCIALLY [ COMMUNIST SOCIETY].
 SUPPORT OF SOCIALISM
• BY 1870’S ---- SOCIALIST IDEAS SPREAD THROUGH EUROPE.
• FORMATION OF INTERNATIONAL BODY BY ALL THE SOCIALIST, CALLED SECOND
INTERNATIONAL GOVERNED BY SOCIALISM IDELOGY.
• SIMILAR ASSOCIATIONS WERE BEING FORMED EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD.
• GERMANY: WORKING CLOSELY WITH SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY (SPD)
• ENGLAND: LABOUR PARTY BY 1905.
• FRANCE: SOCIALIST PARTY.
• THESE SOCIALIST ASSOCIATIONS FIGHT FOR BETTER LIVING AND WORKING
CONDITION, SET UP FUNDS TO HELP MEMBERS, DEMANDED A REDUCTION OF
WORKING HOURS AND RIGHT TO VOTE.
• HOWEVER TILL 1914 ---- Socialist never succeeded in forming a govt. in EUROPE.
• But their ideas did shaped the legislation.
• Under the govt. run by conservatives, liberals and radicals.
 THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
• R

• RUSSIA UNDER MONARCH TSAR NICHOLAS II --- FALL OF MONARCHY IN FEB

1917-----SOCIALIST TOOK OVER THE GOVT. IN RUSSIA THROUGH THE
OCTOBER REVOLUTION OF 1917.
HOW DID ALL THIS HAPPEN?
WHAT WERE THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CONDITION IN RUSSIA?
 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE IN 1914

• EMPEROR: TSAR NICHOLAS II

• [RUSSIA AND ITS EMPIRE] -PRESENT DAY FINLAND , LATVIA, LITHUANIA,
ESTONIA, PARTS OF POLAND, UKRAINE AND BELARUS, GEORGIA , ARMENIA
AND AZERBAIJAN[ CENTRAL ASIA].

• MAJORITY RELIGION WAS RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTANITY [ EASTERN

EUROPE]----EMPIRE ALSO INCLUDED CATHOLICS, PROTESTANTS, MUSLIMS
AND BUDDHIST.
 ECONOMY AND SOCIETY
• RUSSIAN ECONOMY:
 IT WAS MAINLY A AGRICULTURE ECONOMY [ 85% POPULATION WAS ENGAGED IN
AGRICULTURE SECTOR].

CULTIVATORS PRODUCED FOR THE MARKET AS WELL AS FOR THEIR OWN NEEDS.

INDUSTRY WAS FOUND IN POCKETS ( very less): PETERSBURG AND MOSCOW WERE THE
MAJOR INDUSTRIAL AREA. BUT MOST OF THE PRODUCTION WAS CARRIED BY CRAFTSMEN.

1890’S – RAILWAY EXPANDED IN RUSSIA AND BECAUSE OF IT FOREIGN INVESTMENT

INCREASED, SO INDUSTRIES ALSO EXPANDED.

COAL PRODUCTION DOUBLED AND IRON AND STEEL OUTPUT QUADRUPLED ( INCREASED 4
TIMES).
LET US SEE SOMETHING ABOUT THESE GROWING INDUSTRIES

MOST INDUSTRY WERE THE PRIVATE PROPERTY OF INDUSTRIALISTS.

PROFIT MAXIMISATION--- WAS THERE NOT ANY REGULATION BY GOVT?????

– GOVT. WORKED TO ENSURE MINIMUM WAGES AND LIMITED HOURS OF

WORK.---OFTEN THESE RULE WERE BROKEN

LONG WORKING HOURS UPTO 16 HOURS.

WORKERS WERE ACCOMMODATED IN ROOMS, DORMITORIES, ETC.
 ECONOMY AND SOCIETY
RUSSIAN SOCIETY IN CITY:-
WORKERS MIGRATED FROM VILLAGE AND SETTLED IN CITIES. THEY WERE
DIVIDED BY SKILLS. E.G, METAL WORKERS CONSIDERED THEMSELVES AS
ARISTROCRATS AMONG OTHER WORKERS.

WOMEN WERE PAID UPTO 31% OF THE FACTORY LABOUR BY 1914. BUT THEY
WERE PAID LESS THAN MEN.[ WAGE DISPARITY]

NO DOUBT DIVISION WERE THERE BUT WORKERS DID UNITE TO STRIKE.

AGAINST THE EMPLOYERS ON THE DISMISSALS OF THEIR DEMAND OR WORK

CONDITIONS. EG: STRIKES TEXTILE INDUSTRY [1896 – 1897], METAL INDUSTRY
DURING [ 1902]
 RUSSIAN SOCIETY IN COUNTRYSIDE
PEASANT CULTIVATED MOST OF THE LAND: BUT MOST OF PROPERTIES WERE OWNED BY NOBILITY,
THE CROWN AND THE ORTHODOX CHURCH.

LIKE WORKERS , PEASANTS WERE ALSO DIVIDED.

IN RUSSIA EXCEPT IN A FEW CASES , PEASANTS HAD NO RESPECT FOR THE NOBILITY( RICH RULING
CLASS). UNLIKE AS IT WAS OBSERVED DURING FRENCH REVOLUTION IN BRITTANY, WERE
PEASANTS RESPECTED NOBLES AND FOUGHTFOR THEM.

BECAUSE RUSSIAN PEASANTS WANTED THE LAND OF THE NOBLES.

RUSSIAN PEASANTS WERE DIFFERENT FROM OTHER EUROPEAN PEASANTS??

THEY WORKED BY POOLING [ COOPERATIVES] THEIR LAND TOGETHER AND DIVIDING THE OUTPUT
ACCORDING TO THE NEED OF INDIVIDUAL.
 SOCIALISM IN RUSSIA
• BEFORE 1914 ALL POLITICAL PARTIES WERE ILLEGAL IN RUSSIA

• RUSSIAN SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC WORKERS PARTY FOUNDED IN 1898.

[DUE TO GOVT. POLICIES IT OPERATED SECRETLY AS AN ILLEGAL ORGANISATION.}

IDEA OF RUSSIAN SOCIALIST REGARDING RUSSIAN PEASANT ARE NATURAL

SOCIALIST----BECAUSE OF THEIR CUSTOM OF DIVIDING LAND PERIODICALLY.

IT WAS BELIEVED THAT PEASANTS WOULD BE THE MAIN FORCE OF REVOLUTION.

FORMATION OF SOCIALIST REVOLUTIONARY PARTY IN 1900 BY PEASANTS.

• SOCIAL DEMOCRATS DISAGREED WITH SOCIALIST REVOLUTIONARIES {PEASNTS
GROUP- VIOLENT GRP} OVER THE FACT THAT RUSSIAN PEASANT ARE
NATURALLY SOCIALIST’.

• LENIN FELT THAT PEASANTS WERE NOT ONE UNITED GROUP BECAUSE,
SOME WERE RICH AND SOME WERE POOR.
SOME WORKED AS A WORKERS AND EMPLOYED WORKERS, SO DIVISION WAS
THERE.
THIS DIFFRENTIATION WITHIN THEM DIDN’T ALLOWED PEASANTS TO BE A PART
OF A SOCIALIST MOVEMENT.
 BOLSHEVIKS AND MENSHEVIKS
THE RUSSIAN SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC WORKERS PARTY.
BOLSHEVIK ‘s {MAJORITY}
1. MAJORITY FRACTION HEADED BY VLADIMIR LENIN
2. HE BELIEVED THAT PARTY SHOULD BE DISCIPLINED AND SHOULD
CONTROL THE NUMBER AND QUALITY OF ITS MEMBERS.

MENSHVEIK‘s { MINORITY}
3. ANOTHER FRACTION HEADED BY PARTY HEADED BY JULIUS MARTOV.
4. THEY BELIEVED THAT PARTY SHOULD BE OPEN TO ALL ( as in Germany).

The spilt happened in 1903.

 A TURBULENT TIME : THE 1905
REVOLUTION
• RUSSIA WAS AN AUTOCRACY , THE TSAR WAS NOT SUBJECT TO PARLIAMENT.

• NO, LIBERAL, SOCIAL DEMOCRATS AND SOCIAL REVOLUTIONARIES WANTED

TO END THIS SYSTEM AND DEMAND A CONSTITUTION.

• THEY WERE SUPPORTED BY NATIONALISTS AND JADIDISTS [ MUSLIMS

REFORMERS IN RUSSIAN EMPIRE WHO WANTED TO MODERNISE ISLAM]
 A TURBULENT TIME : THE 1905 REVOLUTION
AUTOCRATIC RULE ALONG WITH BAD ECONOMIC CONDITIONS MADE THE
TIME MORE TURBULENT.
DURING 1904—PRICES OF ESSENTIAL GOODS ROSE BUT REAL WAGES WERE
LESS BY 20%.
WORKER’S MEMBERSHIP IN WORKER’S ASSOCIATION ROSE [ POWER
INCREASED]
0NE DAY WHEN 4 MEMBER OF ‘ASSEMBLY OF RUSSIAN WORKERS’ WERE
REMOVED AT PUTILOV IRON WORKS.
10,000 WORKERS IN ST. PETERSBURG WENT ON STRIKE.
DEMANDING A REDUCTION IN THE WORKING HOURS [ 8 HOURS].
INCREASE IN WAGES , IMPROVEMNET IN WORKING CONDITIONS.
 BLOODY SUNDAY AND 1905 REVOLUTION
DURING THE TURBULENT TIME WHEN THE CHANGE WAS DEMANDED.

A PROCESSION OF WORKERS LED BY FATHER GAPON REACHED THE

WINTER PALACE

PROCESSION WAS ATTACKED BY THE POLICE AND COSSACKS ( secret police)

OVER 100 WORKERS WERE KILLED AND 300 WOUNDED.

ALL THIS HAPPENED ON 22ND JANUARY, 1905 DAY WAS SUNDAY.

THE WHOLE EPISODE CAME TO BE KNOWN AS BLOODY SUNDAY.

• BLODDY SUNDAY STARTED THE SERIES OF EVENTS. ---THE 1905 REVOLUTION.
o STRIKES ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.
o UNIVERSITIES WERE CLOSED DOWN [ LACK OF CIVIL LIBERTIES]
o LAWYERS , DOCTORS , ENGINEERS AND OTHER MIDDLE CLASS WORKERS ALL
STARTED DEMANDING CONSTITUTION.
 IMPACT AND AFTERMATH OF 1905 REVOLUTION
• UNDER PRESUREOF REVOLUTION , TSAR ALLOWED CREATION OF AN
ELECTED CONSULTATIVE PARLIAMENT OR DUMA.
• DUMA [ PARLIAMENT OF RUSSIA]:- IT WAS A CONSULTATIVE BODY ( consult
with king) WITH QUASI –LEGISLATIVE FUNCTIONS.
• HOWEVER , WITHIN 75 DAYS DUMA WAS DISSOLVED AND SECOND DUMA WAS
ELECTED.( because king was not happy with duma)
• AFTER A PERIOD OF TIME SECOND DUMA WAS ALSO DISSOLVED (charges on
duma was that they planned to kill king and his family) AND THIRD WAS
FORMED---------BECAUSE 3RD DUMA WAS PACKED WITH THE CONSERVATIVE
POLITICIANS ( completed 5 years) AND……. LIBERALS AND REVOLUTIONARIES
WERE KEPT OUT
• WHAT WAS THE TRADE UNIONS AND COMMITTEE DOING?? …..THEY WERE
DECLARED ILLEGAL AFTER 1905 REVOLUTION.
 THE FIRST WORLD WAR AND THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE
• IN 1914 WAR BETWEEN CENTRAL POWERS [ GERMANY, AUSTRIA AND TURKEY]
• VS
• ALLIED POWERS [ FRANCE, BRITAIN AND RUSSIA, LATER ITALY AND ROMANIA]
• WAR WAS FOUGHT OUTSIDE EUROPE AS WELL AS INSIDE EUROPE. [ GLOBAL
EMPIRE
RELATION BETWEEN FIRST WORLD WAR AND RUSSIAN EMPIRE.
INITIALLY WAR WAS SUPPORTED , THAT MEANS TSAR WAS SUPPORTED
OVER THE PERIOD OF TIME , SUPPORT TO TSAR WENT DOWN…….REASONS:-
• TSAR REFUSED TO CONSULT THE MAIN PARTIES IN DUMA.
• RASPUTIN [ A MONK WHO WAS THE ADVISER OF TSAR] MADE THE AUTOCRACY
UNPOPULAR.
• GERMAN ORIGIN OF TSARINA ALEXANDRA.
• WAR WAS FOUGHT ON TWO FRONTS------WAR ON EASTERN FRONT DIFFERED FROM
THAT ON THE WESTERN FRONT
• CASUALITIES WERE MORE ON EASTERN FRONT AS COMPRED TO WESTERN
• DEFEAT WERE SHOCKING AND DEMORALISING .
• THE FIRST WORLD WAR HAD IMPACT ON RUSSIA
 IMPACT OF FIRST WORLD WAR ON RUSSIA
• RUSSIA’S ARMY LOST BADLY IN GERMANY AND AUSTRIA

• LEADING TO LARGE CASUALITIES [ 7 MILLION CASUALITIES BY 1917]

• THE DESTRUCTION OF CROPS AND BUILDINGS BY RUSSIAN ARMY LEAD TO OVER 3

MILLION REFUGEES IN RUSSIA.
• SOLDIERS DID NOT WISH TO FIGHT SUCH A WAR.

• THE WAR ALSO HAD A SEVERE IMPACT ON INDUSTRY.

• GERMAN CONTROL OF BALTIC SEA----RUSSIA WAS CUT OFF FROM SUPPLIES ------
LEADING TO INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT DISINTEGRATION
• ABLE – BODIED MEN WERE CALLED UP TO WAR----- LARGE SUPPLIES OF
GRAINS WERE SENT TO FEED ARMY.
• BREAD AND FLOUR BECAME SCARCE LEADING TO RIOTS AT BREAD SHOP
FREQUENTLY.
• SHORTAGES OF LABOUR---- SMALL WORKSHOPS PRODUCING ESSENTIALS
WERE SHUT DOWN.
 THE FEBRUARY REVOLUTION IN PETROGARD :
BACKGROUND
• LAYOUT OF THE CAPITAL CITY PETROGRAD.
• ON THE LEFT BANK WERE THE FASHIONABLE AREAS, THE WINTER PALACE AND OFFICIAL BUILDING DUMA.
• THE WORKERS QUARTERS AND FACTORIES WERE LOCATED ON THE RIGHT BANK OF THE RIVER NEVA.

• SITUATION IN CITY:-

• FOOD SHORTAGE , BAD WEATHER , TSAR WAS HAVING A DESIRE TO DISSOLVE DUMA AND PARLIAMNETARIANS
WERE NOT HAPPY WITH THIS.
• 22 FEBRUARY 1917----LOCKOUT AT A FACTORY----STRIKE BY WORKERS [ right side of river Neva] ---MANY WOMEN
ALSO HEADED THE STRIKES,,,,,THIS DAY CAME TO BE RECOGNISED AS INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY.
• DEMONSTRATORS REACHED TO THE CENTRE OF THE CAPITAL NEVSKII
PROSPEKT [ CITY NAME]

• AS THE WORKERS REACHED THERE GOVT. IMPOSED CURFEW,

DEMONSTRATORS DISPERSED.

• THEN THEY AGAIN CAME BACK ON 24TH AND 25TH .

• POLICE AND CAVALARY WAS APPOINTED TO KEEP AN EYE ON THEM.

 THE FEBRUARY REVOLUTION IN
PETROGRAD : OUTBREAK
• ON 25TH FEB 1917, GOVT. [ TSAR] HE SUSPENDED THE DUMA.
• POLTICIANS CRITICISED THIS , DEMONSTARTORS RETURNED ON THE STREETS
ON 26TH.
• ON 27TH , POLICE HEADQUARTERS WERE RANSACKED , PROTEST FOR *BREAD ,
*WAGES, *BETTER HOURS AND *DEMOCRACY.
• GOVT. CALLED THE CAVALARY TO CONTROL THE SITUATION.-----BUT THE
CAVALARY REFUSED TO FIRE ON DEMONSTARTORS [ MUTINY]…..BECAUSE
THEY FEEL THAT KING IS USELESS.
• SOLDIERS AND STRIKING WORKERS FORMED ‘ SOVIET OR COUNCIL’ OR
PETROGRAD SOVIET
• A DELEGATION WENT TO TSAR.

• TSAR MILITARY COMMANDER ADVISED HIM TO ABDICATE.

• HE ABDICATE ON 2ND MARCH.

• AFTER THIS, SOVIET LEADER AND DUMA LEADERS FORMED A PROVISIONAL

GOVT.[ LEADERS OF SOVIET AND OLD LEADERS OF DUMA]

• CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY ON THE BASIS OF UNIVERSAL ADULT SUFFRAGE.

• FINALLY, FEBRUARY REVOLUTION BROUGHT DOWN THE MONARCHY.
 AFTER FEBRUARY
• PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT:-
---DOMINATED BY ARMY OFFICIALS, LANDOWNERS AND INDUSTRALIST.(upper
class)
---LIBERALS AND SOCIALIST ALSO WORKED TOWARDS THE ELECTED
GOVERNMENT.

Restrictions on public meetings and associations were removed.

Soviets like Petrograd Soviet were formed everywhere.

• In April 1917, the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin returned from exile.
• He believed(ARGUED) that it was time for Soviet( workers no need of govt. Karl Marx, TO
MAKE A COMMUNIST SOCIETY) to take over power.
 LENIN APRIL THESIS
• After returning from exile----LENIN PRESENTED THREE DEMANDS WHICH CAME TO
KNOWN AS APRIL THESIS.
WAR SHOULD BE BROUGHT TO AN END.
LAND TO BE TRANSFERRED TO THE PEASANTS.
BANKS TO BE NATIONALISED.

HE ALSO ARGUED TO RENAME BOLSHEVIK PARTYA AS COMMUNIST PARTY.

TO INDICATE ITS NEW RADICAL AIMS [ CONNECT WITH THE IDEA OF KARL
MARX]
HOWEVER MANY OTHER MEMBERS OF BOLSHEVIK PARTY WERE INTIALLY
SURPRISED BY THE APRIL THESES.
THEY THOUGHT IT WAS NOT THE RIGHT TIME FOR SOCIALIST REVOLUTION AND
PROVINCIAL GOVT. SHOULD BE SUPPORTED.
BUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUBSEQUENT MONTHS CHANGED THEIR ATTITUDE.
 REASONS FOR OCTOBER REVOLUTION
• WORKERS MOVEMENT GREW----TRADE UNION AND FACTORY COMMITTEES
[CONNECT THIS WITH EVENTS AFTER FEB REVOLUTION]

• SOLDIERS’S COMMITTEES WERE FORMED IN THE ARMY.

• IN JUNE , ABOUT 500 SOVIET SENT REPRESENTATIVES FOR AN ALL RUSSIAN

CONGRESS OF SOVIET.(GROUP)

• PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT WAS NOT HAPPY WITH THIS.

• ALL THIS WAS SEEN AS THE GROWING INFLUENCE OF BOLSHEVIK TO TAKE

POWER AGAINST PROVISIONAL GOVT.
• TO CONTROL THE GROWING DISCONTENT PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT TOOK THE
FOLLOWING STEPS:
CONTROLLED WORKERS BY ARRESTING THEIR LEADERS.

DEMONSTRATION STAGED BY THE BOLSHEVIK IN JULY 1917 WERE STERNLY

SUPPRESSED.[ MANY BOLSHEVIK LEADERS HAD TO GO INTO HIDING OR FLEE]

WHAT WAS THE SITUATIONA IN COUNTRYSIDE?

PEASANTS AND SOCIALIST REVOLUTIONARY LEADERS PRESSED FOR A
REDISTRIBUTION OF LAND. [THEY STARTED PRESSURISING NOBLES]
LAND COMMITTEES WERE FORMED.
PEASANTS SEIZED LAND BETWEEN JULY AND SEPTEMBER 1917.
THIS ALL PROVIDED A FERTILE GROUND FOR OCTOBER REVOLUTION.
 THE REVOLUTION OF OCTOBER 1917
CONFLICT BETWEEN THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT AND BOLSHEVIK GREW AND THE
ATTITUDE OF PROVISIONAL GOVT. FEARED LENIN THAT THEY MAY SET UP A
DICTATORSHIP.

WITH BOLSHEVIK SUPPORTERS IN ARMY, SOVIETS AND FACTORY WORKER LENIN

STARTED A PLANING AGAINST PROVISIONAL GOVT.

LENIN PERSUADED THE PETROGRAD SOVIET [ council of soldiers and workers] AND
BOLSHEVIK PARTY TO AGREE TO A SOCIALIST SEIZURE OF POWER [ SOCIALIST
REVOLUTION]
APPOINTMENT OF MILITARY REVOLUTIONARY COMMITTEE UNDER
LEON TROTSKY TO ORGANISE THE SEZIURE.

THE DATE OF UPRISING WAS KEPT A SECRET.

 THE UPRISING BEGAN ON 24th OCTOBER.
MILITARY REVOLUTION COMMITTEE SEIZE GOVT. OFFICERS AND ARRESTED MINISTERS.
SHIP AURORA SHELLED THE WINTER PALACE AND MANY OTHER VESSELS SAILED TOOK OVER
MILITARY POINT.
BY NIGHT, CITY WAS UNDER COMMITTEE CONTROL.
SENSING TROUBLE PRIME MINISTER KERENSKII SUMMONED TROOPS.
MILITARY MEN LOYAL TO THE GOVT.SEIZED THE BUILDING OF TWO
BOLSHEVIK NEWSPAPER.
TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH OFFICES WERE TAKEN OVER BY
PRO GOVERNMENT TROOPS, BUT ALL THIS WAS OF NO USE.
BOLSHEVIK ACTION WAS GIVEN APPROVAL BY MAJORITY SOVIET
AT ALL RUSSIAN CONGRESS IN PETROGRAD.
THERE WERE FIGHT IN MOSCOW , BUT BY DECEMBER BOLSHEVIK
CONTROLLED THE MOSCOW PETROGRAD AREA.
 WHAT CHANGED AFTER OCTOBER?
IMPLEMENTATION OF APRIL THESES:-
BANKS WERE NATIONALISED BY NOV. 1917 [ ownership and management by govt.]
PEASANTS TOOK OVER THE LAND OF NOBILITY AS IT WAS DECLARED AS SOCIAL
PROPERTY.
LARGE HOUSES WERE PARTITIONED ACCORDING TO THE SIZE OF FAMILY.
USE OF OLD TITLES OF ARISTROCRACY WAS BANNED [ equality]
TO SHOW THE CHANGE NEW UNIFORMS WERE DESIGNED FOR THE ARMY
OFFICIALS . E.g:- BUDENOVKA HAT.
BOLSHEVIK PARTY WAS RENAMNED AS THE RUSSIAN COMMUNITY.
WAS EVERYTHING SO SMOOTHING AFTER OCTOBER REVOLUTION??
NO THERE WERE PROBLEMS ALSO.
 PROBLEMS AFTER OCTOBER REVOLUTION
• IN NOVEMBER 1917, ELECTION TO CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY BY BOLSHEVIKS.
• BUT THEY FAILED TO GAIN MAJORITY SUPPORT.

• IN JANUARY 1918, ASSEMBLY REJECTED BOLSHEVIK MEASURES, LENIN DISMISSED THE

ASSEMBLY.HE ARGUED THE ASSEMBLY WAS ELECTED IN UNCERTAIN CONDITION AND
RUSSIAN CONGRESS OF SOVIET WAS MORE DEMOCRATIC.

• DESPITE OPPOSITION , IN MARCH 1918 BOSHEVIK MADE PEACE WITH GERMANY AT

BREST LITOVSK.
• OVER THE PERIOD OF TIME , RUSSIA BECAME A ONE PARTY STATE.
• TRADE UNIONS WERE KEPT UNDER CONTROL, SECRET POLICE [ Chetka first, OGPU AND
NKVD].
PUNISHED THOSE WHO CRITICISED THE BOLSHEVIK.
• ALL THIS STEPS TAKEN BY BOLSHEVIK WAS CREATING TENSION AMONG THE RUSSIAN
SOCIETY.
• PEOPLE [ WRITERS AND ARTISTS] JOINED AND SUPPORTED BOLSHEVIK BECAUSE THEY
STOOD FOR SOCIALISM AND CHANGE.
• BUT MANY BECAME DISILLUSIONED BECAUSE OF THE CENSORSHIP THE PARTY
ENCOURAGED.
• SO, THIS ATTITUDE OF BOLSHEVIK PARTY ALONG WITH OTHER FACTORS CREATED A
SITUATION CIVIL WAR IN RUSSIA.
 THE CIVIL WAR
• Changing attitude of Bolshevik party.
• Non- Bolshevik socialist , liberals and supporters of autocracy organized troops to fight the Bolsheviks.
• RED [ BOLSHEVIKS] Vs GREEN WHITE
• [ SOCIALISTS REVOLUTIONARIES] [ PRO- TSARISTS-SUPPORTERS OF
AUTOCRACY]

• ----THEY CONTROLLED MOST OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE.

• ----THEY WERE SUPPORTED BY FRENCH , AMERICAM AND BRITISH,(
• BECAUSE THEY HAVE A FEAR OF SPREAD OF SOCIALISM)TO CONTROL THE GROWTH OF
SOCIALISM.

• WHAT WAS ARMY DOING?[ DISINTEGRATE]

• ARMY BEGAN TO BREAK UP DUE TO THE LAND REDISTRIBUTION.
• DUE TO ALL THIS REASON THERE WAS A CIVIL WAR, LOOTING, BANDITRY AND FAMINE BECAME
COMMON.
SITUATION DURING CIVIL WAR
WHITE’S[revenge] ---- ATRROCITIES ON PEASANTS----MADE THEM UNPOPULAR.
BLOSHEVIKS’S----- GAINED SUPPORT FROM NON-RUSSIAN NATIONALIST AND MUSLIM
JADISTIST (reformers).
AT THE SAME TIME MANY WERE CONFUSED ABOUT THE OBJECTIVES OF BOLSHEVIKS.
INCIDENT IN KHIVA -CENTRAL ASIA.
MASSACRING KHIVA LOCAL NATIONALIST IN NAME -----TO REMEDY ALL THIS --- NON
RUSSIAN NATIONALIST WERE GIVEN POLITICAL AUTONOMY { CAN CHOOSE THEIR
OWN LEADERS} IN USSR.[ SOVIET UNION]
STILL THERE WERE SOME UNPOPULAR POLICIES OF BOLSHEVIKS. EXAMPLE: HARSH
DISCOURAGEMENT OF NOMADISM.
 MAKING A SOCIALIST SOCIETY
BANKS AND INDUSTRIES WERE NATIONALISED , COLLECTIVE WORK WAS
PERFORMED BY PEASANTS ON CONFISCATED LAND. ( land which was redistributed)
CENTRALISED ( members of the govt. will take all decisions) PLANNING WAS INTRODUCED.
 5 YEAR PLANS( economy was set for 5 yrs) TO SET TARGET FOR ECONOMY FOR
UPCOMING 5 YEARS.
EX:- FIRST TWO YEARS PLANS [ 1927 – 1932] AND [ 1933 – 1938].
THIS ALL LED TO HUGE INDUSTRIAL GROWTH AND NEW FACTORIES BEGAN TO COME
UP. [ all were happy]
HOWEVER THERE WAS A DARK SIDE TO IT:-
RAPID CONSTRUCTION LED TO POOR WORKING CONDITION .
WORKERS LIVED HARD LIVES.
FREQUENT STOPPAGE , EX: 550 STOPPAGES OF WORK IN THE FIRST FIVE YEAR
ALONE
• ARE THERE ANY EFFORTS MADE BY GOVT. TO IMPROVE THIS SITUATION?

• GOVT. TOOK FOLLOWING STEPS TO IMPROVE THE CONDITION:-

 AN EXTENDED SCHOOLING SYSTEMS FOR WORKERS AND PEASANTS.

CRECHES WERE ESTABLISHED IN FACTORIES FOR CHILDREN OF WOMEN WORKERS.
CHEAP PUBLIC HEALTH CARE WAS PROVIDED.
MODEL LIVING QUARTERS WERE SET UP FOR WORKERS.
HOWEVER IMAPACT OF ALL THIS EFFORTS WAS LIMITED BECAUSE THE RESOURCES
OF THE GOVT. WERE LIMITED.
 STALINISM AND COLLECTIVISATION
• STALINISM: - THE TIME PERIOD WHEN THE RUSSIAN COMMUNIST PARTY WAS
HEADED BY STALIN. HIS IDEA DOMINATED THE USSR AND THAT PERIOD CAME
TO BE KNOWN AS STALINISM.
• COLLECTIVISATION:- COMBINING LAND OF VARIOUS FARMERS AND THEN
PERFORMING THE AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES ON COLLECTIVE BASIS.
• REASONS FOR COLLECTIVISATION?
 BY 1927, USSR [ SOVIET RUSSIA] WAS FACING SHORTAGE OF FOOD GRAINS
[ especially in town].
 TO OVERCOME THIS GOVT. FIXED PRICES AT WHICH FOOD GRAIN MUST BE
SOLD.
BUT PEASANTS REFUSED TO SELL THEIR GRAINS TO GOVT. AT THESE PRICES.
STALIN BELIEVED THAT RICH PEASANTS AND TRADERS IN THE COUNTRYSIDE
WERE HOLDING STOCKS IN THE HOPE OF HIGHER PRICES. [ demand increases—price
increases]
• SPECULATION HAD TO BE STOPPED AND SUPPLIES CONFISCATED.
• GRAIN PRODUCING AREA WERE TOURED BY PARTY, SUPERVISING ENFORCED
GRAIN COLLECTIONS AND RAIDING ‘ KULAKS’ [ rich farmers]
• Despite all this shortage continued.
• Argument was given that ---- small size of holdings was also a reason for grain shortage.
• Small sized peasants farms could not be modernized -----to modern farms.
• FARMS SHOULD BE RUN ON INDUSTRIAL LINES WITH MACHINERY.
• IT WAS NECESSARY TO ELIMINATE ‘ KUKALS’.
• AND LAGE STATE CONTROLLED FARM MUST BE ESTABLISHED.
• WERE PEOPLE WILLING FOR THAT???
• NO, THERE WERE MANY PROBLEMS IN COLLECTIVISATION PROGRAMME.
 PROBLEMS DURING
COLLECTIVISATIONZ
• FROM 1929, PEASANTS WERE FORCED TO CULTIVATE IN [kolkhoz –collective farms]
COLLECTIVE FARMS AND THEN PROFIT WAS SHARED.

• ENRAGED PEASANTS RESISTED THE AUTHORITIES ANDDESTROYED LIVESTOCK.

• THOSE WHO RESIST COLLECTIVISATION WERE SEVERLY PUNISHED MANY WERE

DEPORTED AND EXILED.

• RUSSIAN PEASANTS ARE ALSO KNOWN AS NATURAL SOCIALIST .[ THEN WHY THEY
ARE REVOLTING?]

• DID THE SITUATION [ food shortage] IMPROVED AFTER COLLECTIVISATION????

• NO. IT PREVAILED FOR A LONG TIME
• INSPITE OF ALL COLLECTIVISATION , PRODUCTION DID NOT INCREASED
IMMEDIATELY.
• YOU CANNOT WIN BY NATURE. [ BAD HARVEST---1930-33] DEVASTING
FAMINES [ 4 MILLION DEATH]
• DUE TO ALL THIS THERE WERE CRITICISM OF PLANNED ECONOMY AND
COLLECTIVISATION:-
• SUCH CRITICS WERE CHARGED WITH CONSPIRACY AGAINST SOCIALISM.
• EX: 2 MILLIONS were in prisons or labour camps. Many were forced to make false
confessions.
• Then executed. [ included talented professionals also]
 THE GLOBAL INFLUENCE OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION AND
THE USSR
NOT ALL SOCIALIST PARTIES IN EUROPE WERE ON THE SAME POSITION.
• THE SUPPORT FOR SOCIALISM WAS DUE THE POSSIBILITY OF A WORKER’S STATE.
MANY COMMUNIST PARTY WERE FORMED. Eg:- COMMUNIST PARTY OG GREAT
BRITAIN.
• BOLSHEVIKS ALSO ENCOURAGED COLONIAL PEOPLES TO FOLLOW THEIR
EXPERIMENT.
CONFEFENCE OF PEOPLE OF THE EAST [1920].
COMMENTORS { AN INTERNATIONAL UNION OF PRO BOLSHEVIK SOCIALIST PARTIES}
EDUCATION IN THE USSR’S COMMUNIST UNIVERSITY OF THE WORKERS OF THE EAST.
BY SECOND WORLD WAR USSR HAD GIVEN SOCIALISM A GLOBEAL FACE AND WORLD
STATURE.
 HOWEVER BY 1950’S IT WAS OBSERVED THAT THE STYLE OF GOVT. IN USSR WAS NOT
IN KEEPING WITH THE IDEALS OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION.

NO DOUBT A BACKWARD COUNTRY HAD BECOME A GREAT POWER. ITS INDUSTRIES
AND AGRICULTURE HAD DEVELOPED AND THE POOR WERE BEING FED.

BUT IT HAD THE ESSENTIAL FREEDOMS OF ITS CITIZENS AND CARRIED OUT ITS
DEVELOPMENTAL PROJECTS THROUGH REPRESSIVE POLICIES.

THE INTERNATIONAL REPUTATION OF THE USSR AS A SOCIALIST COUNTRY HAD

DECLINED.
HOWEVER THE SOCIALIST IDEALS TILL ENJOYED RESPECT AMONGST ITS PEOPLE.