Consolidation of the Russian Revolution: The USSR

Founder of Bolshevism: Vladimir Lenin His Early Years --Exiled to Siberia in 1897 Committed to Class Struggle and Revolution Moved to London in 1902 and befriended Leon Trotsky What is to be Done? Tract

Key role of the Party in the revolution Lenin (cont) Key role of the Party in the revolution -- “Dictatorship of the Proletariat” Bolsheviks split from the Russian Socialist Party in 1912 Character of the Bolshevik Party --Joseph Stalin --Pravda

Vacuum of Leadership in Russia Petrograd Soviet dominated by Mensheviks Failure of the Provisional Government Workers refusing to work and soldiers refusing to fight Peasants were expropriating the land outright Power was literally lying in the streets of Petrograd

Lenin Steps into This Vacuum Amnesty granted to all political prisoners in March of 1917 Lenin’s arrival in Petrograd A tremendously charismatic personality “Peace, Land, Bread” “All Power to the Soviets” Bolshevik party membership exploded Consolidation of Bolshevik power

The November Revolution The events of November 6 Council of People’s Commissars All private property of wealthy was abolished and divided among the peasantry Largest industrial enterprises nationalized

XIII. November Revolution (cont) Political Police organized: CHEKA Revolutionary army created with Trotsky in charge -- “Red Army” Bolshevik Party renamed Communist Party in March of 1918 The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk negotiated with the Germans Terms of the Treaty

November Revolution (cont) Humiliating Treaty would be nullified since all of the west was on the verge of revolution Civil War fought between 1917-1920 -- “Reds” versus “Whites” Complete breakdown of Russian economy and society

Captivity and Murder of the Romanovs Forced to stay captive in home at Tsarskoe Selo until August of 1917, when they were forced into exile in Tobolsk. The following May they were sent to Yekaterinburg to avoid advancing White Army supporters. They were all shot in the basement of the Governor's House under the pretence of a family photo. No one survived.

Interpreting the Russian Revolution The official Marxist Interpretation --The importance of a permanent international revolution Function of Russian History and Culture Imposed Revolution on an unwilling victim A Social Revolution

Revolutionary Social Changes Abolish private property, nationalize factories, legalize universal suffrage Attempt to centralize agricultural production (seize grain to feed army and workforce) Not successful: industrial production at 13% of pre- WWI levels Famine strikes, peasants revolt, workers strike, sailors mutiny NEP (New Economic Plan) attempts to solve the problems in 1921 with its “compromise with capitalism)

NEP (1921) Peasants manage and sell their own crops Small amounts of private ownership are allowed Other countries become less threatened by Bolshevism and recognize Russia (except USA, which doesn’t recognize the USSR until 1933)

New Political Structures Communist Party becomes formalized (and all candidates must belong) Cheka (secret police, precursor to KGB) New structures promote totalitarian state, brutally suppress opposition.

Struggle for Power post-Lenin Lenin dies in 1924 – who is his heir? Most assume Trotsky (brilliant leader of the Red Army) Stalin posed as Lenin’s heir, led movement to deify Lenin Stalin brings new people into the Party Stalin uses control over Central Committee to seize power in 1928

Joseph Stalin Head of both the Communist party and Soviet government from 1924 to 1953. Most interested in power and not ideology. By 1928, established himself as absolute dictator. Increasingly paranoid & dangerous.

Stalin’s totalitarian elements 1. Cult of the Leader: the all-knowing and all-seeing Father of the People.

Stalin’s totalitarian elements 2. Radical Ideology Marxism-Leninism the driving rationale for Stalin’s power grab. But Stalin altered the ideology to serve his personal nationalist ambitions. Stalinism refers to a brand of communism that is both extremely repressive and nationalistic.

Stalin’s totalitarian elements 3. Organization Soviet communist party effectively solidified Stalin’s power. Party cells operated in every workplace & classroom, with party members reporting on anyone who was not loyal enough.

Stalin’s totalitarian elements 4. Mass mobilization of resources in the early years. Secret Police – the KGB If you say something against Stalin, you’re in prison, or worse.

Stalin’s totalitarian elements 6. central control of all organizations. News media: no independent press; only TASS news service. Heavily centralized “command economy” through Stalin’s Five Year Plan. Stalin’s 1st goal was to create an advanced industrial economy. Peasants resisted; killings; exile. Severe agricultural losses & famine. After a decade, millions dead.

Art, film, literature was put in service to the ideology Art, film, literature was put in service to the ideology. Soviet art had to praise noble factory workers, the “new Soviet man & woman.”

Stalin’s totalitarian elements 7. Violence & Terror. Brutality on massive scale. Targets: political opponents & party rivals.

Stalin’s totalitarian elements Creation of a gulag system. Gulags were slave labor camps for critics, former capitalists, non-cooperative peasants & party rivals.

Stalin’s totalitarian elements Political purges from 1934 to 1936 were called the Great Terror. Show trials, with coerced confessions and summary executions, from 1936 to 1938. During his rule, one million direct killings & 12 million deaths in Soviet prisons & slave labor camps.

Stalin’s Photo Manipulation

Cult of Personality Thank you, Stalin. Thank you because I am joyful. Thank you because I am well. No matter how old I become, I shall never forget how we received Stalin two days ago. centuries will pass, and the generations still to come will regard us as the happiest of mortals, as the most fortunate of men, because we lived in the century of centuries, because we were privileged to see Stalin, our inspired leader. Yes, and we regard ourselves as the happiest of mortals because we are the contemporaries of a man who never had an equal in world history.