Russia 1894 - 1941

Rule of Tsar Nicolas II

• Took over as Tsar at 26 years old after Alexander III.
• Indecisive, problematic, stubborn, inexperienced, weak, incapable
• Married Tsarina, Alexandra who is said to have had much influence over him and his decisions and is the more dominant figure in the marriage. He grew suspicious of most of his ministers but was too incompetent to rule over the vast Russian empire alone.
• Had 4 daughters and a son, Alexi, who suffered from haemophilia. This led to the influence of Rasputin.
• Could be argued that his inability to make effective decisions and be a strong autocratic leader led to his own demise

Witte’s Economic Reforms

• Wanted to modernise Russia and bring the country to a level where it could compete against other world superpowers – he employed foreign workers/experts to advise of Russia’s industrial planning. 
• Convinced that modernisation could only be achieved by State Capitalism.
• Raised money by foreign loans, increased taxes and interest rates, the gold standard on currency and protective tariffs. He encouraged the inflow of foreign capital but limited the import of foreign goods in the hopes that Russia would become self-sufficient and more foreign investments would occur.
• Majority of the foreign capital raised was invested in the railway system → hoped that it would boost exports and foreign trade.
• ’Great Spurt’ used to describe Russia’s fast-growing economy
• The Tsarist government’s main motives were military instead of economic. Economic expansion increased military strength e.g. better equipment.
• Problems: Russia was too dependent on foreign loans/investments,
  • prioritised heavy industry and neglected light engineering, no consideration for 
  • Russia’s agricultural needs, lacked support from government/court

Witte’s Reforms:

• Foreign Loans
• Capital investment
• Industrialisation
• Railways

Russo-Japanese War (1904-5)

Causes: 

• Russian expansionism into the Far East, need for an ice-free port, a distraction from domestic problems, Tsar’s ambition to gain foreign recognition and remind the world that Russia was modernising into a great military, political and economic power – able enough to compete with other nations.

Consequences: 

• Military defeats (loss of Port Arthur, Tsushima Straits, Mukden), loss of world status, decline in Tsar’s popularity, social unrest, signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth, political reforms

Reasons for Russian defeat: 

• underestimated the Japanese strength (Russia predicted an easy defeated as Japan was considered as an inferior nation), poor strategy, inadequate military planning, strong Japanese forces

1905 Revolution

1905 saw the first major threat to the Tsar’s autocratic rule. Those angered by the government’s system of repression came together to threaten the Tsar and demand change.

Causes:

• Bloody Sunday: Father Gapon tried to lead a peaceful march of workers and their families to the Winter Palace with the intent to present a petition which asked the Tsar to use his royal authority to improve their desperate conditions. Instigated panic → turned violent when Tsar ordered the guards to fire back at the crowds. Sparked widespread outbreak of disorder. 
• Russo-Japanese War: Russia’s defeat sparked more unrest across the nation and lowered morale. Also faced huge losses.
• Economic Problems: high unemployment, inflation, bad harvests
• Political Problems: Growing support for political groups influenced by Populism and Marxism

Events:

• Bloody Sunday, the assassination of Grand Duke Sergei, strikes in major cities, mutinies in the army,

Consequences:

• Issuing of the October Manifesto,1905,  which promised the creation of the Duma. Followed by the Fundamental Laws in 1906 which restated the Tsar’s absolute power as it stated that no law could be passed without the consent of the Tsar.

Some historians do not consider the events of 1905 to be a ‘revolution’ but rather a challenge to tsardom. As revolution is defined as the sudden and permanent change in the way the country is governed, it could be said that whilst the culmination of marches, strikes, assassinations and mutinies did present some changes to lessen autocratic power (October Manifesto), the Fundamental Laws in 1906 reversed this as the Tsar reinstated his authority thus not much had been changed to the government and running of the country.

Economic Policy under Stolypin

To ‘de-revolutionise’ the peasantry by ‘wager on the strong’

• Took over after Witte. Dedicated to strengthening the tsardom in a time of crisis.
• The aim was to use land redistribution to build and strengthen the class of more able and educated, ‘best’ peasants. 

LAND REFORMS:

• ‘Wager on the strong’ – a policy intended to create a layer of prosperous, productive peasants who would farm independently of the communes and whose new personal wealth would turn them into supporters of the Tsarist regime. RESULT: only partially effective due to his assassination in 1911.

INDUSTRIAL GROWTH:

• Although income rose, the inflation rate rose too. Repeated recessions meant workers were unable to benefit much leading to general strikes and dissatisfaction.
• By 1914, 2 million peasants left village communes to join industry leaving some regions short of rural labour. Increased the challenge of maintaining efficient food supplied to the growing population. (bad harvests/famine too)

OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS OF BOTH, STOLYPIN AND WITTE: 

• Witte was mainly concerned with industry, Stolypin with agriculture. Both had the same interest in preserving the tsarist regime. Had the government and bureaucracy been more willing to support both individuals and the idea of reform, this may have prevented the buildup of social and political tensions. 

The Dumas 1906-14

Tsar created the Duma following the October Manifesto after the 1905 revolution. All male citizens over the age of 25 were eligible to vote → Duma was a representative assembly (government)

Unrest in Russia 1911-14

Discontent amongst the Russian people about the social, economic and political state sparked chaos on the streets and displayed the unpopularity of tsardom. 

• Recurrent recessions caused widespread unemployment. This caused serious social unrest as workers demanded higher wages and better working conditions. A series of strikes, protests and demonstrations were organised.
• Stolypin’s assassination in 1911 sparked created chaos and ineptitude amongst ministers. Further repressive measures were employed which meant more people were striking due to political reasons.
• Lena Goldfield incident in 1912 → revealed worker militancy and government brutality
• Even moderate liberal parties began to despair of the government’s dealing effectively with the problems that confronted Russia. The general strike in 1914 ended with the outbreak of war

Urban unrest: disaffected workers took to the streets, strikes spread, repression was the government’s only response to disorder, and violence was also a product of revolutionary extremism.

Impact of WW1 on Russia

• Following the outbreak of war in 1914: Russia was feared by the European nations, Tsar was convinced that only a minority of the people were opposed to his rule, Russia’s potential for growth seemed enormous, rather optimistic, Nicholas II’s status elevated.
• Immediate effect – enhanced the popularity and status of the tsar, weakened the anti-war Bolsheviks
• ‘Total War’ created major problems:
  • Inflation: value of money declined causing economic instability and high prices
  • Food supplies: urban areas suffered from acute shortages, grain requisitioning and transport distribution
  • Transport system: broke down under stress
  • The army: fought well but was under-equipped and poorly organised
  • Role of the tsar: his decision to become commander-in-chief meant that the survival of the tsardom relied purely on military success. Also leaving Alexandra and Rasputin in charge made his popularity decline.
  • Morale: high at the start due to a strong army but declined as time went on due to increasing casualties and lack of supplies at home. Also as more experienced men died, conscription meant that inexperienced/poorly skilled civilians were responsible for the Russian victory

Rasputin (1872-1916)

The fall of Nicholas was the result of poor leadership rather than of savage oppression. He was not helped by his wife’s German nationality or by court scandals.

• Gregory Rasputin was the individual on whom much of the hatred for the tsarist system came to be focused.
• Said to be a mystic monk who had healing abilities. The Empress Alexandra welcomed him in disparity to cure the heir to the throne, Alexei, of his haemophilia.
• Caused a scandal as Rasputin was infamous for being a self-ordained holy man who pleasured sexual interactions with women. Alexandra (a deeply religious person) believed Rasputin was an instrument from God.
• Alexandra’s German nationality had also made her a suspect since the outbreak of war and her scandalous relationship with Rasputin did not work in the Romanov’s favour. It looked even more suspicious as when Nicholas took over as commander-in-chief, he left Alexandra in charge of the Winter Palace and government. Some suspected Rasputin’s influence was also a part of poor decision-making.
• Rasputin is murdered in 1916 → a group of aristocratic conspirators murdered him. 
• The fact that Rasputin was becoming so prominent within the tsarist system convinced many that the system was not worth saving.

1917 Revolution (February)

• CAUSES: Russia was losing the war and people began to blame the Tsar for his decision to enter the war. The people were upset with Rasputin’s influence over Alexandra, food shortages and growing political opposition. NOTE: The revolution began not by revolutionaries but by traditional supporters of tsardom.
• EVENT: Began with striking in the Putilov factories in Petrograd, Women’s Day protest, general strikes, formation of the Petrograd Soviet, Nicholas abdicates, and Dual Authority established 
• RESULT: The lack of support caused the Tsar to abdicate and Russia was under the control of the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet (dual authority). This led to the October Revolution later that year.

Abdication and the Provisional Government

WAR: The Provisional Government’s main mistake was to carry on the war. Russia was so dependent on war credits from Western allies that if they had forfeited, their country would be in a greater disaster. As the government was preoccupied in winning the war, they neglected much of the social and economic problems in society causing the people to retaliate. The decision to carry on in the war also caused a rift in relations between the Petrograd Soviet and the Provisional Government. 

LAND: Provisional Government was not committed to land reform and made false promised about land redistribution. Enables the Bolsheviks to steal a march and gain support from the peasantry. Slogan: ‘Land to the Peasants’

NATIONAL MINORITIES: Caused ministerial crisis and led to the July Days (a period of social unrest). The July Days threatened the Bolsheviks greatly. Kerensky took control, issued the arrest of Lenin, Trotsky and Kamenev, closed the Pravda (Bolshevik newspaper) and launched a propaganda campaign.

KORNILOV AFFAIR: Was an attempted military coup d’état. Kornilov threatened the overthrow of both the Soviet and the Provisional Government. Kerensky sought help from the very Bolsheviks who pledged to overthrow him and eventually put down the threat of Kornilov. The provisional Government survived but was gravely weakened, Bolsheviks began recovery and had more support, a prelude to the October Revolution.

Bolshevik Rising + October 1917 Revolution

After the failure of the July Days, Lenin returns from exile in early October and begins to plan for a revolution. The Petrograd Soviet’s Military Revolutionary Committee began to seize power under the command of Trotsky. Members of the Provisional Government were arrested apart from Kerensky who fled. The Bolsheviks soon had total control. 

Why did the Bolsheviks succeed?: PG was weak and unpopular, slogans ‘peace, bread and land’ and ‘all power to the Soviets’ increased support, especially from the proletariats, Pravda, the Germans financed the Bolsheviks because they knew that Lenin wanted to take Russia out of the war and this gave them the money to mount their publicity campaigns, Lenin was a powerful and organised leader, Trotsky was able to formulate a strong and effective army.

Role of Trotsky: influential role in the MRC which defended the Soviets and provided one of the most effective military forces in Petrograd. So whilst it was Lenin who had the idea of a revolution, it was Trotsky who performed it and ultimately achieved success

Bolshevik Government +Treaty of Brest Litovsk

The Bolsheviks set up an extreme Communist state. It implemented Communist principles, but it also brought in a ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’, where terror was used to force people to live like Communists. The Bolsheviks needed to establish firm rule because their control of Russia was threatened by a Civil

When the Bolsheviks took control they had to tackle many problems e.g. low industrial production, high inflation, food shortages and occupation by Germany. Also, the Bolsheviks only controlled Petrograd and Moscow.

Measures they took:

• Decree on Land: abolished private property and recognised peasant takeovers
• Decree on Workers Control: asserted government authority over the factories previously seized by workers.
• Vesenkha (Gosplan): body to oversee economic development
• Decree on Peace (Treaty of Brest Litovsk): withdrew Russia from WW1, gave much of Russia’s best agricultural and industrial land to Germany, had to pay 3 billion roubles in reparations.This decision created a division in the Bolshevik party. Some wanted to continue in a revolutionary war against Germany, others wanted peace to immediately lessen strains on Russia.
• Dissolving of the Constituent Assembly: SRs were the most popular party not the Bolsheviks → Lenin ruled by decree – change from autocratic government to government by the party.

Terror: 

The Bolsheviks created a totalitarian state. The Cheka arrested, tortured and executed opposition, the Tsar and imperial family were murdered, and censorship in the media, Lenin believed a dictatorship was needed until Russia was changed into a Communist country.

Civil War 1918-20

Reds: Needed military victory to consolidate their hold over Russia.

Whites: War was the only way to challenge Bolshevik authority

Greens: Fighting for national independence

Causes: 

• Since the Bolsheviks seized power by a coup d’etat, their political opponents fought back e.g. SRs, the Mensheviks, the Tsarists, army officers displeased by the Treaty of Brest Litovsk, landlords who had lost their lands.
• In 1918 some Czech prisoners of war who were being taken across Russia mutinied, took control of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and attacked towards Moscow.
• Comintern, led by Zinoviev, made foreign countries fear the worldwide spread of communist revolutions.

Events:

• At first, Bolsheviks only held Moscow and Petrograd and it looked unlikely that they would win.  White armies led by Generals Yudenich and Denikin attacked Russia from the west, and Admiral Kolchak from the east. Red Army defeated Kolchak in 1919, and foreign intervention dispersed. War Communism causes famine, disease and shortages so millions die.  The last White army in Russia was defeated in Crimea in 1920, Reds won. 

Impact:

• Encouraged toughness, authoritarianism, and centralisation

Bolshevik Victory

Why the Bolsheviks won:

• Fighting a defensive war against a disunited enemy: Whites were disunited and geographically distanced making it easier for Trotsky to fight them one by one. 
• Leadership: Trotsky was a good leader and very strategic.
• Higher morale: Bolshevik soldiers were enthusiastic about fighting. Some despised the idea of foreign help, others believed they were fighting for a better world.
• War Communism: Bolsheviks nationalised the factories, and introduced military discipline. Strikes were made illegal.   Food was rationed. Peasants were forced to give food to the government. This gave the Bolshevik armies the supplies they needed. 
• Control: The Bolsheviks had control of the main cities of Moscow and Petrograd (with their factories), control of the railways (vital), an army of 300,000 men, very strict army discipline, and internal lines of communication – giving them the advantage in the war.
• Terror: The Cheka murdered any Whites they found – more than 7000 people were executed, and Red Army generals were kept loyal by taking their families hostage – so the Bolsheviks were united.

Kronstadt Rising + New Economic Policy

Lenin himself clung to the idea of War Communism for as long as he could but the failure of the economy to recover, the large implications of mass famine and a mutiny in the Kronstadt naval base led him to recognise the need for reform. 

In 1921, the sailors at the Kronstadt Naval Base mutinied. They demanded free speech, free elections, free trade unions and an end to war communism. Trotsky’s Red Army put the mutiny down with great losses. The mutiny scared the Bolsheviks because the Kronstadt sailors had been their greatest supporters. Lenin said later that the rebellion was ‘like a flash of lightning which threw more of a glare upon reality than anything else.’ So he abandoned the policy of War Communism and brought in the NEP.

The New Economic Policy (NEP) intended to meet Russia’s urgent need for food. It saw the end of grain requisitioning, peasants were allowed to trade for profit, markets were reintroduced and the value of money was restored. Whilst many saw this as a step back from Communism, Lenin justified his actions with the national food shortage and belief in wooing the peasants. Consequences of the NEP: Divisions within the party, ‘ban on factionalism’, economic recovery.

Stalin’s Rise to Power

Leftists: Zinoviev and Kamenev wanted world revolution and abolition of the NEP but disliked Trotsky and his ambition.

Rightists: Bukharin, Rykov and Tomsky wanted to continue the NEP until the USSR was stable

When Lenin died in 1924, everybody expected Trotsky to take over the leadership.   Instead, Stalin schemed his way into power, using his position as General Secretary, and a series of ruthless political moves. In Lenin’s testament (will) he stated that Stalin was dangerous and should be dismissed.

Why Stalin was able to rise to power:

Secretary: He was the General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1922. People undermined the authoritative purpose behind this job. Stalin took advantage of it and was able to get his supporters into important positions.

Trotsky was unpopular: Despite his outstanding ability, Trotsky was disliked by many. People thought he was too big-headed, grew more unpopular when Stalin tricked him into missing Lenin’s funeral, and his desire to create a world revolution was feared.

Politically ruthless. The Politburo was divided into two – Leftists and Rightists. Stalin played one side against the other in order to gain power. First, he allied with Zinoviev and Kamenev to cover up Lenin’s will and dismiss Trotsky who later was exiled in 1928. Then he advocated ‘Socialism in one country’ (the idea that the USSR should focus on strengthening their position before branching into world revolution) thus allying himself with the RIghtists to get the Leftists dismissed. Later, he argued that the NEP was ‘uncommunist’ to justify the dismissal of the Rightists.

Stalin’s Five Year Plans

Plans were drawn up by gosplan (the state planning organisation). Targets were set for each industry, mine and factory in the USSR which workers had to achieve otherwise face a fine as a penalty. Alexei Stakhanov (who cut 102 tons of coal in one shift) was held up as an example. Good workers could become ‘Stakhanovites’ and win a medal. 

The first two Five Year Plans focused on the rapid industrialisation of heavy industry (coal, oil, electricity). They also gave opportunities to women – crèches were set up so they could work. Women became doctors and scientists, as well as canal diggers and steel workers.

Collectivisation and Industrialisation

Collectivisation: Stalin’s desire to modernise agriculture led him to collectivise the farms, amalgamating them and putting them totally under state control.

The term ‘Kulak’ refers to a class of allegedly rich, exploiting peasants. What started off as a voluntary campaign in 1927 soon turned into a compulsory measure in 1929 after a series of food shortages. This led to a sudden retaliation from the peasantry who burned their crops and barns and killed their animals. The 1930 famine made Stalin put a pause on collectivisation and let a few peasants own a small part of the land. However this wasn’t for long, in 1931, he reintroduced the policy provoking more resistance to the peasantry and Russia faced yet another famine. In Ukraine, 5 million people died from this famine and Stalin was blamed → declared war on, the Kulaks – their land was taken and they were shot/ sent to labour camps in Siberia/ whole villages surrounded and killed.

SUCCESS TO AN EXTENT: 99% of Russia had been collectivised, and modernisation, By 1937, 97 million tonnes were produced and cash crops for export, 17 million peasants left the countryside to work in the towns, 1928–37, Communists had complete control (peasants obeyed through the enthusiasm of fear, Stalin was powerful). BUT…stock fell, millions died in famines/oppression, and Kulaks were eliminated

WHY?: Soviet agriculture was backward, Food was needed for workers in towns, failure of the NEP, need for more town workers, and ‘cash crops’ needed (to export and raise capital), Kulaks opposed communism– they liked their private wealth,  hid food from the government collectors.  Also, they were influential and led peasant opinion.  Stalin wanted to destroy them.

Stalin’s Dictatorship 1929-41

PROPAGANDA

• Slogans: ‘Peace, Bread and Land’ and ‘All Power to the Soviets’
• The cult of personality (people worshipped him as a hero) – the creation of Stalingrad, various posters and photos depicting Stalin as a man of the people
• Newspapers used to promote the achievements of the FYPs
• Youth organisations (Pioneers and Komsomol) were established + popular
• Arts were manipulated to represent Stalinist views in a positive light

CENSORSHIP

• Censorship of anything that might reflect badly on Stalin

THE PURGES

• Murder of Kirov started the purges – used it as a chance to arrest thousands of his opponents
• First Purges 1930-33 – Including anybody who opposed industrialisation, and the kulaks who opposed collectivisation.
• The Great Purges 1934-39: political opponents were put on show trials, members of the army were shot, Religious leaders were imprisoned; churches closed down, Stalin enforced ‘Russification’ of all the Soviet Union, ordinary people were denounced/ arrested/ sent to the Gulag

GROWTH OF THE POLICE STATE

• Secret Police: The Cheka became the OGPU (1922), then the NKVD (1934).
• The role of the secret police was to act as informers to Stalin and impose a Stalinist ideology. They were also responsible for around 20,000 purges.
• Gulags: the NKVD also sent around 40 million people to prison camps for opposing the Stalinist regime
• Show trials: public trials used to humiliate and sentence Stalin’s political rivals in front of a large audience. Most notable trials took place in 1936, 1937, 1938.